japanese tattoos

bungaro

hi,
have been thinking about getting a tattoo for a while now and really like the look of japanese tattoos that i've seen on tv (la/miami ink, etc). i'm down in cork so am wondering if theres anyone good who does stuff like that down here or is dublin my best bet?? i'm a total novice when it comes to this kinda stuff so any advice would be greatly appreciated! i'm just looking for something that could go maybe on the back on my shoulder.

SeeBach

I have been thinking of getting a japanese tattoo myself - a whole sleeve to be exact.. how much would I be looking at? I was looking to get koi Fish with some floral designs, in color of course I heard that JMDs in Waterford is good, especially Joe who runs it.

truthinwords

Karen Russell in Middleton does really nice Japanese work.

krystel

if i were you i would just go to my local tattoo parlour, explain what i'm thinking of getting inked and see what they can come up with.

then again i would never get tattooed in ireland (no offence intended). i have never seen any artist in ireland i would actually trust with my body. the vast majority of tattoos i've seen in Ireland are extremely mediocre and have no artistic value whatsoever.

if you're not prepared to travel abroad or if you are short with money, i would recommend Keith. his studio is up North in carrickfergus: http://tattoo.tv/social/keithimo/albums/1948

Diceicle

Art Tattoo - nice work but expensive @ €150 per hour.
Jani in Prime tattoo - Great artist, back to doing deadly tattoos, though he's leaving the country soon so I wouldn't start anything big.
Joe Myler of JMD's Waterford.
I've not seen any of Karen Russels Jap work but she's a well thought of tattooist in Ireland.

eviltimeban

On the 150 an hour thing in Art Tattoo - if you're getting a big work done like a sleeve (so are a regular customer) the lads will sort you out price wise I'd say. I got a sleeve done there and Michele was very good with the way he charged. Not saying he'll do that for everyone, but my experience around that area was very positive.

bungaro

thanks for the replies so far everyone.
is it possible to go in with a picture of your own (like from a book) and they do it?? again i really haven't a clue and want to sound some bit like i have a clue before i call into a shop!

LD 50

Yea, that would be no problem for a tattooist. Alot of people do it that way. They'll use your image, and any ideas you or they have, and come up with something for you.

Star Lord

LD 50 wrote: »

Yea, that would be no problem for a tattooist. Alot of people do it that way. They'll use your image, and any ideas you or they have, and come up with something for you.

^ If you let them know that the image is just a starting point for the idea. Most tattoo artists will assume that if you give them an image without saying you want them to just use it as a starting point for their own ideas, that you want the image as it is in the image you hand them.

Jimmy Trigger

SeeBach wrote: »

I have been thinking of getting a japanese tattoo myself - a whole sleeve to be exact.. how much would I be looking at? I was looking to get koi Fish with some floral designs, in color of course I heard that JMDs in Waterford is good, especially Joe who runs it.

This is one that Joe did years ago on me.
He is defo the dogs dangly bits FO SHOOO...
I wanted more of a cartoon Koi,
He did it perfect, amazing detail in the scales.
Looks great healed now. Must take afew better pic's

dingdong1

krystel wrote: »

i would never get tattooed in ireland...

if you're not prepared to travel abroad or if you are short with money, i would recommend Keith. his studio is up North in carrickfergus: http://tattoo.tv/social/keithimo/albums/1948

no offense now, but these days there's plenty of irish artists that can do work of a much higher calibre than that...

truthinwords

It depends what sort of Japanese tattoo you want you could go with Jani/Remis and get a portrait/realism take on Japanese subject manner which isn't strictly speaking Japanese tattooing. You could go with some of the more nuskool options like Joe Myler/Darren in Colourworks or Tommy in Classic/Karen Russell who do traditional Japanese with black background windbars/waves the way it would be done in Japan. I'm not saying one options better then the next but for me I'd opt for the traditional Japanese.

krystel

dingdong1 wrote: »

no offense now, but these days there's plenty of irish artists that can do work of a much higher calibre than that...

I'd like to know who then because i havent seen any of them in the past 4 years....

Raze_them_all

krystel wrote: »

I'd like to know who then because i havent seen any of them in the past 4 years....

