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J. Madberg, Stockhol unfortunately not mine

gf got this by michael bennett at 2 spirit. one of the nicest shops ever.

Also forget everything you've learned from those shows. Seriously. Everything. Focus on finding a tattoo artist whose work makes you think, "damn! I need that on me!"

@shinobi go in with the rough idea you want then let the tattooer (who ever you choose) at Sid's work their magic of drawing you a badass tattoo with their expertise then come share it with us! (please)

I'm amazed at the incredible art work that is able to be put on skin! I'm amazed at the ingenuity, the skill, and the obvious talent of so many, many, many tattoo artists out there. Until I started coming here and following a bunch of tattooers on Instagram I had NO IDEA that so many spectacular tattoos are being done in the world. I remember looking at old tattoo magazines at my uncle's house when I was a teenager and thinking that they were amazing - but it was so unreal to me - stuff in a magazine y'know. And then tattooing was illegal in Oklahoma until not too many years ago - not to say that there weren't tattoos happening, but it was all fairly hush hush (and most of them weren't very good) and I never thought to look to see what else was out there. And now my mind is blown every. single. day. Perhaps the most amazing thing of all - great tattoos are accessible to just about everybody. You don't have to be famous, or wealthy, or otherwise connected to be able to get an awesome tattoo. It takes just a little bit of research and attention to what is going on out there. AMAZING!! It's one of the coolest things ever. I regret that I have been missing out on all this for so long.

I got the sailor jerrys treasure chest book this week, its pretty rad

Never met the dude, just follow his work and know about his alien inclinations.. therefore I would like to receive a tattoo from him one day.

you can always ferry from the city to larkspur then cab or bus up two exits. the ferry ride is amazing!!

Forget about looking at designs on the internet, they're almost all garbage and would have to be redrawn anyway. You'll get a far better tattoo by finding and talking to a good tattoo artist and working out the design with him or her. One of the nice things about a phoenix is that there are so many different ways to interpret it so I'd suggest first and foremost finding an artist who does tattoos you love and then figure things out from there. I also wouldn't worry about whether or not a design is "manly" because it's how you wear it. A butterfly tattoo can be hard as shit if you want it to be.

Damn, you're not kidding about Tomas. I've gotta meet this guy. I'm stopping by Sid's tomorrow. I want to get a cobra w/ some traditional roses done on my front bicep, kinda like this:

I'm probably going to have to update this thing soon. I got some new stuff that hasn't made it in yet

Honestly I didn't know much about DeVita before, and thru the first three episodes I was just thinking to myself "yeah this guy's got a lot of history and a personality and is way different, but what's all the hubbub about?" Then I watched this one. And I got it. Oh man words cannot describe

Just got home from a surfing trip in the Philippines, last night I booked another surfing trip in the Philippines for march 2013 so happy, I love it over there. To top it off this is my 100th post!

Tattoos are pretty much the coolest thing in the world! I'm also pretty much constantly amazed by the quality of work people here have. I have this joke about Instagram how if you see amazing work it's either on a tattooer or on an LST member (which, I know, are sometimes one and the same). Instagram in particular is insane. I know that so much is lost by seeing tattoos on a tiny phone screen, but the amount of mind-bogglingly awesome tattoos that are being done every single day in insane. Like how crazy is it that Horiyoshi 3 has an instagram?!? I hope this board is able to show people that having really good, like jaw-droppingly good, tattoos is something anyone can have as long as they're willing to put the time and money--and when you compare it to collecting other kinds of art, it's really not much money at all--into it.

Well just finished my Raijin. Seriously love the little extra touches Regino Gonzalez

When you stop having "late to work/school" stress dreams and begin to have "late for a tattoo appointment" dreams. I overslept, and then couldn't find my pants or the power bars I like to bring, and for some reason I was in San Francisco when I was supposed to be in New York...

fun little walk-in with mark cross yesterday. been wanting this dude for a while.

Hahaha, just any old Dan will do. Trocchio, Albrigo, or Santaro are all my favorites.

If I wanted to get tattooed by Rubendall in September I would have needed to book that quite some time ago! I was thinking a one-shot by somebody named Dan. Don't know which one or what yet though.

Who? Mike Rubendall What? Anything Mike Rubendall wants

I have a wedding to go to in NYC in September so I need to figure out who is going to tattoo me then and what I'm going to get. I wish all decisions in life were this hard.

i didn't even think of that thank you.

Yeah, some drawings and unfinished stuff, plus a lot of awesome photos and alternate versions of the usual stuff- hard to see how many more books they could do at this point though

@jayessebee, I got that for Conner last year on his bday. It is a good one.

Tomas is a good friend of mine, I honestly think hes the best artist I know of...hes also the nicest dude ever

Aaaaaaaah I have had this dream so many times! Also, when you preface every tattoo you're going to get with "squid", e.g. "I just booked an appointment to get squid-elbows!"

