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leaving for SF tomorrow to see Grime :D

Hey All, New to the forum. Great place you have here and very cool thread. Here's my in progress back piece. Collaboration between Henning Jorgensen (phoenix) and Mike Rubendall (dragon). Have about 19 hours in so far. Enjoy!

i know i'm like a phantom here these days, but here's a picture of me from when i was still working with/fostering kittens (and before the giant beast of a pup came into my life).

Off to Frith Street the 1st week of March. Have 2 more sessions on my back with Stewart Robson. Getting closer to the end.

It's a message board, not a Minor Threat show.

Just got home from my appointment with Marie Sena. She is an absolute gem. There aren't enough nice things to say about her... Still in a bit of a haze, I'll get a picture up as soon as I can get my head together enough to do it.

Hi Folks, Just wanted to introduce myself here as I've been lurking for the better part of the past year. My name is Ricky from NYC. Born, bred, and still working/living in the lower east side of Manhattan. I got my first tattoo in 2009 at the ripe old age of 33 and have been getting tattooed every year ever since. I have two 3/4 sleeves and a thigh piece, all by Henning Jorgensen. Currently Henning is working on a collaboration with Mike Rubendall on my back. It's been a fantastic experience getting tattooed by these two great artists. I have to say that the Internet and Instagram have been a blessing in doing research and just looking at all the wonderful talent that is out there. I'm always in awe of artists, as I can't even draw a stick figure to save my life and I personally consider tattooing a true art form. I decided to come out from behind the shadows as I wanted to branch my collection out a little bit. In NYC, there's just so many talented artists to choose from and I'm starting to run out of real estate. What I was searching for on the forums was an artist who is really adept at nice bonji characters. I really wanted to get on Thomas Hooper's wait list, but he's booked solid and he will be moving away from NYC this coming June. I prefer to stay local and I may contact Chris O'Donnell or someone else, but still wanted to hear people's recommendation's on solid bonji work. Troy Denning has great bonji characters around his neck and I'm going to email his shop. Hopefully it was one of his artists that did them. Anyways, thanks for putting together this great forum and hope to meet many like minded individuals who share a love and passion for beautiful tattoos. Cheers

Have an appointment with Jason Scott at Congress St Tattoo in Portsmouth, this Saturday at 1p. He's putting a grim reaper under my Ron Wells wolf head, on my forearm. Super stoked. Rob

Okay as promised, here are some pictures with commentary: First is my left arm. It was my first tattoo ever and started originally as a half sleeve which eventually I had Henning extend his work to 3/4. Koi with splashing waves and cherry blossoms. Purple peony on the inner part of the forearm: My right arm is a 3/4 dragon. This piece has a lot of significance to me as I was born in the year of the dragon. At the same time, this piece in my perception sort of book ended the koi piece I had on my left arm. Don't want to get all overly philosophical so enjoy the pic. Henning actually compiled this photo together: So after my two 3/4 sleeves, I knew I was a big fan of Henning's koi, so I had him start a thigh piece with two koi on my left thigh. We were supposed to finish this piece on 10/31/2012...but that was the day after Super Storm Sandy hit. Needless to say, Henning's flight was cancelled and he ended up coming into NYC 3 days later and we decided to start the back piece. FYI, these pics were taken right after we put in some color in May 2012. To be continued Now, here's where things get a little crazy. As some of you may know, all of lower Manhattan was completely blacked out from Sandy for almost 2 weeks, me included. There was no subway or rail service and only some bus service. Kings Avenue NYC was affected as well and closed. Henning had hunkered down with Rubendall in the Long Island shop. They were within a four block radius that actually had power in Massapequa. Once the Long Island Rail Road was up and running, I made a run out there, even though I knew most likely I would be coming back to darkness with no running water for at least another day. Thus we started this collaboration back piece. Henning lined the phoenix (about a 6 hour sitting). A week later, I see Rubendall to start the dragon. I saw Mike again last week and we hammered out the back of my right thigh. I will be seeing Mike again in March.

People who smoke are so much more likely to say "dude" than anyone other part of the population. That is a fact...I'll make it official with a pie chart if you doubt it.

Mike Malone flash tattooed by Matty D'Arienzo at Great Western Tattoo Club.

I feel that Ron could make a reasonable living just tattooing people from LST at this point.

Post of the year. (awesome post-hardcore band name) And @MsRad Didn't I have one of those a while ago for my drawings? I remember my "fistful of tears" drawing.

@Graeme How did you know?!?!

