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really crappy photo of my forearm snake by Jeff Rassier from around 2000 or 2001.

Here is my latest from Glennie at The Pearl Harbor Gift Shop: ah, what the hell...I'm unable to get the pic in the post. Sigh. Got it! Thanks @MsRad - What a long week that was. My brain has turned to mush. Still, had a bit of fun getting this one done this morning.

I knew almost nothing about tattoos when I joined LST and now I know a little more. I'm sincerely grateful for the fascinating discussions and deeper insights -- not to mention the abundance of kick-ass tattoo pics the board has provided. But if ALL this forum did was help folks to find out "how to get a good tattoo" -- that's huge in and of itself. I see almost nothing but crappy tattoos out there among the general public. If LST can steer some people away from hacks and scratchers and show 'em that there's more to consider when choosing a tattooer than just the price... Well, that's a valuable community service right there. I figure many of the great artists on here don't have any problem finding new customers. But if regular folks were just a little more educated and knowledgeable about tattoos, it's got to be good for the community as a whole -- and spare the rest of us from looking at eyesores like no-outline blobs and upside-down script. Guy at the hardware store the other day was admiring my work, asked me where I got it (and how much I paid for it) and wanted a recommendation for a good shop in the L.A. area. I asked him what style he was into -- traditional, Japanese, black & gray -- and he looked at me like I was speaking French. I should've just told him to join the board and look around a bit, and now I'm kicking myself that I didn't.

Great thread and I'm enjoying reading about everyone's personal experiences. I'm ABC (American born Chinese) born and raised in Chinatown/Lower East Side of Manhattan, NYC. Most people are aware of the negative connotations associated with tattoos in Asian cultures (think Triads and Yakuza). My younger brother was actually the first in the family to get a tattoo. He got it back in college with a couple of close frat brothers. I remember the first time my dad saw it, he actually flicked and slapped at it with a pair of chop sticks! Fast forward to 2009 and at the age of 33, after much planning and back and forth, I get my first tattoo, a koi half sleeve. I figure I could still hide it under a t-shirt. Summer 2010 rolls around my dad spots it. He doesn't really give me the riot act but questions my thought process. My mom was more concerned if I had now permanently damaged my chances of meeting a nice girl. Now we're in 2012. I've two 3/4 sleeves, which both mom and pop have seen. They don't know about my thigh piece nor the HUGE back piece I'm getting worked on right now. This summer could be a very interesting one, especially during Sunday family dinner at the folks.

started the color on my chris odonnell hannya 3/4 sleeve on friday. its amazing how much more awesome it looks with color. no pictures of the full piece yet but i posted a closeup photo of one of the hannyas and a leaf on instagram (tagged it with #lastsparrow) i think i have 4-5 more hours until it is complete. edit: decided to not be lazy and uploaded it here too

Too late now. He got tattooed and therefore is stuck dating hairy bikers for the rest of his live. Not that there's anything wrong with that. :p

@BrianH I actually have and she's been very supportive with my tattoo projects. Best part is when she helps me out with the aftercare on the hard to reach areas of the back piece!

Got this the other day from Erik von Bartholomaus doing a guest spot in Albuquerque. He is currently working on tattooing in all 50 states, so go get something from him when he eventually rolls through your state.

Got my latest tattoo started this past Friday. Not the best pic. I pulled it off his Facebook. After 4+ hours he still wanted to finish the shading and fix some lines he said, but I was done and couldn't go anymore. I have my 2nd appointment in 2 weeks, and my 3rd two weeks after that so it wont be long to finish. I suspect he will finish the shading and stuff and move on to do some of the colour next time. I am really, really happy with how it looks. Done by Jamie Macpherson @ Unity Tattoo in Vancouver, BC

Here's what Iain Mullen @ Imperial Tattoo in Stockholm created for me today. Side of thigh. Black n gray, red is from swelling.

@Ironmask I suggest exploring this site and seeing all of the quality work posted on here. We are always happy to have new people here, however, you may want to observe the way people work around here. This site is here to promote "GOOD" tattooing. As such, it is our missing to post and talk about quality tattoos. Although I can appreciate your enthusiasm, posting the work you are doing on yourself does not and will not ever be "appreciated" here.

Well.... She's not wrong.

Have you met a nice girl yet? haha

this forum is my home from home. just as simple as that. mostly good people( yeah i figure you are eventhough i haven't met anyone from LST for real...), good reading, good tattoos.....just good shit you know? as of where the tattooers are...they should be doing tattoos right? :)

Thanks! I'm booked with Emiliano, his portfolio on their site is awesome and seems like it'd really suit my idea. I'm hugely excited and a little anxious at the same time as my brother has had a few tattoos (also for my Dad) and he hammered it home to me to make sure that i get all the little details right such as shading, font etc..

