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I wasn't sure it was eligible considering one of the creators of the site made this tattoo (and it's only an outline), but as per @Lochlan's suggestion I'm submitting this one: Done by Scott Sylvia of Blackheart Tattoo in SF.

Sorry for keeping this off-topic... @Dr Benway you just did. I said this a week ago to someone else: Just get tattooed. But in a nutshel: 1) Tattoos get old, they fade and spread. 2) The skin reacts by bleeding a little. A bigger nutshel: 1) Your body doesn't want tattoo pigment inside it so your skin tries to break down any foreign object that's introduced. When it can't it forms a protective layer between the foreign substance and your body to prevent it from migrating into your system and vital organs. Obviously humans get old and as tissue ages it's properties alter a little and systems fail to perform as well as they once did, so the protective layer recedes slightly and the foreign body has slightly more real estate than it originally did. Your body has more success with some pigments than others. This isn't to do with the colour, it's more to do with the chemical and mineral composition of the pigment. This isn't an event, it takes decades. (I fear I've opened that same can of worms about "what's tattoo ink made of?" again. - please find that old thread and read it instead of asking me). If you want to know how your skin reacts to sharp trauma in general I'm sure google would be more helpful than I ever could. I only have just enough 'bothered' to talk about the bits that pertain to tattooing. 2) Your skin bleeds when it's punctured in an effort to flush out foreign bodies that attempt to enter through the skin. Your pain receptors signal to your brain that you need to pay attention to the area under attack so you can flee or fight. (You can't do either while getting tattooed, you also have to be quiet) To assist in the flight or fight response your body produces extra adrenaline. That's useless to you while you're getting tattooed and the flood of adrenaline can make you feel faint or light-headed. This is why it's good to eat a light meal before getting tattooed, to help your blood sugar stay level when the adrenaline wears off. On a personal note I've found that large scale tattooing affected my skin in general. I became more prone to dry skin and some detergents irritated my skin where previously I'd experienced no ill effects or allergies. I found that once an area was tattooed it was slightly more sensitive to touch for a few months, not much, but just a noticeable increase. This has become a normal part of my life so I rarely notice it anymore. -------------------------- I started typing a breakdown of the healing process but realised it's fucking boring and it's been said 1000 times online before. The reason I participate in Last Sparrow is because it has the potential to be (and often is) interesting. If it's just another place for know-nothings to ask ill-thought-out questions, for people to say "Hi, I'm new, lol" or for people to share their sub-standard tattoos/drawings/whatever to coos of amazement, then what's the point? There are many forums that cater to those needs. These things aren't the reason I don't post here much. The reason I don't post much is because I don't always have anything useful or interesting to say. I've learned some very interesting and useful things here. I didn't learn them by asking the same question 50 others asked the same month. There's more to learning than asking questions. There's more to asking questions than typing the first thing that comes into our heads. This forum and threads shouldn't be giant repetitive FAQs. We (The Last Sparrow 'community') are better than this. Can we talk about something interesting now please? Or at least share interesting or funny things we've found. Or at least keep thing on-topic.

I got tattooed by Chris Trevino in 1997, right before I left Austin for SF. He said he had just done a guest spot in SF, so I asked him what the coolest tattoo he did on the trip was. Now, for those of you who are familiar with Pre-100% Japanese Style Chris Trevino, you know that "coolest tattoo" also meant "craziest tattoo." He went on to describe an insane armpit-to-waistline rib piece that involved, among other other things, a jackelope wearing a fez, a waterfall of blood, and a lady with a beehive hairdo making the devil horns with her ring and middle fingers tucked away in her special pocket. I couldn't really get my head around it, but that was the case with many of the tattoos Chris described to me. Fast forward to 1999, when I finally had enough money to get tattooed by Eddy Deutsche. I went to 222 on my lunch break and booked the appointment with some guy at the counter. We got to talking about my tattoos and I mentioned that I had work from Chris. He said, "Oh yeah, he did my ribs" and lifted up his shirt. It was that piece! And the guy was Jeff Rassier, who is in a league of his own when it comes to putting weird (and awesome) tattoos on people.

I get asked this every few months. When I was doing more walk-in type tattoos I got asked every other day, at least. My answer was always: "Most tattoos are pretty weird. It's weird to get tattoos animals you've never had direct experience with or that don't exist onto your body. It's odd to get a tattoo of a prostitute or stripper, or a mode of transportation, or a word out of context, or a reproduction of someone you never met, etc. Mostly tattooing, by it's nature is weird. But the weirdest tattoo I've done is a grocery shopping list on a guys forearm, in neat handwriting, from wrist to ditch." That's weirder than the eyelids, heads, assholes, palms, satanic shit, sexual stuff, dolphin penis guy etc. So that's my answer. I work with Miles, who used to work at IntoYou in London back when tattoos were for weirdos and freaks. Some of that shit blows my mind. Maybe I'll ask him for permission to share his stories. On the other hand, maybe some of tattooing's folk tales need to stay off the internet and remain an oral tradition.

something that's always funny about things like this is the "get the fuck away from my fuckin industry bro! i'll cut your thumbs off bro! i've been tattin for over 6 months!" people are usually doing tattoos that are just as bad.

