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Mina Aoki gave me this gorgeous Asian-themed/geisha lady head today at Fun City Tattoo, NYC. This is the second of a projected three lovelies she is doing on my upper right arm (my southwestern/Mexican lady has already been posted here). I feel incredibly lucky to be able to wear her work and I cannot recommend her highly enough. A phenomenal artist and a lovely woman. Looking forward to next time!

With all the recent Pharaoh's Horses talk I thought I'd share mine. Done by Grez at the Bay Area Tattoo Convention.

@hogg, @Avery Taylor It's all part of the design. What @Rebushido really asked for was a bearded lady ;-)

have been waiting a year for Martin Lacasse to guest at Congress St Tattoo in Portsmouth, nh. So worth the wait. I love this tattoo and Martin is a super cool dude. An amazing experience!!! Longest session i've ever sat through, clocking in at 4 and 1/2 hrs. Pics are a bit bloody, but i think the detail still shows.

You cut the grass, the hedge looks taller. Not necessarily a downside. It kind of blew me away to realize where your belly button was in this photo. That tattoo is down there!

This is what I've had done so far. Four sessions; the rose and yet more black went in last Friday. By Grez at Kings Avenue.

For me this is as good as tattooing gets. Can't wait to see it finished. The only downside is that you have to shave your pubes for the rest of your life.

Just remembered that I forgot to post pictures from my visit to LA/SF, but better late than never I guess. My only regret is not taking more. Some spots we visited (Bottom left is @ian (left) and me outside Temple Tattoo) @hogg and I have matching torch and spider fillers... As is that wasn't enough @scottSylvia gave us matching LST ban hammer tattoos a few days later. This is from the first of two sessions I had on my back with Grime. A few souvenirs When I returned to LA Bob Roberts gave me this All in all a great trip, and I cannot wait to visit again next year! I'll try to take more photos then too :)

First session done! By Stewart Robson @ Frith Street Tattoo

Latest session. Two more to go!

He doesn't have any tattoos, is looking for recommendations on who the best in London is, yet he is advertising a tattoo event. Am I the only one who thinks this doesn't add up? I'm not being hostile, just skeptical.

@ry4n I have nothing but incredibly awesome things to say about Diamond Club. As you have noted, the work coming out of the shop is excellent. The environment in the shop is warm, friendly, happy, relaxed, and very comforting. I LOVE THEM!! Junii is amazing. I found the right match for me, that's for sure. I will start fan-girling if I talk about it too much. (although I may have inadvertently revealed my true nerd nature in another thread recently...so...guess that cat is out of the bag, hah!) Matt (Dr. Claw) and Kevin are awesome tattooers and I like talking to them and seeing what they are working on whenever I am there. @petiloi got a cool piece by Matt @ Diamond Club and I think there is a pic somewhere in the threads? Bill Salmon in the house regularly! How cool is that?! I love the vibe at DC. It's just right for me. As @CultExciter mentioned, you have so many options in the SF/Oakland area that it bears checking them all out to see what feels right to you. Honestly - I went by gut. I was checking out a number of shops and tattooers and my gut said "Wtf are you doing, stop looking" so I did. (that is the shortest way for me to encapsulate the years of digging and research before I made the leap and set an appointment). @Graeme if you catch me in my more florid moments, I will go on about Diamond Club forever. ;p

a thank you painting i did for rose whittaker

He was given the phone number of a good friend of mine who's been a vocal detractor to his suspension whoreing, and called her to tell her it's hurting his feelings. Also he doesn't seem to like that I call him Ladyface.

I'm getting zapped by Ron Wells when he's guesting at Tattoomania around the middle of December. I'm getting a ship and I am super stoked because Ron does some of my favorite ships and he's just a straight-up awesome guy.

I still can't get over how much cool stuff you got/did on that trip. I'd be jealous, but at least I got to hang out wit you and experience some of it!

Welcome as well. Diamond Club is a fine place to get tattooed. You have so many options in SF/Oakland.

the flyer says tupac will be speaking...that's not happening. pretty sure he's dead.

thank u! and i agree this is so fucking cool and i love it! cant wait to get it done! but the amount of pain.. well u can imagine.. this really hurt. everybody shaves there pubes no? hehe - - - Updated - - - @hogg, @Avery Taylor i have a hairy chest and stomach so its what i´ll get anyway hehe i´ll shave handlebars on her and post some pics when its done hehe..

Hi Ryan and welcome to LST! @beez is getting tattooed by Junii at Diamond Club, maybe she can share her experience?

Instead of wondering why you and this event you're promoting isn't being met with great enthusiasm here, how about you take a good look at this website and understand what we're about here. The front page of the site, right up at the top, says "The mission of this website is to help preserve the craft of GOOD tattooing" and we are serious about that. As I see it, somebody who doesn't tattoo but owns a shop and then gives talks to other business owners in completely different fields about what they can learn from his experience to develop their business doesn't give a shit about tattooing as a craft. If you want to actually learn about good tattoos, please feel free to stick around, to watch the artist interview videos and browse the galleries, but I don't think this is the place to promote your events.

I think the hostility is because you are immediately trying to promote something which comes across as spammy if you haven't established any credibility with us yet.

