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Apparently I'm not the only one in the household who's into LST :D

They certainly are. I started off with one, now I've got five. I couldn't agree more about neutering. Heres a typical evening with my wife.

Casper is currently living with me. Sleep mode.. Took this one while he was yawning. Kinda scary looking..

Allana - I've wanted to do agility since i got GB i think she'd be so good! your x-stitches are awesome! also, here's my GB tattoo... sorry for the photo quality, it's hard to take a picture of your own arm haha... I hope this photo works.. it's from my personal flickr folder, that other people can't see... I should mention the dog tattoo was done by Jeff Cribb of Hero Tattoo in South Carolina. He's reallllly into dogs and owns about 7 I think. He is also the reason why I have my dog. It was through his friend who breeds working and show dogs that I got mine. If anyone is wondering the rose above it is from Eli Quinters at Smith St in New York City

Sigh, This discussion never really goes anywhere when it's over-analysed but I can't resist adding my 2p. With regards to tattooing, it's more of a moral issue -something you feel is right or wrong. From my point of view copyright exists and is useful purely from a financial point of view. To protect or safeguard earnings. Intellectual copyright does the same thing, it just doesn't need as much paperwork. I shudder at the thought of copy written tattoo designs. Actually, most of the better designs/ideas/compositions are folk art, like nursery rhymes or bedtime stories. The best ones are archetypes and you can't copyright them. If you understand the mechanics of logic and use it's arguments to your advantages, you can 'prove' that black is white. I see many theoretical discussions (such as this) in the same manner. It doesn't matter how much you talk about it and offer examples, the true result doesn't change, regardless how the argument turns out. Tattooing doesn't need copyright. We stole it all anyway. The more honest of us will pass it on to someone else.

Mix it up I suppose but I don't think there is any way around getting a bunch of animal tattoos. Panthers, Sharks, Eagles, Tigers, Snakes etc are what tattoos are supposed to be IMO and you can never have too many of them if they are done well. Granted Daggers, Roses, Pinups are good too but what makes a dagger better........having it go through a panther head with a snaked wrapped around the handle. I rest my case.

Great thread for sure -where would we be without out little mates .Ursula i really feel for you being separated from GB ,we have a similar system here ,anyone planning on taking my boy better call in loads of back-up ...anyway must be akin to hell for ya .Since I don't have a Sampson tattoo I'll post a cool Pitbull-staff drawing done for black and grey whizz kid Pint .Sampson also has many names (we're crazy kids) but let me introduce him by his full tittle Sampson Marlon Grimbone ....

oh and, i have my second interview today to be a kitten nursery caregiver! if i get the job, i'll be in charge of taking care of 12 litters of kittens, all under 8 weeks, as part of a new pilot program at our local Humane Society. Jackson's already come up with a name for me, "Robin Doolin, kitten cuddler!" i told him it made me sound like i was a detective haha. the program is to help also educate people on the importance of spaying and neutering their cats!

that's a pretty cute bunny tattoo! And this thread is awesome! This is my dog who I haven't been able to see since January as I'm stuck in Canada and Staffordshire Bull Terriers are on the banned dog breed list here. I hope these photos work as I'm just taking them off my Facebook.. Her name is G.B. and this is the one puppy my dog had (yup just one) and this is our other dog, she's really my dude's dog as he's had her longer than he's had me! Her name is Carmen I do have a tattoo of GB on the back of my arm, I'll try to get a photo of it!

this is the tribute to Henry that i've posted about before. loved that little dude.

over half of my tattoos have animals in them, and i'm about to have a sleeve of animals. i don't think there can ever be too many if those are the designs you want.

I just got a call from Jeff Zuck, letting me know that my name was up on his waiting list. I booked in to get tattooed by him three weeks from today, and by Tomek Szumiec (who'll be guesting at Name Brand) the day after. I'm so unbelievably geeked about it, and now I'm having a really tough time getting any work done this afternoon. Just have to figure out what I want to get from Tomek...

Yeah the typing "lyk dis" annoys me so much. "ay wat u chrge 4 a siqq tat lyk daT?" ..worst. I also got called a "trad guy" the other day. irritating.

Ursula, your dog tattoo is amazingly beautiful! the Eli Quinters piece is awesome as well, i really love his work and hope that one day i can get something from him. dogs have so much personality and just by being themselves they bring so much joy to our lives and i got to say it really hit that spot when i saw your picture of the your dog stack! hahaha what does G.B. stand for if anything? the puppy is so precious, did you keep it or sell it? Agility is so much fun!!!! if you end up coming down town and have time for a coffee or cold drink id be happy to tell you all about it!