Check out my star bitch.

I recently saw some work on facebook by a guy called Manoel Garcia Inkarmanation from Brazil, some of his coolest tattoos are on people's fingers/knuckles

I know this thread has been going on for awhile, but I'm new here, and wanted to share my experience. If I'm out of line feel free to call me an asshole. I'm not a tattoo artist, but a tattoo receiver or some are using the term "collector" these days. I was a bit of a hippie when I started getting tattooed, and the shop I went to played a mix of things, but more metal/punk than anything else. It was usually loud and vulgar, and not something I was very used to. It was a place I really wanted to fit in though so I dealt with it and it grew on me. That has been about a decade ago, and I still listen to a lot of metal and punk. To me it seemed like one of those rights of passage, classic tattoo shop things. All the guys there were always totally cool and welcoming, but it was very clear that this was their world you were being allowed in to and if you didn't like it you were free to go somewhere else.

By saying that you feel a question brewing, you are effectively asking that question. The physical effects of tattooing ARE interesting to many many people. As are the emotional, social and the spiritual effects. I'm interested in them. These are the things that most tattoo forums have always been and still are full of. Most of it starts out interesting, then small kernels of mis-information are expanded into giant boring half-truths that become 'facts that everyone knows'. After a while all the 'chatter' drowns out the 'signal'. I know this to be true by what I hear customers say while in a tattoo shop, convention or while getting tattooed. I understand that it's not possible or desirable to get tattooed every day, or to sit around in a tattoo shop every day but the fascinating nature of tattoos just won't leave you alone so you need a 'fix' of tattoo's magic here and there. I know what that's like. I wasn't always a tattooer, surrounded by his favourite tattooers everyday. The only reason I said anything now is because looking for information online about tattoos is like reading a book about learning to swim. Or feeling like we know about altered states or psychedelia by reading Naked Lunch and Doors of Perception. It's real-world, thing. Anything other than the real thing is just a distraction, or entertainment to pass the time. It turns us into tourists. Locals only tolerate tourists if they can benefit from them. Some of the reasons Last Sparrow isn't like other forums is because one of the founders is a hugely respected and accomplished tattooer. His peers and people who look up to him trust him, so they participate. Meaning that here, there are actually great tattooers (not just people who do tattoos) who can contribute and reduce the chance of mis-information, idle tourist-chatter and help tattoo enthusiasts to have a richer experience. Then there is me. The best way to learn anything about tattooing is to get tattooed. Put yourself in harm's way. Meet others with tattoos, attend conventions, visit tattoo shops. But most of all, get tattooed. Do anything except browse and ask questions online. Then when you share your experiences with others it can help them and enrich their lives. Again, In my opinion the best tattoo magazines available to the public are: Tatto Life Tattoo Energy Total Tattoo The others fill the spectrum from crappy, through insulting, to parasitic. But I'd rather read any one of the Tattootime books anyway.

The wife just got a really nice lady head/airplane from Cris Cleen. Regardless your opinion of the dude it's a brilliant tattoo! So much of "the itch" is made that much more itchy by who you're surrounded by. Especially when your lady is getting tattooed and is really stoked on it. Our door guy at the bar just started a whole backpiece and me and his brother-in-law (the other bartender) basically spent like 20 minutes getting giddy over the iphone picture and then just talking about random tattoo shit. It's all so positive and exciting I almost can't handle it. It's great to have others to... get itchy with.

Our cats Jack & Digby:

just got this one sent my way but don't know the details

https://www.facebook.com/SynysterInk Dude makes Big Dogz look like Fillip Leu

Whoop. Whoop.

^ yeah i'll put in there, waiting for it heal up some. richard stell did it.

Sleuth, my 14 year old bengal in his natural environment.

I think before you try to sleep you want to create the right conditions- -Make your room as dark and cave-like as you can. Blackout blinds are good (especially for shift-workers). Unplug any heavy electronics or artificial light sources if you can. -Avoid anything that is going to release a load of sugar before you try and nod off. More good stuff in this book: 'Lights out: Sleep, sugar and survival'. http://www.amazon.com/Lights-Out-Sleep-Sugar-Survival/dp/0671038680 If I try and sleep and it's just not happening then I check the time. If it's within 2 hours of the time I will have to get up I usually just get up early, shower and get ready, and then use the extra time to check e-mails, brew coffee and relax. Sure, you're really tired over the course of the day, but at least you're more likely to sleep that night - because you'll have built up that sleep debt and your body is going to try and fill it. If the same thing happens the following night then ... Well, I think there you're into dysfunctional territory and insomnia is one thing I've luckily never had to contend with. I'm not a huge fan of lying on in bed, versus getting up, because I find that I toss and turn and chances are it's only when I'm about to have to get up anyway that I manage to nod off - and, IMO, an interrupted sleep cycle after a period of lying unsettled is actually more annoying than just getting up early and making the best of it. If I can't get up, for whatever reason (like, I'm in a strange house or a hotel or something), then I'll read.

