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Well I'm glad yesterday is over. Session #1 of 13 with Mike Rubendall

Today's the day!!!

got this from claudia de sabe yesterday: really stoked on how it turned out, and she's light-handed so wasn't as painful as i was expecting

This thread is excellent. I hope I can squeeze my next pimple into a full rib panel of Japanese tigers. What a time-saver it would be! I'll goop up my side with some vaseline and crappy Dove skin cream and tape on a printout of @hogg's Lehi tigers for reference.

Leaving home right now and headed to San Francisco, appts. with GRIME tomorrow and Thursday! :D

With that kind of attitude, you wont be long on this forum. People around here don't take kindly to aggressive or rude behavior. Anywho, welcome! Hopefully we can see your input and help you gain more knowledge about being and getting tattooed. I am glad you like your tattoos, but this website can introduce you to a whole other level of skill, and you can fix or improve upon what you have now. A quick tip for you... being hostile will get you booted fast around here, so my rule of thumb here is listen before you speak, and you'll also learn think before you ink... A little planning and pacing goes a long way with getting good tattoos!

still healing- its about 3 inches tall

I dig that Blue Steel pic tho .

Woke up with a tattoo on my pimple this morning, what can I do about it?!?!?!?!?

I thought this thread was going to be about tattoo dreams that we have had. I had one where I got sleeves of some really ridiculous, shitty work, and when I woke up I had to make sure that I didn't still have it on my arms. I was stoked to say the least.

5 hrs total so far by OllieXXX, Lucky Strike Tattoo (Edmonton, AB Canada)

It has already been discussed here: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-tv-shows-documentaries-media/1837-ink-masters.html We don't need anymore threads filled with negative bull shit.

first thing tomorrow I'll order a cool tat-kit from china, steal someones pictures and email them to cool studios where i'd love to work!!! i mean, how hard can it be to actually tattoo someone?

we eat a lot of pork belly in my culture. one of my favs, Momofuku Roasted Pork Belly Buns:

Hey buddy, slow down and focus more on getting good tattoos. I hope you find this place useful.

This ship back piece by Tim Hendricks in the LST gallery is awesome: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/gallery/traditional-tattoos/11606-ryans-back-piece.html

Wow, I opened this expecting a ton of fat hate. I am just starting a major weight lost journey and a major back piece is what I'm planning as a reward for losing the 100 pounds I need to lose. This has been something I've been worried about since I have 3 other tattoos I want to get done over the next year.

I got a koi with maple leaves and water from him in 1999 at 222. Super awesome experience, and as others have said, he's a great, great guy. You're stoked!

I'll be working the convention this year with Mike Adams, Josh Stephens, and Daryl Rodriguez. Come through to the booth and say what's up! I'm taking appointments as well as walk-ups the whole weekend and will be tattooing designs out of a book of flash I'll have with me. Hope to see some of you guys there!

Aaron Coleman, three sessions.

A review of Wrecking Balm from Amazon. Classic 354 of 434 people found the following review helpful 4.0 out of 5 stars Don't get it in your eyes, January 2, 2012 By Amy L. Brown (WOODBRIDGE, VA, US) - See all my reviews This review is from: Wrecking Balm Tattoo Removal & Fade System (Health and Beauty) I bought this for my wife who wanted to remove a tattoo from just above her buttocks. I believe they call it a tramp stamp. The tattoo said "Ronnie", which is the name of one of her ex boyfriends. So you can understand how I decided to spend the money on getting that damn tattoo removed. My wife didn't really want to get the tattoo removed. Although she denied it, I think she was still into this "Ronnie" character. She would always visit him in jail, as well as send him letters and pictures. So I found this product at a local Wegmans. I didn't tell my wife what it was, instead explaining to her that it was tattoo enhancement cream. I told her it would sting a little, but that was just the stuff doing its job. Now, you have to understand that my wife is a big girl. Let's just say that she constantly wears jogging pants and refers to them as them as her pants. So she couldn't really see the tattoo herself. Even when she tried to use a mirror, it was hard to make out. So I thought everything would turn out okay. Well, the cream worked. Every evening I would apply the cream for her, telling her that the tattoo was looking better and better. When in fact it was fading more and more. I told her that the micro dermabrasion thingy was actually a tattoo polisher. And so I would spend a good 15 minutes every night grinding away at that damn tattoo. And it was almost gone entirely. Then Ronnie got out of jail. It turns out my suspicions were correct. My wife still had a thing for him. I came home from work one evening to find Ronnie and my wife hanging out on the couch. And boy did they look pissed. And Ronnie was a pretty tough looking guy. Apparently, and I'm not trying to insinuate anything here, somehow Ronnie had noticed the now bare space just above my wife's buttocks and had asked her about it. And now he was pissed off because he had bought her the tattoo to begin with. And she was pissed off as well because I had tricked her into having her tattoo removed. Long story short, I had the option of getting my ass kicked, or of buying a new tattoo. So we went to the tattoo place, shelled out the cash for a new tattoo, and winced the entire time as Ronnie and my wife watched me get the words "Ronnie's Bitch" tattooed on my chest. Since then my wife has kicked me out. And Ronnie is now living in my house. And me, I'm on my second tube of wrecking balm tattoo fade system. I can't tell you enough how much I like this product.

So I love these threads on other enthusiast sites I frequent. I wanna get one going for us here at LST. ...when you have white sheets that are now multi-colored ...when you heard the word sailor and don't think of ships ...when the smell of green soap and buzzing makes you excited ...you vacations are planned around what shops are in the area what ones you guys got?