Hi! Welcome to the forum. Feel free to say something about yourself or introduce yourself in regards to your artistic or tattoo interests. Also, the best place to show off your new tattoos is in the "Latest Tattoo Lowdown" thread. It is always nice to keep the forum consolidated, because if everyone posted a thread for each new tattoo they got, we'd probably have like 600 threads about new tattoos. Anyway, enjoy the knowledge and resources! Cheers

Tell us the truth, @Rebushido: how bad was that tongue?

I'll throw my hat in the ring too this month :cool: Bob Roberts, Spotlight Tattoo. That El Monga piece is SICK @9Years

I seriously need a wolf from him before there is absolutely nowhere left to put it. My second choice would be a ship.

haha! BAD!! well it felt like he was cutting it right off! but mixed in with all the pain from the rest it just went really quick and easy haha

That thing is fucking awesome!! Also, is it weird that I know exactly which reference image he used? Ha

Now that the secret is out that you understand Japanese, you're going to have to translate the whole thing for us. Consider it your LST due diligence.

yeah makes no sense really...when I grow up I'm gonna open a computer business since I know shit bout computers but they are pretty cool!!!

Hi Ryan I wouldn't go that route!! Usually it's from shoulder going down .. There are a few shops in Scal that are good!! I would definitely take the advice of an artist where ever you go. Eventually you are going to get a full sleeve I'm assuming?? I too was interested in Tebori but for me I don't see a point.. It's definitely cool and very interesting. It's just tebori I heard take a lot of time much more than a machine. Like almost double the time.. i think?? Ideas I usually look at different artist I respect for ideas. Of course there are artist like Mike Rubendall, Chris Odonnell, Horimoto, Henning, Garver etc. All the artist plus much more all have Instagram accounts.

I don't know who this person is, so I googled them and it looks like they own a shop but don't tattoo themselves? Why do I care what they have to say about the future of tattooing, or really anything about tattooing, for that matter?

@Rebushido, those eyes man! They just stare at you! When wearing pants they'll poke out just above the belt and say, "Peekaboo! I SEE you!". Very intense. Must see progress shots as they occur. That's very nice.

Stolen from Brian's instagram; about 5 and a half hours in.

I guess this is probably a bad month to enter given how great the tattoos posted so far are. But I see that as a good thing, it just means more people are out getting great tattoos. Anyways, I've already posted this in he latest tattoo lowdown, but here it is: Phil Hatchet Yau at Tahiti Felix's Master Tattoo, 4 hours, one-shot:

I guess I will throw my in progress piece done by shige this monday at diamond club tattoo into the mix

I thought I'd throw up an old tattoo just go giggles, since I don't think I ever did in the contest. Regino Gonzales Invisible NYC

I thought we could use a thread that shined a little light on some of the artists we love, but aren't necessarily very renowned or getting the recognition we feel they deserve. Lets get the ball rolling.... I've been a fan of the work of James Tex of Deadly Tattoos inc, located in Calgary, Canada, for a few years now. I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with his work, and some members here might even know him personally and/or have tattoos from him. Anyways, I stumbled across him a while back in another tattoo forum where a member showed off the progress of a Samurai sleeve he was getting done from Tex. I was blown away by his work, and to my great viewing pleasure he had a fairly large online portfolio on his shops website: Deadly Tattoos inc. I'm not sure if everyone agrees with me in that he's "low key", but I can't say that I have read an article about him or seen any pictures of his tattoo except on his website (and obviously the forum I mentioned). Here's a few samples of his work from his online portfolio:

Cork, the term Family is used in a way that we here in the west don't really use it. It is not blood, but also not quite honrary either. In the japanese tattoo family, it is a very strong bond of duty and honor similar to a blood family that encompasses the sinsei and his apprentices. As far as the title being passed on, I can't give you specifics other than the title is passed while the master is alive. Titles are given to the tattooers once the master deems them appropriate. I was friends with a tattooer that was part ofthe Horitoshi family in the mid 90's, and at the time he was Horitoshi III. He apparently left the family and the title was bestowed on another in the family from what I heard.

I'd like to second the sentiment on avoiding skimping on the piece. I've got some tattoos I paid through the nose for, but I'm much happier that I did that than went for a cheapo. Also, keep in mind that you won't be paying that all at once. You'll most likely have to wait to get your first session, then wait again for your second session, then again for your third, etc.

First post from a long time lurker, but I wanted to share this one I got from Chad Koeplinger yesterday. Came across this thread while searching for other examples of this style and though I would contribute. Cheers!

started this yesterday! by Marius Meyer 4,5 h

Sorry a lot of times when I post i'm thinking out loud and it doesnt sound very clear :) , Yeah I'm either gonna get 1 big piece by the same artist or a mixture of styles by various artists . I think it could look cool either way as long as the artists are awesome.

my 5 year old nephew: "I wants a tattoo in the necks like Uncle Eric" I figured my life was a little vanilla so why not set a bad example for the children in the meantime. FOR THE CHILDREN! tattoo made in Edmonton, AB by Shawn O'Connor @ Ink Machine

latest from Eli Quinters

I like Horimitsu of the Horitoshi Family a lot. His colors are also very vivid and bright. His designs take on an abstract approach at times to traditional Japanese tebori themes. I've follow his Instagram religiously. Missed out on an opportunity to get tattooed by him at this past NYC Tattoo Convention. Hopefully he'll come to the next one!

[/img] Finally figured out how to post correctly.. Apologizes !! Tattoo by Chris Garver , Invisible NYC