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from bryan burk yesterday 3.5 hours

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Bryan Burk yesterday Dark Horse, Los Angeles

I think you were finishing up when I came in for my appointment with Stewart. If it was you it did indeed look absolutely lovely. Got my leg piece finished up with Stewart Robson at Frith Street yesterday. It was my first tattoo and I'm ridiculously pleased. Already saving up for the next one! I'd echo the thanks as well, they made my first tattoo experience really as good as it could have been.

Hi everyone. I enjoy lurking this forum and wanted to show off my finished back tattoo, completed courtesy Dave Kotinsley at Anthem Tattoo. The original outline was put on about 20 years ago by... uhhh... let's just say it was someone who stuck with it and evolved into an excellent legitimate tattooer and leave it at that. Anyway, I walked around with a scarred-up, blown-out scribble on my back for about 16 years before convincing Dave to redo everything and finish it up. Last sitting was last week. I couldn't be happier - when I was a kid I saw a pic of Rollo's famous Godzilla tattoo on Prince Hughes and thought, "That's the kind of thing I need on me." I walked around with a hot mess for a long time, never thinking I'd be able to do anything with it, so to get it finished is a real treat.

I don't think that i have ever seen any photos from Bob's New York shop (apartment). I wonder why he spelled it Spotlite then, and changed it to Spotlight in Los Angeles. No matter how you spell it I am excited to be getting tattooed by Bob in a couple of weeks.

Many many years ago a wise old motorcycle enthusiast of my acquaintance told me, "I like good-looking tattoos as much as anyone else, but I just don't feel like you're getting the whole tattoo experience unless you have some shit like your old lady's initials that looks like it was drawn on with a green crayon and the third letter is only half done."

"Rules" might be the wrong term.....but I would need to respectfully disagree with your "Just go for it" statement! Although the views on tattoos have definitely changed over the last 7-10 years we are not out of the woods yet! Trust me I have been tattooed for almost 30 years and those of us who have been tattooed that long know how a tattoo can keep you out of certain jobs and in my case stopped me from getting a promotion into management! Some cities in the U.S. (all I can speak too) are more "tattoo friendly" but there are still people who will not hire people with visible tattoos! I also grew up in a time where you had to "earn" those spaces (hands and neck) by being pretty heavily covered! I know it is an artists job to put on what the client wants but i guess i am just a little "old school" maybe when it comes to those spots! I think it's silly to see someone with their hands done and just about nothing else on their forearms (same with necks but no sleeves). People definitely looked at me differently after getting my hands and especially my neck done and although after you have been stared at for so long you tend not to notice it BUT they still stare....LOL It's sad......but there is still prejudice out there and if you aren't a tattoo artist or work in the craft then it is a bit more difficult to climb the corporate ladder with visible tattoos. I hope that does become a thing of the past.....but we aren't there quite yet! While I do understand it is an artists job to do what the client asks....I tend to respect more the artists who in the back of their minds at least think twice before they tattoo someones hands or neck! Just my humble opinion and stating it as respectfully as I can! :)

I couldn't have been more than 3 when I noticed my Dad had the old school skull with the snake crawling through the the eye socket tattooed on his bicep. I didn't understand how it got there or why it was permanent, but I damned sure knew I wanted one. I was hooked on anything to do with tattoos from then on, always have been, always will be. I found the Sailor Jerry flash version of that skull and snake last year and got it big as Hell on my calf. I can't wait to show him the next time I see him.

Formal dress for future LST events-"shirt" and squidpants with ties being optional Sir .

After 52 years on the planet with no tattoos what so ever, my girlfriend decided out of the blue this past Saturday that for St Patrick's day she'd get a shamrock and 3 ladybugs, on her butt. She actually went through with it and sat like a trooper. There won't be any pictures of hers, but since she did it I got this little guy as a memento of one of the most awesome days I've ever spent with her.

Holy shit how is this thread still alive

Got a quick Sailor Jerry one from Oliver Peck when I was at SXSW (ps it's straight in real life)

this is hilarious just saw it in Raoul van Noorden's album

Some nice recent graff stuff : Smugone - Glasgows best Australian artist lol Smugs crew ILW Asone Epik Estum Asone Epik Estum by ESTUM, on Flickr Estum and Epik

Sorry to hear it. On the upside Matt Arriola just moved back to Seattle so that should make getting your torso tattooed a little bit easier.