I'm not sure what you mean by "ethics" here and I'm not sure that it's even my place to be commenting on this thread partly because I don't tattoo, partly because I'm not sure that my contribution to this board, on the whole, has been a positive one, but one of the things that I've found frustrating lately as a "collector" is the number of people coming here wanting quick and easy answers. I think this forum is in a tricky position because on the one hand, it's great that people are finding it and are learning things and getting really great tattoos as a result, but at the same time, I would really like to see this place offer something a little deeper than just how to get a good tattoo. I really like what Stewart wrote about "explorers" and about how learning and discovery are worthwhile pursuits in themselves. Getting tattooed has enriched my life immeasurably because through tattoos I've learned a lot about art and culture, I've met some truly inspiring and amazing people, and I've had what I feel are really profound human experiences and this is all worth the time, effort, and money I've put into it, and I'd like this to be more of a community that fundamentally understands that, rather than just a place for people to come and ask about what to get for their first tattoo and then never return or give anything back to this community.

here you are mate

lucky man. whenever I mention getting a back piece my girl friend just giggles because she knows it will involve getting my butt tattooed and apparently nothing is funnier than tattooed man butt.

As the other said...you know what you want, and you are going to one of the best shops in the world. Give your ideas to Emiliano and he will blow your mind into the stratosphere.

Me too. I imagine that most tattooed people (especially heavily tattooed people) feel the same. Which is why I think it's the job of everybody here at LST to try to be thoughtful, insightful, open and intelligent in what they post outside of the deliberate joke/hang-out threads. I like to goof off as much as the next person (see my twitter feed and instagram comments as evidence) but every time I see "Get a ROA!" in a thread, I stop reading. In-jokes and scene memes can be fun until they get in the way of intelligent discussion. There are a few regular posters who I see get stuck in with jokes but also they give sound advice, get good tattoos and seem to know their shit as well as drop pearls of insightful wisdom they learned from personal experience, not gossip on the internet. Those are the guys who keep me coming back here although I first came for the tattooers.

Thanks Graeme. I kind of feel the same way, and am glad you were able to explain it as I struggle without sounding like a snob. Tattooer or not, I think everyone wants a forum that they can both contribute and learn from. The 17th thread about where to go get tattooed in San Diego does neither at this point. Maybe there is a little resentment towards some new people who feel like this forum is some sort of tattoo coincerige service, obligated to hold their hand every step of the way or maybe it's just too much like a real tattoo shop in some ways. I came to this forum as a fluke, stayed here because there are so few people that actually understand or appreciate, tattooing. The people who do have that appreciation are some of the most amazing people I have ever internet met in my life and I am truly lucky to have found this forum. I don't see myself leaving if for just that reason alone, and I am willing to do what ever I can to keep this forum relevant.

I'm based in the UK. I booked an appointment at Frith St in London and discussed a few ideas there but they said to bring all my ideas on the day of the appointment. It's hard trying to visualize what it's going to look like!

Got these two beauties this week whilst in Rome. First one by Diego Brandi and the second by Samuele Briganti. I travelled to Rome purely to get tattooed and it was an absolute pleasure to get tattooed by these guys. Was such a fun experience, and they are some of the friendliest, most hospitible guys.

Cult you are about to find out YOU were the first vehicle for influence. It was your post on Boyer followed by drive up the road to Staunton to get inked by Tim Forbus that originally got me looking at their work. After seeing Tim's Sacred Heart and one of his Gypsy Ladyheads, I gave him a call. Since then I have been inked by him twice. He was able to blow me away with my second piece as it was the most important one I'll ever own; it contains my girls names. I told Tim I found him because of this site.

A place where tattooers can discuss techniques and information in a private environment away from 'the public'? Sounds great... Wait, I work in one every day. It's called a tattoo shop. Also I travel hundreds, often thousands of miles to go to these places in the real world. They are called conventions. By visiting the cream of the crop of both shops and/or conventions, we grow as tattooers and humans. There is no excuse not to visit if you care about tattoos, tattooing, learning and getting tattooed. LST does something else and does a damn fine job at it.

Thank you Tim Forbus at Acme Staunton. The swallow represents my wife who holds my heart and the three flowers and names represent our three daughters. Size of the flower is consistent with the age of the daughter.

Got this rad dragon head tadoo from my Aussie pal Jake Fraser the other day who is in town from Melbourne. Weird spot but fun nonetheless! Look how happy that dragon is! Decided to go with slightly different colors than usual since it's surrounded by more traditional looking ones. Didn't even notice the little blue tips on the horns til I cleaned it off later that night. Really stoked on it! (Kinda reminds me of the Clay Smith Cams logo..

