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I was not saying anything meant to be taken in a demeaning manner. I was making an observation that, in the short while I have seen you post here, that you always seem to actually make sense and take the time to form a complete and whole thought. Even when speaking to people who obviously don't deserve it, you make a solid response. I was trying to compliment you man. @Graeme Our barbarian horde can be covered in tattoos and metal as fuck, right?

I won't speak for eveyone @KegRN, but I think tattoos should look like tattoos.

Here is a nice piece from @Stewart Robson . I had an appointment with him yesterday and that morning my wife said she wanted to get a tattoo. We ran into Stewart on the way into the shop and informed him that we were going to do a walk-in with whomever my be available. He told her that he would do the tattoo. She was a little nervous as this was her first real tattoo. In fact Stewart said to my wife "you look terrified" to which she responded "YES!". So being that she is very comfortable with Stewart, she was VERY HAPPY he offered! This was a cover up of a tattoo that she received when she was 19. - - - Updated - - - Here is the latest on my back. @Stewart Robson really killed it!!!! One more session and this chapter is closed.

My Girlfriend asked me what happens when I 'fill up' and I immediately was concerned and had to do a mental stocktake of space left and options, then I thought of this thread. I also have an occasional irrational fear of loosing a limb in some random accident and have wondered which one I would prefer based on the tattoos on it alone.

It's summer so I see a lot of tattoos on the street and I occasionally see "painterly" tattoos with no outlines, etc., and I'm sure they were beautiful when they were new, but they don't hold up. The colors fade, as they inevitably will, and you're left with nothing much. Whereas when you see much older traditional tattoos...eagles, crosses, roses, panthers, etc...even if they're old, faded, the lines have thickened, and so on, I still know exactly what the tattoo is. I think people should get whatever tattoos they want to get, but they shouldn't have the same expectations for the longevity of their tattoos.

I was wondering why clipping my toenails was so painful. ACK!

When on vacation and your wife wants to spend the day by the pool...so you spend $200 on a cabana rental for all day shade. Not gonna feel the sun today, not even once.

This tattoo is stunningly gorgeous!

nothing could draw attention away from that beautiful bird.

Just cover it with a giant infinity symbol with your significant others name worked in. Wayyyyyy better than the awesome piece that you already have.

Dude, we all believe you have a nice tattoo. I recognize your criticisms, but I'm telling you, the rope and the anchor suit the bird perfectly. The colors don't compete in my eyes, because the anchor is so gray, while the bird is the first thing that draws my eyes. I personally think the rope adds to the tattoo, it creates movement. You did good, don't second guess yourself

You said the same about the linework on the other tattoo you posted and while I can see what you're saying, there are bad lines that are because the person who did the tattoo has no idea what they're doing, and then there are lines that look like they're handmade and give the tattoo character because this is tattoos and not some sterile photoshop-retouched bullshit, and you got the second, friend.

And now for something completely different. I had this piece done on Saturday. It's a tribute to my pet Sun Conure. Done by Papa Joe Dawson. His lines can be a little quirky sometimes, but that's partly why I like his work.

I personally really like Dana Helmuth's snakes. I'm glad I got him to add one to my back piece.

Whoaaaaooohhh so many amazing tattoos being posted!! Love love love the white tiger and the dragon lamp. I don't know why great tattoos are so romantic, I swear I actually swoon when I see them. Very hard to follow up on these awesome pieces, but I just wanna post this one from yesterday. One session, 3 hours, lots of fun! Dunno what I'd do without such cool clients, they're always the ones with the crazy ideas, I'm just lucky enough to get to draw them :)

My second tattoo from Frith St., from Valerie last week.

Personally, I love the rope. I think that's what makes this tattoo. The way it's hanging off of the anchor looks so natural but doesn't take away from the image, which gives you a nice detailed tattoo without feeling too busy.

I've had irrational thoughts about losing a limb too and I always imagine myself asking the doctor if I can keep the limb after that amputate it. A tattooed limb floating in fish tank would make a great conversation piece.

Had a quick look through this recently, cat sheets were undoubtably the weirdest of the lot.

Thank you so much!!! I had not thought about that!! OMG THANK YOU!!! Edit: I literally grabbed an ice cube from my drink and set it on my back and got some instant relief, hence the enthusiasm. Seriously - THANK YOU.

Thanks for the kind words Graeme. After the first tattoo I got (I went in blindly and just got it before doing my research), I was rather upset that everything wasn't perfect, which caused me to reevaluate my artist and go to just about every single shop in my area to look at portfolios. After seeing more of his work and seeing everyone else's work, I really began to appreciate his style, and I love his coloring. So I felt really good going into this session and knew what to expect. With my expectations properly set, I'll have to say that I'm blown away by it every time I see it. There are a few flaws, but I like them. I feel very lucky that I landed in the right shop. It's funny, because 2 months ago, I wasn't even considering a tattoo. I had a small conversation with him while getting my hair cut. He was in the barber chair next to me complaining about the tattoo reality shows. I'm really looking forward to getting more work done by him, but I don't have any pressing design ideas right now. I may just have to get some of his flash tattooed on me.

I've always seen us as the barbarian horde. Just saying.

speaking as a man, getting tattoos has resulted in me taking much better care of my skin. rarely used lotion and never used sun screen as often as I should have. now i used lotion 2-3 times a day and applied sunscreen (50spf+) every 45 minutes while I was on vacation this summer. healthy skin = better looking tattoos.

