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Here is a nice Higgs tattoo I found recently. It was tattooed by him, not someone else tattooing his flash.

the police always take pictures of mine

Did the hot towel trick a few weeks ago on my shin and it seemed to help the healing. Not much scabbing, quick and easy! In other news, killer bear head on the knee tattooed by Mr. Robert Ryan he posted on his blog. Find his blog here.

So close to being done... Probably going to get this finished in February. Done in Trafficanti d'Arte in Milan, where Ching was guesting.

CaptCanada is now CaptFuckBucks

I was running around the lake the other day (shirtless, duh) and OPD was posting outside of their cars drinking coffee and bullshitting (as always). As I was running by I couldnt help but notice that they were pointing at me like I was either: A: and ex-con B: they liked my tattoos C: they were into dudes, and thought I was hot. D: they were pointing at the hot chicks running behind me and didnt give a shit about me. Id like to think it was B/C/.

Ok, I have a spelling problem. Please dont hold it against me.

There are a lot of people who want the experience of having a tattoo, to have the story of getting a tattoo, but not have the responsibility of having one. It seems like that is actually a huge portion of clients lately. All you can do is treat them well, offer them the best advice you can, give them all the info, and either you don't do the tattoo, or you explain touch ups on things like this aren't free, and give them a clean tattoo to the best of your ability. You might be able to turn them into a person who had a good enough experience that they want more tattoos in the future. Treat 'em well, cover your ass, and take the business.

we can look into certain member groups changing usernames...i think it will be fun

here you go lochlan. the face and hands are finished on the mary! i should have a picture as the tattoo is 4 years old.

I know a lot of the time folks complain about receiving negative comments from the non-tattooed about being tattooed. I get my share of stares, but have ever you gotten any compliments from the general population that just made you smile? Normally on the positive side I get "I love {This/That} tattoo", or "Was that done locally?" I smile, nod and answer politely. Not that I ever gave a shit what other people think of me, but I've gotten "You know, you just wouldn't look right without the tattoos." (or words to that effect) on three separate occasions recently. It just made me feel really good.

Ideally every day. once a month works though.

Once a week if I could. Problem is I don't want to run out of skin!

best shot of Frank's praying hands i know of...

Ha, when I went to see my Dr. the other week, she hadn't seen me in a while and with her French/NY accent she said, "Shit, you have all these last time? I don't even freakin' remember! Looks great though."

On a similar note,

@Johhny I have type two diabetes and part of my daily medication is low dose aspirin. I don't take on the day of the tattoo. I figure missing it for one day isn't going to affect my health and aspirin does thin the blood. Generally speaking I don't mind the sight of blood as long as it's not mine.:D

The Kvelertak one is so gorgeous.

i have lots of freckles and a lady head on my arm and she has freckles too

From his blog:

I had to put mine down last week because it ate ANOTHER one of my children.

Just go get it done.

How about trading your Pitbull in for one of these MFs

I love his work. I actually own two of the paintings in that portfolio. His lady is a fibre artist like me so obviously I have mad respect for her too. Let me go see if I can find some images of her work..... Ok found some stuff on her Facebook page.. She does free hand machine embroidery (some machines are programmed and all you do is press start, hers she actually guides to make the drawings). Her name is Meghan McAleavy If you were at the tattoo convention a couple weeks ago in SF and saw Robert's banner, she made that too.

Julian Beever Edgar Müller - Metanamorph and this is from kurt wenner

@RoryQ, pretty obvious statement but your back looks fantastic dude!

See: Uncle Allan

If you got a dollar on ya, I can make you less confused then you've ever been baby.

more images here. tumblr.com/ they look like this....

this is hilarious! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYLMTvxOaeE

I almost think it would be funnier if other forum members came up with your title.

I'm frequent a guitar board...we have custom titles...most of them come from crazy posts people make...like "squidpants" might have been one, or "warped tour body suit"... they are fun

One more sitting and this puppy should be complete.

