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Sorry if I'm bringing back a dead thread, but this one was interesting. I've been getting tattoos since before me and my wife were dating. We've been married 8 years, together 10. She actually JUST got her 1st and 2nd in the last 2 months. I never thought she would. Not that she's against them. She usually said "I like them on you, not on me." Anyway. Now we have all sorts of new conversations that we just never had. When are you getting one? Do we have the money for us BOTH to get one now? What are you getting? Haha that's stupid, you're such a goon! All things we each hear or say now. I know it's trivial but it does add a new dynamic to our relationship. Our next plan is to go in and pick out one another's tattoo based on the classic wall flash, making sure to choose something the other would probably not think to choose themselves. Risky, yeah (because my wife's an asshole and I'll no doubt walk out with Tweety Bird holding an AK-47) but fun and just kind of part of who we are anyway.

Here is a wolf head that Ron Wells did for me last night at Congress St Tattoo, in Portsmouth, NH. Not sure if you can tell by the pics, but it's on my right forearm, up close to the elbow. LOVE IT! Great experience, Ron is an awesome dude. Also had the pleasure of meeting @Graeme, and @Pugilist, who drove down from Canada for an appt with Ron as well. Pugilist got something amazing, but i won't divulge as I haven't seen her post a pic here yet.. but I did see it on instagram and it is completely and totally sick. rob true to iphone form, the pics are pointing the wrong way, which is annoying as can be.

@DJDeepFried and I have some fun new books to read.

A fun and quick one last night. By Aron Dubois at Scapegoat Tattoo in Portland, OR.

I think I've mentioned this before, but I heard from an artist on Season two about how heavily edited they were. You shoot tons of footage and use the best of the worst to 'create a show' that has 'villains' and drama and tension. You're also coached on things to say. You look like a giant ass on tv, but... after the show airs... you find your appointment book is a little fuller, even though you looked like a giant ass on tv. Turning a culture into a commodity isn't new, its just affecting us a little closer to the chest because... well.. it's us. We had to bleed for these damned things. We had to get stared at in line at the bank. We have to answer the litany of dumb questions on a daily basis... "why yes ma'am, it did hurt" and "yes, I AM tattooed other places... wait, we mean my dick, right?"... Im kind of biased though... I grew up on Royboy videos. Tattooers hated them, too, but.... damn they were fun. I should mention that a tattooer friend asked me to write some Inkmaster erotic fan fiction that he's going to illustrate and we're going to accidentally leave at tattoo conventions the 'stars' are at. If he ever finishes the first chapter I'll write more. Kay Kutta and Sarah Miller are in it. "Penetrated by more than your needles" comes up a lot. Because we think it's ok to make fun of people we don't know. People who may be genuinely nice. Because we're children. :D

Mike Wilson = Panther royalty

When my backpiece was really starting to come together, I remember walking past a mirror and catching a glimpse of myself. At first, I thought, "Holy shit, that guy is covered!" Then I thought, "That guy is me." I often have a similar reaction when I see, say, an MMA fighter who has full sleeves and maybe a big torso piece. Then I realize that I'm way more tattooed than that. I don't regret anything in those moments, but I am a little surprised that I'm surprised.

I've had moments where I haven't regretted my tattoos but I've looked at myself in the mirror and kind of been "WTF have I done". This has always been really early in the morning when I'm underslept and waking up for a 6am start of my workday so I'm not fully in my right mind and I find that as I get more tattoos I experience this lot less. Tattoos are a really big deal in many ways and I don't think that it's necessarily weird or abnormal to sometimes have complicated feelings about them.