Stewart never ceases to amaze me with how damn good he is.

Haven't posted in awhile, iv'e been busy lately. Anyway, finally couldn't take it any more. I went back and had my chest eagle colored today. Tattoo by Paul Pearson.

I have a yoneyama snake in my leg as filler, he also did a hermit crab/skull on the side of my knee. Two of my favourite tattoos! I usually never post my own tattoos but Williams work needs showing off

another Yoneyama:

biggest myth? tattooed people are cool lmao

Armbands that connect are bad luck. Variation: Armbands that connect can cut off the circulation and your arm will fall off. Face/hand/neck tattoos are illegal. I always feel bad posting right after Stewart. He goes into so much detail that it makes my two sentence posts seem lazy. Perhaps by mentioning this fact it will add a little bit of 'meat' to my post and make it seem like I have more than a ten word vocabulary.

Heh, heh - I only discovered it after season 4. A pal loaned me the first season on DVD, purely because he knew I'm a Ron Perlman fan. I got hooked, bought 2, 3 & 4 and watched them relentlessly then got slightly depressed when I had to watch season 5 in "real time" on TV. (Actually, I'd sometimes cheat, and not watch for 3 weeks so I could record it & look forward to a proper catch up. Sad, I know.) It's much, much worse having to actually wait for them to film some more!

You are not alone.

Good to know I'm not the only one!

I had/still have concerns with the anchor competing with the Sun Conure for attention. In the original sketch, there was a big circle at the "T" where the metal and wood meet. I went in two days before my appointment and had him edit that out. In the original sketch, my eye was stuck on the big circle right above the sun conure's head. It disrupted the basic "Z" flow of the design too much and would have competed too much with the red circle on the anchor and the conure's head. I do think the bright colors on the anchor and rope compete with the sun conure. It would be nice if the anchor was a little more subdued so that the conure stands out a little more. The rope is a bit much, and the tattoo would have looked cleaner without it, but the red on the anchor frames the tattoo nicely. I guess I could have given a whole lot more input, but I didn't want to be pain in ass and I wanted the artist to just do what he does best. I'm very happy with it. It's big and bold and colorful. So anyway, the process was fun but exhausting.

Personally the most fun I have had getting tattooed was with Tristan Bentley, Tristan would be my choice. TRISTAN BENTLEY . TATTOOER

Cory Norris

@keepcalm is a tough cookie, she can handle it :)

Went to Ohio from July 10th - 17th and was tattooed by Debra Yarian, Don Yarian, Dawn Marie Cooke & Mike Fite at the Cleveland Tattoo Expo on Friday and Sunday......and went down to Youngstown to be tattooed by Debbie Lenz on Saturday! Also went down to Chillicothe and saw Matt Griffith.......out to Cincinnati to visit with Dana Brunson......and we stayed with my Sis, Tracy Nicole, in Marion, OH! Was a really fun week of getting tattooed and visiting with friends and I am looking forward to planning another tattoo road trip somewhere in another couple months if all goes well!

I have a real job where I work with my hands and don't have a computer, I don't have time for this nonsense.

photo stolen from his blog, still pretty red.

Got tattooed by Adam Warmerdam last week. So I'll throw this in the mix.

It's funny because I was thinking of the people I've been tattooed by that it might be Seth Wood who I would get all my work from. His tattoos are great, I love how he's doing more and more large scale work and that it is completely fucking awesome, and I really like him as a person. He's funny, easy to get along with, incredibly smart, and he always adds a little bit extra to his tattoos that really set them apart. The tattoo I have from him is only a couple of years old but it's solid as fuck. I'm glad that I don't have to choose only one though.

Got this Grimm tiger yesterday from Fergus Simms. Here is a pic of the three thigh tattoos I have off him so far taken after the appointment. Safe to say I am very happy with all of it.

When you're constantly crab-walking up stairs because of your fresh thigh/knee/ditch/calf tattoos.

@Rob I that snake makes me think of this: Very rad!

Tebori by Horimasa Tosui in his private studio in Amsterdam. The baku was done at wednesday and the pictures are taken today (sunday).

Don't forget about buying t-shirts, books, prints, and original paintings from all the tattoo artists that you didn't have empty skin for.

This one came into our shop in San Antonio the other day. Said it was done in Connecticut around 1985. Could not remember the shop name or tattooer's name. Also... Have you guys checked out @vintage_tattoos on Instagram? It's run by 2 english dudes so there's a lot of english stuff but if you tag them in an old tattoo they repost it. It's pretty bitchin' - - - Updated - - - Don't know why that uploaded sideways... Oh well. - - - Updated - - - Met this guy outside of my old apartment here in San Antonio... I had a bunch of pictures of him... But they're not on my phone anymore... Ill try to see if I can find them on my computer.

when you have a folder on your hard drive titled "machine porn" which contains multitudes of photos of beautiful/interesting/antique tattoo machines.

Hahahaha really that is too damn funny. I've seen this before in articles. They make a huge claim then towards the end they point out they completely made up that very important fact that the entire article is based on. I think this is terrible journalism since most people never read very far (even past the headline and first paragraph is a lot). This is how rumors and disinformation gets spread.

Coincidentally, @dcostello told me that, in many towns and cities in the north of California, getting an X tattooed on the back of your hands gets you free drinks. He was wrong.