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Yay! finally finished by upper back today :D I'm sooo happy :D :o By Valerie Vargas at Frithstreet tattoo

Might aswell throw this in here, crossing my fingers! This month has stiff competition :)

I am more than happy with what came out of my trip to Amsterdam. Kim-Anh Nguyen did this tattoo at the wonderful Salon Serpent. Photo taken by her and stolen by me.

Go back to studying, it's fine. That color you see is cause of the blood. After a little bit it will go a way.

@Eilin may have broken the internet. Superb.

I want to be just like you when I grow up :)

Scott Ellis- Triple Crown Tattoo Austin, TX Pic with better detail:

The most awesome thing I've done in a long time:D

@keepcalm check out this link from Snopes : Thick Talk, it states that our hair does not actually grow back thicker and darker! Mayo Clinic corroborates here, as does this post from Aetna's InteliHealth, as reviewed by members of the faculty at Harvard Medical School. Looks like you don't have to worry at all!

Welcome @Inkless I'm not familiar with the artist you mention, but here's a couple links to some good shops I know of in your area. Tattoo Paradise Jinx Proof Tattoos

Wow @Eilin Valerie is almost unfairly good, like she has to be cheating.

I spend the majority of my time with old folks, and I don't think their tattoos look bad at all!! Faded yes, but bad? No way!! Everyone's skin sags. I'd rather have faded sagging tattoos, than be a sagging plainskin. Gonna sag either way. People spend way too much time thinking about how tattoos look on old people.

I did something awesome yesterday: Ed spoke at an SF museum about "tattoo culture." It wasn't promoted very well--there were only about 15 people there--but that made it cooler for me. Then I saw Tattoo Nation a few hours later. Great day all around. PS @Doug Hardy, I'm wearing one of your pins on my jacket. :)

Got tattooed today in Italy, i now have a bad ass skull on my inner bicep and an awesome memory of my traveling life. I posted a pic in the latest tattoo lowdown thread

I 'll donate the sales $ from the next 5 copies of ( my non- instructional satirically humorous book) " So you want to be a tattoo artist?" But I first have to figure out how and where to post a pic again

If I was going to get a comic book tattoo and I could go to absolutely anybody in the world, I would probably go to Dave Waugh. Just saying.

I do that all the time, feels more authentic to me- plan a few big pieces, have fun with the rest

I'm back at Saved next Friday for what might be the last session on my leg.

Kills. Totally.

14-year-old me is biting his tongue over here. Apologies.

Agenda for day off: Deposit loot. Draw tattoos. Share some loot with LST. Thanks you guys you rock

Getting into lining my paintings strictly with a brush:

I know some people on this forum don't really dig this guy, but Gen did a guest spot here in Hong Kong and I got my lower leg done. That ditch is something else eh? Taken from his instagram coz I couldn't get any decent shots.

@Mark Bee & @beez, thanks for the replies! Would love to hear more - the law of averages, etc. ;) It will probably be fine, but it would just suck if it wasn't, that's all, haha. Thanks again!

Thats fucking great @Eilin love the yellow eyes

Haha! I was viewing it on my iPhone and totally missed that. Awesome.

Hi Tammy! Welcome to the forums.. i'm relatively new to posting myself but a long time lurker :) So far i only have my legs and arms tattooed and the legs have definitly been harder to heal. Our bodies do a pretty awesome job of doing the whole healing thing though so just keep it mosturised and clean and i think you'll be just fine! I'm a wee bit older than you (27) but if it's any concillation i'm getting a lot of grief for being tattooed too. Someone just told me an hour ago if i carry on i'll end up looking like a lesbian and then who'd want me... (firstly what's wrong with looking like a lesbian anyway and secondly why would i want someone who didnt appreciate my tattoos?!) Life is for living right now.. not for worrying about what our ankles will look like when we are 90. Frankly i'm gonna be wrinkly anyways so it may as well be pretty wrinkles :) I saw an old guy on the bus today and he had a swallow on his hand and it looked totally awesome.. all faded but still a beautiful outline. I almost went and complimented him. Ignore people, enjoy your life and enjoy your tattoos :)

Hells Yes!! Really beautiful!

Superb, @Eilin!

Welcome Tammy. The lower leg can be a difficult spot to heal, so just be patient, keep it clean, don't baby it too much, and you should be okay. And yeah, a lot of people have stupid opinions about tattoos and the worst thing about it is that they think they have this completely original and brilliant insight when they tell you that your skin is eventually going to sag. Fuck 'em.

the dark one, cthulhu fucked things up i guess.