I've been holding off on dropping the bag on this, but you guys are one of the first groups of people I have wanted to tell. Keeping it quiet for the last few months has been tough. I've started apprenticing with my good friend Jason Setchel in Roanoke, Virginia. It's been a while coming. It's been a while convincing myself this is something I could even do. But tattoos and tattoo art are the biggest joy I have in life, and I'm stoked that I have someone who I trust who thinks I have what it takes to be a solid tattooer. My only goal is to keep the soul of tattooing alive and well. Luckily, you fine folks do a damn good job at it. It's amazing that you all are here.

Leaving shortly for NYC for my next session with Hooper. I think we are going to try to finish my forearm.

Got this guy from Fergus Simms while he was at ThirdEye Tattoo in Melbourne, Australia for a few days. My sister has 'forever young' in script on her foot so I thought it would be cool to surprise her by getting sort've matching!

Another one down, 6th session.

Kinda stoked on this one. We can thank Jason Brooks and his tat-wizardry for this. LEGENDS - Tattoo Flash Book

Just wanted to introduce myself, my name is Aaron. I have been tattooing five years after completing a two year apprenticeship that began in 2005. I spent nearly six years of networking to get my opportunity to join this great trade. Tattooing has consumed my life and I am grateful to have it. There is a lot of great interview material on this site and I must commend Scott Sylvia and his tream creating such a great blog. Regardless of how myself or anyone else feels about the internet and technology and its impact on the trade I think this site offers a lot of positive information for artists and fans alike. I look forward to participating.

Speaking of Torso Tattoos that blew your mind: Yutaro of Skull & Sword SF posted this a few days ago:eek:

Wow @irezumi you gotta be like 80 years old. Most arcade games (here at least) cost anywhere from $1 to $7 and you only get one life. - - - Updated - - - Wow @irezumi you gotta be like 80 years old. Most arcade games (here at least) cost anywhere from $1 to $7 and you only get one life.

I got a kindle a couple of years ago as a gift and really liked it at first, but since amazon raised the prices of ebooks (I recall reading something about publishers being butthurt about the prices amazon was charging) I can't be bothered because to me, an ebook is only worth it if it's significantly cheaper than a paper book. A couple of months ago I bought a new mass market copy of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss for about ten dollars at Indigo. That was the cover price, no discounts or anything like that. When I got home I looked up the book on the kindle, and it was around $12. That to me is absurd, because not only am I paying extra to "lease" the book, there aren't printing, warehousing, distribution cost, retail overheads, etc there. In theory once you make one digital copy of a book and have the infrastructure in place to distribute it, your costs are so minimal, and I resent paying the same or more for the digital copy. I can't see myself really using e-readers with that being the case. I also really like paper books, though I did find the kindle nice to read on and after I got used to the device it felt pretty much the same as reading a paper book. I don't like that there's no cover art (or poor cover art) but that's kind of neither here nor there.

yeah me too...but i try to get those i don't "need" on paperback so i just horde the leatherbound and what not... magazines...same problem with those. everywhere! haha i might have a problem...

An hour and a half until my appointment and I'm excited! We talked about some really cool ideas last time and I'm looking forward to seeing how they work out. I'm sure I will have pictures soon enough.

Am I the only one that assumed @else was a guy when she joined originally? I even sent you a pm on your introduction saying how great it was and it was probably laced with dudes and man. Anyway sorry if I called you dude and man a lot.

i would never in my life read a book thats not a real book. i'm a booknerd. - - - Updated - - - and yeah....books take alot of space. all my bookshelves are over-filled...started filling the livingroom window and my desk now...soon i'll have to get a bigger place to fit my books!

I fucking give up. you win.

Had a go at a Battle Royale as a gift for a tattooer i'm hopefully getting some more work from next month, he is a real cool guy and opened my eyes to traditional tattooing and painting etc when I first met him. I hope he likes it, I know some people might have seen this on instagram already.

@ironchef You are my hero!! Welcome to LST and thanks for sharing pictures (and backstories) of your amazing tattoos.

Justin Warn at Torch Tattoo in Anaheim, CA on Saturday. Tomas Garcia at Sid's in Santa Ana, CA on Sunday. Can't wait! I still don't know what I'm getting. I'll decide on the spot.

My wife and I DJed in Billings about 6 years ago. It was a blast!

I got really excited and thought to myself " @dcostello finally did it!" but, alas, it was someone else who started this thread. Also, coincidental that the original (or at least I think I was) straight edge girl on this board posts right after a Minor Threat video. I think the universe was giving you guys a sign.

