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Ugghh.....Okay, I want to first apologize to the rest of the forum, I just started posting yesterday but I feel VERY strongly about this subject. I'm a 2nd generation tattooer, my mother has been tattooing for 33 yrs, and learned how to make "machines" from Paul Rogers, I'm sure that name means nothing to you, but it should. My father has been tattooing since '75, his first shop job was with Bob Shaw and Col. Todd, once again names I'm sure mean nothing to you, but should. My step-father has been tattooing for 23 yrs, and he guests once a year at Inksmith and Rogers, once again a name that I'm sure means nothing to you, but really really should. I myself have only been tattooing for 10 yrs, I was a little late getting to it, and realistically still just a journeyman. My family has been tattooing for a combined 104 yrs. So yes they are called machines, coolness has nothing to do with it. It's about respect, respect for the craft that has fed my family for decades, respect for those that have come before, respect for those that have paid their dues and dedicated their entire being to Tattooing. When new tattooers who know jack shit about jack shit have over inflated egos and meet any criticism with comments about "haters", they pretty much shit on everything that my family has worked for. So in summation go fuck yourself. You're not welcome in my world.

@jgoss1579 I see you came here to make friends tough guy. The family and lineage you just insulted are some of the kindest and important humans to have affected the craft and culture of modern western tattooing. Someone please ban this fool. I can't see anything positive happening after this. At least B-Tat walked out of his 15 mins quietly...

Just made an appointment with Aaron Coleman of Immaculate Tattoo. It's for the end of April. Sweet shop!!!! April is going to be a busy month!!!

Really dude, just go with your gut and you'll be much happier in the long run! And the less "explanation" a tattoo needs, the better.

So you got family friendly tattoos but want a non-family friendly tattoo that says you don't like how tattoos are now family friendly? Just get what you like dude and don't worry about hipsters or hippies or whoever. Stick with something you identify with and you can't lose, everyone else be damned. (Apologies if this came off extra cranky, long day yesterday.)

-Panther head with a naked soccer mom in it's mouth -Panther head with a hipster head in it's mouth OR -Soccer mom with a panther head in her mouth -Hipster with a panther head in his mouth

I learned how to draw banners, roses and other staple 'old school' images by tracing, redrawing, painting and embroidering a lot of Rollo and Jerry flash. Currently I'm working on re-doing (in hand embroidery and paint) the classic black and white Rollo sheets. Right now I'm on the 'odds and ends' sheet. It's the same size as the original. Entire outline is hand embroidery and the colour is a mix of embroidery and painting.

Check your email, Buddy! Looks like both of us did.

And if you Really knew anything about tattooing you'd know there are only 88 fuck ups. Lol

I'm glad I searched, because I was going to start a thread on this subject:). My interest in tattoos AND motorcycles grew through being involved in the traditional hot rod and custom scene. My friends that helped me with my car ('62 Impala) were heavily tattooed and it got me asking questions. I sold the car and I've had my '78 CB750 for about 3 years now. I've done alot of work to it and pretty much riding it as is for now: Dean, that molded tank is awesome!

Meeting with Jaie Devore Monday about a tattoo on my right ankle area.

I think mister Ron Henry Wells need more spotlight. He has been tattooing for what, 4½ years and is allready doing something of his own with the owls etc. The Laughing Hyena

Thanks LSTers for being patient and trying to give him a chance but..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO5Z0PxiZkg&feature=fvst EDIT: Hogg and Gouge have wanted to ban hammer him since the getgo but I was hoping he'd learn some respect...my bad

An interesting Grime back piece Skull & Sword The patterns/details in the skull are really crazy, they look almost like vortexes or something? (especially in the cheek bones)

Thanks for all the input. I believe I'll be going with a skull of some sort. I really do like skulls, and only have one so far. That's what my gut tells me.

tuesday we did below the knee rack pulls. There were 3 of us and we did our max lift 1 time per minute for 12 minutes. It was intense but doable and honestly my back felt better than when doing alot of reps.

panther or skull strong powerful image. ITs like the black coffee of tattoos

Skulls, Skulls, Skulls. or a reaper with tits. But that's just me.

Hi all, My name is Matt. I'm Debra Yarian's oldest son- debyarian on here. Looking forward to taking part in this forum.