It's similar to the "hot soak" method that's popular in Japan. About an hour after I get tattooed, I get the water as hot as I can stand it and either take a hot shower or soak in a hot bath for about 10 minutes. It usually hurts worse than the tattoo itself, at least at first, but the pain subsides fairly quickly. I've had great results with healing tattoos this way.

Not sure if this is your style, but perhaps someone will come across the thread title and be interested. I found this pretty awesome blog, Amelie's (still) Untitled Blog, which has a couple of posts about getting a knee tattoo. She runs a tattoo shop in Copenhagen, with her husband, who is a tattooer. Here are the specific links: Amalie's (still) Untitled Blog: Remember that time i asked Shige to tattoo a bunch of flowers on my knee? Amalie's (still) Untitled Blog: Four out of four It's a really cool blog, as well, in my top ten.

Cat heads seems to be a good fit for knee-designs. I especially like these: Jim Sylvia Valerie Vargas

Man, everybody already used my smart-ass answers but the Greg Irons quip was funnier than I could have come up with. But back to the original question. This is one of the newer approaches to tattooing that makes me slightly uncomfortable to be honest. Myself and a few tattooers I know and work with have noticed the trend of customers finding a sense of pride in how long they had to wait for their tattoo. As if that makes the tattoo more worthwhile. With some of the currently living/working tattooers mentioned in this thread, I personally know people (not even on the internet) that have tattoos from all of them. Filip, Horiyoshi III, Shige and Mike Rubendall. Yeah, they had to wait a little while for some of them but not as long as you'd think for others. Mike Roper is a different situation because he makes it deliberately difficult to get in touch with him, which answers the question posed above. But that wasn't really the question that was asked and it's rarely the question that gets asked. The question, or at least the implication, is "who has the longest waiting list' or "who has appointments booked furthest into the future". If I were to be snarky "who gives me the most bragging rights". For me the hardest people to get a tattoo from are the tattooers who are located furthest away from me. The ones where I have to get off my ass and do something about it. Time is easier to overcome than distance although patience is a different matter. It astonishes me that people call our shop from the outskirts of the city expecting us to change the way we work because they are catching a train to get here. On the other hand, we are humbled and honoured by the people who cross seas and continents to get tattooed regularly with us. But that's aside from the issue. Why is it a trend that makes me uncomfortable? Because I've heard people brag about how long they had to wait for 'x' artist and wear that information like a badge of honour. It feels almost as distasteful as bragging about who charges the most. Yeah, tattoos are for tough guys and tough buys like to brag and maybe that seems harmless, but it makes me uncomfortable and I have trouble clearly explaining why. Maybe it's because it's a phenomenon spurred on by the internet and the gossipy world of hearsay. Nobody calls and checks with the artists or shops they want to get tattooed at. Nobody travels down to the shop to ask the question. They just ask random strangers on the internet who have a lot of time on their hands and like to talk about something they know nothing about. Then the reality gets lost or twisted and in the end the real information is lost. I see this a lot with regards to the shop I work at. Forums are (or certainly used to be) bursting with 'facts' about how much we charge, how long we take, how far 'x' and 'y' are booked or how long their waiting lists are. Nobody calls the shop to ask and nobody suggests that the person calls to ask. I know that happens with a lot of things but it seems like this is starting to have a real-world effect, however small. People who wanted tattoos that we would love to do heard that we wouldn't tattoo them at our shop because we were so cool and busy and booked up for decades and rolling around in money 'n' bitches or something. We've heard of this a few times and it seems to be happening more. Yeah, we're busy, you may have to wait a little, maybe not. If someone has contact information, especially a phone number on their website it means that they want you to call. I'm not really going to touch on the tone of the "are they a fad or are they really worth it?" comment, except to say that if you have to ask, the answer is "no". Sorry to jump on this fun thread with a rant. I look forward to more witty quips.