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I got this yesterday from Andrew Conner. The first image was bogarted from his Instagram.

Doug Hardy was here the other day and told us about being in a bar talking to a guy who struck up a conversation with him about his tattoos. At one point the guy said, completely seriously. "Y'know I always wanted to get a tattoo, but I never knew anyone that died." Thanks TV.

here's a preview of my back from Björn Liebner at Red Chapel Tattoo in berlin.

Society lacks the esoteric connections with totems. Its out of a nacissitic desire to feel like they are some how expressing real thoughts or ideas by putting it on their body. Seldom have I done lettering of large quantity on someone who was say..a person who was really into books and felt a connection to the dialog of a novel or the linguistic appeal of ones writing style. Its usually just a clever quote they saw on social media or a song lyric that they want to mean something but have never even purchased an album by the person/band. Looking for logic in mainstream culture is an exercise in futility. It is however easier to recognize those who know what's cool and those who are just riding the current trend.

I saw this today and didn't see a previous posting of it. Pretty interesting images. Cedric Arnold:

A plainskin at work was asking me about my sleeve and then said "But you know who has really good tattoos? David Beckham." This is why people get bad tattoos.

Welp... I haven't posted on here in forever and cant figure out how to post a proper fucking picture of this little banger from today. Tom Waits inspired tattoo from the song Lucky day. - - - Updated - - - That looks retarded.

I love it when people get their own names on themselves. I have much a similar reaction to these as to when I see a civic rolling down the street with a giant "HONDA" on the windshield. There is a certain level of retarded narcissism involved.

so your saying you want to have more one night stands as a memorial to your dead pets?

You are assuming that everyone out there has a creative mind and/or appreciates art. It ain't so.

I very much agree with HaydenRose - people seem to get genuinely offended when, after asking me for the "meaning" of my tattoo and why I got it, I reply that I just thought it would look good, and I wanted to get it. Sorry to disappoint you, but my cat didn't even get cancer or anything. Miami ink mindset.

This is me, before and after I got my newest tattoo (or, after and before apparently!) :D

plainskins opinions does NOT matter

This is a funny one because on the one hand I see people with people's names written on their necks and few other tattoos, or big paragraphs of text which is pretty illegible and I think 'what in the name of all that's holy were you thinking?!?' On the other hand I think who am I to criticise ? It's their body, they may absolutely love their tattoos. When they look in be mirror that neck tattoo proclaiming 'Shug' for all to see might make them happy. Is that not the whole point or tattoos ? They are for the person who wears them not for us. Not everyone is going to get what I perceive to be a beautiful tattoo and actually that's ok with me. If we were all the same the world would be an incredibly tedious place. I have a few script tattoos. They don't mean anything or sentiment. I'm a big word geek and just love the way slightly unusual words look in fancy lettering. Last night I got 'Vagabond Soul' tattooed script. It won't make any sense to alot of people but I love the way the words look. Anyhow I digress. There's my contribution :)

You need to stop posting awesome beers on the instagram dude. I'll also add Laguanitas having Undercover Shutdown back in stores has given my liver an excuse to write to its congressman. Goodbye Sober Day.

i'm just hoping that impulsive tattoos will one day equate to impulsive one night stands. the scale is tipped heavy on one side, and y'all know which way.

heres mine

The Letter of the Law: Laws for Lettering and Tattoos | Occult Vibrations Not judging, just some useful information.

I am not trying to be mean, but the way I look at it good Music is creative, tattooing lyrics to a song on you verbatim is not very creative, I would say it's the antithesis of creative. Any good song should inspire strong imagery. There is so much tattoo imagery inspired by music, and vise versa. Look at the Social D Skeleton, Misfits Crimson Ghost, Tron and her Morrissey, Bikini Kill, Jawbreaker flash, etc. I remember the first time I talked someone out of getting a bunch of lyrics tattooed on them. They wanted all the lyrics to pink floyd wish you were here. I simply said why not get two fish in a bowl and the words "Wish you were Here" above it, it was the simplest idea and the first that came to mind, but never occurred to the client and blew her mind when I suggested it. Someone liking their tattoo is the most important part, but ultimately the point of this forum I feel is to open people up to ideas they never thought of, and help people get better tattoos.