I got this idea from Shawns thread on his new "bundle of Joy" where he announced he was adopting this cute italian grey hound. i know im not the only one who loves talking about their pets so please share away. heres a little explaination of my pictures. DEPRESSING STOREY WARNING: the first one is of Joia (joy-a, this is the portugues slang word for treasure/jewels) she was my first portuguese water dog. i rescued her from a hell hole of a living situation. i got her at the age of 1 yr and she lived with me and my family until she passed 7 months later. unfortunately she was born very very sick and by the time we found out something was wrong it was too late. sorry for the sad storey but thats life!!! the 2nd and 3rd is of Avelan my current dog. we showed her within Canada and she got her championship with 4 weeks, we are so proud of her. now that shes sterealized we cant show her anymore so we've moved on to training in agility. its so much fun and shes got so much talent and ability!! lastly are some pictures of cross stitch pieces i did. i do this in my free time because it keeps my hands busy and i think its as close as im gonna get to art of any kind becasue i dont draw anymore.

So we've got a lady head thread, how about an entire lady body thread! Here's one that I've always liked! It's by Mike Wilson. And if you knew the guy in the photo, please know I mean no disrespect by posting this, he was a friend of mine to, and he had and did some awesome tattoos. I really like the simplicity of the design. The shading is so minimal yet so effective.

This is a thread for our pets! most of us know that our pets can be very dear to us and it is not uncommon to see portrait tattoos of ones pet. i hope that people will open up and share stories, pictures and tattoos of their loved ones, past and present. i didnt know where this topic should end up, i was debating between where it is now and Random Crap but since it has to do with pet tattoos i figured its just as relavent here!

I had a guy come in a few months ago asking for snowflakes on his nose. After about 20 minutes of me asking "are you sure? thats your NOSE man." (the guy only had one other tattoo, a tiger on his forearm) He seemed perfectly sober and willing to commit to his nose tattoo, so I finally said fuck it and got set up. I decided to just draw em on with sharpie, so i drew actual snowflake shapes from the bridge of his nose to his nostrils and he didnt like it, he wanted them smaller so i wound up just doing the traditional stars and dots all over his nose. He took a break about every 3 stars and kept saying "next time i need a drink before this shit! damn!" After about an hour of "add one more here, make this one bigger" I was finally done with this guy, took his money, the end? Nope! The guy comes in WASTED 2 weeks later wanting a touch up, I told him he was too drunk and to come back when he was sober. So he comes back a couple weeks later, seemed a little tipsy but coherent enough. This time he wants his snowflakes covered up, because he was getting funny looks. He wanted me to put brown over it to match his skin color. i told him it wouldnt work but he insisted and had cash, so i get set up again and packed brown into this guys nose. Bridge to nostrils. He must've slammed a 5th of something while i was setting up because he wound up passing out drunk in the chair, we had to throw his ass out of the shop, he winds up passing out while leaning on one of those smokers pole things we have outside the shop, its snowing outside, he's in a t-shirt, puking all over the sidewalk. We're yelling at him to leave. Eventually the cops came and apparently he assaulted the cops and had to be taken away in an ambulance. So now this guy is walking around with snowflakes on his nose thats a shade browner than the rest of his face. That was the most ridiculous walk in I've had so far. Because of that I dont tattoo faces anymore. Unless its another tattooer.

This shop came up on google. FUJIYAMA TATTOO/L“‡@ŽhÂ@ƒ^ƒgƒD[ You could also e-mail some shops in Japan and ask for a referral. ThreeTidesTattoo | ƒXƒŠ[ƒ^ƒCƒY ƒ^ƒgƒD[ | ‘åãE“Œ‹ž SWORD OF REBEL by ’¤‚¬‚ñbƒ^ƒgƒD[(ŽhÂ)ƒXƒ^ƒWƒI/–¼ŒÃ‰®E‘å{ƒGƒŠƒA [ TOP ] Rico & Shion speak english * DARUMA-GOYA * TOLCHOCK TATTOO KING RAT TATTOO Harizanmai CHOPSTICK TATTOO - top- kodt-top ????? TOSHI TATTOO ART STUDIO

This is the boy.

they're gorgeous!

