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the lady and her friend were in the shop getting tattoos so i had to go up there and say hi...and just like i hoped one of the other tattooers wasn't busy it's awesome getting something from a tattooer that's been doing it since before many of us were even born also awesome that he's perfectly happy tattooing it just like it is on the sheet, and he'll take his time even though it's just a little piece of flash

I a glad to be here and have a place to share some of the insights i have been saddled with for the last six years since the beginning of the exploitation of tattooing . I have been asked to contribute on here by my long time friend Scott Sylvia . For those people i don't know yet , I have been tattooing for 23 years and owned and operated a shop in Hollywood called True Tattoo until i made the decision to sell it to Oliver Peck .I would have never sold it to him if i had known he was going to go do a TV show . I have since relocated to Kona Hawaii and now work at Eastern Classics tattoo .

I've been telling people to go to Sears for supplies for years now. "Yeah, man, they're gonna act like they don't know what you are talking about but you have to be insistent. You have make them understand that you know what's up and then they'll sell to you. Besides, all their tat guns are Craftsmen so they are guaranteed for LIFE!"

My first one was done on my 19th birthday, February 13th, 1985. Because my Dad has a tattoo, I always wanted one and knew I'd get one as soon I got legal age to do it. Since I grew up in bum-fucked western North Carolina there was only one shop within a 100 mile radius then. It was named "J.B. Davis Tattoo & Tavern". The tattoo shop was in the back of a biker bar in Waynesville N.C. I was way more scared of going in the biker bar as a skinny, long haired punk kid than I was of getting the tattoo, but I went through with it. Wasn't as bad as I though it'd be, so I kept getting more as the years went by. Now I've turned 46, my arms are covered to the wrist, and I'm fixing to start a backpiece. I never had it covered up, cause I love it to this day, but I did have it touched up in 2010. It's the spiderweb with the creepy skull/spiderlegs thingy. P.S. I was able to keep it hidden from my Mom for 2 weeks... She saw it and slapped the shit out of it!

Just got 2 new pieces yesterday so I have a total of 3 now. I'm sort of a newb when it comes to tattoos but I've definitely got the 'bug'.

you can find that snow lions cousin on the back of my head on my facebook. peep it.

Amazon used to carry uranium. $26 a tin. True story. They also recently allowed an author to publish a book on their kindle book creator app on how to molest children.... So yeah. Tattoo supplies won't make them loose any sleep.

Ha ha these are awesome stories! Here's mine. I was 18 (2005) I had just torn my acl skateboarding. I had a drawing of a pair of trucks that i had drawn while laying in bed on painkillers. I got tattooed by my buddy guido baldini in Santa fe nm. Just walked in and gave him my design. He ate some pizza and tattooed the design on me in about 20min. Still love it. I got it hooked up by marie sena a couple years ago. Not as cool but figure I could share.

those laws arent there to actually stop "scratchers" but to make revenue for the state.

I'm wearing this one, I've since filled in the rest of my arm, but this was her when she was brand new. Andrew Conner, Harrisonburg, VA

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

Does anyone have or has seen the "Skinned Alive" dvd? It's a documentary about the correlation between skateboarding & tattooing. LST's Tim Hendricks has an interview & a part where he tattoos Eric Dressen's back. Eric Dressen also has an interview where he brings up Clay Decker who I saw just joined the forum. It also has the Godoy brothers, Fred Smith, Mark Mahoney, Danny Romo, Neil Heddings, Bill Danforth, Jason Jessee & a few other dudes. It's worth it just to see the Jason Jessee part...shit's hilarious!

Long Beach...not too bad of a commute to Anaheim. Good people, great weather, lots of stuff to do!

Awesome snow lion. Definitely on my list. Its one of the four dignities (along with dragon, tiger and garuda). The 4 aspects of a Bodhisattva. Snow lion is unconditional cheerfulness, a mind free of doubt. Powerful symbol. Love it.

Welcome to LST Amy, a great shop with good tattooers to check out in Chicago is Chicago Tattoo Company. If you goto the tattoo artist interviews on this site Nick Colella is a good one to checkout. Plus I personally like Erik Gillespie's tattoos

It can be done, obviously it's not easy and their is a good chance their will be some spots that need to get touched up. The palm is the one spot where we actually don't do a free touch up on, but that is just our policy. Once it's healed it will look like you have had the tattoo for awhile for sure, it's not like a tattoo on your arm. There is a thread on this topic and you will find some examples of what a palm tattoo might age like. I don't know any tattooers in Missouri that I can think of, If you were in Portland I know a few guys that have experience doing palm tattoos and are willing to do them. http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-designs/620-palm-tattoos.html

I got a tattoo of Snoopy Playing saxophone. I was just graduating college at the age of 27 having put myself through on my own dime by enlisting in the military and serving in Korea and working part time in restaurants and factories welding and forming steel power distribution equipment. I still didn't know what I was ever going to do with a Music degree, but I knew I loved it enough that I was never gonna stop having fun with it. It was 10+ years before I got another tattoo.

Y'all had Burton Baton form Dogfish? It's probably the best beer I have ever had.