I'm thinking about getting my chest done. Hopefully by Paul Dobleman when he's in Europe in '13. Probably Pharaoh horses. But there's such a wide range of things I'd love to have on my chest. Damn.

@peterpoose - Congrats on making a feature on Tattoosnob.com

I recently joined a pretty intense kung fu program. This place is the whole deal, training your mind, body, and spirit, and everyone there seems really passionate and committed to bettering themselves. I finally had my official first class yesterday and I am SO STOKED about it! Best thing I've done for myself in years!! My next class is on Saturday and I can't wait...

Since @Gregor 's post of Joey Ortega's alternative entry has expired, I'm taking the liberty of re-posting it:

Tomas is probably one of the most interesting people in the world.

Start with Bushido by Taki. It's great. Schiffer Books.

@ThaliaCamille - Rachibrains always does nice, clean work. Looking forward to seeing this complete.

Nice, clean tattoo.

this guy matt lentz. the stuff hes been doing lately is AMAZING. coming into his own. love his roses sooooo much. i want one so bad. i have a couple tattoos from him and he is really heavy handed but super cool and cares about every aspect of your tattoo Photo by matt_lentz • Instagram

good tattooers are too busy tattooing

Could be clever editing, but I see an overwhelming theme of arrogance portrayed. I get the feeling from some that what happened it tattooing before them didn't matter because their art just blows it out of the water. No regards to fundamentals even though poor execution seems to be the theme week after week. I felt like Jesse started to get it last week when he did a traditional japanese tattoo, it was the first time someone really acknowledged that it wasn't really about them and their ego or style, it was about showing how well rounded you are as a tattooer. Then this week he started listening to the peanut gallery and now he is disappointed for selling out. The same thing goes for the whole "get some tattoos" conversation. The excuses are bull shit, if you have worked in a shop for 17 years and haven't got a tattoo, you aren't going to start doing it next week. It was just a way to placate the judges and it didn't work. It's a lot easier to convince yourself getting a tattoo is a good idea when you are young. Plus at this point why bother, I would trust a tattooer with 17 years experience that just start getting tattooed last week about as much as I would trust someone without them. In conclusion I don't think they could have gotten a worse representation of tattooers if they set out with the intent to do so.

Panther on my leg by Stewart Robson last week, laser on my arm the day after and chest eagle next week, I must be a sucker for pain...

Ha he is cantankerous in a sweet way if thats possible. "skateboards are ok for kids but grown ups on skateboards? thats a dumb look"

Actually, this and another laser thread have inspired me to pursue a larger back piece. My 1st laser session is this afternoon, so after 4-5 sessions I'm planning on some new work in 2014. I'll start a new thread with before, during and after pictures in the Spring. Thanks.

Shaun Nel also did one... Love it.

@RoryQ for some reason every time I watch Sons Of Anarchy Clay reminds me of a Kerry Blue .

Watching this video was simultaneously fascinating, and made my stomach churn.

I haven't been tattooing very long, so I feel awkward replying to shit like this. But here goes. I like the act of tattooing. I love watching pigment go in the skin, seeing the line as it's being pulled across the stencil. I love it. So when I get requests for annoying shit, or things I'm sick of,(and denying that you ever get sick of shit is fucking retarded. We're humans. We get sick of shit. Period.), I try to just get past it in my head and think about the application. Not that I'm applying a tattoo that I hate, but that I'm applying a tattoo at all. And get right back into that mindset of enjoying the work aspect of it. Without trying to sound like a wagon jumper, I too like tribal. I love watchign the black just go in solid as fuck. I know this dude is just some dude looking to look just like his boys, but in my head I'm thinking, "man, this shit is going to make your buddies tribal look like shiiiiiiiiiiiiit!". I just try to get in that zone as much as I can. The clients though.... None of us can control the chaos that is our client base. That is the unknown quantity part of the job. Lots of shitheads, and lots of people who don't actullay want tattoos. They just want their very own "me too, guys! I did it too! See!" story. They spend hours trying to find the least tattoo-ish, most benign design possible and stick it somewhere no one will ever see it, because to them it's just proof that they did it too when the stories start flying. I try very hard to pick my battles, read clients and choose which ones would be receptive to some swaying. Not into something completely different to stroke my ego, but into a better planned out version of what they want. Just gotta pick the battles. Can't do it with everyone or you burn out, and you can't responsibly be the guy who says "fuck it, I know this will look, age and heal like crap, but i'll take your cash." All the time banging rainbows up their ass telling them how good of an idea it is to keep them and their dumb friends coming back for more. Regardless of how it will effect responsible tattooers who try to do a good, well thought out tattoo for the benefit of their clients. Just gotta do what I can to sleep at night, like trying to explain to people that upside down is upside down. I try. If they get it, awesome. If not, I'll at least try to do it clean. Sorry for the ramble. I just felt it on this one. I felt that I need to make an ass of myself on the internet. Word.