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Andrew Stortz, done at Congress St in Portsmouth, NH Took this photo from his instagram :D

Healing up nicely! Peony sleeve by Kurt Wiscombe, Skull sleeve (in progress) by Kore Flatmo!

someone could be coming in to just get an estimate, actually get tattooed, see about an appointment, take walk in time, buy a t-shirt, (depending on the shop) get a piercing, or in some cases be asking for directions or to use a bathroom. they may even be trying to sell you a product of some kind (some guy came in where i work selling some next level Windex stuff recently). plus, some variant on "can i help you?" is about the best way to start off a customer service conversation, which is what the counter person's job boils down to. i'd much rather have that than be ignored or treated poorly, which has happened at shops i've gone into.

Well, Sunday rolled around again. Two extremely hectic weeks at work have reduced my online time, but I did manage to slide into The Pearl Harbor Gift Shop again. This time Glennie did a great little butterfly on my forearm. - - - Updated - - - That is an amazing tattoo. Stunning!

this is would fit better in a "Latest Tattoo Shop Visit...." because I just checked things out and didn't get tattooed... My girlfriend and I drove up to Portsmouth, NH to get lunch at Portsmouth Brewery and after lunch we walked around the corner to check out Congress St Tattoo. The shop is covered floor to ceiling with flash, and almost all of it is hand painted by artists at the shop or friends of the shop. Spent about 20 minutes looking at the flash and Spencer Scott (shop apprentice I think?) pointed out a few of the cooler ones including a Jason Scott/Greg Christian split sheet. I asked if Greg ever made any guest appearances there and was told "We are trying but it is New Hampshire so...." Overall it looked like a great shop and I plan to return to get work done by Jason Scott @Grim Ginger, Ron Henry Wells @The Hyena, and hopefully @chad koeplinger

Just got a sweet snake and skull from Ben Fiedler at the slc convention. It was starting as a filler snake for an awkward spot on my forearm and then we ended up putting a skull on my elbow and wrapping the snake up so the head filled another empty spot up top. That arm is now done! Will probably have to wait until its healed to post pics. My elbow is so swollen that the skull just looks ridiculous right now.

why's my gin brown? because it's full of deliciousness... didn't realize it was cask strength (124 proof) till i drank that first one... Rusty Blade "K&L Exclusive" Single Barrel Cask Strength Barrel-Aged Gin tried mixing with apple cider & a splash of seltzer, but i think on the rocks (w/a bit of water) is the best so far

I've got an appointment to finish my chest up next week. I'll just leave y'all hanging til then.

I guess I've been living in the country too long... I was thinking "what's wrong with rooster tattoos? Lots of people have them!"

Easy Sacha at Mystery Tattoo Club, Paris. From what I understand this style of tattooing is difficult to do well so you're absolutely right to wait to find the right artist to do it. The three you mentioned in your post are the first three that came to mind for me.

Maybe Guy Le Tattoer Keep an eye open for the AKA Shop in Berlin and the artists working there. akaberlin.com

Damn, those are some nice-ass sleeves.

I'm on a tear. I still have two more appointments in the next three weeks.

Alex Knierer

Just picked this up from Mike Fite on the thigh. Stoked. Now, driving 150 miles back home.

I wouldn't call them the blues, but when I first got my sleeve outlined to the wrist I had a "holy shit" moment. I had my back piece outlined yesterday and when I got home I had another "holy shit" moment. Not buyers remorse, just a "I can't believe I did this" moment. That's turned into a "fucking A!!!" feeling this morning. :-) Now if I could only stop looking at them every time I pass a mirror ...

My first tattoo from my mentor...took advantage of a cancellation!

I think these are two of the top reasons why people end up with bad tattoos. They can't wait and they don't want to pay. If you get on his waiting list now you will have at least a year to save for it.

Hey Guys, just a heads up if you are in the area, Ron Henry Wells will be working at our new second location at Providence Tattoo in Providence tomorrow, Saturday and Wednesday! [email protected] for appointments maybe ill see you? :)

Had a tattooer cancel on me because he was sick, ended up squeezing into a little walk in jammer from Sean Lanusse. Will post pics later, as I figured I would snag it from his Instagram later.

Better yet... Get your lovers name tattooed across your face in 5" letters. That one always sends a nice message.

My name is Jay'e, and I dig this site! I have been tattooing for eleven years, and own a shop Yucca Valley, Ca. (Strata Tattoo Lab.) I look forward to participating in your forums, as well as everything else~ Thanks!

