Leaderboard

Thigh, by Aaron Carmody @ SKin Thrills in ROAVA

Here's the little Bob Wicks piece I got from Ron Wells last weekend. The day before Stephanie Tamez lined my knee (ouch!). Hell of a fucking weekend. Photo from Ron's Instagram.

First thing, I would wait a couple of weeks for it to heal. Regardless of what you do after that, you basically can't do anything till the tattoo is fully healed. Also it will give a chance for the tattoo to set into the skin and then you can better see what you are dealing with. I am going to be honest, it's hard to give advice about tattoos online, because a picture is not the same as putting your eye on things. I have my theories, but really this should be addressed by the tattooer who did this tattoo, or if you don't trust that person, a trusted tattooer in your area if the tattoo doesn't look better healed.

I found it hard to get passed the poor writing style and journalism... "Kicking it off was the Mayor of Osaka, the son of a yakuza boss, who as most yakuza are, was probably heavily tattooed"??? My experience has been that almost all "public baths" allow tattooed people since they are "public." There are still many apartments here without baths/showers and the people who live in them depend on public baths. It's inconvenient, but not discriminatory, in my opinion, for a gym or spa to refuse admittance since they are privately run businesses. A public gym, such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym, allows people with tattoos to use its facilities. I definitely hide my tattoos from my Japanese family, landlords, clients, etc. On one hand, I've seen a surprising number of young people with neck tattoos here. On the other, I've noticed bar owners look uncomfortable when I took off my sweatshirt (and I'm nowhere near covered and I don't have Japanese-style tattoos). I think the stigma, however, also makes it more fun to have tattoos. I sometimes wonder if I would be as into tattoos if I still lived in Brooklyn, where more youngish people seem to be tattooed than not.

I'm not a tattooer so I can't say either way but I've seen plenty of full armpit tattoos healed and the people all seem fine. As regards to nipples, again I've seen plenty of people with their nipples tattooed and they've been alright. Even if it does fuck up your nipples, does it really matter? I've yet to find a use for mine...

Maybe a nice dog portrait on the other arm just to balance it out...

Ahhhhhhh...never say never! Hear you are, looking around LST, saying it's your last tattoo, and next year this time you'll be entering that sweet full-backpiece in the contest!

Years ago, I wandered into a random little shop in San Antonio that sold Mexican imports and various stuff. The owner also had some of his own paintings for sale. One was a really cool folksy interpretation of Rose of No Man's Land. I think he wanted $100 or so for it--not much, but at the time, money was very tight. He said, "My philosophy on art is, if you can afford it, you should buy it." Now, dude was obviously looking to make a buck, but I also saw his point. That $100 would've been spent on something inconsequential and gone before I knew it, but that painting has been on my wall every day for 15+ years now, and it's brought me lots of enjoyment. So yeah. Get an awesome print. I don't think you'll ever regret it.

"Actually, despite my opinion that tattoos are not business wear, I am considering displaying my tattoos even at work. My tattoos demonstrate that I can set an outlandish, difficult goal, use my diverse resources to drive it to completion, and get an excellent result. That’s what counts in my project oriented, goal based profession. My tattoos demonstrate that I know how to make shit happen." No it just means you have enough money to fly to Japan and get tattooed every year. Not to mention he has been working on this goal for 12 years, I would hardly call making shit happen.

Another great artist residing in London is Kanae of Nine Tails Tattoo , previously she served her apprenticeship at Hocus Pocus Studio Japan and her work is the simple , bold very traditional Japanese style . Nine Tails Tattoo § Kanae

Seriously one of the best people ever. Can't wait to see her again next week. Loved those designs-you are lucky!

Caz at Seven Seas Tattoo in San Diego.

I still kick myself for prints I didnt buy 25 yrs ago.

Between this and an iPhone, go for the art. No question. iPhones are stupid because if you get one you're going to follow a whole bunch of great tattooers on instagram and look at these tiny shitty pictures of amazing tattoos that totally rob them of the actual power they have and you're going to spend way more time than is actually useful doing this when you could be doing better things with your time, like learning about Japanese art, drawing, reading, or so many other things.

I decided on buying a print. @kylegrey posted a great website to a place in London selling tons of original woodblock prints. I am trying to find a Kuniyoshi that is around $500.

And unless his work environment is completely different than mine the reaction he will get from his colleagues isn't going to be admiration for his dedication in seeking out and getting a body suit from one of the greatest tattooers to have ever lived, it will, at best, be some variation on "cool tattoo, you don't even know how many times I've almost gotten a Celtic armband. Do you know how much one of those would cost?"