I remember you posting up in a thread about this.

marcus kuhn Just Good Tattoos - Home I like this piece its use of colors and the amount of content going on. Visually I find myself noticing more details each time I look at this.

My ongoing back peice, Dragon nearly completed, Ray Wewerka Flaming Art Tattoo Crayford England.

Session 3 completed......still long way to go...claws, phoenix etc I need some advice regarding etiquette for getting the arse tattooed. Do I need to get special underwear or just drop em??? I'm not fussed just don't want to make the staff and customers feel uncomfortable lol Sure they have seen worse !!! Cheers Jon

Oh....i especially love ladies that have their feet tattooed....i think it's sexy if it is done right! Mine did swell but i lived through it and took care of them and they healed in perfect! I just am very old school i guess about people doing their hands and necks! :)

I mention in the back piece thread the outline was put on 20 or so years ago by a different tattooer than the one who finished it. That was about six hours. Four or five years ago the outline was totally redone - probably about seven hours there. A week later saw the first layer of green, probably about six hours. I had two or three four-five hour sessions over the next few years, then two 5-6 hour sessions in the last few weeks to do all the water and lightning and shit and just generally finish it. So, uhhh... That's, um... Let's see... Seven plus six... Carry the four... Eleventy-two minus nine... Uhhh... Four billion hours. Not bad.

i liked the finale wtf though a masked person with armless walkers on a leash lol crazy. The figure looked like a woman oh looked like a prison or compound at close of episode score one for the whiteboy!

Website's been updated: Prints in Stock, and Guest Spots coming up... Welcome to Richard Stell Tattoos.com

I would have been 3 or 4. I used to sit on my grandfathers lap and trace his tattoo's. He was the only one in my family with tattoos. It wasn't until I was 11 when I saw another person with a tattoo.She had a thigh piece of Alice in wonderland. It was like a totem pole of the characters. My mom met my stepdad when I was 12 and he was pretty much covered with tattoo's.

There was a group of Bandidos that rented the house across the street from me when I was about 7, and I'm sure they had tattoos, but we were all too scared to look at them for very long. But a few houses down from them, there was a crazy guy named Joe Bailey who would do shit like wrestle alligators for fun. (No, seriously. He once called me over to check out something in his backyard, and he had a six-foot alligator--with its mouth duct-taped shut--in a makeshift chicken wire pen. "We was in the bass boat fishin'. I seen him in the water and I just jumped on him and held on!") Anyway, Joe had a classic Hot Stuff wearing a diaper and holding a pitchfork with "BORN TO RAISE HELL" above it. Zero irony, just the God's honest truth. My dad used to talk shit on Joe's tattoos: "He's workin' on a shirt." In fact, he probably only had 4 or 5 palm-sized tattoos. It's funny how perspectives differ.

Growing up in New Zealand lots of home made gang stuff, but specifically a Mongrel Mob member with "SIEG HIEL" and barbed wire around his neck.

Got a wonderful lady head from @Valerie Vargas best Mothers day present ever and had a takeaway in the evening , anyway just to say a huge Thank you to all at Frith Street Tattoo

There was always people with tattoos where I grew up , mostly home made blurs on their forearms or old guys with hand tattoos ... The first tattoo I saw that kinda made me go wow was on one of my Fathers friends. My dad was a bigot and involved with the Orange Order and when I was really young he used to take me fishing with his pals (ie a bunch of guys hire a boat and get pished drunk for the day - it was back in the 70's where drinking and driving and driving a boat whilst looking after a 10 year old was acceptable ....) He got one of his pals to show me his back and it was a huuuge back piece of King William III on his white charger crossing the Boyne and a banner with some suitably sectarian bullshit underneath!! Kinda like something youd see painted on a wall in Belfast .... I hate everything that it represents but its was a fuckin wow tattoo that stuck in my mind all these years!!

Last Sunday, I had Stuart Cripwell tack on some stems to the Tudor roses he put on me last year: Really hard to get a photo of them, and they're not quite healed, but I think they turned out great.

Here's a preview while the post in the "back piece" thread awaits moderator approval.

