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If that were me I would have just showed her my.

Chris Smith (Deluxe Tattoo) did this on me a little over two weeks ago... More or less healed now, bar some of the red on the kneecap still being a little raised up.

Stares from kids are the best. Always in total awe of seeing such heavily tattooed skin.

got this one a few months ago.. santa cruz skateboards logo. thinking about getting another at the cleveland convention tomorrow!

My girlfriend and I were eating at a restaurant in the downtown area of our town a week or two ago, and we ended up getting seated directly next to the floor to ceiling window that looked out onto the sidewalk. A family stopped right outside and there was a little dude--probably 7 or 8--who was absolutely fascinated by my tattoos. He stood there staring open mouthed and at one point grabbed his sister to point and show her. It was really cute...he clearly didn't realize that we could see him too, as after a minute or two we finally laughed and waved to him, at which point he ran and hid behind his parents. Kids are the best.

Just got back from a consultation with James Spencer-Briggs...we are set to do a tiger on my arm in August!! So psyched.

The Bible does say you should not mark your skin. Next time tell them it also says "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned," "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." and "Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?" These hypocrites only read the part of the bible that allows them to be judgmental blowhards. As to the stares, I'm 6'2" 195 with hair halfway down my back. I stare back :-)

Mike the Athens, Greece, finished yesterday, two days work,swollen as f..k. But very happy.

Motorhead Oni - Tim Lehi .

Nevermind..

sun is gonna fade your tattoos one way or the other, so just deal with it or bring an umbrella/sun tent or something like that. and yes, always apply sunblock, and often. you should be doing that anyway tattoos or not. as far as tattoos go, unless you go to the beach for several hours several times a week, its not gonna be a huge impact. my drivers arm is far darker than my other arm, and thats just from daily exposure in the car. colors 20 years old are still fairly bright for how old they are. i do go to the beach several times a week(to run, not to tan lol), but always in the early AM when the sun isnt at its peak, never for more than an hour. and i always apply sunblock. i know the sun is gonna do what it does, but hey thats life. i'm completely covered in tattoos, so what if a few are a little lighter than others. for some people that have a handful of tattoos it might seem like a bigger deal. by the way, any spf above 30 is basically no more effective than 30 is.

Funny, I thought I'd have a different response to this but when I thought about it, my answer is, "I don't." Could be because I'm getting older, or because I no longer have to ride the train to work, or a hundred other things, but when I thought about this and read the responses, I realized that tattoos are a much smaller part of my outward life than they were previously. Which doesn't mean I don't spend way too much time looking/reading/giggling/whatever, just means that I don't use them to identify myself as much anymore. I'm much less a "tattooed person" as I am a person that has tattoos. It's not a "lifestyle," it never was. I will say though, when spring/summer hits and the shorts come out, I definitely notice some looks, and I realize some are involuntary. But at this point, I've pretty much stopped caring. I don't know if this makes sense, I just got off work and there have been many shots tonight.

And it's still cool now!

It's a good one. I think I'm going to do the Jack Dracula one next. I mean to interview more people, but... I always put it off.

I am going and getting a eagle on my chest done by Matt Howse super stoked.

Can we let sleeping threads lie?

All valid points. Horitoku: Edit: I don't know why it is cropping the picture, so here is one of just the tattooed gentleman.

Dan Rick:

@MadeIndelible - never apologise for posting awesome backpieces haha ;) Horitsune II Horiyasu: Not Sure on these 2:

This was the only guy in town that got stared at until he passed away recently: I guess I'm spoiled:cool:

i'd love to have a motorcycle

agreed... it's cool because you know they don't know any better. i remember eating in a restaurant and a family was walking by with a 5-6yr old little tyke... he was staring at my arm the entire walk, then just as they were passing he couldn't help but reach up and swipe his hand across my arm. i, my wife, and the parents just all smiled. as i'm reading thru all the responses and typing this up, i'm realizing that we're all just grown up kids... we've just developed a filter that says "don't stare" in our minds and have grown to feel uncomfortable when people stare at us. but i also honestly have the same reaction when i see a great tattoo! i definitely try not to stare if i know i'm in their line of sight, but i gotta get my peeks! if i'm walking behind someone wearing good work, i'll definitely study it... i mean... I LOVE THIS SHIT!! why would i not?! if someone was walking around with a Horitomo sleeve or Grime squid pants, my wife would probably have to remind me to pick my jaw up off the floor. this is a great thing about conventions! not only are you allowed to stare, but it's kind of expected and most people are cool with it... they dig it because they love their tattoos and they know the onlookers appreciate their work. you'll see great tattooers there staring at all the other great tattoos walking around, because they're checking out what their peers have been up to. my first story of the kid also reminds me that when i first got tattooed, a lot of people i know who haven't been around tattoos were COMPLETELY intrigued and it wasn't uncommon for friends and family to ask "can i touch it?!" "NO! it's still healing! get your dirty paws off me!!"... one exception was my coworker at the time who is now my wife. ;)

I try to avoid getting tan but it is sometimes hard when living in Los Angeles. I love swimming pools...so if I go to one I have my sunglasses, a big floppy hat, and sunscreen especially on the tattoos. Whenever there is a chance I sit in the shade. You could always bring one of those big umbrellas to the beach, I want to get one. It's nice to be able to have some shade.

My mom says they look "trashy" too. She also advised that I get therapy...in an I'm joking but not really kind of way. I think I just told her that we each have our own personal style and it's okay if they are not the same. As for therapy I told her she would probably be the one who needs it since I'm happy and she's the one w/a problem w/tattoos! ;-) Oh, ps. @Dan S. -- I married into a Jewish family. They observe but are reform (rather than conservative or orthodox) and they are actually very laid back about the tattoos I have and now my husband has. My 73 yo mother-in-law has actually expressed a desire to get one. We would be happy to take her but she chickens out.

i've never had anything negative happen to me. however, i'm 26, and tattoos are much less taboo now. i frequently have people contemplating me on my tattoos. i used to feel very awkward at first, now i enjoy will usually have a quick conversation with folks. i once had a little kid say to his mom, "mommy, look at the colorful pictures on the man's arm!" the woman seemed to get embarrassed and apologize, but i assured her it was perfectly fine. i'm lucky i've never had to deal with anyone doing/saying anything negative towards me because of my tattoos.

For me it was far worse when I was bodybuilding , people used to cross the road and parents clutch their childrens hands ,I even once unwittendly and without consent appeared on a documentary said to highlight "how big some of these people can get " .

Just talked to Matty McTatty, he's going to be in Huntington WV for a few days this month and I've got a tattoo scheduled! I'm stoked, just thought I'd share that.

I love the "your body is a temple" logic against tattoos. It is the perfect example of using something totally out of context. I am a bit rusty on my bible study, but I am 90% sure that when Jesus said that he was referring to prayer. I think that he had travelled to the temple and everyone there was acting like an asshole so he stood outside and said "fuck the temple, it has become a real fucking mess, so just pray wherever you are. Your body is the temple and wherever you pray God will hear you" I am not sure when that was turned into "don't get that anchor on your arm". I know that there is a line or two in there about don't mark yourself, but there at least that many lines about not eating bacon as well.

Only time I've ever been stared at and was made to feel really uncomfortable was when I was in Japan on a train back from Nara, and an older gentlemen looked, nay stared straight through me. Not going to lie, it was pretty freaky and was probably the most intimidated I have ever been in my life. And it was by a 60+ year old gentleman lol. I tend to cover up, more so because i get really annoyed with people grabbing one of my limbs and stating "how sick my ink is" or recently because of a slightly more corporate environment I have found myself in.

