[watmough]

myt girlfriend tonight stuck up for a dumb news reporter that porttrayed my tattoo shop in the same light as some dumb scratcher(really bad) shop!
i'm wicked pissed !!!its kinda like dissin' where the money's comin' from ,know what i mean?

[watmough]

sorry.guys,just venting...

[Novacaptain]

Maybe it's the fault of the press for not knowing the difference? Perhaps she thought it would mean good publicity for you?
_________________
It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice - Scooter

[watmough]

could be................
i think she's just stupid......

[stacy]

Hah, ...women... Ya' can't live with 'em; ya' can't shoot 'em. What are ya' gonna' do?

Tattoo her eyeballs!

Or better yet, put a whole bunch of posts in her tongue and attach them permenately to the roof of her mouth.

Was she on-air and being interviewed when she crapped on you, or is that just her response after seeing the interview.

[Chruser]

Personal opinion = fact when viewed in mass media.
At least to weak people.

Just a generalization, of course, but when some don't even know there are flaws and plain-out lies riddling commercials, what can you expect?

watmough, maybe she meant well though.
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What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
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[watmough]

i agree,chruser....i was just wicked pissed....and had no one to yell at(or talk too)

[cheney]

I miss IRC
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http://prettydiff.com/

[Chruser]

You don't happen to remember what exactly she said, do you?
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What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
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[watmough]

well,what happened was,a newspaper reporter wanted to do (i thought) an article on us.not surprising,its happened to me lots of times(been tattooing for ten years!)
when she came to the shop to interview us,it was apparent to me she had ALOT of pre-conceived ideas about what she was going to write,so i shot her down.
her idea was that she was going to write an article on the "art" of tattooing.
tattooing is NOT art.when i say this i dont mean that tattooing does not require skill,as a matter of fact,tattooing is all about skill.its analogous to sign painting or pinstriping,or well,you get the idea.tattooing is a working class phenomonon and as such ,importance is placed on doing a technically sound,clean professional job.NOT on doing a fancy piece of "art".
when someone comes in and i do a cartoon character on them i am NOt making art,but i am doing a good tattoo,there is a difference.
even when i'm doing a japanese sleeve,i'm still not making art,as there is only one right way to do it,absolutely no innovation on my part.its kind of like religious icon painting,there is a convention,to deviate means you are doing it wrong.with a lack of self expression(and severe limitations)it is not art ,but a craft.
this does not mean that i am belittling tattooing,quite the opposite,as a medium,it is the most difficult and challenging medium there is,and as such when someone can do a good clean,solid tattoo,that to me is VERY impressive.
having said all of this,there is a shop down the road from us that puts out amazingly bad tattoos,that i constantly have to fix,and/or cover,that insist on playing up the fact that they're reat "artists".
and apparently,tha reporter had talked to them first.
now,when the article came out,it was basically an article about the shop down the road,talking about what great "artists" they were,with out of context quotes from me saying i wasnt an artist.needless to say....i was angry.it made my shop look like we didnt know what we're doing and it made the shop down the road look like the real "artists"
so,i saw the reporte at the bar the other night,and told her exactly what i though of her article.she didnt like it
then,my girlfriend told the reporter not to care what i say and to ignore my comments....huh?
anyway i was really just angry about the article.

[sweetums]

As an artist and a tat fan (and canvas), gotta go with the girlfriend on this one.
You shot yourself in the foot, bud. No two ways about it. Craftsman is the word you should have used, not artist. You are a "craftsman" at your trade, which is a world of difference from an "artist." The crap "street artistes" that get into tattin' for the colors and the permanance and all the yadda yadda about skin art are not the ones you want doing a complex, intricate tat with lots of fine lines. You want the craftsman who knows that it will take quite a while, and that the proceedure must follow certain steps done in a certain sequence with certain steps taken. And you want one that considers it art more than routine.
By shouting from your little soapbox about not being an "artist," you came across as a mere tat mechanic, which ended up doing a disservice to you skills, abilities, and experience, and doing an unwarranted favor to the crap-tat boys down the road by making them seem more "in touch" with their clientele.

When I take my car to the shop, I would not call an oil and lube job "art," necessarily, but I sure as hell would rather have a mechanic who makes me feel that he considers it so instead of the guy who goes, "It's just another oil and lube job to me. You do it and move on, y'know?" My money will go to the guy who acts like every car is an antique roadster needing love (even if he leaves it a half quart low)...Hell, I expect my hairdresser to approach my mane with that attitude, even though all she does is cut hair all day long, and my haircut is a basic blunt cut with bangs...Image IS everything, and attitude conveys your image and how others percieve you. This is important if you want to persuade strangers to patronize you and give you money. That's not to say you are not worlds better than the crap-tats, just that PR is half the game. Having been in the business as long as you have, you know the reputation of tats and tat artists (and you know the common term IS tat artist, not technician), so you, of all people should understand that improving people's perceptions of the craft is a desirable thing. I don't think you helped it or yourself.