Paul Bosch:

Youth. I blame youth. Or rather, poorly guided youth. My "worst" tattoos exist because it was the late 90's, I was young, and no one gave me the guidance of shops/artists/designs. I work with a 20 y/o who tells me what he's going to get and at some no-where-strip-mall shop. I try to guide him, but dude won't listen. In 5-10 years maybe he will. It's all super generic cliche' crap too, which is OK and all if you have a reason or understand what you're getting, but he just wants these things because it's what his friends have or because it's what he's seen in movies and shit. I'm not saying all really young people are nimrods who'll do this. Just some. Then they grow up and become older nimrods. And the cycle grows. Cut this off early enough, and we'll get some progress. I've met plenty of awesome people younger then me (lol I'm 32, listen to me talking like I'm 90) who don't need the guidance or have had it.

In Atlanta GA. And got tattooed by Jason Kelly. Had to wait behind myke chambers to get finished first (no big deal). But I got a snake/skull combo on the back of my thigh and it fucking sucked. The tongue goes right onto my ass. I now see (a glimpse) into the pain of an ass tattoo. The guys at Live Free are stand up guys and was quite possibly the best experience at a tattoo shop I've had. Ill post a pic at the end of my vacation with more details. I do think ill be taking a tattoo hiatus after this considering I've gotten tattooed almost every month this year. And rents due so that's kinda important I guess.

I got your back. http://http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/random-crap/3691-thread-posting-while-inebriated.html

90 percent of my tattoos don't mean anything. But sometimes I like to come up with crazy stories as to what they "mean". I'm easily amused. - - - Updated - - - Totally agree. That's exactly why I don't get those "Dear John" tattoos. I wouldn't want to be constantly reminded that I just got dumped.

My buddy went to Thailand and got the one on the base of the back of his neck. I guess you have to get that one first and you build around it. Permanent Mark is from Santa Barbara so I've seen some of the many he has, on his hands, the necklace one, the Thai tigers on his side. I guess there's only one guy doing the real deal, he's way out in a rural area of Thailand and he's the same guy that's tattooed Chris Garver, Charlie Roberts, Hanky Panky, etc. There's a pretty gnarly story about the guy but I won't share that here...

I find based on questions I get asked a lot from "plainskins" is that people who aren't big tattoo-heads think they have to justify getting tattoos by giving them personal meaning. A quote or a small image is easy to be meaningful. A badass battle royale tattoo probably has no meaning. It's just badass. People can't make that kind of commitment without a personal connection. Just like some people can't have one night stands. (This is just my opinion based on the dumb people I know who get lame tattoos).

I love you.

Stuff. Let's just say they did stuff.

Last night......I was tattooed again......go figure right? Only this time it was by me.....my first tattoo as an apprentice! No pics unfortunately.......but it's in there to stay and I am on my way........

Me and Dennis Cockell a year ago me recently with my buddy Chris

Hey, intro threads are the perfect place for answers and advice. You gotta give us a little bit to work with though, otherwise we're going to suggest that you get some combination of snakes and panthers.

Not at all. This may help answer everyone's questions as to "how" it works in kind of simple terminology, PicoSure - How it Works Laser Tattoo Removal. Basically, shorter pulses of light allow the pigments to become "more" efficiently fractured into smaller pieces, thus allowing your immune system to carry them away more rapidly. Looking at the photos they provide, I wouldn't exactly call them stellar, and that's my consumer point of view, not one who operates a laser. The cross removal shows hypo-pigmentation pretty bad (where the tattoo was is now lighter), and some of the comparisons w/ the Q-Switched laser are meh - the one shows 20 treatments w/ a Q-Switched laser, that's excessive. The interesting part to me is that it operates at 755nm, where Q-Switched Nd:YAG lasers operate at 1064 / 532nm, and have the flexibility of also operating at 585 and 650 with a few changes to the hand piece. This allows far more versatility. I'm hoping to head to a seminar this fall in Vegas where I can get my hands on one of these at a convention and really see what the big hub-bub is about.