I am thinking about it. Jack Rudy will be there, but I am not sure if he is tattooing. I am about to drop a load of money tomorrow at Liberty, and I think that I am going to try and get tattooed by Marco Hernandez next month, so I don't know if I will have any thing leftover for the convention. But I am pretty dumb with my money so I may go down anyway.

@ShawnPorter this is unrelated, but that bob shaw interview you posted was great. thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

I will learn to stare back.... It is a non-threatening gesture. My husband is really surprised by my reaction, and so am i! I am an animal activist, and i also work closely with the children aid society . I am vocal plenty in other situations. I dont judge others, but try to help as much as i can. I liked your quotes of the Bible. I will use that . Thanks..,

I mostly like your comment b/c we share the same first name. Secondly, because DEATH TO BUBBLEBERRY.

I need work out! good ol asthma can really put a damper on it thoe.

Guy Ursitti: Just some asshole on the internet, just like Scott Sylvia, Mario Desa, Stewart Robson, Tim Hendricks and all the other neckbeards that frequent this place.

This is the longest meet up thread ever.

Possibly the first forum I've been on (and I've been on A LOT) that seems mature and completely hate/bickering free. Very refreshing!

I think one of the beautiful things about tattooing is that you basically are this jack of many trades, as in you have to be a pretty well rounded individual.. You can build your own machines and needles, make ink, make the flash for the tattoo, then make that into a tattoo, make the customer enjoy the experience, and then make your station ready for the next one.. There's a lot of different types of character building and sense of self in that whole deal, and when you start bringing other people into it to take care of the parts you're not so good at, it dilutes it. That's probably why a lot of the older guys get upset when younger tattooers don't even know how to make their own needles and inks, because to them it seems as if you're less pure of a tattooer.

Now I have to speak to my agent and see if it's YOU who owes me money, or David :D

1950's dime novel cover .

I think his right arm has too many stars and dots. I would have gotten more small tattoos and did just a few stars and dots to tie it together. Pretty good collection nonetheless.

Horitoshi: I apologize if these have been posted before.

first hit on my back piece. snakes tail and skull will finish down my right thigh as my left thigh is already covered.

This mother fucker aint ever heard Blood For Blood. White Trash Rob is hella pissed.

Here's some that I've done. I don't get into the studio much but I hope to soon and will explore a new direction. All ideas and no time right now. Intaglio prints onto rice paper. I made this for my wife. It's of the antique schooner we sailed on on Maine. This one seems relevant these days...painted just over four years ago.

I got one in 2007 at Tattoo 13 in Oakland. Nick Rodin did it. Fun times!

I think the difference is old sailors and the like did things like the famous 'hold fast' knuckles as a good luck talisman to help then with their job. Now people tend to get hand tattoos without having other tattoos so they can try and look tough without actually going through the pain and money of tattooing the rest of your body first.

Wellllll. Since you said to be honest I will. Like the other I agree it looks stupid to have hand tattoos and not have the rest of your arms and actually the rest of your body done. It makes me wonder why you chose to get your hand tattooed before doing the rest. As far as the actual tattoo, it's by far not the worst I've seen. It's not something I would ever get and I wouldn't go to the artists. The reason is not the quality of the actual tattooing, it's the drawing. I'm not into new school or whatever people would call that style. Just isn't my thing. Having said all that, if you like the drawing then there's no problem at all as it's your tattoo. If I was you I'd wait until I you have a lot more tattoos on your arm and then see how you feel about it. I have a couple tattoos that are actually really fucking awful, like I mean horrible. It used to bother me soooo much, I wouldn't wear short sleeves because I was so embarrassed by them. Then I started getting good tattoos and lots of them and now the bad ones aren't so embarrassing. It all just kind of blends in. A good friend of mine who is also a great tattooer once told me that he likes it when someone has a couple bad ones in there with the good ones because it shows that you love tattoos and wanted them before you knew about 'cool rockstar hipster shit' like a lot of the kids today who are just getting tattooed because it's the cool trendy thing to do.