Or just get a badass pantherhead with nothing in its mouth. (Maybe get one with a dagger through its head and some blood if you want to "up" the gore factor)

Before my tattoo at 12pm today. Not a tattoo pic, but I just had to post it.

The deadlift is powerful mojo. I went years without doing it and it seriously changed my life when I started.

A quick session from finished but decided to throw it up anyway. Regino Gonzalez @ Invisible NYC Soon to become part of a traditional patchwork sleeve so I guess I will be posting another every month there is a contest

I made an appointment with Bob yesterday.

Far be it from me to censure free thought, but I don't really see this thread or poster really going anywhere. Internet arguing and all. Should be derailed before it turns off the regular posters, don't you think?

Another one from Ross Nagle (at the risk of regurgitating twitter - I think this one's worth it).

is that a mole, or did that guy's left eye pop off?

@C. Grosso, On behalf of tattoo nerds everywhere, thank you for putting out such quality work.

Speaking of legends: I just made an appointment with Bob Roberts for next month. Now I just need to decide what to get! Whatever it is, it'll be small, as I only have a few smallish souvenir spots remaining.

had a couple hours with derek noble yesterday. couple hours left and its finalllly done.

@jgoss1579 I don't think you need any more words of encouragement. Lots of people tell you you're awesome. I'm trying to be honest. I don't know a tattooer worth shit that's had 100% positive feedback. I can bet you I've had way more harsh things said to me than what I typed to you. Maybe you don't know it, but Shannon Shirley just handed you a golden nugget of information. I tattooed shitty lettering for years before I learned what he just said fairly recently. I still get shit for my lettering from the people I work with and are friends with. Here's my 'be nice' bit: You need to look at the way roses are in real life, not in an online tattoo folio, figure out how they fit together then figure out how to simplify that to be more tattooable. Try to figure out the rhythm and regularity of the way leaves grow up a rose stem, there's a pattern there. Figure out the way the veins spread across a rose leaf, then simplify that. If you were not tattooing in your kitchen, someone could tell you these things, give you examples and have you practice a few times in less than an hour. As you're on your own, it'll probably take you years. I know that because It took me years. Believe it or not, I'm nicer on the internet than I am in person. Particularly with people who want to tattoo. You usually need to get a tattoo from me before I'll give any advice at all. I don't think I'm a great tattooer and I'm not sure I'm 'recognised' but I try to do nice work. I've been fortunate enough to have been given advice that helped me grow from being totally shit to having people ask to get tattooed by me, in a shop where everyone turns out great tattoos every day. You should realise that the world of tattooing is pretty small, even though it's all over the TV and global. Tattooers all over the world know each other and visit each other, even outside of conventions. Threats on the internet are pretty retarded. You can guarantee I would have said the exact same thing to your face, but you'd know I wasn't just being a jerk to make you seem small. I was being honest. Something I'm reluctant to mention, because it's boring as fuck, is hygene. in 4 months, without any assistance, it's unlikely that you have even a grasp of cross contamination. I know it's possible to buy sterile equipment via the internet and that seems like you're 'safe' but cross contamination isn't about equipment being dirty. I know you're not going to stop attempting tattoos, people rarely do until they get good, or bored, but... If you're tattooing your wife/girlfriend/whatever as well as friends and strangers, do everyone a favour, learn and understand cross contamination. Otherwise you may as well all just have a bareback gangbang fisting party with every hooker and junkie anyone ever met.

@cu-bu there are a couple pics of henning working on my back in frisco here: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-101/1513-pix-sfo-convention.html he also has one from one of our sessions up on his instagram. not much of an exhibitionist myself, so, not really into posting or taking pics of myself.... @hogg thank you kindly for the kind words on my humble tattoos! and, yeah, I feel very lucky to have gotten so much work from Henning. He is quite a rad individual. I hope I can be as able and excited about tattooing after doing it as many years as him. Especially as he seems to constantly progress, and to balance his life so well.

You should tell him what you just told us and see what he thinks would be cool!

Interesting, because mine is a battle royale that does go down to the back of my knees and when I looked at it the other day, I thought 'No way would I want to cram this into a smaller space.'

I would have to agree and for the record my wife hates my reaper with tits and at least once a year asks me to get it covered.

The longer I look the better it gets....

Tough love is the best love.

