Leaderboard

from bryan burk yesterday 3.5 hours

This dude got Rubendall,Grez,& O'Donnell to do his back.. SAVED TATTOO

Andy Moreno @ Sacred in Oakland. I gotta get off my ass and talk to Scott and Freddy about doing dueling pieces to fill in those blank spots on the sides.

Bryan Burk yesterday Dark Horse, Los Angeles

I searched and couldn't find anything. What stuff has been blowing your mind lately? (other than the fact that there hasn't been a thread about this yet) Matt Mooney Ron Henry Wells Chad Koeplinger

Awesome numbers, Kev!

actually, the dude had some of the largest feet Ive ever seen, huge....with weird swelling....anyways ,yeah I make everybody play in the sandbox when I'm done...hehehehe

April 15th we close. It has only been a couple weeks but it seems like a couple months. So much to do, and worry about, but still can't wait to move into our new place. Our new rule is to go to a restaurant in our new neighborhood every time we go out to get the lay of the land. Had to visit some tattoo shops in the area as well.

And ink? Wow a tattoo with ink thats amazing. Sorry not trying to take a piss outa you, its just funny when people say something like that. Mine I was 21 or 22, got a BMW roundel on my chest. The shop was alright but got tattooed by an apprentice thats work wasn't the best... Live and learn I say. Not planning on covering it up, unless I have to for an awesome chest panel.

a grey wise owl by Leandroskalispera, on Flickr

thanks. its bigger than i expected. filled the spot perfectly. i am afraid im going to get a crick in my neck from looking down at my leg all the time. :D

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.

Holy shit how is this thread still alive

My "tattoo commute" is 1 to 1 and a half hour commute every 2 weeks. (NJ to NYC). I actually like go outside of my immediate area because then it feels a bit more "special" instead of running an errand like getting a pack of smokes from the store.

i absolutely agree, tattoos should be fun! After my first over-thought, going-to-every-shop, price checking tattoo was done I found I was unhappy. Now that I go in and just say "hell I think a dagger would be cool" I found that I am much happier.

happy man, although this throws huge kinks in my 2012 SOG,blackheart plans since the little one is due in last week of august. will find out in 2 weeks if its a boy or another girl

^ i guess that answers the question. *picks up jaw off of floor.

@Barbie Doll in Istanbul at the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) wearing her LST shirt....

Just bought: American Psycho (Blu-Ray) Terminator 2 (Blue-Ray) 5 bucks a piece... Feel like I won the lotto.

Okay, so we just finished maxes for this cycle- squat 285, bench 245, dead 345, and military 160 at 160lbs (I gained 5 pounds-yea!). We really focused this cycle on form and follow through, so we weren't seeing huge jumps in gains. One of the points my workout partner would like to work on is maintaining strength through full range of motion on squat (stronger at top than bottom of lift). I understand chains remedy this, but they're not an option at our commercial gym; I have to admit, I would love to bust them out. Any other exercises to work on this? We were thinking lunges or variants.

Fuck yes Ursula thats why I started thinking about this how bad ass would it be to have a ,stell,silvia and wilson piece or a kuhn,robson and flatmo tattoo. The options are endless and exciting to think about. I know it would take alot of doing but its intriguing to say the least. I am honestly looking for someone to give me a good reason to shoot this idea down.

The main large image on my back was done by one artist. I know you've seen the almost complete photos in the back piece thread. I am planning on getting some other tattoos around it by other people to fill out the space. Probably roses, each one from someone else. Or something along those lines. Like the others said just make sure you have a good idea of what you're doing before you start ! Oh, and post pics for us ;) How amazing would it be to have a black heart back piece ! Get one from each, Scott, Tim, Rassier and Juan! Then get Cody and Nick to do some bad ass filler like they learned at Inksmith !

ITS A BOY!

It is so common, at least to me, to tattoo womens feet,especially first tattoos. yet rather uncommon to tattoo men's feet. I did a shark the other day on a man's foot, and it was a big ass foot.hehehe .But no ,nobody seems to place moral judgement about a foot tattoo. you know,shoes.....and yeah, @Bunny Switchblade everybody thinks women's feet are hot, but men's feet , yuck...I have never seen a man's foot in fetish photography..hehehe

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

I definitely prefer custom tattoos so what I do is I research and find an artist whose style I like and then I might show them pics of tattoos they've done before and explain what I like about them, then give the artist the freedom to come up with something based on a few very general ideas I've given them. For me the style of the tattoo is definitely more crucial than the actual design, especially with big tattoos where you simply can't plan every little detail.

I give my artists a 'vibe' (e.g. benevolent, spriritual) and a 'subject' (e.g. Tibetan skull) -- then I let them do their interpretation. I want my artists to feel challenged, inspired, yet comfortable. It's a tough sort of balancing act, but I think it yields the best possible result. When the artist wants to take a lot of pictures of the tattoo then I feel I got his best.

"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 can definitely see your point, but I guess what bugs me is that this whole budget thing was started under the premise of not having any money. I have gone to a shop with $200 bucks and got $200 tattoo because that is what I had on me.I understand not spending 2K on a tattoo, but if you want a $400-500 tattoo save up, don't lowball someone into doing it for $300, with some story about feeding your kids so you can drop 2K on a bike. Oh well I it's after five I think it's time for a beer here.