And to justify the people on these boards having a job. Most of the money generated from these laws are coming from real shops. It's hard to squeeze money out of people who operate outside of this system ie.. tattoo out of their house with no license.

"If you can draw and you can paint, you can tattoo" Louie says.... What a load of shit from that fuck-bags mouth! I can draw, and I have painted (the interior walls of my house that is), but you sure as Hell wouldn't want me tattooing any shit on you.

They look good, LaRock does clean work.... reads from far off. Works.

Yes! Welcome, Clay. You do incredible work and I sincerely hope you stick around and share some of your knowledge (including but not limited to how to power a machine off of a MacBook in the event of a convention blackout).

I am not heavily covered in tattoos, but I have a couple. I posted two of them in the gallery, and they should be attached to this post. Both of these tattoos were done by Abe Krupinski of the Flesh Chamber in Appleton. The sailor woman was a replica tattoo of one that my grandpa had. He got it when he was in the Navy in the 50's. I'm not sure who the artist was. It is of a woman in a sailor uniform with a mop and bucket. I put the dates my grandpa lived underneath. The tiger is a tiger... not too complex.

Those are amazing! I love the one with the wolf. Here's one that's in progress. He told me I could do whatever I wanted. I decided on a girl head...of sorts.

I swear I won't post every hand tattoo I do but here's a recent favorite of mine. This kid was born to be tattooed. I could tattoo him all day...and Ihave.

I am going to say now that my head was the most painful! It was not fun at all....the lining was not too bad at first....but the solid shading really sucked ass! Something small probably wouldn't be too bad....but (for me) the side of the head (especially behind the ear)with large coverage really hurts....ha ha ha! Again though......I was told by some people that they didn't have a too much trouble with it....I personally think they were lying....ha ha ha ha ha!

It reminds me of the part in "Horismoku..." where Ed Hardy talks about how Sailor Jerry used to run off reporters doing "human interest pieces". They're not interested in humans,they want freaks.

I finally got the side of my head tattooed! My Tibetan Snow Lion.....by Dave Kruseman or Olde Line Tattoo I still have one more sitting to go (maybe an hour...to add a few things) It was hard to get a good photo!

I've been skateboarding for a long time. This was my second tattoo. 94 or 95 I think. I asked the tattooer to put the image on my upper arm and he was kind enough to persuade me against it. He told me that it's best not get cartoony images on one's upper body. I couldn't be more grateful for his advice. I've been stoked again on the tattoo lately though. Maybe because Grosso is killing it. I got a chance to show it to him in New York a while ago too. I was totally fanning out.

I skated most of my teens/early twenties (ever the Pushead fan, I usually had multiple Zorlac decks set up) but these days I probably only skate a few times a year.

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.

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

Got my 1st tattoo the day after my 18th birthday at the oldest shop in my town. a tribal-ish sun on my inner forearm. over a decade later, I ended up apprenticing there.

My first tattoo was at 15....a pachcco cross on my left index finger done with needle, thread & ink! It is still partially visible under my knuckle tattoo......and was actually very well done! My first professional tattoo was done on my 18th Bday by Julie Moon at Dragon Moon Tattoo in Glen Burnie, Maryland! A Butterfly i picked off the wall and had tattooed on my left breast....and it was slowly built around over the years to become part of my chest piece!

Was 17 and had just got out of the hospital in Honolulu after getting some surgery. I am from the Big Island of Hawaii and there were no tattoo shops there at the time(1989). I had pretty much been fascinated with tattoos since about the 5th grade, when I got a copy of Donald Ritchie's book "the Japanese Tattoo" from the Hilo Library. Did a bunch of homemade crap on myself in the ensuing tattoo fever. We were getting a bite to eat in Chinatown, must have been on Smith Street because I remember seeing the sign for a tattoo shop down the street. This turned out to be China Sea Tattoo. Went in nervous as fuck and consulted with Scott Sterling and made an appointment for the next day. Come the next day it was Rollo that ended up doing a coverup of my homemade stuff with a panther(traditional position like the original) and a rose. I had no idea that he was so legendary until later. The only negative aspect of the whole experience was my mistaken impression that all tattoo shops were badass like that one. After all, I just stumbled into one of the most highly regarded tattoo shops of all time.

Mom did the kanji for Mom on my sternum when I was 17.

These are all by the always impressive Paul Anthony Dobleman out of Spider Murphys Tattoo :: Welcome. That whole shop is ridongculous! I need to get to the states so bad... and my hands on their flash book...

Red beer is the way to go. Less carbonation, same drunk, one serving of fruit. For your health!

i knew about this thread before it was cool guys.....

i'm getting a blow fish from shinji/horizakura.

For me it was achingly painful for two weeks. Cracking, redness. Hooper walked me through the process of healing with his method- "first it's going to look like it's blowing out. Then it's going to look like it's infected. Then it's going to look like it's fading. Then it's healed". It happened spot on per his synopsis.

I make tattoos for a living and it's not about me. The only pet peeve I have is tattooers who cannot spell. Don't be arrogant, check the dictionary. Now check it again.