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Freddy Corbin dropped some absolutely amazing roses in. Boom The only big spots left on my front/torso are both ribs, a little bit under the belly button, and fill. Stoked!

To me, unless you are from Japan, and a member of a Japanese "business" family, the Japanese suit is out of place. The more you learn about the culture and the history of Japanese tattooing, the "mystery " and fantasy of the work dissolves. What's left is a very rigid culture that is out of synch with western ways. The work is no doubt beautiful when done properly. But think of this, those suits are earned within their culture. When Americans, and other westerners coop the style, the core intent of the suit in Japanese culture, has been stripped away, and we are left with surface decoration mostly derived from Chinese art and literature. I like it when westerners add their own flavor. If a westerner is making what they consider traditional Japanese work, they are posing. Even if some of your relatives lived in Japan generations ago. You are living in Japan making tattoos in that system, or, you are offering imitation Japanese traditional work. With that in Mind, there are some awesome, inspiring tattoos made by Traditional Japanese artists. And on occasion, I do some poser Japanese work myself. As a westerner, the idea of middle age men having "masters" just does not work for me. The Japanese philosopher, DT Suzuki said something to the effect..... If you want to understand Japan, you must start with India. On that note see you in a couple of weeks, time for another digital cleanse.

So, after seeing his work here on LST I decided to head down to Santa Cruz and get a piece done by Stefan Johnsson at Lovedog Tattoo a couple weeks ago. Our first stop was to the Mystery Spot. I hadn't been there since I was a little kid back in the 70's and that place is a trip. Unless standing in a dark shack on the side of a hill with your head feeling like it is going to explode is your idea of a good time...I would probably pass on the Mystery Spot. After that my wife and kids headed to the Beach Boardwalk and I went to see Stefan. The shop is cool and they are doing some amazing work in there...Stefan's stuff speaks for itself. Just incredible...I mean really insane. I noticed that Stefan recently added a photo of my arm into his gallery so you can see it here: Tattoo Picture 4 of 35 from Gallery: Tattoos by Stefan Johnsson Tattoo Gallery | Last Sparrow Tattoo All done in one session! The guy is a machine.

When I was your age we had to walk a mile in the snow, barefoot, to get tattooed. With a rusty set of needles. Then again, a backpiece was only $5.00.

Oaktown, Robin and Jake -- all meritorious pieces!! Good stuff.

here's the newest addition by our own Lizzie: all one 4 hour session. i have two that were also just done by El Brad Mariachi too while he was in town, but i'm horribly bad with remembering to photograph tattoos.

My name is David Hernandez, but since I’m in the U.S. Navy, people have started calling me Navy Davy. I’m currently stationed in San Diego, CA. I have been actively seeking a proper tattoo apprenticeship, with no luck. It’s okay though, through introducing myself to the local tattoo community and getting tattooed, I’ve been meeting great artists and have gotten nothing but great and encouraging comments on my portfolio. The only issue I’m having is that I can’t devote 100% of the time, due to my Navy schedule being in the way, which I can understand. Also, the problem is that with so many hacks and posers asking for apprenticeships, no one is being taken serious anymore. So when I ask for an apprenticeship after the posers asked, the artists are in the negative mindset and they don’t even take the time to look at my portfolio. It sucks man! Luckily, the few tattoo artists who take the time to look at my portfolio are genuinely impressed, but because of my Navy job being so unsure if I’m moving or staying in the area, they are hesitant to commit. I get it: “Give you my knowledge, and then you bounce,” makes sense why I’m not being considered for an apprenticeship. However, those same artists are cool enough to let me hang out at their shops and share some knowledge with me. I’ve been pretty frequent at some shops paint nights and I’m making great friends in the industry, so I can’t complain. I’m even selling and trading some of my flash! I love tattoos. I love the history. I love the closeness of the tattoo community. I love where it’s going and I’d like to think that down the line, I could be part of a lineage that goes back to the early days of tattooing. I want to take this time and forum to thank some people that have accepted me as an artist and not just another hack. I’d like to thank: - Fip Buchanan of Avalon II, for being the first person to deny me, but actually looking at my portfolio, then recommending I go see Mike Martin, which I did. - Mike Martin of Flesh Skin Graphix and all their crew (Susan, La Green Eyes, Crow and Drew Linden) for all the painting knowledge he’s shared with me and for the great conversations we’ve had. His apprentice Drew Linden, who introduced me to Arches Watercolor paper and a certain website (wink wink). - Luke Wessman at Lucky’s Tattoo, although he’s a busy ass person, he continues to squeeze me in for some chair time and tattoos me for unbelievable prices and his work alone continues to inspire me to pursue a career in tattoo. - Dan O’Brien of Nite Owl Tattoo and his crew (Andre Servin and Nikki), First person to invite me to paint nights at his shop. - Nemo of Midway Tattoo, who believes in me and is willing to vouch for me, only after seeing my flash for 15 minutes. It’s still hard to believe he actually said that, but he did! - Last Sparrow Tattoo for allowing me to be a part of such an amazing forum specifically for the community and industry. Best site ever! So many to thank!!! but I didn’t want to make this long, which I did. So I’ll end it now. Thanks for reading,….if you read this far that is…. -David "NavyDavy" Hernandez

welcome NavyDavy, it was really nice to meet you through your introduction and it was so nice of you to include a list of people that have impacted your life! gratitude is contagious!! i hope that everything works out for you and that you are able to get the apprenticship you are looking for!

4 sessions so far, 1 more to go.

I own a shop in a small town close to niagara falls, bein close to a tourist trap you can see the dudes jus milkin our industry for cash.. Its a bummer these guys are jus lookin at makin a quick buck , not the art, an they deffinetly wont be doing anything groundbreaking for our industry. People come in my shop all the time and are suprized when there isnt 40 flatscreens, waterfalls, 25 different t-shirts etc. Remember when people came in to get tattooed? lol Look at the damn portfolio!!I mean i cant complain tattooing has been the best thing that ever happened to me, but when i started i was even allowed to look at catologues to order my own stuff, now a kid gets denied a apprenticeship...he jus goes home an reads about it online an orders gear... Gimme the ol days