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Most of you have seen this already, but stolen from Mike Rubendall's instagram: Awesome dude, awesome tattoo, super stoked, I think 8-9 hours of tattooing in one week (finishing my back and then this) is enough!

I got this today from Chad Koeplinger at the Montreal convention. Ed Hardy-inspired hybrid rose right over the shin. I am super stoked on it and all of you should get tattooed by Chad not only because his tattoos are fucking amazing, but because he is a rad dude and getting tattooed by him is super fun.

It hasn't even been a year yet for me here on LST and low and behold I'm being nostalgic and waxing poetic already, hahaha. Needless to say it has been an amazing experience getting tattooed and sharing with kindred spirits here on LST and Instagram. All of this would not be possible if it not for some really awesome people here on LST. So without further delay, here's my way of giving back to LST and paying it forward. Some of you may know that a couple of months back I won a contest on Instagram via the killer staff at Tattoo Culture Magazine and Tattoo Artist Magazine. Received three fantastic prints from three stellar artists. I was super stoked when I got them but then realized with the limited space I have in my place (small NYC apartment and my lady just moved in with me too!) that I would not be able to enjoy these as much as someone else. I want these to go to someone who truly appreciates tattoos and are amazingly cool people. @hogg @slayer9019 @gougetheeyes @Iwar As mods, you have made everyone on LST feel so welcomed and it is a thankless job that all of you have for making LST such a cool spot to chill and share our experiences. I want to send each of you a print of my choice (yes I won three, but I have a fourth sitting around). A small token to say "thank you". Please PM me your shipping info (promise this isn't a scam, hahaha). @slayer9019 and @gougetheeyes since you two are local to NYC, happy to meet up and pass you the print. Cheers to the LST crew!

Well in the Tattoo Age episodes on Dan Santoro, a shop in Hong Kong called "Swallow Tattoo" is mentioned as an inspiration for the SSTP interior and having every surface of the shop covered in flash. I was curious about it and did some googling and found that Swallow, Pinky Yun, and Ricky all apprenticed under a tattooist named James Ho and that Ricky Tattoo is still in operation. It's located in the Wanchai bar/strip club district. So I decided to find the shop. Ricky is not tattooing there, but a younger and also apparently completely tattoo-less tattooer was working, and the interior and the flash on the walls probably have not been updated since the 1980s (there were some Bob Roberts sheets) and most of the flash on the wall was made much earlier. There was also an older manager(?) guy. The extent of service was being asked "what u want?" Absolutely no effort was made to be friendly and there were serious sanitary issues but I decided to go for it. The tattoo is not really anything to write home about, but the experience was incredible. I don't think the guy who tattoed me had any interest in tattoos. It seemed like it was just work he had to do?

I got a Pinky Yun pin up at Ricky Tattoo in Hong Kong and it was a totally insane experience.

In the vast ocean of shit online, I think it's safe to say that Last Sparrow is one of, if not the friendliest place on the internet. At least from what I've encountered. The level of civility here is second to none, and our strong community is build up by members who are truly passionate about keeping LST what it was meant to be from launch. A friendly place for enthusiasts to talk about, share, educate and promote good tattoos. Our community is in fact so strong that the site in most cases moderate itself before any of us has to step in. We're all pretty much on the same page here, and that's rare by internet standards. Sentimental shit aside, I think I'm just trying to say that having this place online to hang out with likeminded people is a reward within itself. I will however say that @steve1461686340 is much more deserving of this than I am. He has kept this site running and improving since the beginning, but since he's kind of a "behind the curtains guy" he rarely gets any credit for it. The hours he's put into building this awesome place deserves to be recognized, so if it's cool with you @ironchef I'd like him to receive the print you're giving away instead of me. Donations to Last Sparrow is also a really nice way to give something back. That way Steve won't have to dig into his own pockets when the server needs replacing or the domain bill shows up in his mailbox. Thanks for being a part of our community @ironchef! It's contributions from members like yourself that makes this site great!

@ironchef, Dude, that's so nice of you! Totally unnecessary, but also appreciated. I think I speak for all the mods when I say that banning fools is payment enough for us. PM coming shortly. :)

@Graeme and @Pugilist win the award for LST Power Couple.

I had a coworker tell me the old men in the nursing home will be excited to see me when I am old b/c they'll think I'm loose. If Johnny Depp also happens to be in the same nursing home, well then, yeah, duh.

Old tattoos are way cooler than liver spots and varicose veins is my usual response to that question.

