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It's hard to get a good picture because of my bulbous glutes. Another session down with Dana and I am so happy. The experience was pretty damn unique. My right side was done first, sometimes it felt light just like he was running a fine tip pen down the back of my leg, barely any pain at all. The butt crack however. Holy bejesus. It sapped my stamina big time trying so hard to not involuntarily flinch. By the time he got to the left side, I was done. Luckily he was fast as hell once we switched sides and it was done in no time at all. It was a real quick 3 hour session. Several flaming asshole jokes were made.

Trust me, after the day we've had, nobody is getting any tonight.

Haha I was kidding about the bleeding together thing although I admit it is kind of awesome going through all this together. And surprising @Graeme with his Ron bear was the most fun thing ever. When he realized what was happening he smiled wider than I think he did on our wedding day. Omg Graeme just aquaphored my back. I take back anything nice I've ever said about him. Fuck that guy.

Your body and mind start to betray you around hour five. Hours six, seven, and eight are a combination of euphoria, despair, and enlightenment.

I just had almost five hours done on my back today and I am SPENT. So tired. One session left. In the meantime, I am just waiting around for @Graeme to finish with Thomas. They are on hour six, I believe. Poor guy. I asked him how he was doing before I left and he said he was managing but that he was definitely in that "why the fuck do I do this to myself?" part of the session. A feeling I know well.

The great Stephanie Tamez. @Graeme and I feel that bleeding right next to each other for hours really strengthens our marriage.

@Cork all joking aside I hate you for your full size ass. Not only do you have space for great tattoo but you can hold up jeans with no issue. I have flat/no ass I am wondering if I can even fit roses on each cheek oh and great progress!

Maybe my sense of humour is really immature, but the last sentence of this post could be taken a variety of ways.

Sadly, we haven't done this as much as we should be doing it, though last summer when we were passing through New England, @Pugilist made me a surprise appointment with Ron Henry Wells at Congress St Tattoo in Portsmouth NH and I got a rad little bear head on my collarbone to balance a wolf head I have on my other collarbone. We have matching tattoos though, and next year is our fifth wedding anniversary and we have something super cool planned for that. Also, I finished by sleeve today. Some of you saw some gory in progress pictures.

Can I be your "other lady"! Ha ha :-P

I'm really just posting this to get my post count up haha. Apologies. I know most of you are into traditional here, but this was the first proper back I've done and I was fairly happy with it.

R.I.P. my libido.

Got this one a couple of weeks ago from El Monga @ Aloha Tattoos, Barcelona. Left shin, right below the knee, which the ears kinda wrap around a bit. The rest was pretty bearable, but those bits hurt like hell.

I was waiting to post this until it was healed up and haired over. Chris O'Donnell. Completed at Saved Tattoo, Kings Avenue, and Chris' private studio.

I typically suggest 2-5, but this number will vary based on the size of the original tattoo and what it is you want over it. Some people are 2, some are 8. What I'll do during a consult is suggest they start with 2-3, again depending on what they have and what the goal is, then suggest they call and schedule a 30 minute block of time with their tattoo artist to stop in and show them progress, discuss the tattoo, and then decide if more treatments are needed or if they can book the tattoo appointment. My business runs much differently compared to med-spas, we have working relationships with dozens of tattoo shops, so depending where you go, they may not care what you want to do, they just want to treat you and kick you out the door. Minimum two though to really see progress.

Getting a Cobra from Steven Wrigley on the 12th July at Irezumi in Glasgow and a Eagle/Snake combo from Paul Slifer at Red, Hot and Blue in Edinburgh on the 20th August. Can't wait!

Anything past the 4-5 hour mark, and my mind starts to revert back on itself. I think about all the negative or bad things from the past and this torture I'm having inflicted upon me is my penance...not that I'm a religious man. I hear faint whispers in the background telling me to sit strong and sit long, but by then it's either the pain, the drugs or the sugar that I'm running on, haha.

Love that placement. El Monga is the nicest guy ever.

First off, I want to welcome you to LST and I hope that you find yourself a happy contributing member of the community. This place has become home to many for some really great reasons. Secondly, I'm sorry that I'm going to end up being THAT asshole, as I don't mean to offend you but maybe provide some clarity into your situation. Everything that I'm about to say is going to be hard to hear, but when we take this sort of advice gracefully, we always grow. I think that your attitude about tattooing is horribly entitled. Nothing about tattooing is easy. Not drawing tattooable designs or script, not the clients, not your boss, not how your machines work, not getting into a good shop, nothing. Being good at these things takes years of really hard work!!! Now I'm willing to bet that your neighbor tattooed you out of his garage, so I'd imagine that it does look pretty easy to make a garage turd(I assume garage because you said neighbor, not neighbor who tattoos). I am also an artist who works with a wide variety of media, and the first thing that hit home for me when I did my first tattoo was "holy shit, this completely different from anything I have ever attempted in my life and it is HARD." I have noticed that the hard work ethic aspect of tattooing gets lost on a lot of people who have not served an apprenticeship. I also live in an area that is hypersaturated with great tattoo shops, and let me tell you something. *F*T*W* Tattoo - Oakland - CA doesn't even own a computer. George Campise of War Horse Tattoo is an accomplished illustrator and graphic designer who drafts everything he does by hand including t-shirt designs and skateboard decks. Of course using illustrator and Photoshop saves time, but it also cuts corners and ultimately limits your skillset as an artist. Nobody is going to hold your hand through this, if you want it, you have to truly want it and put in the proportionate work on your own. Again, I say this to help you out, and I do mean it gently. I would start by studying traditional tattooing and immerse your mind in traditional tattoo designs and history. I wholly believe that if anyone is to be a half decent tattooer, they need to be able to lay down a solid traditional tattoo. The design theory and application principles of traditional work apply to every other style of tattooing across the board. And also what @BrianH said, watch the interviews, do some reading, and commit yourself to learning about what it is that you do.

