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Got tattooed by Matt Arriola at the West Texas Tattoo Conv. Super pumped on how this came out.

ok, not going to win but i do wanna compete so i can say i did! done by magnus tufvesson at american art in gothenburg sweden

Just for fun going to post a panther snake combo I got done last year by Manee Friday right here in Portland.

I've always been overweight, chubby or fat. I have both arms covered and quite a bit of each leg tattooed - I love my tattoos. And beautiful tattoos look great on any size body! From a personal standpoint, it is simply my vanity and insecurity that has kept me from getting my back, buttocks and ribs tattooed-- and that is because I wouldn't be comfortable naked in front of most people. My husband ( who is a tattooer will most probably be the one to tattoo my back and sides) As a tattooer, I like big people with big tattoos and small people with big tattoos too> Best of luck

I'm throwing another old one in because this is fun! Sorry for the gratuitous man-boobs. Andrew Conner. Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Here's my anchor!! We went a lot bigger and more colorful than I thought we would going in... Love it! :D

If you're going to work on oil rigs, you could make a nice chunk of change. I know you don't want to hear this, but you should wait to get tattooed. Look around this site and see what's possible. Work on the rigs for a while, make some money, and pay for something you'll be stoked on for life. As for first tattoos on the forearm, here's more advice you don't wanna hear: that's terrible place to start a Japanese sleeve. ALL Japanese sleeves start at the top of the arm, not the other way around.

I think a place that is charging you a good bit below the going rate for good tattoos in Vancouver, that tells you that you can go in "almost anytime" instead of setting an appointment, and is going to tattoo a 16 year old is probably not going to give you a great tattoo.

A guaranteed way to tell if your artist is excited about your tattoo is to ask them to tattoo some one else's flash . I got a Mike Malone piece from Ian Flower and he said " I'll even tattoo it with my Malone machine for no extra charge " ha ha.

Can that guy ever do a bad spider?

I think it's not reasonable to expect a tattooer to be very excited about every single thing they do. It's a profession like any other in the sense that some tasks you get super psyched about, and others less so. The mark of a professional is that you do the best job you can regardless of how excited you are about a piece. I teach, and I enjoy some classes much more than others, but I work hard at all of them. I think it is not necessarily productive to speculate about whether or not a tattooer is being "genuine".

Done by Cecil Porter. Douglas from the movie "Where the Wild Things Are".

A nice design - so hopefully the artist is up to it. Honestly - myself, I wouldn't recommend anyone start with their 1st tattoo on their forearm - especially where the person in question is so far from knowing what kind of profession you're going to be in 17 years (a lifetime) from now.

A little late to the party and dressed like a bum, per usual. To clarify, I'm not the asshat with the shitty beard, I'm the dude with the sunglasses in the background.

A. I didn't make any comment about measuring his skill level by the age of his customers. B. It's legal to marry your first-cousin in Illinois...that doesn't mean it's the smart thing to do. C. Reading comprehension is a wonderful thing.

I love it when people ask me how much my tattoos cost. I always reply with, "Sorry, they're not for sale."

Adam Hays at Red Rocket Tattoo in NYC did my sleeve. There are multiple meanings in my ink. First off, it is not done. I have about 6 hours of detail work left to do. So on to the story! 2008 was a great year for me. My first daughter was born (I have twin daughters born a year later) and I took delivery of my 2008 Shelby Terlingua. #2 of 38 built. I took delivery at the Shelby American Terlingua 2008 event in Terlingua, TX. Come to find out, my wife went to college in the next down over. In 2009, Shelby American couldn't do the event. So myself and 3 of my friends did. In 2010 I took the Terlingua Preservation Society to 501c3 making it a non-profit business entity. We donate all of our proceeds to the local community (70% live below the poverty level down there) which includes Terlingua High School, Terlingua Fire & EMS and Activets. Among others. In 2012 we had our biggest year yet and raised over 24k in our one weekend. Terlingua has become a big part of my life. 2.5 years ago I started thinking about getting my first tattoo. Then it was on to the what theme, color, grayscale or what. I spent a year and a half figuring out what I wanted. During my Terlingua event I discovered the artwork of Adam Hays. At around the same time I started looking at the local artists by me and was found that none of them could capture the essence of what I was looking for. I race Mustangs and getting into desert racing. I decided I wanted something that imbued Terlingua, my daughters and my racing. Last summer I discovered that Adam did tattoo work, I hit his web page and the light bulb went off in my head. THIS IS THE GUY! I emailed the shop in August 2012, couple of phone conversations later I had an appointment for January 2013. Since I was flying in for the appointments, I wanted as much work done as humanly possible while I was there. I left it up to Adam to decide what could be done. What did I know? I had never had a tattoo. He was the expert and I left this up to him. I gave Adam the details of what I wanted in the design. He came up with the idea of horses racing through the desert and the skeletons (Terlingua thing) on the horses. It tied everything in and I loved the concept. Last Thursday and Friday I discovered what my pain threshold was, which was about what Adam could tattoo in a single sitting. We had two six hour days of tattooing. Below is the product as it is on my arm now. What is left is the mountains behind it (which will have my wife's name in it because without her, I would not have my daughters), some cactus and dust clouds coming up around the horses. All in all, I am extremely happy with my ink and the work that Adam has done. Now to get my race schedule this year and find out when I can get back to NYC to get my tat finished :) Added note: Shelby, Bella and Lexi are my daughters.