Disclaimer: No offense intended. My expressed views are not a reflection of this website as a whole. After reviewing this thread (especially your last analogy), you sound like you don't really want a tattoo, you just want a "tattoo". I know that sounds confusing but it's the best way I know to say it. If you really wanted a good tattoo you would loosen your hard set belief that you won't venture far and you won't spend even a decent amount of money on it. It sounds like you like the idea of a new tattoo but don't care enough to actual go and get a good one. If I am correct this is a viewpoint shared by more people than I care to admit that I know. They love the idea of getting tattooed but could care less who does it as long as it's cheap. For them it's similar to going t-shirt shopping. You kinda killed it for me when you said you dropped 2k on a bike, but before you were talking about having to pay for your family... It's either you are trying to be cheap on a tattoo and you are doing pretty good financially or you are reckless with money and dropped 2k on a bike and now want to get tattoo as well. I think anything that was going to be said was said, and a ton of good advice was given. I feel that you are just trying to get justification from us here on going cheap, and/or trying to find a cheap tattooer in your town.

Probably on one of the Spice Girls. ...yeah.

Have you considered not getting a tattoo?

i've never quite understood the issue with driving around town a bit, whether looking for tattoo shops or something else... i live 70 miles from the nearest good tattoo shops, including the one where i work. across town isn't the worst distance to travel, and neither is 40 minutes.

My first tattoo was done when I was 15. A tattooer called Steve, as far as I can remember, in Bath. My first visit to the shop was with a couple of pals. I went first, I think we all decided on a swallow on the forearm. Anyway I had a bit of a rash on my forearm. The tattooer asked me about the rash. I said it was probably a sun rash. He said ok come back when it's gone. So my first visit ended in bitter disappointment. The next in the chair was my mate Pete. He always fancied himself as a bit of a tough guy, but he was looking very nervous. So the tattooer started the tattoo. He did the outline on this tiny tattoo and was about to start on the colour when my mate said " you don't have to colour it in do you". The tattooer, looking rather puzzled said "no not if you don’t want me to". We really took the piss out him on the train on the way home. What a pussy. I went back a few weeks later with two pals and we all had the same deaths head tattoo on our forearm. Ones now dead the other had his covered. So mines the only one left. That was 41 years ago and I still love that tattoo. So much so that I booked Alex Binnie to recreate the tattoo on my upper leg on April 13th.

Just saw a trailer for "Cabin in the Woods" written by Joss Whedon... im intrigued.

I know stars or nautical ones on the knee are Russian prison inspired, I'd personally stay away from that. Webs are ok, and give the nice round design to fill it in. Any type of animal head works.

Oh yeah, and when I first started getting tattooed at the ripe old age of 18, I used to always have dreams that they would rub off. The dream would basically be me waking up and seeing them smeared on the sheets or just sliding off my skin. I don't know what that means other than perhaps I want to have sex with Dr Benway's dad..

I was about to say "How can there be no Judd Ripley in this thread?" and then saw that Perez had posted something awhile ago ;) so here is a bit more Judd Ripley

Mister Cartoon, bad ass!

there's some amazing stuff in this thread! totally blown away. anyways here's my back, in progress by Mr. Mike Wilson at Inksmith Jax Beach obviously this has been worked around an existing tattoo on my upper back

I never get enough of Theo Mindells back pieces ,or any of his tattoos ,his classic designs already have a timeless appeal for me .If like me u want to scope out more from the crew at Spider Murphy's check out their new blog- Spider Murphy's Tattoo Looking at his new pics i feel reminiscent of the work of the great Greg Irons

Dan Martin of Houston TX. I used to work for him before i left Texas. he is a fantastic illustrator and he does really nice tattoos. He was the first Really good tattooer i worked with/for. I gained a lot from that experience and dont think i'd be the tattooer i am today with out it. and i am grateful. he is a member on this forum as well.

That Bert Grimm 'Duel in the sun' backpiece from earlier is very cool - love the double eagles and 'rising sun' motif. I like the Valerie Vargas back piece attached a lot. I think she could do an amazing take on the 'rock of ages'....? Another piece that has always stood out to me is this back piece by Shige (also attached). In his book it mentions that it is a tribute to the vanishing tradition of falconry in Japan. There's something very 'airy' about it.

This is from Jeff Rassier's blog. I rarely use the word brilliant, but I think that it is appropriate here.

I saw this thing recently by a fellow named Judd Ripley. Check out how soft and buttery those blends are! Pretty impressive.

These are from Horitoshi I's website. And click here for an interesting interview with him. The old school Japanese hand colored free style drawn pieces blow me away.

tonight's post is featuring all back pieces/body suits by the absurdly talented Filip Leu. I'm actually a little surprised no one's posted any pics of his yet in this thread...

This is by Timothy Hoyer, and I think that it is on Virginia Elwood.

Sorry i'm a back fiend so i'm all over this thread.More then from Jeff Zuck and the great Richard Stell.The piece from Richard Stell puts me of the mind of a t-shirt by Vivienne Westwood ,British designer;probably most relevant to this site as clothing the Sex Pistols

Sorry Petri i wasn't ready to go so corporate .More along the lines of professional boxer and New Zealand rugby player Sonny Bill Williams with a reference to his Polynesian roots.