@Dan S you ain't gotta worry about that. I just hope to meet awesome people like you down the road.

whenever a new gta comes out ill buy a playstation, lock myself inside for a week or two, call out of work sick as much as possible, beat the game, then sell everything back.

My first (and currently only) tattoo was done about a month and a half ago by Misha at Zulu Tattoo in Los Angeles, California. It's a side portrait of Ariel from The Little Mermaid on the inside of my right forearm, to begin my Disney sleeve. It took two hours and I am beyond enamored with my tattoo. I've always loved Disney, and the movies and characters play a big part in my life. Below is a photo of my tattoo before it had begun to scab (as you can see) and the second was taken about two or three hours after it was done (the lighting as terrible and, as you can see as well, the swelling in my arm was very bad). I hope the photos aren't too big.

Appreciate the welcome folks. A friend of mine was getting work done by Henning back in 2007 and he introduced me. It's been a great artist/client relationship and friendship since then. And "Yes" all of my work done by Henning has been when he does a guest spot at Kings Avenue. Of course, it was a natural progression to get something from Rubendall having been in and out of his shop so much. Both Rubendall and Henning are true gentleman, and Rubendall and his staff have always made me feel welcomed every time I come in for work. The Kings Avenue crew is top notch. Chris O'Donnell is there now a couple of times a week and I got to chat with him briefly last week. Definitely going to get something from him in the near future. I also follow the entire staff from InvisibleNYC on Instagram. Troy's posts are hilarious and crack me up all the time. Everyone there is really putting out stellar looking work (from this layman's point of view). I might swing by there just to ask about the bonji but I'm in no rush as I have so much more work planned ahead of me. Oddly enough, a former co-worker of mine was getting work from Thomas Hooper and I ran into Hooper at my job site once. Chatted with him and then emailed him. Really nice guy but super tough to get on his client list. Not surprising as his work is AMAZING. I will post some pics later this evening to share with all.

Just seen that Javier Rodriguez is at frith street around my birthday time in march, i spy a self present coming on. Edit: Should've booked said present before letting you greedy bastards know he's doing a guest spot :P

I'm heading into Austin in a few hours to get a tattoo from Marie Sena :D So excited!

Booked with Ron Henry Wells for this Sunday at the West Texas Convention. One of my co-workers is as well, and one of our shop's good friends/hang arounds is in with Daniel Albrigo. Should be a great day trip!

Got this from Jason Mcafee at Temple Tattoo in Oakland, CA. Super stoked on it. Real cool dude too. Temple is my home base.

New overalls. - - - Updated - - - I almost went with this one, but that's more the fitness thread :D

Am I the only one that made this connection?

Thanks so much for posting that, @ironchef. I love those guys.

Met with Horitomo on Saturday to discuss my chest/rib piece. Looking like we are going to cover my whole front side with Fujin and a tiger. Hopefully will start around May!

I couldn't get past the writing to be able to attend to the content... gave up after the 2nd paragraph.

Here's mine (slurped off of Steve Byrne's instagram) The knee was way less painful than I expected it to be... there were a couple spots that really made me wince but otherwise it was pretty easy.

Well I have always just crossed germany by car, so this time I plan on taking my time exploring the neighboring country. After that I plan on going to Austria, Swiss and maybe Italy. Then see if I can go back north via the other side of Germany and stopping by in Berlin and chill there for a bit, and then hit up some mates I met last year while i was in Sweden in the summer. They invited me to go roadtripping with them through scandinavia. If I haven't got tired of living out of a backpack by then Ill probably cross the pond to meet up with some people i met in hostels who live in the UK. Then I'll probably return home, repack, get a new passport since mine expires in a year or so. I will either settle down in normal life again, or go crazy hitchhiking and see if i can reach Asia, but that is all many nights away from now ;). Just orderd my bivy, it arrives in 6 days and then I will take it for a test in the Dunes, about 10km away from my hometown. I'll be taking pictures and write an article on my blog about that when done. Thanks again for all the support and interest you guys show! You're amazing people and if any of you happen to live near the roads I will follow, by all means give me a shout and we can go for a beer or something

next is our counter guy, Matte Wagner. He does a lot of cool collage shit. His is titled "Evolutionarianism" It's a digital collage on paper. Mounted on wood. Here's mine. It's a front and back of the same imaginary person. They are titled: "A Travelling Man 1 & 2" Ink and watercolor on paper. Mounted on wood, and shellaced. 72x36 Thanks. Hope you enjoyed.