Skunx Tattoo Parlour, Tokyo, Japan. YELLOW BLAZE TATTOO STUDIO shiges shop yokohama japan

I don't know much about Japan but I do know about Tokyo Horo. I'm assuming because of his name his shop is in toyko. He does traditional American style tattooing and he's really really good. I'm not sure if he does Japanese style but he would know who does. I hope that helps you out a bit. I'm on my phone or I'd google his shop for you but if you just google his name I'm sure you'll find it :)

Iwar has death metal kitty. This thread rules, I'm just gonna go ahead and like each post. My lady and I haven't been able to have pets due to the apartment we're in, and we actually had a really terrible experience when we adopted a cat a couple years ago, which was really just a huge all-out bummer, but that's not really relevant. Can't wait to move to a place where we can have pets! Ideally, dogs. And you know cats always show up sooner or later. Alanna, awesome stories, great cross-stitching! MsRad, henry tattoo is rad. (Named after Rollins>?) Ursula, nice one! I recognize that rose from Eli, too! Jade..crazy cat people! Perez actually did a great dog tattoo on our buddy Pete, hope he shares it. And pictures of his awesome gatos.

Yeah it's a bad time for all of us. Not only do we speak about the good ol' days, but those days we are talking about ain't even in our life time... Well at least not mine. Men gotta become men again. Maybe start a program that every 20 year old male starts a 2 year corse. 6 months field work, 6 months outdoor training (camping, and yes 6 months of it), 6 months trade skill building, and the last 6 months put'em far away from home with a few tools and make him find his way back home. Guess that last one will take some guys longer then 6 months. I wouldn't say half the globe though, maybe 20 percent.

Valerie Vargas has got a really great tattoo of a Pug (I think) on her gallery. I've thought about getting something to commemorate my four dearly departed Siamese cats. I've seen very few paintings/tattoos that do justice to these beautiful creatures. I might just get four small tattoos with thier names on.

I like to imagine that Valerie and Stewart sit around sipping Earl Grey, sketching horses while (ok, whilst) old episodes of The Young Ones play in the background.

I'm going to be in Toronto tomorrow evening till Saturday evening.. not sure yet on what's all going on but I will let you know :) GB stands for many things including Gravity Bong, Gross Breath, Garbage Butt and I'm sure a few more I'm forgetting. Her name from the breeder was Jezebelle and I wasn't really into that.. The puppy went to the guy who owned the stud, his stud came from the same breeder as my dog and was very old and close to passing away and all he wanted was a puppy from him so since she only had one puppy it went to him. The dog stack is one of the funniest things I've seen. They just stared at us like 'what, nothing's going on here' It's pretty awesome that you have a champion dog, one day I might get a dog for showing.

Jeff Cribb is a great dude!

As far as I know, if you book enough in advance it shouldn't be a problem. I think all you have to do is call the shop but I'm sure Dari could let you know better than I about that.

As someone who dates people in that age range, I'll listen just to gain a better insight into my girlfriend's mind. :)

Yeah outside the tattoo shop I am the illustrated man, but at the shop I am just a guy with a few tattoos. Funny how perspective changes. The more tattooed i get the more empty space I see.

Petri, great article, we're lucky to have you on here. Regarding the question, "how did you decide to cover yourself", I've never made that decision. I've been super selective and slow about the whole process, and I've never set out with the intention of being "heavily tattooed." However, to the casual non-bodysuited observer, I seem to have crossed that line. But the more tattooers I get to know and love, and the more spectacular artwork I see, the more I want. I also feel like it's the custom of my tribe. Having two young kids, and not a lot of opportunity to travel, the pieces will come slowly, but I suspect I'll go to my grave in a full bodysuit. (Or I'll make a fabulous suitcase.)

first off, sorry about the post above, it was a total fail!! anyway Iwar we are for sure on the same wavelength here becasue i was thinking about the exact same horse yesterday and i was going to post it but i thought let me double check with valerie first. i was very please that she said yes!!! so here it is!

Love Steve Boltz sentiments about "custom " work ,I want a design that everyone has cause its a tried and trusted classic .I was meaning to include custom in the irritating slang terms ,for me its right up there with free-hand .

color study for an in progress back piece...the tattoo is soo much better but no pics until complete.

I remember visiting Spider Web's shop on Broadway near Union Square Park.What a character..He always had young girls at his shop just hanging out.Those were the days where everyone was underground.I remember i called east side ink to find out their location.They told me to go to a certain phone booth which was near their shop and call them so they could see me,and then they told me where the shop was.I remember walking down the stairs to the basement studio,and there was no flash on the wall,just tattoos drawn up hanging in the hall,and in each artists room.What a magical place that shop was.