Booked in with Claudia De Sabe for a Fudo myo lady on my thigh yesterday! Very exited about this one! Another girl-head in my collection :D

Hahaha we were saying to each other last night that this message board thinks we are much cooler than we actually are.

@Graeme's parents are staying with us right now and kind of freaked when they saw his fresh tattoo yesterday. His mom asked "what will your children think???" and Graeme said that he was actually doing his parents a service, since us having all these tattoos means our kids will for sure think they're lame and they won't want any. I am not sure this won her over.

I get asked that all the time about my daughter. I think what boggles me is why do they assume that once you have a kid you turn into some prudish boring fuck twat? Like "oh now I have a daughter, I'm done with all of this heavy metal and tattoo business, time for Kenny G and A&F wardrobes!" Yeah the "old" question's always fun too. Like why would I care, I'll be 70 and all ugly n shit anyway. I'll just look cooler than other boring ass 70 y/o's that's all.

Look at you guys! You have awesome tattoos, you love animals, you read cool books, you eat poutine (granted I don't know wtf that is)... yup, I think you're both pretty cool.

You need to mention that his ability to scrounge up a massage table was crucial because you BROKE the table you were on. When they say they want you to sit like a rock, they don't mean that literally, sweetheart.

"Perfectly Aged" from Bodies of Subversion via Sang Bleu for when people ask how your tattoos will look when you are 50/70/90... Not that it really matters or is anyone's business, if they fade and get old along with us, so be it, but these are holding up quite well! http://sangbleu.com/2013/09/06/perfectly-aged/screen-shot-2013-07-08-at-8-14-15-pm/

I've just returned from a brilliant weekend at the Montreal Tattoo Convention where I had the pleasure of seeing many amazing things. I watched as the Leu Family double-teamed a guy on Saturday. I am still a bit shaken from imagining doing that myself. I met a ton of cool people, including at least 3 folks from LST. I had the chance to talk to Ron Henry Wells, which was a particular pleasure. Not only a brilliant artist, but a hell of a nice guy. Sadly, I didn't have an appointment with him though. Next time! I also had a good sitting with Chad Koeplinger, and he put two new tattoos on my leg. I'll post one now, and the other once its healed and I can get a better pic. As usual he was a lot of fun to talk to and I ended up with a couple of pieces that I am thrilled with. - - - Updated - - -

Haha. A good response. I get the same question. Yes, our daughter might want tattoos when she grows up. If she does, we will try to steer her in a good direction...she already understands about quality work at age 5. Or, she may go the other way and decide to be all preppy or what have you. This is totally up to her. What do I care? I just want her to be a relatively happy and well adjusted person who is compassionate and has a sense of humor about things. Is that too much to ask?! Tattoos have nothing to do with all that!

That's Elizabeth Weinzirl and unless I'm mistaken most of her tattoos were done by Bert Grimm. @ShawnPorter posted a video interview with her on Occult Vibrations, which is super cool for many reasons including that you can see how good those tattoos look:

Wow, you guys are awesome. When we started LST we had no idea it would evolve into such a great community so quickly. I'm just grateful that the mission of the site has already succeeded, and I know @Scott Sylvia is too. I honestly don't know what we'd do without the moderation team we have, and it's true that they are volunteers who mostly go un-thanked sans a free t-shirt or dinner here or there. @Iwar, how about we arm wrestle for for the print at the LST anniversary dinner on the 19th in SF? We both have guitar player arms so it should be an even match. Thanks for all the kind words and support everyone - here's to many more years!

forgot to post this one.. my girlfriend got this little girl head from Amelia Martin yesterday @ the convention.. which made my mind up on getting that tattooed from hyde on the previous page.

That crazy rose and gorilla is on LST poster @mtlsam who's niceness and ability to scrounge up a massage table (seriously appreciated dude!) is only matched by his bravery.

Where: FTW Tattoo Who: Jay Watkins Wanted a tattoo to show my love for the city that I love. Oakland is an amazingly misunderstood place. FTW was an amazing shop. Jason, Sean, Alex Matus, Jay Watkins...All were so cool and fun to be around. Can't speak highly enough. Came here after Temple had no way to get my friend in for an appointment in the next two weekends. Glad I did! Thanks to cltattooing for referencing them on here!

@taaaro, that's bizarre. Thanks for the story. You have got to be the only guy walking around with an Eddy Deutsche backpiece and a burner from Swallow Tattoo.

I just wanted to say that meeting up with everyone was super nice last night! I often find internet meet-ups kind of awkward, but not with this bunch. Very friendly, personable folks, plus with tattoos as a common area of interest, lots to talk about. Hope you all have a good last day at the convention and a chill trip home!

this is so insanely fantastic!!!!!!! - - - Updated - - - LOVE THIS GRAEME!!! So happy for you!!! Chad is awesome!