Hi Everyone, I got my first tattoo a couple of months ago, after seemingly years of deliberation, and now I can barely wait until I have pulled together the cash for a second. I am located in Chicago so there are a lot of great artists to choose from, which doesn't make it any easier to wait. I am interested primarily in collecting american traditional and japanese inspired tattoos and I came across the site while digging around the web for background information. If anyone can recommend an informative reference book/website on japanese tattooing I would appreciate it. Some of the better ones I am currently aware of are GODS of Japan, A-to-Z Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhism (Buddhist & Shinto Deities), which isn't directly related to tattooing per se, but does have a lot of background information. Also, I have heard good things about the book "Bushido: Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo" by Takahiro and Katie Kitamura. Anyways, I think that probably covers introductions. Cheers, Joe

A tattooer called Paul Cramman has been passing off my work, among others, off as his. He managed to get a job in Glasgow based on his stolen online portfolio. He has literally cropped my images right down, photoshopped the background off and put his name on them, this was not a thoughtless task. I'm livid, but less so than when I found out last night thanks to a friend in Scotland. I think it's important to bring this to everyone's attention, no one should be able to pass other people's work off as their own and go unreported. This guy claimed to have been tattooing 14 yrs yet not a single photo was his, he probably has never even held a tattoo machine. Something similar happened to my boss, the guy who taught me, years ago. He hired some guy over email who sent him an online portfolio filled with good solid tattoo work. He moved countries for the job and we found out within hours what a lie everything had been, he didnt even know how to set up a tattoo machine and was promptly fired. ALWAYS ALWAYS check up on artists looking for a job at your shop if you are a studio owner, don't just accept some emailed photos as someone's work, do your research, ask around, who last employed them for crying out loud! there are ways to check up on people. And for customers it goes without saying research your tattooer, check their work at the studio, google them, etc. It's not a nice thought knowing this sort of thing happens and puts customers at risk, and makes a mockery of any hard work tattooers put in. This guy in question has now been fired.

You put 'em out there, you made 'em public bidness. Personally, I think you got some shabby work, and your fake-ass posed pics look like something a low-rent hustler would put out. Barbwire armbands?! But that's just my opinion. But it isn't a problem for me, don't worry. Oh, and welcome to the forum.

Yes a liar, thief and stupid if he thought he could get away with stealing such a renowned tattoo artists work.

@Stefan Johnsson I recognise a wolf-head thats blatantly yours amongst the stuff he's passing off as his portfolio .

I'll throw my compliments on top of the others...that ROA is beyond comprehension. I spent an hour looking at it last night...I'm zoned in on it again tonight!

I'm also in the losing weight with a tattoo reward camp. I'm currently at least 50lbs overweight. At 6'3" I carry it well while clothed but shirtless is a different story. My two arm tattoos have already increased my confidence. My goal for 2013 is to drop 50lbs of fat and replace a bit of it with muscle (the scale is irrelevant to me, really, but I think that would be about right to really improve my appearance). I'm planning a road trip to Texas around Novemberish and if I can drop the weight a visit to Austin and Mr. Steve Byrne will be in order. Epic chest piece? Yes, please.

Just had a burger and fries! I feel so American!

I thought I'd be done after my second tattoo...It ain't happenin.

I missed whatever was discussed about Chad Koeplinger, but I don't think that it is out of bounds to talk about where an artist may or may not be relocating to. I don't get to spend as much time on here as I did in the past so maybe I have missed it, but I don't remember ever reading anything gossipy or all that personal about a tattooer on this forum.

Mike Devries

Anyone else find it kind of weird the way we discuss tattoo artists' lives on here? Like, they'll mention something in passing, or comment on an IG post, then all of a sudden it's a topic of conversation (it came up with Chad Koeplinger earlier, and I feel happens a fair bit around here). I guess it's just kind of being 'out there', but I still find it a little bit weird the way tattoo artists have fans.

@spyro Have you checked out the Dragons thread on this forum? There's a dragon sleeve I posted by Grant Cobb done in the style you are looking for , or check out the art of Boris Vallejo and select something of his you like and take that to your artist . Conversely if you mention Frank Frazetta or Greg Irons in your consultation Tim will know what you mean , this is the stuff you should look at and also something the tattooer will be into . I'll post some of Vallejo's stuff but I'll let you do the rest to save my haggard hands .

And a time to be a douche, apparently. I'm not forcing anyone to give feedback here, Pal. I've done everything that has been suggested. Or, started doing it. Don't want to filter? Don't. Don't want to help me? Don't. Think I'm helpless, and not want to waste your time on me? Don't. Fucking simple. It's one thread on a forum, not a dog scratching at your door. It hurts nobody. So again; think I'm a helpless moron? Cool. Don't bother with me then. Life is better when you act nice towards people though.

Yep. I already posted this on the "Full back piece experience" thread, but here is an image taken right after we were done from Eddy's instagram account. Done in four consecutive days. Not quite finished but very close.

I got rock of ages back piece from him a month ago. It was a great experience. I want to get more work from him.

couple tracks i came upon recently that ive been playing out.. seattle underground from 1995..

5th session. 5 hours of arse and hamstrings background. Im glad I only have one arse crack and that I don't have to get it tattooed again,its a fun spot.

Mike Wilson

When you don't think it's weird that your instagram is full of pictures of men's asses.

..the side of your fridge looks like this:

The other day I was looking at Shiges' site and saw this photo I then realised that this client must have the same concerns and considerations for his artist as @hogg does ;) Shige to client "Lets get a photo of your chest piece and sleeves" Client to Shige "Just let me take off my pants"... lol. (yes I am aware that on shiges' site you can see that the same client was getting photos of his backpiece at the same time... but for the purposes of hilarity we won't acknowledge that)