This tattoo was done on my boss Ross Ferrie by Pinky Yun in 1982. Ross always tells this story of getting this dragon along with many others of Pinky. Pinky basically dipped a toothipick in some black ink gave himself a few reference points and just started tattooing on his arm. Ross admits he wasn't so sure at the time but the end result turned out. The other photo is Ross and Pinky in 1982 and a painting our friend Ashley did for Ross shortly after Pinky's death. Note Ashley painted this while in New Zealand only from what he remembered it looking like.

Doc Webb, San Diego 1964

Mike and Richard as everyone has already said are the best at panthers hands down. Richard can do literally any animal though, with no reference other than his brain, and not use a stencil either.. it's retarded.. this is an in progress shot of my mike wilson panther (also seen in the back piece thread)

bob baxter is a failed banjo player who happens to look just like angela landsberry from murder she wrote and is a total uncle tom of tattooing.oh and mario barth blows too.

It's sad tattooing in general has gone this way. Honestly I don't think anyone is going to stop this show from airing and I think it will be watched. I will however, talk about why I think it's crap to my friends and clients ( anyone who cares about my two cents) but I'm not going to shove it down their throats. And I do believe that anyone who wants to get into tattooing will, but I personally will not contribute. There are too many tattooers as is. The fact is tattooing is bigger than anyone could have imagined and it'll probably be decades until it dies off a bit, and by that time you'll probably be able to get certified online over a weekend. This shit isn't new. I remember tattooers getting huck Spaulding certificates by ordering supplies, did it make a difference? No. Are people going to get bad tattoos and make bad decisions? Yes. I think the best thing to do is concentrate on what we do, and do it well, or at least to the best of our abilities.

So mine would be considered a re-work rather than a cover up... i got it re-done within one year of getting the tattoo and you'll see why... originally done by Dave Gibson (yes THE dave gibson) and re-done by Mike Wilson sorry for the horrid photo quality of the before, but it didn't look any better in person haha and after the entire experience was bad, from him (dave not mike) refusing to do the tattoo in the spot i wanted, to making sounds like an injured man after every line he pulled.. but thankfully it was fixable and you can't even tell it was a shitter at first

Mario Barth, Angelina Jolie, Shaq and the director from Miami Ink are more influential to tattooing than Bob Roberts??!! Someone should kick Bob Baxter in his pussy! I can't believe I just got sucked into that. FML

I don't have any cover-ups on my body but I tattoo a hell of a lot of them. Most of the larger work that I do (bigger than 1/2 sleeve) usually incorporates some kind of cover-up. I started to make a point of NOT taking a 'before' picture. Sometimes I do, but I found that the cover-up requests got bigger and bigger the more cover-ups I showed. Covering a half sleeve sized tattoo with a full sleeve compromises the end product but I sometimes enjoy the challenge and the problem-solving aspect of it. This is one of the more tricky ones from last year or so, when I used to take 'before' photos: I got an email today asking if I could cover a full sleeve - with a sleeve.

on my partner kayla. done by scott harrison.

Really great Robin. I think the idea you're getting at extends beyond tattooing and photography though... I think what you're really getting at is the nature of the art of creation. I've been thinking about this a lot anyways and here's how I look at it... There are people who have immense fantasy world's (CREATIVE VISION) in their head but cannot articulate/illustrate/convey/EXECUTE what they have seen in their head. Similarly, there are people with a photographic memory of sorts- they can see/hear/taste something in the outside world (no CREATIVE VISION) and recreate/EXECUTE it beautifully. And then there's a range of people in between (the greys) who are skilled in various amounts of both Creative Vision and Execution. For most art forms, the perfect melding of creative vision and execution is where we see greatness. There are forms however like still life painting where execution is revered. Similarly there are forms like stream of consciousness writing where creative vision is revered. But what we're concerned about in the realm of tattooing is definitely the combination of creative vision and execution. Most of us want to see original, well thought art in a professionally done manner. Technique/execution can be learned with practice/work. Creative vision on the other hand is much less teachable and is therefore much more mystical/less tangible (I.E. what you're referencing with Christenberry, Robin.) By the way, what I'm discussing is not limited to art forms either. It can be applied to any human pursuit that requires ingenuity and performance.