Does the Coleman torso have more likes than any other tattoo ever on this board? It's very well deserved if so.

@Dhopper I bought this one- signed by Grime AND Saber ;)

Why would you go to Gunnar and not do what he loves to do and is one of the best in the world at?

That cat looks dapper as fuck. "I don't always paint cats, but when I do, they are in a green sport coat and drinking tea with opposable thumbs" hahaha

DYNAMICTATTOO.COM 71 Swan Street, Richmond, 3121 Vic AUSTRALIA You want Trevor McStay. Really.

My gym is a primarily gay gym in a primarily gay neighborhood, and they play intolerable dance remixes. I love the gym, some of the staff also work for me at the bar, love the people etc... but the music is horrid. I have to listen to music on my headphones to escape

I have been doing this thing lately where I have been doing paintings for friends' kids for their first birthdays. It's fun because it gives me motivation to actually finish paintings because lord knows I love to start them and then give up on them once I realise that I have no idea at all what I'm doing, and I just like spending my free time painting. Anyway, here's a bad photo of a cat portrait I just finished, of our friends' cat Dali:

Less than a year ago I was a passionate, immobile foodie who weighted almost 240 # and who never exercised. I took a great amount of pride in my belly. Still don't think there was anything wrong with that, but once the fitness bug bit me... it bit hard. My base caloric intake for the day is 1700. I usually average between 2500-2700 depending on how much exercise I do. I start every day with a bike ride. Rain, snow, heat... doesn't matter. I usually do 10-20 miles as a warmup before the gym. At the gym I do stretching for a little bit, then 30m-1hr on the elliptical. Depends on the day. That's mainly to tone not so much for aggressive cardio. After that I run a 3k on the treadmill. I alternate between arms and abs/core ever other day, with a free weight/machine workout depending on the day. I cool down (metaphorically) in the sauna, sweating it all out. Once a week I add a spinning class on top of all that, and twice a week I work back/chest. I take a men's multi vitamin, 1000mg of Vit C, garlic and fish oil capsules and a B complex every day. One of my bartenders has a boyfriend who teaches yoga, so I might take his beginners class soon. And I still occasionally have foie gras!

Before (13 year old Celtic football crest) After (still a little fresh and flakey) By Ross Nagle @ Allstar Ink Limerick. :) Nicely healed up a week on after getting it, colours have settled well.

From age four to 18, I used soccer, basketball, track, cross country, and Irish football as my year-round workouts. I got back into it last year for about 9 months, then I got injured on a run, and I haven't run regularly since. I play soccer on Tuesday nights in SF now, and I am trying to get myself back into running. I ran a few races last year, and I really enjoyed myself, and got fairly healthy doing so. I like trail running mostly, especially during races. In the height of my past year, I was running 30+ mile weeks. I run a mixture of long runs, medium runs, recovery runs, and speed workouts, with one rest day per week. I would substitute soccer for one of my days, or just add a short run in the morning and soccer in the evening or vice versa. Variety of terrain is also important: hills, flats, track, etc. I also did yoga once or twice a week for a while; it's much harder than it looks, and it helped my running until I pushed myself too far and got injured. I want to create the same kind of training schedule this time around, but I'm definitely going to start off slow to build a muscle base and deter injury. I will probably start with three days per week and gradually move that to five and then start building mileage. I like that there are some dedicated people in this thread. @dcostello Have you run any races in the Bay Area recently? I've been getting emails from Active.com about race registration, but I am in no shape to race right now.

I was talking to my sister the other day about my plans for upcoming tattoos (she's supportive of me no matter what I do, but thinks I have plenty of tattoos already). She asked how I find out who is doing what and when they're going to be in town. I told her I was following a bunch of them on Instagram and her reply was "um, maybe you should quit following so many tattooers on instagram and just look at pictures of cats like everybody else".

And also, within a couple years, that iPhone will be outdated and a useless hunk of scrap. That print on the other hand, will still be hanging on your wall, and being admired every day.

I think of all the things you can spend money on, you can do FAR worse than a piece of art that is going to excite and inspire you. I don't know much about collecting ukiyo-e and how that is as a price, but it isn't really that much money for something you're going to treasure for years.

Started this Upper-back piece with Valerie at Frith Street yesterday, lines and half of the shading done, three more sessions to go:D:o

Roses on my elbow by Scott Sylvia

And... now I'm following her on IG too. (sigh... I'm DOOMED!!)