Gorilla Tattoos are awesome.

Not every piece you do is one you will be super excited about. But just because the piece might not be your particular favorite does not change the fact that every client deserves the best possible tattoo you can give them. I find that if I have a piece I am not thrilled about I get feedback from my staff and brainstorm as to how I can do something different with the tattoo while still meeting the guidelines my client has given me. If I do some homework generally I can find a way to make the design something I can get excited about. If an artist truly does not want to do the tattoo then perhaps he or she can share the work with another artist in his or her shop? As a professional it is best to not let your lack of enthusiasm show, however I do not think that this means that artists are any less genuine in their efforts to serve a clients particular needs.

That isn't the final rendering is it? Also @Graeme said it best. The fact that they can "get you in anytime" and their hourly rate, could suggest you may not end up with the quality of tattoo you want.

Latest update: Next appoints with Adam Hays are in May to finish up my sleeve. Much to my surprise, I had no scabbing. Itched like a bitch for awhile with the skin flaking off. When I am tired and not thinking I find myself walking across the house and out of the corner of my eye I get surprised that I have a full sleeve. My girls love it. "That's my horsey!" says one of my 3yo daughters.

Im glad starting this thread has helped a few people, including myself.

What's weird is...this is how I always imagine @dcostello dressing... Maybe it's just me. ;P

Reminds me of this character on SNL

New little one I picked up from Mil Martinez at the Tattoo Tea Party in Manchester. He works out of 13 Diamonds in London. Super cool guy. Sorry about the crappy picture, i'll get a better one soon!

Rad thread, thanks for starting it @Delicious ! I never knew there were so many awesome beards here. It's funny to see how different some people look to how I imagined them (or, conversely, how similar). Anywho, here's me being all Cheesecake recently in celebration of losing 10kg/getting more tattooed.

Got this little guy on the top of my wrist yesterday by Justin Hyde @ Old Soul Tattoo And my girlfriend got these two from him as well

Me from I think 2009 issue of skin and ink.

This is one of the worst I've seen in a while! In case that picture didn't work: MY PRECIOUS - Cheezburger

I think it's pretty easy to tell. i was kicking around ideas with my artist. I could tell he wasn't excited about a Koi back piece, but when I asked for suggestions, he got very excited about a Tibetan skull. He was so excited that I got excited and now guess which one I'm getting?

I think Stewart Robson described it best in his interview when he wanted checkers across his arm, chest, etc. and ended up with Steve Byrne iirc. Although it probably wasnt the style of tattooing Steve might have preferred or even wanted to do, he still gave a shit, applied himself to the best of his abilities, stood back, eyed it up, looked at composition, rhythm, flow until he was happy with it and then did it. Whether the tattoo/artist is straight up and simple "you pick em, I stick em" style or its a big custom piece, or adding to a blank spot on the arm that has previous work, a genuine tattooer will look at all the variables and fine tune it to the point where they are happy with where it is, how it sits, how its works with other work, etc.

Had to go back and read your intro... SIXTEEN?!?!?!?!? Dude. Forget the tattoo, work on your designs for AT LEAST two more years. Bare minimum. You want to work on sleeving yourself, then you need to do your homework and get your design squared-away. What can I say, all my kids have got tattoos, but all of them waited till they were eighteen to start...can't even begin to imagine what they would have gotten at sixteen, but I do know they changed radically in the two years betwixt then and turning eighteen. You will too. Anyhow. If you look at his work, and you think it's good, that's what it's all about. I don't think a yard-n-a-half is radical cheap, even for the big city. You don't need to pay four-hundred an hour to get good work. As far as appointment times, if he means he can fit you in somewhere, well that isn't a warning signal to me. If he flat-out doesn't have any appointments, well that might be! Hate to beat a dead horse, but I usually call Nick Colella like a week before I want to get tattooed, tops. Have gotten a lot of work at CTC just walking though the door. SOme street shops pride themselves on taking care of walk-ins and last-minute customers, and you may have found one of them. Anyhow, look through his portfolio, look at any of his work you can find to look at in-person, people that work with him, his own ink, like that, and if you like it, and you are happy with his design, well, GO FOR IT!