Yesterday finished my piece with Alex De Pase. Its a take on Eve and apple with nails going through the apple and Alex added the drip of blood from it, which i really like :) Onwards to Silvano Fiato now :)

Got this off Valerie Vargas at Frith Street on Tuesday, I love it! I posted it in the latest tattoo thread and someone recomended I put it in here, Cheers. P.S. That Head Eagle on the last page is bad ass :cool:

Didn't see this posted anywhere, so please forgive if i'm a double posting n00b. :p New book: Eleven Fourteen » Flash Collection Vol 1 CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS » Eleven Fourteen

I made out like a bandit -Mariano Rivera jersey -Ben Sherman shirt -pair of Levi's -LST t-shirt -book on baseball -bunch of star wars goodies -some awesome candy -a case of saranac winter ales and saranac glasses -a bottle of southern tier chocolate stout -bottle of il bastardo wine

Got the new Smashing Pumpkins record, stoked on a few tracks, still getting into it overall though. Anyone into them? Anyone buy it? Anyone still obsessed with them?! They've also put out crazy re-issues with extra tracks and DVDs, see: money pit. I still love this band. There's also a great interview Howard Stern did with Billy Corgan. It's over an hour long, I listened to it two consecutive mornings opening the bar, really interesting no matter what you think of the dude -- and he plays an acoustic version of Tonight, Tonight. http://vimeo.com/44532986" Good listen!

I actually received some gift cards to my favorite tattoo studio, Blue Arms Tattoo here in Norway. :) 2 weeks until my next appointment!

My scott sylvia tattoo was an early christmas present, but also getting an iPad in the mail today! (Not much to open on christmas...) I just graduated college this week, so lots of gift cards and cash too. Hopefully picking up some nice clothes & stuff soon. Choosing your own presents is always ideal :)

You keep on believing that. Keywords: "at this time".

I don't really celebrate, but at a secret santa exchange with some friends I ended up with a Grindcore House travel mug, coffee mug and a $20 starbucks gift card - of all the gifts given / received, I couldn't have been happier, as I'm known amongst my friends as the coffee nazi. Unexpectedly, a friend also got me a bag of Black Cat coffee beans. Yes, I'm serious about this stuff... Monday Morning Espresso | Crispy Hundos

An update to my gifts -Steve Byrne Indian skull head t-shirt from shirts and destroy -sweater -more yankees stuff -a boss darth vader mug

I have people ask me this all the time, I only have 11. I joke and say never. I'll be done when I feel like it. I know that's kinda vague but it's the most honest answer I can give. I don't sit around thinking "I'll get this here, and that there!" It's more instinctual almost. I just see something or an idea pops up and I go and get it (once I have the money.) I also hear a lot of comments about it being addictive. I don't view it that way. An addiction would mean I couldn't stop if I wanted. I don't want to. It's just something I really have a passion for and enjoy. That's not an addiction, that's a party!

This, exactly. I think I have almost always woken up the morning after getting a tattoo thinking "what have I done?!" The feeling passes quickly and I have never felt it deeply, but for me it's a pretty normal part of the adjustment to having this new imagery on my body forever. It has nothing to do with how I feel about the tattoo itself and I have never gotten a tattoo that I actually regretted. But every once in a while it just feels all very Keanu Reeves "whoa" that we do these things to ourselves.

Wow... There's a lot of really good stuff in this thread! I've been trying to use up some of the art supplies that I've had laying around for the last couple of years, and I ran across some full sheet labels. Everybody's been having a lot of fun making stickers to slap all over the place!

Mike Wilson duel jax beach, FL. Less than two hours. Tapped out on doing any shading. (I blame it on the late night arrival the night before, it makes me feel better)

Here's my last two Panther by Stewart Robson Eagle by Valerie Vargas

Here you go guys, todays fun. Inner arse cheek is... interesting to say the least. Anyway ill probably wait for a few more sessions before I upload any more pics, so here ya go

Well might as well since I finally have a worthy tattoo... Scott Sylvia, Guest Spot @ Kings Avenue Tattoo, NYC

Gotta have some ethics. It is up to us. I don't support the "fuck it" mentality.

