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Mario Desa was kind enough to tattoo me at the Richmond Tattoo Convention. I started my clean arm!

Anyone ever end up having a touching moment about or over a tattoo? Today I skyped my grandma for the first time, and I showed her the tattoo I had gotten of her name. Then my sister, who was in the room with her (she was visiting her in vegas) showed my grandma her tattoo of grandma's name... My grandma was speechless and then started crying. She was so touched that we cared enough about her to get it on us. She cried for like 5 minutes. I had to fight the tears on my side. She just thought it was the coolest thing and couldnt get over that we loved her enough to do it. Melted my heart a bit.

I'll post it up for my friend who hasn't yet joined but he's just signed up for a Odin backpiece/rib tattoo with Regino Gonzales. I'll be posting up some pictures here for people to check out. I also am just about finished with my Raijin tattoo and am about to start the rest of my leg with a dragon, some lightning and clouds. "Leg sleeve" is getting some progress!

what city are you located in? Maybe someone here can send you in the right direction...

The great thing is you don't have to be any good at drawing, nor do your friends. You just have to find a really good tattoo artist whose work you admire and (s)he can do all the drawing for you! Have you looked in the galleries here? Look through the galleries, watch the video interviews... you'll start to find artists you really want to be tattooed by. My first few tattoos, I thought I had to bring a picture of what I wanted and just get that--and a couple of the tattooers I went to, I didn't trust them to stray from my image because I didn't really know what they were capable of, I went based on friend recommendations without doing any research. I even did that with the famous Mark Mahoney (and feel a little silly about it now, although I still love my little black cat silhouette that he did and the whole experience of it). Since I joined LST, I have gone on to find amazing artists who I just say, "I want ____." And I know they can run with it and make it a way better tattoo than I could have even imagined.

here's my new one from duncan x, from a bruegel engraving

Packing to fly to Tokyo on Sunday... I think that's pretty awesome (I'm not one of those people who hates packing). The only downside is that we were due to be leaving tomorrow morning and without any warning SAS cancelled their flight and re-routed us... I thought swedes were supposed to be super efficient and whatnot? Morons. So we're down a day on our vacation, but I guess the silver lining is that I sent them an e-mail laying some EU regulation smackdown on them. Because we didn't get notice in the appropriate timeframe, and because no exceptional circumstances apply, and because we're arriving more than 2 hours later than our originally scheduled time of arrival we should be entitled to compensation. Look at the regs it will be either 250 euro each, or as much as 400 euro each (depends on what whether the whole distance travelled in the intinerary is counted or just the leg they cancelled). Bought a few bits and bobs to bring the guys in Yellow Blaze today as small gifts. I know they'll probably never do a celtic style tattoo, but maybe what I bought will find a spot in their rather large library of reference material - a few books on celtic design, knotwork, bordering etc. Going to chuck in a bottle of whiskey too.

Hello everyone, my name is Hank. I have a pretty chill job and during my down time I've been lurking the site for a while now. So, I finally decided to take the plunge and become a registered user. Here's some factoids about myself: I'm from Las Vegas. some of my interests: Punk Rock/Rock n' Roll Comic Books Tacos Tattoos I started getting getting tattooed when I was 23 (I'm now 31) Also, here's a picture of something I got recently.

Definitely an alien. I have pics but I'll wait for him to share. Instagram buddy!

I will definitely be checking that out! Any new material i can use to broaden my knowledge of tattooing as a whole is good material to me. Thanks for the stuff dude. So you are the famous Valerie Vargas, Pleasure to meet you. I think you just got put onto my, "Must get tattooed by" List :)

As has been noted, there are threads about whiskey, food, cars, bikes, guns, just about everything...why not about piercing? The reputable piercers I know of around here all work out of tattoo parlors, so there is a connection. And if you don't get into it, you can always click right on past. PErsonally, I wouldn't get any of the facial stuff, but I find ot interesting.

current things i am doing that i consider awesome; Broadening my programming capabilities Starting up my own company (Something i believe is awesome because i have the commitment to do it at a young age) Thats about it really...

All of those links will make a very pleasant read :) Cheers for the links :D

20+ years later this is still what I say about every tattoo I get haha

I think the general public dont think twice about lumping them together, Its us, the purists, that dont care for the association, I sort of feel sorry for every piercer I have worked around, I probably treated them like second class. Oh well, I too am a dick, apparently.

Yep, saw it, too! Fucking awesome.

LOL, I can't stop laughing at this one!

Hi and welcome. There's some great advice here already, to which I'd add that an alternative to a coverup is simply getting more tattoos.

I have one piercing and may want to get some more. Most of what I see I like on people, although less is more. I like that it can be discussed on a civilized forum like this one. Rob - - - Updated - - - All the ones I know (piercers or tattoo artists) don't mix the 2 disciplines. Rob

Grant, if you get tattooed at lab monkey ask rich about me or Stewart and say hello to the guys from us!