Then you haven't traveled much tbh

dingdong1

krystel wrote: »

I'd like to know who then because i havent seen any of them in the past 4 years....

ross nagle; http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=398892303&albumID=1333145&imageID=28047736#a=1333145&i=28635547
jani; http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=69624705&albumID=327543&imageID=52079986
justin russell; http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=68187211&albumID=2346554&imageID=35740590#a=2346554&i=35740590
joe myler; http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=251069011&albumID=476728&imageID=13514562

Raze_them_all

^^^ is on boards^^^

enniscorthybhoy

krystel wrote: »

if i were you i would just go to my local tattoo parlour, explain what i'm thinking of getting inked and see what they can come up with.

then again i would never get tattooed in ireland (no offence intended). i have never seen any artist in ireland i would actually trust with my body. the vast majority of tattoos i've seen in Ireland are extremely mediocre and have no artistic value whatsoever.

if you're not prepared to travel abroad or if you are short with money, i would recommend Keith. his studio is up North in carrickfergus: http://tattoo.tv/social/keithimo/albums/1948

last time i checked ,, pal,, carrickfergus is in Ireland:mad:

Jimmy Trigger

The word SERVED comes to mind,hahahaha...

Robbies dragon back piece is sweet.

Star Lord

Carrickfergus is on this island, anyone wanting to dispute land ownership or any political sh!t can take it elsewhere. Any arguing or baiting or anything along those lines or even discussion of this will result in a two week ban. It's not why we're here.

bungaro

truthinwords wrote: »

It depends what sort of Japanese tattoo you want you could go with Jani/Remis and get a portrait/realism take on Japanese subject manner which isn't strictly speaking Japanese tattooing. You could go with some of the more nuskool options like Joe Myler/Darren in Colourworks or Tommy in Classic/Karen Russell who do traditional Japanese with black background windbars/waves the way it would be done in Japan. I'm not saying one options better then the next but for me I'd opt for the traditional Japanese.

this is great truthinwords, cheers mate. i didn't really know there was a difference between japanese tattoos but i'd say i'd be more into the traditional too. i know karen russell is in midleton but are the rest in cork or are they somewhere else??? i really like the japanese dragons i've seen but again i'd love to know if theres someplace i could see a different range of japanese tattoos online (doing a google search just brings up so much i don't know where to look really!!).

truthinwords

Karens in Cork, Joe Mylers in Waterford and all the rest are in Dublin.

Traditional Japanese-
It's all about the black background and simple bright colours, this particular piece is by Ian Flower of Newskool Tattoo and Frith Street in London.

Newskool- the dragon backpiece further up the page would be newskool Japanese it's a lot more dynamic then the traditional stuff and would use a lot more colours.

the portrait/realism stuff is literally like recreating a photograph of Japanese subject matter if you asked Jani for a koi it'd look like a real fish as opposed to the trad piece I posted above.

For me the traditional stuff is the way to go and will probably age better then the other two options but it is a matter of taste. I really like the traditional option because the background looks so solid and covers a lot of skin. That said the only Japanese stuff I currently have on me is realism/portrait but if I was starting again I'd go the other route.

bungaro

great stuff again truthinwords, thanks for the explaination as thats after clearing up alot of questions for me. might take a trip down to karen some day (i assume that you call into to look at someones portfolio?!) and she what she has

Splinter

generally yes, i've never been to this studio myself but most places will show you work no problem especially if they think your smart and doing your research, respect goes a long way i find with artists

truthinwords

http://www.myspace.com/karenrusselltattoos

she's got a few Japanese pieces up there.

Diceicle

Her japanese work looks great.

bungaro

had a look there on her myspace and her work looks great. last question (i hope!) when you're getting a tattoo is it chared by the hour?? if so, any who has been to karen, how much does she charge an hour?? most of my tattoo knowledge is gotten from watching tv!

Diceicle

bungaro wrote: »

had a look there on her myspace and her work looks great. last question (i hope!) when you're getting a tattoo is it chared by the hour?? if so, any who has been to karen, how much does she charge an hour?? most of my tattoo knowledge is gotten from watching tv!

The hourly rate is a rough guide, some artists will give you a fixed price based on an estimated time of completion for your tattoo. I'd expect Karen to be around 120 p/h.

BearHughes