I don't remember posting that, is there some weird glitch that brought this thread back as new or was I that drunk the other day? If I was that drunk, I got great sentence comprehension.

I'm sure you'll get lots of advice here. My two cents? I use the dry heal method. I wash the fresh tattoo the next morning in very hot (don't burn yourself) water then pat it dry wish a fresh ,clean cloth. Then...I do nothing. I keep it dry and clean and away from things like wool, cat/dog hair and dander. Try not to think about it too much and definitely don't pick at it. The human body is an amazing organism and does a remarkable job of healing itself. I find when I leave it to take care of business it does just that. Congrats on your first tattoo!

Montreal convention, dude.

Yesterday the rain in Philly was crazy and my jeans got soaked commuting in. So I spent three hours at work in my underwear. Dealing with vendors. USPS. Staff. I was going to put a tie on, but that would have been weird. Random musings.

My wife and I got tattooed by Matt Arriola yesterday. The tiger was three sittings, but only took about three and a half hours.

Dennis at @ProvidenceTattoo

Got this one from Mr Desa at frith street yesterday. Hope he doesn't mind my lazy ass borrowing the pic from his instagram

Totally understand....thanks for being honest. Again, love these pics/stories keep them up.

Just blurred out actual identifiers. A few of those Brothers are dead, a few are in the joint, at least two are on the street, and I don't want to casue anyone problems.

Updated full back progress pic. Pretty much healed up from my last session. Will be seeing Rubendall again in May to finish shading the back of my left thigh. Probably start some color too!

@vPooch As you learn more about Japanese tattoo you'll see that there are certain elements that traditionally go together, and Karajishi-Botan (the lion and the peony) is one of those combinations. Click this link for a snippet of an interview between Crystal Morey and Horimasa about some of the dos and don'ts of traditional Japanese tattooing, and if it continues to interest you then get to researching, son! The article in full is interesting, as well - I think le google will help you find it. There is a lot of great info out there, it's up to you to find it! Hopefully this is a good (albeit tiny!) jumping off point.

Lost my LST shirt so maybe my tiger can help out. Tony Hundahl - Rock of Ages Austin, Texas - one shot

ok mine is frome Chad Koeplinger! done at invictus /Oslo a few days ago!

I'll put my newest up there, from Mike Fite:

Tony Nilsson at Blue Arms Tattoo in Oslo, Norway is doing incredible girl heads in my opinion. I just recently started paying attention to his work and it is very solid. I would definitely love to get a tattoo from this guy.

Most of my favorite video games involve 1 quarter and 3 lives. Mario Kart is my exception to the rule.

@Iwar Thanks. I knew someone here would find it eventually. Thanks for sharing. I've told a few people face-to-face about this project but I want people online to find this on their own, for now. If I shout about it and create hype, everyone will be bored of waiting by the time it's finally finished. I expect a long gap (at least 6 months) between the last shot and the finished edit. At the moment I'm doing this 100% on my own - Camera, lights, sound, music, graphics, editing, planning, photography, layout, writing, interviewing, transcribing, promotion, etc etc. I'm glad you like what I've done so far. As well as the guys at the shop I have some great people lined up to get interviewed too. Some of them you know, some you don't know. Actually, on the subject of transcribing... I do need help. Lately I've been thinking about asking for help but I wasn't sure to do it here, twitter or wherever. Without turning this into a sob story, I can't transcribe every interview myself. I've done a few but my wrists can't take the strain of tattooing 5 days a week and typing for 2. Having hard-copy interview transcripts is essential to the editing process. So I guess this is an open offer for someone to have some low paid, occasional, boring work but to help out on a project that I think might be interesting. I don't have the budget for professional transcription services (actually, I have zero budget, everything is paid for out of my own pocket) but I can pay a percentage of the standard professional rate. If you think you'd like to help or know someone who'd like to help, email [email protected] Thanks. HOOPER versus PECKer: The footage of Oliver getting tattooed was almost an hour long. It was tough to cut some of the hilarious one-liners but the best ones are in there. @Scott R I'm the guy holding the camera. We did meet at the SFO convention. There ware lots of people watching Oliver get tattooed from outside the room, but the guys you can see while Thomas gets tattooed are Chad Koepliner, Stefano C, Shane Wilcox, Me and Thomas' friend James.

Here's a closer picture of my back.. The last ones I posted I now realize were reversed.