Do you have a tattooer that you normally work with? If you do, then I would talk directly to them and brainstorm together.

Keep Tattoo forums for Tattooing and Piercing forums for piercings. Personally i love both, But as a rule of thumb, i get pierced by a Body Piercer and tattooed by a tattoo artist. I wouldn't mix the two together, they're individual.

It's a place I will visit when I get the chance to "hop the pond". http://frithstreettattoo.co.uk/ Inked Magazine :: Inked Spots :: Firth Street Tattoo Frith Street Tattoo | Webstagram - the best Instagram viewer

Another ewok?! An alien?! The suspense is killing me!

just. just.

@irezumi, the ribs as my first weren't easy, but they make the rest of my tattoos easier because I just keep thinking "HOT DAMN! this is better than my ribs." That said, I did two 2.5 hour sessions, not 5 straight. That would be REALLY tough.

I agree, the lines look so solid and clean. I love all the black. As for me, I have black & gray, but my black & gray left arm incorporates a little "dotwork" type stuff in the background. I don't think I put this pic on LST... This is my inner arm after the 4th session w/a Spencer Briggs Style mandala. It's not finished yet and my iphone takes crappy/grainy pics but here it is:

@Duffa Trust me, it will be worth it!

Shitty cell phone pic of progress on my backpiece. 7 sessions, 22.5 hours, and 1.5 tubs of Aquaphor. I should be able to get it finished next month as my X-mas present to myself. (And by shitty cell pic I mean REALLY shitty)

I've always liked Tim Pausinger's tattoos (I believe he's working full time at the Pearl Harbour Gift Shop in Toronto these days). I'm not sure what it is about them, but I think his work has a real style of its own - always some cool touches or a different way of looking at a traditional subject. He's got a couple of cool ROAs in his instragram feed: Traditional, but he does his own thing with them. I like the way he illustrates the women too... Here's one:- I kind of like 'em because they look like they're leg pieces also... For those of us who can't fit a ROA on a back!

Vote #2 for cut-out dagger!

Looks like you could maybe do that thing with a long shape, like a dagger or snake, where it starts on one side, "pierces" the skin when it reaches the wheels of the plane, and then comes out the other side.

Already posted this in Latest Tattoo Lowdown but I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring. 100 Years of Solitude rib piece Artist: Matt Brotka Shop: Salvation Gallery

Got this from Antonio Roque today @ Black Label Tattoo Co.

Snaked from the Instagram of Horitomo the great .

Boo- Yah Tribe at Hanky Panky's old Amsterdam shop .

Even though I haven't posted a tattoo this month......I'M NOT HERE TO MAKE FRIENDS! 1 vote for me! Suckers!

Oh what the hell, probably crazy to enter a tattoo here given what's already posted, but whatever, I'm not here to make friends: Done by Seth Wood, Saved Tattoo. Mostly finished October 2011 so the thing is healed a year, but the illustrations in the book are fresh and were done a couple of weeks ago. Apologies for the giant pictures.

Valerie Vargas was kind enough to do 2 tattoos for me and pretty up my thighs at SFO

Scott sylvia blackheart tattoo SF done in 2 sittings 4 hrs for outline of eagle and shading 7 hrs for roses and color its also going over old lasered stuff!

Am I really the only asshole who loves watching the people get shitty tattoos? I love that the judges dont say anything.

Here you guys go! ha just realized I screwed the last 30 seconds. will fix

Good for you, but, wow. Last Sparrow Piercing. This feels like usenet in 1997. Sorry. There are plenty of places online for this stuff, but nowhere else other than Last Sparrow for serious tattoo talk. Yeah, I'm a dick.

Personally that scratchy, graphic stuff gets too much attention as it is. I like it less than colour realism. I don't think it belongs in tattooing, a way for an artist to express themselves on somebody else's body. I know the people ask for it and pay for it, but part of a tattooer's job it to stop people getting ugly shit they will want covered when they grow up and see real tattoos done properly. Actually, I apply that to anything that doesn't look like a tattoo. "how clever, it doesn't look like a tattoo" I know this makes me sound like a dick, but I've seen it time and time again. I've even made some of the same mistakes myself, getting bold graphic crap that I thought made me special and clever. It didn't. It just ruined the space for a proper tattoo. I think what Hooper does is capture the same urge to be bold and different but he executes it with an amazing eye for design and respect for the body, not to mention his work is filtered through his knowledge of tattooing as a whole. Horses for courses I guess....

Miguel "Uzi" Montgomery also does some really awesome ones He's on Facebook, tattoos in Lodi and Sacramento Last shot is of Uzi & Adam together

I'm a little biased on this one, but I work with a kid named Adam Warmerdam who draws and paints some pretty ladies