Custom, vs Flash tattooer...

Today, at Hope A question was posed to one of us. Outlined something like this: "Playing Devils Advocate, some critics may say that Flash should be discouraged to avoid multiple people having the same tattoo. What would be your response?" Well, I can honestly say that the question Cracked the fuck outta me. IM not certain what "Critics" the individual meant (But a couple of groups come to mind). But I can only guess that a handful of individuals out there would probably agree. And that it was aggravates me the most. Its seems that the "Flash Artist" quickly seems to becoming a thing of the past. Or at least thats what many young tattooists would like to see happen. I think that the idea of a flash shop. A good flash shop is a thing taken for granted, and that not enough young tattooists put enough time in one. Lets face it we seem to be working in a time of Custom shops, and a ton of wanna be, custom tattooists. I say wanna be, because a lot of these tattooers would benefit greatly from producing a bit of flash tattoos. More and more often, young tattooers will ask me for a critique of there work. and I find my self more often than not, recommending that they stop trying to create custom tattoos, and stick with just good flash tattoos. Many of these artists complain about being in a shop where all the flash is outdated, and shitty. I respond with, go out a buy your own Damn flash. Put it in a book, and show that to your clients. Flash art has been around for as long as there have been tattooers. There has always been a need to show the clients what is available to them. It also gives the artists a chance to experiment with idea, and even fine tune these ideas, and make the art better, before going to the skin. I know that in the early years of my career I produced over 100 sheets of flash, and consider myself a better artist for having done so. Young tattooers need to realize that being a flash tattooer, or getting your chops in, in a flash shop isn't a bad thing. That putting the time in doing this can only make one a better tattooer. I think above all that a young tattooer should excel at all styles. If I hear of one more tattooer who's only been at it a year or so say. "Oh I don't do color, only black & grey". Shit, you should do it all. Thats what being a tattooer is about. There will be plenty of time to specialize. But when starting out, one should do it all, and do it well. I think that it should also be stated that having a so called "Custom Tattoo", does not necessarily guarantee one, a one of a kind piece. Speaking as a tattooer, who's work has been plagiarized more times than I can count. All it takes is for your work to be on line, or published in a magazine, and Whammo! yours custom work has now become the Flash of some dumb ass who doesn't seem to know any better. Just my shit talkin, and shitty opinion. Feel free to leave yours...