sounds cool, if interested check out my tattoo and removal: Documenting my Tattoo Removal Using the Alex Tri Vantage - Toronto, ON - Tattoo Removal review - RealSelf

Hey y'all Finally registered and thought I should step out of the shadowws. Mike Rennie of Absolute Art did my only tattoo so far -in 2011 but am eagerly looking forward to getting my second one soon. Sooner than I expected. As a matter of fact I'm kinda scrambling cause out of the blue (and after a 3 year wait) I got a call from an artist who's website stated that they really weren't accepting new clients. My consultation is Wednesday, I'm beyond psyched but hell am not sure where I want it or what I want. I own a business that requires it to not be visible during the day - well requires in the sense that fuckin lawyers don't want to see it when I'm in their offices or with their clients. The flip side being in my personal life I don't care if its on display - err would proudly display which I think Means I need it on my calf or at least below my knee. Thoughts? Suggestions? - - - Updated - - - So I also really want some advice on how to distill down the swirling ideas in my head to a cohesive and manageable tattoo. It's the normal sob story fuck up through drugs, find sobriety and sanity and blah blah blah. I'm assuming this isn't the area to get answers or advice... Correct.?

Very cool to see. We actually had a few girls around the 20 year old mark come on one night a little bit before closing, wanting to get something small (bro tats, I think), and they mentioned they got tattooed on a trip the summer before. We were expecting what most people would expect, but they each had a mantra on the back of the neck from a trip to Thailand. I don't know if we were more surprised by that, or they were more surprised by the fact that we knew what they were and where they got them.

Some of my earlier tattoos are rather simplistic and/or lack creativity. They don't follow the trends named in this thread and I actually still think they look kind of cool--but I also didn't know what was possible back then. I didn't do a ton of research, there was no internet when I got my first one 22 years ago...so I just thought I had to bring in what I wanted and get it. I know better now. I think most people just don't know better. They need LST. Or LSD. Maybe both.

In that case its full backpiece time! Chad Koeplinger! Something massive, with skulls!

so you are saying neck to ankle coverage would be acceptable? :)

Your girlfriend can lift all the weights she wants. I can deadlift 165lbs and squat almost my bodyweight and can bench half my bodyweight (I'm female, 48 years old and about 130lbs) and you can hardly see a muscle anywhere on me.

Well then what is it about people these days that they walk around with so many sob stories that they absolutely have to put on their bodies with typewriter font? I mean, my cats and dogs have all died, my grandparents all died, and in my 20s I walked around with dysthymia like nobody's business but I never once wanted to tattoo a word on myself about it. I went to meetings instead.

Go, Bunny, go! One of the only people on here I can happily support with this. Stoked for you!

Yesterday 15-05-2013 I got my right fore-arm inked, with the classic Death Before Dishonor. By Robert Aalbers' @ Clean Solid Tattoo, Waalwijk, The Netherlands.

At last my koi with Japanese maple sleeve is finished and pretty much fully heeled. The work was done by Mo Coppoletta from the Family Business in London, done in seven sessions between December and May. Pictures also posted on the May tattoo contest thread elsewhere on this forum.

Peony from Nathan Kostechko at Will Rise in LA. Based on a design from an Ichibay book (I think this one if anyone is interested, looked awesome). To be honest, though, I hope that El Monga cat wins...that thing is insane!

Not sure if this should be posted in snakes, snakes, snakes - or skulls, skulls, skulls. Oh well, I can remedy that . . . William Yoneyama

Just for the heck of it, I'll throw in my right arm 3/4 sleeve done a couple of years ago by Henning Jorgensen when he was guest tattooing at Kings Avenue Tattoo (both the Manhattan and Long Island shops). This picture was actually compiled by Henning and shared with me. Enjoy!

Why would you ever laser that backpiece>! I kid.. looks like you've made some crazy progress though. Who's gonna be tattooing you?

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.