Hello from the desert southwest.

[Joshm]

I've been lurking for ages and thought I'd say hello. Ive learned a lot and followed information found here from far and wide. First tattoo at 18. Tiny one I look back on and laugh at! Youth and silliness on a whim one evening long ago. Some 20 years later I found an artist who's work I enjoy locally. After waiting months for my sessions my left thigh now complete and better then I could have imagined. This spurred the want for another! After many months more sitting on my hands my right thigh now covered as my left and I really couldn't be happier. More on deck as hours and money allows. 2014 it seems the year I learned just how much skin I have yet to go!

[Graeme]

Welcome! Have any pictures to share? Who is doing your tattoos?

[Patrick Bateman]

Welcome! What state you from?

Let's see some pics

[Joshm]

Tattooist is Lisa Cardenas here in Tucson Arizona. She owns Haunted Hands Studio. She just won the best of Tucson Weekly (our local rag) best tattoo artist in 2014. Here's a link.

Best Tattoo Artist | Lisa Cardenas Haunted Hands Studio | Fashion & Style

I'm real pleased with both pieces as they both worked out as I had hoped. I snapped pics as the process went along for others to see. Here's a photobucket link to the Tom Waits inspired one

Waits Leg Piece Photos by markireptiles | Photobucket

And here is the link to the other morphine themed one..

Morphine Leg Piece Photos by markireptiles | Photobucket

Hope these links work as I'm still figuring out photobucket and this forum. I like the music both of these two make and really hate page long text tattoos that you can't read so I took a lyric line from each and built the tattoo around them. Not super traditional but what i wanted and like I mentioned before there is room for more tattoos ahead!

[SStu]

I'm still figuring out photobucket and this forum.

Capture the direct link within the "gear" on the photobucket picture. Click on the "insert image" icon at the top of your reply pane and drop your link there. Done!

[Joshm]

Thanks! I'll give it a try..

[Joshm]

Success! Thanks. Right thigh.

- - - Updated - - -

And the left..

[Patrick Bateman]

Does this style have a name?

[Joshm]

Hi Patrick. To be honest I wouldn't know and perhaps others could chime in on style. I brought the ideas along with images for both of these tattoos. I made clear to her I wanted to play with disassociative images so things like size and scale weren't as relevant as the overall end result. With the Tom Waits one I knew to the letter how I wanted it to look. With the Morphine one I gave her the ferris wheel, lantern fly (I'm a herpetologist by profession but love insects) and lyric. Beyond that I just let her design and tattoo as she pleased.

[marley mission]

really dig both pieces - awesome stuff joshm!

[SeeSea]

Really nice pieces, I like both of them! There's a lot going on there and you just keep looking and find more stuff.

[Joshm]

Thanks guys! Scheduled some more time in the chair today. Going to add another insect or two I think. I'll have some time to sort the where and what a bit more as she's booked till April so I'll be planning till then.

[Rikhall]

Does this style have a name?

It kind of reminds me of trash polka

[Joshm]

Being that I'm Polish and familiar with polka i still haven't a clue what "trash polka" has to do with tattoos? Ice cubes and beer, wooden shoes and pirogies sure but a tattoo style? Lol. Yea I kinda see some similarities though mine have more black and outline then most in that style and are of a less graphic design vibe I'd say.

[SeeSea]

Thread: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-designs-books-flash/1308-trash-polka.html

Yeah, I can see the trash polka element, but yours (at least to me) seem to have more personal content and are more cohesive. Some of the trash polka is more abstract than that, and I think I've posted elsewhere that sometimes it looks like it dominates the body rather than being part of the body. The tattoo owns the person rather than the other way around. I think it is a neat art form, but not always as successful as a tattoo than it is on a flat canvas.