Well put @Brock Varty

Your Mom is HILARIOUS!! :D My daughter was in town a couple weeks ago and we went out to lunch together. I showed her all my new tattoos and she made a comment to the effect of "it's a bad idea for young people to get a bunch of tattoos, but someone as old as you can get as many as you want because you won't live long enough to regret it". So funny!

Color and shading last night! Another 3 hours, but I think it was totally worth it. A little more orangey than I was expecting, but I'm guessing that will calm down a little as it heals. Either way, I love it. The shading really gave the image depth and made those leaves and cones pop off my skin. The second pic is the day after (this morning) right after washing and Aquaphor. -Joe

Welcome, Nape! I mean Nate.

Thanks Else, I'm gonna check him out!

Nice, she's a lucky gal. Pics please!

Frith St. Tattoo you say? No need for anyone to chime in with a good artist then! :) Seriously, you are in good hands. You may not be able to exactly visualize what you want right now, but with the reference and ideas you've got there the artist you end up working with will give you an excellent tattoo. Who are you booked with, if you don't mind my asking? And of course - Welcome to the forum!

When I joined the forum there were a good amount of tattooers here as well as 'collectors' that for the most that had a good idea of the ethics of tattooing. Of course we want the forum to grow and in the growth you'll get some advanced collectors but you'll also get many newbies. I get the feeling that the tattooers that post/used to post here don't have time or just don't want to educate the public on tattoo ethics, especially after tattooing all day. I did see @The Hyena over the weekend, super cool dude with some amazing flash he was selling, and I told him it's be nice to see him around here more often. He said he's going to make an effort to post more. No offense to anyone but maybe a lot of the recent topics are too ridiculous for advanced tattooers to want to bother with and may actually be a turn off to them...

I was bored one Sunday and thought I would make a map of decent artists around the world, with their details and small thumbnail of the style they do. I thought it might also help new people to find an artists near them :) I am adding to it all the time and trying to incorporate all styles, so if you don't find someone on the list and they should be, I can add them :) or if anyone feels that someone shouldn't be! I know alot of the people on here are into old school tattoos, which are basically the ones I know least about. Anyhows, here is the link :) Enjoy! The ForbesTAT List! - Google Maps

This was done last month by Eric Jones at Port City Tattoo. It's finally all healed up. Sorry for the minor glare near the front of her crown.

I for one have had my tattooer come back to lurking after I told him I drove 3 hours to get specifically tattooed by him based on a reference from this site. I also have come to realize how lucky I am to live in Virginia and have a love for tattoos, especially old school stuff.

Has anyone thought of possibly cleaning up threads. Maybe delete threads that have been inactive for a certain amount of time that only one have one or two pages of replies. I know it's a big task, but I think if it was kept up, some older threads would be revived instead of starting new threads on topics. Also maybe have a tattoo advice version of latest tattoo lowdown, just one big thread for all the times people start a thread and the only thing they need to do is go into a shop. Those threads could be merged into it, as they pop up. I know it's a little off topic, but since we are talking about the forum. I think if tattooers want a special section on this site, I wouldn't care if it meant they hung around more. But @dari, tattooers should have to be approved by mods before gaining access to it. But that would mean a tattooer would have to step up and be a mod of that part of site.

Well I got drunk as a skunk with Willie Adler, his wife and another couple last weekend a nice $418 bar tab amongst 5 ...I'm guessing whatever our designated driver had is in that number also. Anyway good times, great friends and laughter

I've been really digging Easy Sacha from Mystery Tattoo Club's work lately. Seems like there are some good tattooers working there: EASY SACHA Instagram

I've been following him in instagram since I've had an account and I really love his paintings and tattoos. This is super weird and I love that.

https://www.facebook.com/raphael.t.tiraf ***Hand In Glove Tattoo Shop Paris***

Moahaha is right! It sounds like every Norwegian gets tattooed like a pro. I haven't quit my job because I love my job for the first time in my life. However, we're moving into a much better place on the first and after we get back from a summer trip are going to look into adopting a dawg. Feeling pretty good myself right about now..

Work in progress, I have now had five three hour sessions with Mo Coppoletta at The Family Business working on a three quarter sleeve koi, he coloured the koi in yesterday. Probably one or two more sessions to go now.

Tattoo by Chad Koeplinger done at Frith Street Tattoo in London, England Filled up the spot nicely! (and quickly 2 Hours!)

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

Maybe, I havent got one since December.

When we were in NOLA doing a few appointments, an artist, and a good friend of mine let me help her make her mind up, I picked a painting Richard had done in Austin back in January earlier this year, and he finished it up at Inksmith... I wanted to see it tattooed, cause it was pretty incredible, a true Melanistic Panthera Pardus.... I got some good pics of it, after outline and with the spot pattern, and one after the shading and everything was done. I love this tattoo.