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Some killer stuff in here! for perspective: Done by Greg Christian while he was in NYC at Wooster St Social Club I had made this appt a while ago and was really looking forward to it. Thought for sure it would get canceled after the Hurricane happened and flooded the city, leaving downtown Manhattan without power all week. Luckily, Greg made it to NYC last minute and I got this tattoo from him a day after the power came back on. It was a really cool ending to a very shitty week. Very fortunate.

Caught this one from Greg Christian while he was in NYC last weekend!

Smaller one before we start workin' on a thigh panther, from Nash over at Hand of Glory. Great dude, awful spot.

Yeah, I did, thanks. It was a while ago, before I had a digital camera. If I still have a photo, it's in the bottom of a box somewhere. I dont think it was technically accomplished though. I only got to do it because someone saw a set of 20th Century occult flash I did and picked the portrait of AOS. I've tattooed sections of his automatic drawings and some of his sigils too. I thought it was cool too (except the sigils, that seemed to defeat the purpose) As a geek note to the mystical/occult interested: Frith Street Tattoo is within 15 minutes walk of the birthplace of Austin Osman Spare and around 5 minutes walk from the birthplace of William Blake. Crowley lived in various locations a further 20 mins walk west. (I use walking times because in central London driving takes longer)

i've posted this before but i'll post it again. got this done by Mario Desa this year, i need to get a healed picture because it looks great. my girlfriend got this started by Max Kuhn last month the same day i got my back outlined.

Have you actually done a portrait of Austin Osman Spare? Cause that would be incredibly rad. - - - Updated - - - I email Jennifer on average 40 times a day with design ideas, looking to get advice about dating and sending her 'tonz of nudez'. Weirdly enough, it takes me an average of three minutes to get a response.

A few friends of mine and I are working on an art zine. It will be completely DIY, no computers or photoshop layouts or anything like that. We would like to put out a new one each month and include a limited print/hand screened covers/whatever other cool and random things we decide to do. In order to make this cool for everybody to view, as well as for us to put together, we need art. We aren't going in any general direction with this so we are open to any styles/mediums to publish. If anyone is interested in being apart of this you can e-mail me and i'll give you more info on how to submit. [email protected] -chris

my backpiece is finished and it was honestly pretty quick and not too painful except for the lasering!. In ways I wish the process lasted longer but I have a bad ass tattoo from a kick ass tattooer.

Hey Mitch.... I returned your email... Sorry, I'm so overwhelmed with more work then I can deal with at the moment... I may be late but I always show up... ha. like a slutty girl and her period.

Ben Grillo is a very talented lad . Tattoo Portraits by Ben Grillo | Ink Butter

Ahhhh shhhhiiittt! I really wasn't expecting this much gold to come out this little thread. @Stewart Robson Thanks for the advice. As a young person with little to do/keep track of, I find it hard sometimes to remember other people have lives with a lot of things to juggle etc. You're totally right about the Instagram thing too. I think a lot maybe people fail to see it as it is for most tattooers, a marketing tool,not some fun little place to share pictures of your shoes and such. @Jennifer Stell I hope you don't see this thread as a dig on you, or Richard. I know you guys are busy, and in fact you're right. I wasn't just referring to you guys. Mostly, I just wanted an experienced view on the essential information needed to convey serious intent. I know you guys are busy doing exciting things for yourselves and for tattooing as a whole. I'm pumped to continue corresponding with you. I look forward to meeting you and Richard, and I can't wait to have some Stell on my skin!

thanks, @everyone. I think by friday i'll be back up to normal. if i've learned anything on LST, it's to get legs and tough spots done young so they're not hyper-cunts to heal.

November Tattoo Of The Month thread material :D

@Deb Yarian posted a scar coverup recently on her instagram that was nothing short of amazing. Which, I guess, proves the point that people have made here that you need to go to somebody good for this.

welp, that one's tiny, so here's a link to a really big picture of it. computers hate me today. http://www.freeimagehosting.net/dp42d

Don't overthink it.

just to put my two cents in, I am what you would consider lightly tattooed for a tattoo artist, but as an artist that has seen what is available out there, i dont want to fill my canvas with joe shmoe nobodies that do half ass work, which seems to be the majority of the people im surrounded by. I dont work in a busy shop, i dont have buttloads of money, i devote my time to my shop instead of working a side job, and i live in the midwest without the time or funds to travel. Someday i hope to change some of that but in the meantime im more than happy to be lightly tattooed. That just gives me the space to get stuff done when i get to start going to conventions and meeting some of my tattoo heroes. And on a side note, not trying to say the midwest doesnt have some good artists, just none within a short drive that i know of, and i have no funds to pay any of them anyways.

Not sure if I'm "allowed" to post any of my art (since I haven't seen anyone else do this), but figured it might make the introduction message more exciting - and I'm not showing it to get an apprenticeship, since I already have this.. Anyway, here's a few of my newest drawings:

@gougetheeyes wants to believe. And I believe that that's a rad little tattoo. I also believe (and know first-hand) that it's a shitty spot. @dirbab, damn, Greg Christian does wild stuff! Those geo flowers are so cool.

