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So the knee torture is finally complete. My knee/thigh demon by Matt Van Cura done at Invisible NYC.

Kyle Sajban from Red Rocket Tattoo NYC. Back hurt A LOT more than I thought it would.

lady head by Valerie Vargas skull drawn on by Stuart Robson

My two latest lowdowns! Cat-lady by Valerie Vargas at Frith Street Tattoo, and start of tiger and dragon thigh piece by Marius Meyer ( will post a better picture of this later!)

I do love a good butterfly tattoo. I was talking to a guy who is planning to write a book on the history of tattooing and we got into a discussion on butterflies and masculinity. He laughed and told me that he thought a guy getting a butterfly tattoo in this day and age was almost asking to get beaten up. He is not particularly dialed into the scene. I rolled up my sleeve for him to reveal my SJ butterfly that I picked from a book of Jerry flash at my local shop. I love it and it has never for a moment posed a threat to my masculinity (however it is that I may wish to define it.) Edit: This was done by Glennie at The Pearl in Toronto. She has a much nicer pic on her instagram feed, if you were to scroll back the better part of a year.

Had heaps of fun with latest effort, definitely was not easy to do

second tattoo i ever got. from a book of old japanese butterfly designs. tattoos all around it now. sort of a crappy pic sorry.

This is some flash from @Perez, I thought it was super cool.

I am super into this. It's one of the boldest tattoos I've ever seen.

Nope! Can't even let it heal! Hahah

Going to buy this now, hurts a bit as I have just purchased 11/14 and The Great Unknown books a couple of weeks ago. Hope to get some of those limited prints if they have not all gone.

@Dennis lmaoooo! i just got this piece a few weeks ago, wtf. cant i just enjoy it without it being copied already.. lol

from tonight

Another session down with Dana, picture stolen from his IG of course.. Next session is color! The fundoshi massacre.

As of today about half of them are spoken for. They are going pretty quickly.

Amazing!!

is this what you have in mind: stole that from a fellow LSTer's blog Our Endless Days | A blog for traditional tattoo enthusiasts

Thanks ross! Yea after it was done I was like holy shit...that's loud.

Thank you for the kind words @Lance , Yes the wife and I are in London. Last getaway of the year. Start the front in March in LA.

@Reyeslv, I just noticed IG postings from @Stewart Robson and your photo tagged on LST. Congratulations to you both on completing this awesome back piece and finishing the thighs. Great work! Where did you finish it? Are you in London visiting again? Commitment! Again, it's a thing of beauty and can't wait to see you two progress on the front.

for small sessions and bangers i would agree with you, but for large scale pieces the pooling can be quite severe and can cause HUGE water blisters. i have seen nothing but good results when applying the derm the day after. - - - Updated - - - i agree totally.

I know this is not what Shawn had in mind when he started this thread, but I had to put it up here. I read an article years ago that Syd Barrett, before he died, would go out and take a photo of something then make a painting of the photo then take a photo of the painting. It really moved me, and so does the idea of these twins getting the same tattoos. I doubt that the two things are at all related, outside of my mind, but for some reason they are exactly the same to me. http://www.th-ink.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Jordan-and-Caleb.jpeg

I like seeing what everyone else has. I feel like there is an assumption of using really obvious symbolism, but that really doesn't seem to be the case. Anyways, here are my sister tats. A little anvil guy with a long time friend. I know I've posted this before. Matching anvils with my lady metalsmiths.

I don't think that's a thing.

real quick one from today. i stupidly drew the chains straight on in pen so theyre real sloppy, but its all practice i guess

he could always make his own

You just made an amazing point. It's true, I personally do not celebrate watercolor tattoos because it is a bit of a lie to the client. Because she posts it publicly on her website, I don't think it is a problem saying this, but she charges $300/hour for something that isn't going to be there in 5 years. That, to me, is a travesty. Same with Bose! You can spend the same amount of scratch on an audio receiver that is superior quality and with more longevity.

@InkedMumma Outlines and some shading done, but I can't seem to get a good picture of the whole thing so I will save it for later! Here's a teaser from Marius Meyer's IG account though: :cool:

Tomorrow! I'm getting my back (back of the neck to back of the knees) tattooed by Chad Koeplinger...SOOOOOOO FUCKEN STOKED!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome stuff, everyone (as usual). El Monga added this to my leg today! Picture stolen from his Instagram. I'm now realizing that I never posted a picture of the last one he did on me, because it wraps and I can't seem to get a good picture of it. I'll try to do that soon.

