i was just collecting my thoughts and was thinking to myself

my artwork is far from perfect but id still say there was something there - i wouldnt say it was shit (dunno how everyone else feels about it )
and i was thinking - i could handle doing most flash pieces but portrait work and realism - i find it hard to even put on paper so where the hell would i find myself if i were ever asked to attack skin with it
also when i do a piece - i like to get lots of reference as in - drawing straight off my head i have trouble with - so in the real world - imagining i was in a shop and a client asked for a piece - id be stuck like glue coming up with something off the top of my head

just wondered really how you guys are with it - i mean if i said draw the side profile of a human head in realism - could you handle that pretty easily

i just feel lately that i really need to get good/better with my art - quick fast -

Come on guys open your eyes. It's edited to make Louis look like the bad guy and for Dan Gold to look like the victim. All thes shows are down to editing. They can make anything look like what they want it to look like. There's weeks of tattooing condensed down to less than 6 hours! Louis has been around for a long time and has done plenty of high quality work in that time. He won best sleeve at the London Convention a couple of years ago up against the best tattooists in the world and there wasn't a single celebrity in sight. Phil Kyle actually likes doing the show but doesn't like the way it's edited and all the showbiz crap that goes along with it, he used it as a vehicle to promote his new shop in Brighton, who wouldn't? That's just good business sense.

Back to the original topic: i always use reference to draw designs. But i think the important thing as a tattooist is to get source references not look at other people's work for reference. If somebody comes to me for a design i always look at the real references available for that piece. Say if it was a koi with a lotus flower. I would research koi carp, their shape, scales, colours, then i would do the same with the lotus flower. Then i would put my own style into it and make it into a tattoo design. You're not going to achieve anywhere near the same result if you try to do that same design in half an hour with no reference. Because of the way i prefer to work i have to work on appointment only cus i prefer taking the time to perfect a design. Don't get me wrong once it's on the skin i use freehand techniques to help it flow with the bodypart but that's just to accentuate the designs and add some flow to the piece.

Bottom line is, work how it suits you, don't worry about what other artists are doing. Use their work as inspiration but how you achieve your end result is up to you.

yes and no
he is actually that conceited

Agreed and yes he does rub people up the wrong way, i'm just saying don't believe everything you see.

personal experiance with no cameras lol
and even the other artists that i know think so