Dennis at @ProvidenceTattoo again.

Bahahaha. Oh man. Only those with the most legit hatchet man tattoos need apply.

I'm starting my full back piece on Saturday with Chad Woodley from Sanitary Electric. I just saw some of the preliminary sketches two days ago and I'm freaking out I'm so excited about it.

@CultExciter Next level shit, man. Super stoked for you. I got my foot did by Antonio Roque this evening. Picture's from his IG.

Saw this on IG had to share here... Stefan Johnsson

It's only outlined but I'm proud to say that I entered the Backpiece family.....:rolleyes:

Picture stolen from @Stewart Robson and the "On the Shoulders of Giants" blog. Done by Valerie, Stefano, Valerie again, and Stewart at Frith St.

It's funny how when you pick just one basic design the possibilities are endless. So since we're talking about panther tattoos, tiger tattoos, etc., what do you like in a lady head? And who do you like for a lady head? Contemporary tattooer or past tattooer? I'm not a tattooer myself, but I like dark eyes/eyelashes and the heavy makeup/color thing. And lots of dark hair. Bailey Robinson does some really great ones.. http://copperbeehive.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/a-piece-of-you-for-a-piece-of-me/face/ http://copperbeehive.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/i-have-no-idea-what-i-meant-to-be/lady-2/ On the other end of the spectrum I also like Todd Noble's softer ladies: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=497092566067&set=a.468392576067.266608.620436067

Thanks for the good advice CL

I thought her "sinfully delicious" collar tattoo was the perfect touch

I have (1) 7 hour piece, and (2) 6 hour pieces with Bob Tyrrell. Also have a few 4 and 5 hour pieces with Cara Massacre. I try not to fool around :D

I can vouch for that. My wife and I have had the same experience a few times (but not at Saved). Can't wait to see finished pics of both of your pieces!

/sniff I shall call your particular flavor of crazy "reliant-robin raspberry."

I might have missed it but I didn't see Rose Hardy mentioned yet. Spider eyed lady is on my ankle ^_^

That's gonna be killer!

Called and I'm booked with Mike Wilson on August 9th for a gorilla head with dagger. I'm excited.

Im alive! I made it through the other side of my hangover... which manifested itself not as a normal hangover, but as heartburn+slight nausea. the combo basically made me so uncomfortable I only slept 4 hours and was up for 6, then from 9:30-1:30, finally sleep.

My back. Finished with Chris O'Donnell. Couldn't be more stoked on it.

Why would an artist disrespect their client by letting another tattooer do that same custom design? Please let's keep this forum to real-life things instead of strange flights of the imagination.

I've posted this before elsewhere on this site but it's beautiful and worth a look .

Just got this lady put on me this afternoon by Mina Aoki at Fun City. Now I just need to figure out what to cap my shoulder with and I can start filling in the smaller spots. Three hours out and already planning the next steps....

I will get this going. Here is my dropping the F bomb tattoo done by Cory Norris from Classic Tattoo Grass Valley CA.

This thread has been beat to death so hard that there's pics of stencils bein posted as "the worst ever tattoo"

Arrrghhh this makes me so upset!! I truly believe that anyone who is in tattooing "for the money" should get their thumbs broken and be forced to wear a necklace of garlic for the rest of their lives cause fuck vampires. Like.. tattooers possess an incredible amount of power over people, and it really isn't something to be taken lightly. Facial tattoos change peoples' lives in a very significant way, and to me, the idea of being like "yeah I'll do that, never have to think about it again, walk away with $500 tonight" is pretty disgusting. Like, really.. can breaking thumbs be a thing again please?

This backpiece by Marius Meyer is on a guy from this forum. Amazing piece!

During my last few sessions with Mike Rubendall, I had the great pleasure of chatting up Chris O'Donnell. O'Donnell is like a repository for NYC tattoo history and knowledge and just a really nice guy to chat with. Chris and I are currently discussing sleeving my calf with a snake (I think his snakes set the bar for snake tattoos). I was looking over his Instagram and Blog and O'Donnell has some KILLER back pieces up. Here are some examples of images off his website: This last one is a collaboration between O'Donnell and Thomas Hooper! INSANE!!!