Here's an older awkward of matching swallow tattoos me and @Pugilist got almost three years ago: I got mine from Bert who then tattooed at Tattoomania, she got hers from Rebecca Guinard at Pol Tattoo. Next year is our fifth wedding anniversary and we have tattoo plans for that, but you all will have to wait and see about those.

Such a beautiful shop and wonderful tattoo family. I really felt right at home. I got tattooed and did a couple of small tattoos there too. I would say it is one of the nicest shops that i've ever seen - that looks like what I think a tattoo shop should look like.

Go see Tim Martin at Brainstorm Tattoo in Fayetteville, Arkansas.... super nice shop, he worked for Jack Rudy at GTC in Orange County before he worked for Richard for 6 years in Dallas prior to moving back to his home state to set up shop, he's had that place for over a decade and continues to make good tattoos by or appt or walk in, and has a couple world class tattooers tucked in his place, Jennifer Billings is there, and it's a good place to start...

@Lance yep. I'll be there. Maybe for a little bit before and after too.

When I first saw this thread I instantly thought of those twins! And I love the Syd Barrett story... I think it definitely relates, just can't articulate how at the moment.

AWESOME bro!!!

I was only there Saturday night, and Sunday morning, but it was a good time. My pal got a really rad lady-head and cobra from Steve Byrne, and I was able to talk to Mr. Sylvia briefly about planning a trip to Blackheart.

ah ! I did'nt see that part. I see now.thanks for pointing that out to me. :) I need to read shit better ! :rolleyes:

PPD Black Henna is really dangerous and can fuck you up way more than a scratcher

I liked the start of the article before it devolved into the usual clichés you find in mainstream writing about tattoos. Tattoos don't need validation from journalists, academics, or the art world.

ive been working on a exhibit of my art the last few months. it opens at 8 or swords in brooklyn on december 13th. heres one of the 11 pieces ive been working on its 18x24 ink and water color well it will be 18x24 when i crop the paper

I think if I'm gonna get a full back piece then Chris Crooks is the man. This is amazing !

some progress on a painting of mine

Have you seen the one Mr. Tim Hendricks did on the back of a hand ? It's on his IG, it's amazing !!!

Oh, what the hell. I'll post mine here, too: By Paul Dobleman at Spider Murphy's. I didn't give him a ton of room to work with, but he still pulled a great, unique take on an iconic image.

Well considering that she didn't invent color blobs, I don't see how its copying her style if someone does it. I have no clue who this person is and I imagine that whatever fame is created is based in some type of internet parallel reality. I was prepared to write some profound thoughts regarding ones personal style and influences and the relationship to the ego but I think that its not important what I think. People are more worried about their opinions and seeking clarification or validation in their views. Its been said, their is nothing new. If someone appears to be breaking new ground it is part of a seemless formula of blending their influences and how they build on their inspirations. The only thing that makes someone truly special isn't contained in their renderings but in their willingness to continue to improve their abilities and their interactions with others on this plane of existence. The tattoo experience isn't about just some unique design applied to make you feel special. It was being part of something bigger than yourself and the person giving you this experience having the ability to do more than apply a nice tattoo. My favorite tattoo experiences have been the conversations and the stories exchanged as well as the persons ability to entertain, educate, and share that experience. Those other elements aren't something that show up in pictures on the intervebs. You can't craft personality the same way as your drawing abilities and application of tattoos. The tattoos I have from these folks are a permanent reminder of that interaction and the impact that moment in time had on my life. But now I babbling and rambling. And I said I wasn't going to say a bunch of stuff...so yeah. Haha. Carry on!

Realized I had gained about 40 pounds since I bought a car last year, I guess a daily 3+ mile walk was doing more good than I thought. Started paying attention to what I eat and doing some ab workouts and a few other things, lost about 10 pounds in 20 days. Also I went snowboarding yesterday for the first time of the season, not much terrain is open but I had a blast!

Nice! I am digging this by Thomas Hooper...only in my case if I did something like this I would have to stop at the wristbone:

I seem to post on this thread alot, but I figure it's the best place to put these kind of things. So I realized that I am in love with my bf. Unfortunately I only realized this when I found out from his brother that he was hospitalized on wednesday and being released on tuesday. I can't even see him, due to the hour drive between us and no car, but I realized that I've been feeling like this for a while and if something really really bad happened to either of us tomorrow, I'd be devastated knowing that he didn't know how I felt. Now the thing is, when do I tell him? Or do I even tell him first? What if he doesn't love me back? Gah it sucks and this whole love thing is confusing me. But I guess falling in love is awesome enough for this thread.

I just booked a holiday to Florida for the family next year. Mickey Mouse yay