Don't blame the girlfriend. Don't blame the reporter. Don't blame the crap-tat boys down the road. Bottom line, you yourself don't hold your skills in such high esteem publicly, but then get cheesed when a journalist misunderstands? Nahh. You need to come to grips with better marketing skills. You blew a great chance to play up how your craftsmanship is what people should look for in getting a tat, but came off as a dull, although technically great old guy who doesn't see the artistic beauty of skin decoration. We both know that's crap, but PR is PR, and when you gotta write an article to do your job, you don't have years to pick up nuances of personality...

You should bust your butt and try to repair the bad PR instead of grousing about your girlfriend siding with the reporter. First off, others (even those living with you) look at things differently than you do. Second, telling a reporter off SURE doesn't improve public perception of you or your craft, and third, you'd do better to invite her back with a better attitude, and some really good useful information about tatting, proper care, and proper selection of a tat artist, along with a little sucking up to the media mentality.

Never pass up an opportunity to promote yourself is almost a mantra amongst people in the public eye. Artists know this. Perhaps you should consider adding Craftsmen to that group as well.
_________________
Life is short. Expect nothing, enjoy everything.
That which does not kill you should make you wiser...

[watmough]

apparently you didnt even read my post....and dont say "tat" ,ever.

[sweetums]

Yes I did read your posts. You're still whining about a situation you made for yourself by not promoting your CRAFTSMANSHIP, and instead putting down any possible correlation between what you do and "art" for the journalist, with the resulting bad press for you. You chewed out the writer, and your lady didn't side with you.

Tat, tat, TAT, Tatitti-tat-ti-TAT!!!
YOU didn't comprehend what was conveyed to you.
TAT TAT TAT
Tat shop
Tat competition
Tat artist
Tat flash
Tat tactics (Tips to get more tat business).

You're so old school you'll pass up free promotion and resultant business because of your rigid obsession with terminology. "Artist" shot you in foot. How much business will you turn away because people say "Tat?" They're words, dude. They don't spend like money. Since you're no artist by your own admission, then it could be assumed you're a businessman. Well, it's poor business to fret so much over words that you pass up the opportunity to do more business...

Tat tat tat. tat.
_________________
Life is short. Expect nothing, enjoy everything.
That which does not kill you should make you wiser...

[watmough]

all i did was talk about the CRAFT of tattooing.
what you dont understand is the amount of misinformation that the majority of tattooers like to disseminate..
tattooers like to hide behind "art" because they dont really know what they're doing.
tattooers that DO know what theyre doing stress the fact that its a tradition not unlike sign painting or,say,tibetan thangka painting.

[gLitterbug]

I�d like to know if you strictly tattoo things that people bring you, or if you also create your own designs.

[watmough]

most of the time( about 90%) i draw them.

[gLitterbug]

Well, wouldn�t that mean you are a tattoo craftsman AND artist? As opposed to tattoo craftsmen "only" who strictly copy other people�s designs? (no disrespect to tattoo craftsmen intended.)

I think I pretty much understand your anger and where you come from, but I have to admit sweetums words bear alot of truth. What he says about marketing yourself is very true and I know what I talk about, because I tend to understate and be bad at marketing myself very often too.
It would probably take alot to go back to that reporter and try to fix things, but it might be worth it, not only from a business perspective.

[blehblehbleh]

sweetums, you're stupid.

[Jabberwocky]

Hum I know that news people tend to 'exclude' information and arrange wording to say something totally differnet than what it is really being said. Thus people need to really know how to talk to news people... why most businesses and schools have people who deal with the media. Like at our school, we had a freshman football player die in a motocycle wreak, and if any news people asked us anything we could only direct them to the person on campus who they would need to talk to.

As for tattooing... I see that and piercing as an art. I had my tattoo done by this one guy who did an awsome job ~ will go to him again if I get another. It didn't hurt and was nicely done. So say okay you might copy a picture of Taz onto some guys butt, but if you can do it without a lot of pain, blood, so it won't fade and with no mistakes I see that as an art. Like public speaking. Take Bush, cause he's on every channel right now, reads what someone else wrote, but it is him who has the art of public speaking.

Plus look at Commercial and Advertising Art. Like Campbell's label they had to copy someone else piece and then change it slightly. Other companies require that your 'art' is to be a very similar update version. But it's still art.
_________________
Im not saying that there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but warning labels should be remove and let the problem take
care of itself.

[watmough]

i guess the distinction i'm really trying to make is between "Art" and "art"
Art to me is about human expression.tattooing is about doing a good job,NOT expressive at all.there is a big difference between technique and Art.tattooing is 100% technique.Art isnt.

[sweetums]