Was it the Best Salesman Ever? http://youtu.be/14LpxQWDlAg

That was a great call.... Didn't think about the way they did it but it was perfect!!!!

hey @slayer9019, you been finding ammo lately in Jersey? I'm having one hell of a time.. Also, let's hit a range sometime, I just inherited an old ruger single six and a mark1 i've been jonesing to try out.

I was actually hoping to get a little sacred heart on my wrist from Freddy. Let him do it however he wants. Or some lettering. My wife has tattoos and I'm sure will get more but she's not a freak about it like me. She's knows she can always get tattooed anytime she wants and I encourage it but I don't think she's as quick to cover herself as fast as I am. I'm just thankful she always supports me but is also the voice of financial reason! She's the smart one, and I am the impulsive one. Maybe I can talk her into matching tattoos. It is our 1 year anniversary trip!

So, I went to see my artist this morning. He said I had more of a reaction to the tape they used than I did to the tattoo, which totally makes sense because it's right where the tape was after my tattoo was done. He said not to worry and also mentioned to not address them at the same time and lotion them up seperately between washes just to be on the safe side I appreciate you all for helping me.

First session with Jessie Tseronis from Sakura Tattoos in Winchester, VA. We were going to do a Kapala Skull but when I showed up he suggested this. I'm a "go with the flow" guy and I'm glad I did.

I'm more of a thrash guy, but have been getting into doom lately. Conan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPoIlknNd5o Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats Summoner http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9MB6jBzt_Y

you did get a bunch of great tattoos in October, Scott, Valerie, Stuart..... In dog years that's like 5 years of tattoos!!!!

7th session. 7 hours of snake scales

I have a friend who lives in Providence and has been thinking about getting tattooed, I'll let him know about this. He's doing a masters in graphic design at RISD so he probably wants some pretentious art school garbage, so hopefully he'll act on this and actually get a good tattoo. But I doubt it.

Spoke with him at Musink, such a cool, humble and talented dude. The original flash he was selling was fucking AMAZING.

If he specializes in the style, then he will probably have great reference. As a tattooer, I tell people to bring in any reference they want if it is going to help me see what they are after, but not worry about having to assemble the tattoo for me, just show me things they like. But if he's known for japanese, he probably has a good library on the subject so bringing in a googled koi or dragon might be a little redundant, unless you are showing them a specific element. Even if you are looking to show the artist specific elements that you'd like incorporate, the best place to start (especially if they are known for a specific style) would be their own portfolio. Of course, you're not trying to have them duplicate things they've already done, but with japanese tattooing for example, you can always show them that you like the way the subject matter interacts with the background on a particular tattoo, or a color combo that catches your eye, or a common element like water or flames or something.

Turns out about an inch away from your testicles is fairly brutal.. yowch.

Quick update of more work from Rubendall on my collaboration backpiece. His attention to detail is fantastic and looking at his water makes me sea sick! More to come before I take a break over the summer. Hope to see Henning soon to continue the upper portion of the backpiece. Enjoy the pics folks. FYI, there's some work that's still healing and of course new work. Will have fully healed pics in a couple of months.

First of all, you should have read the newbie guide: Last Sparrow Tattoo - Newbie Guidelines Do not go posting a bunch of meaningless posts just to hit your 10 post requirement! If you want to ask a question right away - just post it in your intro thread. Your first ten posts consisted solely of "Welcome" and "LMAO".... You could just as easily have posted this in an introduction thread. Second of all, why are you asking us for opinions when it seems as you've already made up your mind?

All day...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfY0Hg1XfzY Metal to fall off the wagon to......sorry guys sooo bored at work today with little to do.

I think what this documentary is going to focus on is 'black and grey' tattooing and where it started. We have a lot of great stuff out there to watch about modern tattooing such as Tattoo Age and Gypsy Gentleman. We also have great documentaries to watch on our previous generation like the Ed Hardy and Sailor Jerry flicks, so I think it'll be nice to have a movie that helps define the birth of the fine-line black and grey style that is such a large part of our industry now. I think we'll find out that guys like Ed Hardy, Owen Jensen and Lee Roy Minugh aren't that far apart from guys like Charlie Cartwright, Freddy Negrete and Jack Rudy. I am personally really excited for this, but I guess my emotion is based on biased feelings towards my local childhood heros. Either way, I can't wait to see it.

Found this pic of my boss, you can really see the panther head done by Dan Higgs on his chest. I would say the tattoo was done in 1991-1992 and the photo was 1994, but it still looks pretty good to this day. Funny I was hoping to find a photo of his Freddy Corbin Rock of Ages on his ribs, but all you can see is a little water in this photo.