A guy came in and told me one day that he wanted to get a specifically random tattoo, we talked about it for a few minutes and I was kind of having trouble coming up with something random on the spot lol. So he said " I dunno bro, I just wanna get something crazy and weird, like, I dunno, a banana riding a unicycle and juggling chainsaws." So that is what we did. I also had a walk in that got a grilled cheese sandwich.

I had a bad problem with insomnia before I got sober. Two years later, I sleep through the night, barring some kind of loud noise like a thunderstorm. I keep my room PITCH black- heavy duty blackout curtains all around and run a small fan for white noise. I also lift heavy weights every other day and that pretty much annihilates me.

"Brokeback Armchair"

we have a two story shop so somedays it's venom,exodus and all sorts of metal downstairs. then the complete opposite upstairs like the ethiopians,desmond dekker,trojan records comps etc. or mellow stuff like red sparowes. mid day mixed in 77 punk style stuff like the vicious,mass hysteri,marked men. Im in the shop 2 hours before we open so I rock alot of the gories,the mummies,sonics or vintage country- bob wills,left frizell,wanda jackson,brenda lee etc.

An addition to the hatchetman posted above... :(

Ah, Mr. Stell! A great Texan. I should've known. He definitely does work quickly. And he was kind enough to actually apologize when he dipped behind my knee with a line or two.

I was going to start this thread today, so thanks to you I still have one dipshit newbie act still in the bank.

Turns out Chad Koeplinger is back in Ireland in February - I have a 3 hour slot. Sweet...

293 manhattan ave brooklyn - Google Maps

We used to listen to a lot of rocksteady and reggae Jimmy Cliff, Derrick Morgan, Toots and the Maytals, then it was like Buzzcocks, Sham 69, Cocksparrer, Uk Subs, Last Resort, then it was Neil Young, now it's the Animals, The Zombies, and The Sorrows.

Let's see- I've been tattooed to psychobilly, Bill Hicks (which is tough when you want to laugh), Love and Rockets, doom metal, and Wutang. Personally, I love all of it and each time it has put me in a different state of mind. My fiance' who likes to sit with me may not agree, but I like to get deep, meditative. When I get my back done, I want some "A Man Called Horse" shit going:

evie! puppyCat i see you... You have no chance to survive make your time.

Im still this sad about it.

The snake vs. panther is by Bailey Robinson, the eagle and elbow by Dan Santoro, tiger by boss Boltz, snake & skull by Eli Quinters, wolf is Bert Grimm flash by Bert Krak

I was looking for someone on facebook and found this...

OOH NO YOU DID NOT!!! You might as well have just called this: "Andy Perez, the thread" Heere We Gooooo!

I got mash 4077

some new knuckle tattoo designs sent my way.....

i recently convinced my friends to get "RAMA LAMA" and "DING DONG" tattooed across their knuckles. i just love the idea of my buddy running around solo with DING DONG tattooed across his fists.

just for the recored devo crack that wip BETTER be played at mine..dare you not to laugh.. at our shop i work with 5 other assholes who think they are the only one with good musical taste and your just a dick for playing anything, so lets say it gets tricky..we listen to an ass load of sabath which i use to love. a bunch of shit like tom petty, zep,van halen,high on fire, sleep, waylon, if it was up to me i would listen to a combo of sleep and country that would be the perfect mix. i agree leatherface is amazing. i love oi and older punk/hard core not the shit when everyone heard slayer for the first time that can blow me. all of the crap about music at our shop and how some people take what you want to hear as a personal attack has led to" music free mondays"..where im the only boss that works and you, meaning the co workers can play what ever the fuck they want. smiths, dance hall, rap, whatever it rules..when customers complain, if its not black metal playing cuz i dont know why any one would want to get tattooed to that unless your trying to find a spine to sit good? if its not that i tell them they get a pick when they pay the rent, or i give them "oh you didnt pick this? wierd?" they usually get it. i do however think that customers should NEVER be offended as in nigger or faggot crap, they are paying me for god sake they shoildnt be miss treated by there suroundings,oh and yes i like the smiths just hate the fans....so sensitive.haha

it's not so much that i hate it but i just don't get why so many young girls give me the ol' 'i want it facing ME...it's about ME' when doing their little wrist tattoos. now i just say 'cool, so you want it upside down then? ok'. hahaha

I agree with all of this, but I would like to add that this is one of my favorite all time tigers, and you are the one that did it.

chad, that's true! some people just aren't worth the aggrivation. and sometimes you can tell the person sucks by what they want to get!

im also gonna add tiny ass upside down lettering on the wrist......in white