Haha shin wasn't so bad! I was expecting absolutely horrible things and it was fine, it felt like a tattoo.

Just got back from honeymoonin' on Vancouver Island. :cool: We wanted to get some honeymoon tattoos and a we were thinking of getting cute little hummingbirds although we did have a running joke of getting "spirit eagle" tattoos on the drive out to the island. Then one night my wife says "YEAH let's get eagle tattoos, that would be more bad ass than a cute little hummingbird!" RIGHT?!? Can I get a HELL YEEEAH! As fate would have it, we passed a Birds of Prey sanctuary on the way in to Victoria and met this bad ass dude named Manwe who solidified the plan: We got some super-legit tattoo work at Government Street Tattoos in Victoria, BC. We called the shop they said come on down and let's chat, BOOM how does tomorrow at 10AM sound. Seriously such an awesome experience getting a tattoo from Chris David in this shop. So stoked on the results: Hers: Mine: I'm super stoked on the placement and design of my latest and greatest tattoo. THUMBS UP On deck for this winter (tattoo season)...getting a piece on the opposite shoulder/neck and starting the back piece. BOOSH

@hogg Ha! Could be. I just want a wide variety of tattoos and tattoo experiences :cool: Here is a pic of it going down. There were disposable needles and gloves involved and I didn't get the Stoney rat there.

Interesting thread. I'm not really a ritual guy but I do have some preferences. Ideally I would get a good nights sleep and have time to get to the gym for a workout a few hours before the appointment. After this I like to eat a good meal- not to big but enough to tide me over. I also like to take a shower right before I leave home if possible. Then it's all about relaxation and distress tolerance skills. Like others have mentioned- focused breathing during the tattoo is important. It works at the dentist too. Afterwards I will be pretty pumped up so I like to party. We have had friends over a few times on tattoo day and that works well (especially when my wife and I both get tattoos on the same day- which is very fun). Beer will be involved. It's a day I have been looking forward to so I like to make it fun all around. My wife and I have appointments at Great Lakes Tattoo in Chicago next week while on vacation so it will be difficult to adhere to a specific routine. We plan to be pretty chill the night before but I'm guessing we will have a lot of fun afterwards. Obviously I am looking forward to it.

@ironchef way too nice of you! Like @Iwar said, @steve1461686340 deserves so much credit for making this all happen in the first place. I'm happy to give up my slot so that there doesn't need to be a Norwegian/NorCal Indian Wrestling Death Match (though I hope this happens on the 19th). It's extraordinarily thoughtful of you to think of us @ironchef and I'm only happy I can also be a part of the same board that's been so great for myself. I forgot you were in NY so we should get up to drink a beer or other beverage soon regardless! Cheers, dude!!

A friend of mine has an awesome tattoo of his cat as the the virgin holding out a piece of cheese. It was done by Dave Fox and it's absolutely killer. Probably not at all what you're looking for. Haha.

Yea, she'd be hot except for the tattoos!!! :-)

Instagram photo of a few new things in the works... First design for a sheet based on The Addams Family and one based on the new Queens of the Stone Age video for a friend of mine.

getting those tattoos are cool enough in my book

I saw both of those @Graeme and @Pugilist tattoos on Instagram this morning. Nice work!

Or, whichever numb nutted producer chooses the "artist" gets tattooed by them.

I heard you guys like dry healing tattoo pictures.

"you get what you pay for." "good babies aren't cheap, and cheap babies aren't good."

Not a great photo, but this is part of my back after my 2nd session on it today. Photos stolen from Chad Woodley's instagram (@tattoosbychadwoodley).

keep posting as much as you want in this thread. killer stuff!

Hells yeah! not getting tattooed at the convention as i have appointments with Chad K and Adam Hays the week before but i will be Assisting Adam all weekend at the convention so if you see me say hi and introduce yourself! i'm the chubby guy with head tattoos haha! cant wait to see some friends and buy some books :)

This is my thought process exactly!

Looks awesome dude! Don't feel bad. I'm more anal about my lotion and sunblock than most women. Gotta protect that investment.

Not a sleeve.... sorry... I see some skin color showing. Ooopppsss.. wrong thread! Unbelievable effect.. wear it well. CG

dope

Looks ok I guess if you like those tattoo thingies :o

Wow! The whole sleeve is amazing but I especially like the piece of your forearm with the crown of thorns.