Sailor Jerry Swallow is my personal favorite among living legends. Jerry, Lyle Tuttle, there are too many to mention. Pinky Yun passed recently,that was a sad day.

I live North of Detroit, in Marine City, Mich. Canada is right outside my backdoor. I live SO close, I can hit a Canadian with a rock. :D (thats a joke,,) Im 55 years old, and Ive worked in the same area for 18 years. Im also a retired biker, a body piercer for 12 years, and an avid collector of tattoo memorabilia.

Hey All, As of right now, there is no plan for another season of Tattoo Age. It would also be safe to say that their will be no DVD. With that being said, all of these suggestions sound amazing, but probably will not happen. Tattoo Age has no "staff", it was just myself and fellow producer Lauren Cynamon, who also shoots and edits, along with 2 editors Shan Huang and Abby Ellis. We all still work at Vice, and on a variety of projects. The Last Sparrow community has been so encouraging with the whole series, and even though I am not much of a poster, I wanted to say thank you. Chris Grosso P.S. Personally, I think Freddy Corbin Part 2 and Mike Rubendall Part 2 are a tattoo nerds dream videos, but that is just me.

Holy shit. I really need to start keeping up with the introduction threads. This one is a real peach. Honestly, it really reminds me why I enjoy this forum so much. It would be really easy to go down the line and trash the new guy, but instead honest opinions are being given with thought and consideration. Here is mine. Drive to Austin, TX. Take about six thousand dollars. Go see Jason Brooks, Chris Trevino, Steve Byrne, Jay Chastain, and Tony Hundahl give them the six-thousand dollars to tattoo you. Then go back to Weathorford. Save up another thousand dollars and drive to Mesa, Arizona. See Aaron Coleman. Give him the thousand dollars to tattoo you. I checked on Google maps and that is about 40 hours round trip driving from Weathorford for both trips. Then sit down and look at the seven-thousand dollars worth of tattoos you have just purchased, and try to figure out how they did it. Then cry yourself to sleep, and burn every piece of tattoo equipment that you have ever bought on Ebay. At least this way you will have a few good tattoos to show for your efforts. I am sorry that I have not been as kind as the other members on here, but it has been a long day, and reading your insulting posts made it that much longer.

Stewart is more than ''so called''. some of us are a little harsh sometimes. Brutally honest maybe. I see so much weak lettering, I worked for the source of fine tattoo lettering for a lot of yrs, fonts are not where its at. Charlie and I where talkin on the phone, yeah ,a land line, the other night and we were discussing how it seems most don't understand that you have got to ''draw that lettering''. my advice to anyone, including to myself is,always work on the Art and the Craft. Oh yeah , My mom told me namecalling isnt nice.

What about smuggling human body parts over international borders? Cause as fun as you think that is, it makes you really really paranoid. :D

I follow this guy on Instagram, He goes by the name Alexander Grim tattooing out of Russia. His recent work he has been posting is amazing,he has a really unique style to his work,the majority of his work is Japanese style. These are some older pics off his myspace.

Here 2 sheets I did for the Amsterdam Tattoo Museum, 1 has a celtic panther and the other has a panther/dagger/ rose combo.

No one around here like Shige 's stuff? http://www.yellowblaze.net/tl_files/projects/644.jpg

Theres more Tony Polito stuff on this cool new facebook page started by Rich Fie . Welcome to Facebook - Log In, Sign Up or Learn More

I bought this book- Amazon.com: New York City Tattoo: The Oral History of an Urban Art (9780945367208): Michael McCabe, Hubert, Jr. Selby: Books and went to some of the shops and had them sign it.I had to take a subway,and a bus,to get to Polito's shop.Also went to Pete Giaquinto's shop in Queens.Here's a pic of Pete. Tattoos By Casey Another guy who's been tattooing in Brooklyn for many years is Stevetattoos.com I believe he works with Polito a few day's a week. Ronnie Dell'Aquila is another legend who still tattoos in Allentown. Swallows&Daggers | Interviews | Smivee Valencia In this article Smivee talks about him.I believe Ronnie may tattoo at his shop sometimes.

I love motorcycles and have been riding since I was 10. Here's some pics of my '46 knucklehead. I'm also almost done with a 05 buell project. Hopefully the pics will come up here.