This is not a story about the first tattoo I saw, rather a story about the first tattooed person I saw. I was 15 busting suds at some restaurant, trying to move my way up through the ranks, so anything the Executive Chef needed I was on it. This guy was pretty laid back though. He would have me do stuff like wait at the back door for his weed dude to come and shit like that. So this guy was always long sleeved chef jacket buttoned to the top, always in uniform when he arrived. One day I am waiting for his weed guy, and he goes back to check on me, and notices this dumbass looking stick and poke tattoo I have on my arm. First tattoo, that is another story. So he's like" What the hell is that?" And I go on to explain to him how cool I think I am cause I have this dumb tattoo. So he asks me if I like tattoos and I'm like "yeah dude" obviously I have this sweet tattoo. So he motions me to the bathroom and starts unbuttoning his jacket, removes his shirt and the guy has an almost complete body suit. I could not believe it I was dumb founded. My jaw was on the floor. I remember at the time it was Asian influenced, so with what I know now I would say it was probably Japanese inspired. I remember a dragon and a demon looking thing, lots of black. It was insane looking. That day really influenced my life and my path. Really cool experience for me. I just wanted to share when I saw this thread.

I was 18 when I got my first, managed to hide it from my mom for a week when we changed the sheets and I realized i had gotten blood on the sheet.. perfect print of the tattoo itself. My ex drove me down to some location in Philly.. Walked in and he pretty much said we weren't leaving till I picked something off the wall. Coney Island Joes was the name of the shop and Joe (or his son) had just gotten out of jail. Something to do with Hells Angels Yeah. First and last time I went there, that tattoo still bothers me, swells up and gets irritated every once in a while. Crappy piece of tribal.. the picture is from a few hours after it was finished... I should take a picture of it now, so you can see how crappy it is haha

Which is what I wanted.......ha ha ha! And might I add......my pussy's are pretty spectacular too.........although my dick is a little wrinkled and missing a leg! :( We won't even discuss my blown out butt-hole! ;)

holy shit really? My inner bicep was the worst place I have ever tattooed. I actually saw stars near the armpit.

I got some ghost flames near my armpit from Horimasa of the Horitoshi family. He hand-shaded it (tebori), and believe it or not, I barely felt it. I asked my wife if he was putting in color. She couldn't believe I had to ask her. I'd also like to nominate not Chris Treviño as the lightest handed tattooer.

Cris Cleen put a skull on my upper arm last year...barely knew the dude was working. I wish all of my tattoo experiences were like that.

Heres one from El Bara out of True Love Tattoo, Madrid. He's at the Scottish Tattoo convention in March.

Scott Sylvia did this on me @ 97' very feminine......hehehe ,apparently none of these fools ever saw ''Papillon''with Steve McQueen the baddest MFer on the silver screen.

@Kev I agree I also would like to see the dehumanisation aspect and how different sets of ideologies play out in the fight for survival. Would you value the life of your fellow man when he could hinder your own survival? How many packs of young capable men would be raping and pillaging weaker camps of survivors? I think season 3 could be awesome if they dwelved into some of these scenarios and introduced a different group or 2.

Funny, interesting, great watch.

Tigers are so 2500 years ago: More pics here: Pazyryk Mummy Tattoos More info here:Pazyryk Mummies wiki

tilt at new life tattoo in champaign, il

bob shaw piece..

my first tattoo was done by Chris Conn in early 2005. i was 19, had been on his waiting list for a few months, and knew what elements i wanted. i basically went in and told him that i wanted a chest piece and that it needed to incorporate anchors, irises, and a sacred heart. i came back in a week (maybe two, i can't remember exactly) and he had drawn out the design perfectly. he asked me if i was sure that i wanted it on my chest, and i assured him i'd be ok and that i wanted it on my chest because it was a tattoo about my parents, yada yada yada. anyways, the flames ended up being too high, and we both joked how we didn't think it would be a good idea for me to have a neck tattoo as my first one, so we modified them by parting them down the center so they now go out to the sides right below the center of my collar bone, and i still love that idea/decision. took 3 sessions, 2 4 hour, one 2 hour, and it's still, sincerely, one of the least painful tattoo experiences i've had to this day. i wish i had gotten more work done, but by the time i could afford another piece (i was in college at the time), i had gone to Ireland for study abroad and came back to find out that Chris had retired. the only way i could afford that tattoo was by saving change for 3 years, plus tips from working at a peet's, an ice cream shop, and the money i received from xmas/birthdays.