I just got this today for Christmas, it's my first carry knife. So far I like it although I'll probably get a mini-griptillian with a straight blade to add to this one. Sorry for big pictures:

From what I understand the producers have contacted quite a few talented artists to be contestants on the show but they've declined. I imagine once you're established it could be seen as kind of a step down. But with amateur and mediocre artists they see any publicity as good publicity. They are also naive enough to not know how bad they are. Dunning Kruger effect.

I really wished I lived closer to Virginia so I could tattood by Josh Stephens. He's been killing it lately.

I love their cover of Rock On by David Essex , Nicole Fiorentino is sexy as hell also ! http://youtu.be/NeU9526dad4

Honestly, I've never actually heard/seen a Howard Stern interview - I know the name because he's apparently quite popular - but I think I really like his style. This is one of the more interesting interviews I've seen of late. I've been a fan for a pretty long time (as long as can be expected of a person my age), since Disarm was the first song I ever learned on guitar when I was 12. I haven't listened to the new album many times, but the few play-throughs I've done I've enjoyed. As for Corgan, I've never really had a negative opinion of the dude. People are critical, and I guess he's done some weird and/or "rockstar" shit, but it's never been that big a deal in my eyes.

A coffee cup. Some pastry. A new shank. An old Altemus Edition of Dante's Inferno, illustrated by Dore, from around 1890 or so.

As a pretty crazy fan of 18+ years I can safely say that I did not expect Oceania to knock me on my ass like it has. I like most everything Corgan has put out...but found that I needed to increase the grains of salt that I take his stuff with over the years. But man, Oceania is a damn good, mature rock record. Just picked up the deluxe vinyl and it is a completely different listening experience. Anytime people talk about him in a public forum they say "...whatever you may think about him..." or "...despite what you may think of the guy..." - but Corgan is a lifer. He doesn't compromise.

my blog has a list of virginia tattooers

After 14 sessions spanning 15 months, I'm thrilled to say that my back piece--courtesy of Jay Cavna--is finished. It's a rooster/boar/snake battle royale with peonies. We just wrapped it up a few hours ago. I couldn't be happier with it and am blown away by Jay's skill and commitment to his work. Here's the pic.

watching it now. no clue how sarahs still on the show. everything about that chick is annoying and wack, and she was always on the hot seat everytime i tuned in. i dont need anybody to tell me that steve already won, seeing who the other finalists are.. - - - Updated - - - im not done, dont count me out.

Absolutely amazing work. The flower coming out of the hands is one of my favorite pieces ever. The use of negative space literally blew my mind when I first saw it on Dmitriy's site. Can't believe how long you sat for, but with work like that, its worth it.

J. Madberg, Stockhol unfortunately not mine

I know I don't have a chance but I've been dying to finally put a picture in one of the competitions By Geo Rogers @ Last Train Tattoo

Forgot to post this in last month's contest... Got it done mid-fiancee visit, so I was too busy with sushi joints and Klingon Monopoly to be online. Also, in what may have been a small miracle, we got the stencil (which was two pieces) perfect on the first try. Josh Cruse JP Cruse Professional Tattooing Wichita, KS

Sir Thomas:

must wear spotted panther !

Saw this guy on reddit...pretty funny

i <3 the benchmade axis locks... we gave this to my cousin i gave this to my hubby and this is mine... along w/this...flashlight not the catter :)

the 45 is for boxes, and this is for self-defense

Well I don't carry anything anymore, when I did back in the states I had a Gerber Gator. Now here in this country I'll be taken to the police station to fill out a report if I have any type of blade..... But two days out of the week I walk around with a 6 foot bo staff, no problems what so ever, go figure.

Stitch626, how lucky for you to not be in a relationship with a fickle, small minded little man anymore. Sounds like he just released you from what could've been a long and lengthy suppression of your true self, I'm willing to bet he was vacillating and thoughtless in other areas as well. Maybe you should send him a thank you card every year on the anniversary of your independence?