It's not really important because all the could have would have stuff doesn't matter at this point and its not my place to second guess someone else's work. First keep in mind you are always going to be the most critical of your tattoo, you are probably going to always see elements of the old tattoo no matter how well it's covered. I guess the only thing i can say is tattooing over scar tissues becomes easier, the longer you wait, I think it might have been a little too soon to go over this area, again just a theory. Again it could heal fine and no big deal, but if it doesn't I wouldn't go back in and have people keep blasting over it, I would wait awhile (1 year+) till the area is free of trauma and completely settled and see if that black needs to be reworked. But again someone evaluating this in person is going to be able to give the best advice.

Wouldn't sweat it too much. Since you know it's there, yeah, it's the first thing you're gonna see, but it isn't all that noticeable. I'm a little puzzled as to why your tattooer apparently had difficultiy covering the scar tissue, unless they did and it's just the lighting in the pic highlighting the swelling. I have tattoos that are almost completely on scar tissue, and healed quite well. Also have cover-up work over old tattoos that were burned off and left some hella scarring, and that covered well. I would suggest letting it heal entirely, and if you can still see it to the point where it bothers you, go to another reputable tattooer and have them evaluate it.

Look for comments on the article left by "Ross." The author stated that Horiyoshi III invented tebori. Ha!

Don't think it matters as most everyone here does. I am a connoisseur of the thick framed ladies myself, so when I see an attractive thicker woman w/some good tattoos, she's automatically more attractive to me. There's a heavy set woman who I saw working at a Chipotle, average looks, had nice bold work done all over her arms, instantly became more appealing to me. To each is their own.

Follow caliseowin on Instagram

I'm 2 hours from NYC, but like most things, location indicates pricing. The pricing in Manhattan will likely be 25-50% higher than on LI, but the options out there will also be far fewer. Also, you'll find that the "med-spas" will typically be slightly more expensive over specialists. Depending when you're planning on coming over, start watching groupon.com and livingsocial.com, both are losing steam but crazy deals can be had on multiple treatments that will save you a ton. Specifically talking about your tattoo, black / grey react the best, fade the fastest from treatments, so you're probably a really good candidate to totally remove them. Having worked in the city a year and a half ago, I still have a few connections up there, let me see if I can find some recommendations for you.

Oh. Im at 183# now. My low was 178, but building muscle has added weight. I eat mostly lean proteins and a LOT of cruciferous greens, peanut butter or spinach as treats. Lots of eggs, sardines, low sodium jerky. Once a week I treat myself to a sprite (gave up caffeine) and popcorn at the movies.

It's not that strange if you take into consideration that Japan also has a rich history of public politeness and formality, and the fact that Japanese tattoos have a seedy background. Not to mention, Japanese horishi and tattooed people themselves don't really want information about their underground culture to leak into the mainstream, for the most part anyway.

@Shannon Shirley @Graeme @oldfartart Thanks for your words guys. It is a whole lot clearer to me now. The print is something I will have forever, the iphone, not so much. Now I need to decide on what to buy...I would like to keep it around $500 but will go higher for the right piece.

This sounds comically sinister.

Good guess @MadeIndelible I am seeing Steve Byrne - next week! Last week I thought I had decided what, specifically, I wanted him to do but a couple days ago I reverted back to not really caring too much about the specific imagery... I am, however, strongly considering asking him to do my knees. Just to get 'em over with! I have a working theory about this whole communication thing... So far the results have been pretty interesting. I'm going to test my hypothesis a few more times before I share my findings with y'all though.

Not a removal or cover up but I thought I would post a picture of a 25 year old tattoo on my wife that was refreshed by Emiliano Liberatori of Frith Street. The original was nothing special but this has really transformed it. Shame I didn't have a before picture.

Nah, I think that's considered a postage stamp.

my 2 recent pieces by Robert Ryan http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=13077&c=5 http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/gallery/member/12934-gorilla.html&imageuser=4480

Man this is so dope. I love lady head/lady tattoos. 10 hours in with Rodrigo Melo. Finally finished all the background. Entirely freehanded.

@Lance, if you have a chance to get tattooed by Horitomo...well, you know how this sentence ends. Have him do your front. Hell, get a big Fudo from him, munewari be damned! You're already weird; embrace it. I might as well jump in here. It's not very recent, but it is my latest. I finished this up with Stuart Cripwell (based on a painting of his) in December, but I never got around to taking pics of it. And I'll just add a disclaimer that it is damn near impossible to photograph a knee tattoo. I swear it doesn't look crooked in real life. :)

Just pulled the trigger on this via the banner link... I enjoy the Spider Murphys book so much that the comparison was enough to sell me. Plus I've just drank a load of Left Hand 400lb monkey pale ale.