I'm usually good for 4-6 hours. The hardest was three days back to back, on my left arm. Last year, I moved from Chicago to the west coast, and the move happened as I was finishing a steampunk sleeve project with Larry Brogan; we needed three or four more sessions. He had a guest spot coming up in Grants Pass at Jeff Gogue's place (Off The Map Tattoo) so I booked three of the days. I figured it was a lot easier than flying to Chicago three times. The first day was fine. We did 6 hours. The second day was fairly rough, very tender. I felt everything. We did 5 hours, then went for pizza and beer. The third day, totally brutal; my arm had serious swelling (looked like edema). It was painful from the first jab to the last. Larry really did his best and was concerned, but I insisted. From a pain point of view, it was brutal. In the end, it healed perfectly and there were no issues. Pain is temporary, awesome tattoos are forever. I attached a pic of the upper part of the sleeve. Won't do that again!!

I think I'm going to go to the convention in Toronto this summer. It wil be my first. If I like it I might very well postpone my August trip to Montreal until September and take in that con as well. (Also, I can stock up on my beloved mead from the SAQ!)

100% agree

LOVE the sailing narwhal!!

I fixed the links below, I guess embedding insta pics won't work, or maybe I'm just not savy.... so I changed to links. It's a mutual back having. You know this.

I've always got your back, lady.

@BAM773 Don't worry about it, it just isn't something we generally talk about on here. That said, I agree with @David Flores about price vs speed and quality of tattoo and besides, a tattoo is something that you will have and hopefully enjoy for the rest of your life and I think paying a little bit extra to get the work you really want is worth it.

brock varty...no one knows, and i wan't to keep it that way! haha

Thanks guys!! I'm so incredibly happy with the thing!! A t-shirt and "contest winner" title just ices the cake!! :D I owe all y'all a debt of gratitude... who knows who I'd be letting tattoo me if I hadn't come here first... LST is my favorite place on the interwebs. :o

Leprosy!

Did levi's beard do the tattoo? @Kev LST big cat tattoo club yes!

Andre is amazing. I really see a Leu influence in his composition, especially when it comes to dragons and water.

Finished up this thigh fight yesterday, from Nash at Thicker Than Water

Once you break stride, hard to get it back sometimes. Late in a long session, short 30-second breathers are good though. Rob - - - Updated - - - The way it was told to me was the 1st session is all the lining, shading which is mainly black and darker colors. Those can wipe into the lighter colors especially if its bleeding pretty good. When I had my forearm koi done last year, my forearm was really swelled up after the coloring was done. I've sat for as long as 3 hours for the outline and shading. After being hit 6 zillion times with the liner, I'm done at the 3 hour mark. That for me is the toughest. I can cruise through the coloring session in comparison. Smaller pieces that can be done in one shot are nice, in & out complete & wrapped up in 2 hours. And I'm functional after. Tattoo day... I make sure I get enough sleep the night before. Eat a little something before you go. I like to drink soda when I'm in the chair, the sugar helps me with that light-headed feeling. Anyone that can sit for 4 hours or more, great if you can do it. I'd have to be plenty stoked to sit that long.

There ARE bad people in every profession. The big differance with bad people being in the cop profession is that good people end up in jail, not just stuck with a bad education, bad service or bad tattoo. Bad cops are generally people who are insufficient at everything else and can only live on the rush that being "powerfull" can provide them. Sad for them and sad for us, too.

Awesome. We're tired. - - - Updated - - - - - - Updated - - - We're in Tulsa, OK...

You will look no more "ridiculous" with tattoos than anyone else! Get tattooed, get what you want, fuck the world. I don't tattoo so I can't answer your questions about working with skin and placement but I can't imagine it's that much of an obstacle. @Shawn Porter posted a video a while back on his OV blog, an awesome awesome Dave Lum video, where his shop helper -- a woman -- was talking about how she hated her legs and her butt. How she was self conscious and never thought she'd get tattooed there, but once she did get some coverage on those areas, she loved them. Maybe the only big folks you're seeing with a significant amount of work have some not-so-great tattoos.. or maybe you're just freaking out cause you've only got one so far. But if you've got the itch, you've gotta scratch it, and everyone else can go to hell. Truly. Apologies if this was too strongly worded.. I had the night off, some beers were consumed. The only people I don't like with a lot of tattoos are dickheads regardless of their tattoos.