Very cool man. When I first started getting into reading about the turn of the century Occult stuff Spare was one of my favorites. Until I started reading about Parsons in the 1940s... Still need to get a Parsons tattoo.

Look, nothing against Dobermans and Pits but I think we all know that your tattoo artist is always right, and while I've never been tattooed by Lal Hardy, I have to defer to his superior knowledge and say that Greyhounds are the best. Sorry, just the way it is.

getting work from richard/jen was pretty simple for me send an email or msg to let jen know my interest watch the internet for when they would be in town wait followup to the email at the right time go get a badass tattoo richard is a nice dude btw

YES! Approved on both! Dude a thigh panther is be killer. I suggest you turn it into a battle royal!

It's not so much name-dropping or that we want to be "part of it" We all get a lot of time-wasters who just want to talk about tattoo ideas, you know, just shoot the shit a little via email. When someone emails me and lets me know that they have travelled or put in whatever effort and are serious about getting tattooed, if I can tell that they have selected me based on my previous work and understand how much a tattoo of that size will cost - then they are way more likely to get a timely response. Remember that if whoever you are emailing travels a lot they may not have enough time or internet connection long enough to give you a considered response. Before we can email you a time/price/day/location for your tattoo, we need to figure out all that stuff first. Sometimes even have a couple of extra options of dates/times/tattoo subjects. Personally I don't like being given "total freedom". Some days that may mean a portrait of Austin Osman Spare, other days it may mean a Baku backpiece or dagger and rose. I guess if your chosen tattooer is known for a specific set of subjects, it's a no-brainer, but it's something to consider. A couple of alternatives won't hurt either. Something that comes to mind whenever I see/hear discussions like this, I wish I could remind collectors/customers/whatever that just because you see a tattooer post to instagram or whatever else on the internet, that doesn't mean they are also checking and responding to emails.

Bonus segment with Lal Hardy is up: www.vice.com/tattoo-age/valerie-vargas-bonus-a-visit-with-lal-hardy

Got this outlined Sunday. It's off a Dan Higgs original painting that hangs in the shop. Healing this has been such a pain in the ass for me. It's only been a couple of days and I've probably lost 4+ hours a sleep a night. Does anybody else get that weird goosebump/chills/itch combination thing, or is that just me? It's very strange. Aaron Francione, Rumi Tattoo.

One of the dogs used in the development of the Doberman was the Greyhound. They did this for speed.

Here's one: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-designs-books-flash/2069-chest-torso-tattoos.html

@Jack Looks like you had a whale of a time.

got that guy a few weeks ago! :)

Sometimes when your corresponding through email the tattooist has a hard time seeing that. I say that just so they can see I'm serious and not just window shopping.

Looks really good. Welcome. Look through the threads...there is multiple for posting your own work. I am sure that people would love to see your stuff.

Rottweilers get no love? Some of the best

Terrible feeling.

Here's a great one from Guy Aitchison:

Newark is a hop and a skip from me

yikes. i didnt even know what you really meant at first.

Hannya Mask, Chest Panel as part of a sleeve. Did the outline about two months ago, color yesterday. Done by Jesse Tseronis at Sakura Tattoo in Winchester, VA. We've been working on the sleeve since February. One more session!

I got tattooed by Deno at Kings Ave NYC yesterday. It was an awesome experience. Will have a picture later.

@Pugilist would if make you feel better if we entered THUNDERDOME ! two men enter one man leaves

I think Scott's tattoo needs to be a little more 'in your face' instead of just an attachment... @Scott R hope you don't mind :D

Well, I was excited to post my tattoo, but the stuff posted here already is some serious shit. Hopefully I can still hang with you big dogs... Proud to wear this piece from Josh Cruse, JP Cruse Professional Tattooing, Wichita, Kansas

here you go Loch and thank you and LST so much for the help!

Since it looks like we already have a winner @ Ian I thought I would throw an older one up. Dropping the F bomb by Cory Norris

hello, i'm Kim-Anh Nguyen. i work in Geneva Switzerland and also at Jolie Rouge Tattoo, london UK.

From when I talked to people who scratch or have some scratcher stuff on them, they seem to be the type that wouldn't have gotten a tattoo from a good artist anyway. Price is almost 100% of the reason for getting it anyway. It's like me and home décor, I could give a shit for the most part as long as it works and is cheap, but the big difference is I don't have to wear my shitty couch on my body forever.

...when you see somebody dressed up as Luke Wilson's character in The Royal Tenenbaums for Halloween and you think that it's weird that they're wearing a Stewart Robson costume.

Tebori by Nakamura Toshikazu - http://shisei2011.web.fc2.com/index.html

I think any large scale Thomas Hooper work is mind boggling. Especially the large pattern work. I find my self wondering how many times was the stencil laid? How many stencils? If their were several stencil what parts did he draw in? And then once you have all that on, just make the lines right? Seriously amazing stuff.