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I was in a wedding back in September, this is one of the candid shots the photographer took :)

Our wedding rings. They were a lot sharper when they were done. These were done in 1990 by Daniel Higgs in SF. We talk about getting some new Tats for our 25th anniversary, but Daniel doesn't do tattooing anymore. So I was thinking of getting Freddy Corbin to do the 25th anniversary tattoos. Freddy was working there when Daniel was doing these. It's only right to keep the connection going.

Konnichiwa LST!!! Writing this from Kyoto :D We did another 5 hours on my back yesterday which finished off the black and today we start colour. Then I have another 3 hour session Thursday evening and that will be it for this trip. Should leave about 7 hours or so to finish off the main motif. I'll post picks in the back piece thread once healed. It's been awhile since I've been on here - as Brock put it, been in "hibernation". Just want to say God damn there has been some amazing work being put out on here lately!! Excellent job everyone. In a weird kind of way it makes me really proud to see the forum and the community doing what it set out to do, and that's nothing but great tattoos. And the new blood on here are dropping some bombs!! Alright team, I shall update again when I get the chance and as mentioned post picks once everything settles down (probably should even do the long overdue travel blog lol) speak soon guys, genki de ne!!

Cheers @Iwar it's good to be back my friend!! And since you asked so nicely, another travel blog it is haha. Well that was just over 4 hours of "fuck me" lol. 2 days back to back is no joke at all ( @Reyeslv you are a machine) but we got a lot done. Horinao thinks we might even be able to finish on Thursday if we make the session a little longer - and hells yeah I'm keen for that! He's kept the colour really traditional and no bells or whistles but that's fine by me, the original image is perfect anyway (in my eyes at least) @cibo y'all will have to wait until I at least get back home to be able to upload pics ;) but I won't keep you guys hanging. here's a link to the catclaw blog from yesterday http://ameblo.jp/catclaw-tattoo-z/entry-11716915808.html

Here's another my wife and me got from Higgs right after we got married. This is on her left leg. Guess where the saying came from.... - - - Updated - - - This is the same on my left arm.

I got this Cowgirl head from Rich Hardy while he was doing a guest spot at Third Eye Tattoo about a month ago.

Really love the cowgirl! I got some roses off Rich Hardy last weekend whilst he was back in the UK.

Happy birthday to me! (2 years ago :p ) If I look a bit sweaty, it was almost 60 degrees centigrade.

On my recent trip home I had the usual light-hearted debates w/my mom over tattoos. We were talking about me wanting to change schools and she said I couldn't get a job at another school w/these tattoos. I said that I keep them covered w/long sleeve shirts. She said, "You can't wear long sleeve shirts all the time in LA!" I explained that yes, I already do...we have air conditioning. Blah blah blah. So then later, she tells me that Adam Levine was voted the sexiest man alive. I asked her if she agreed with that assessment and she said, "Yes." I said, "But he has tattoos!" And she goes, "He's an entertainer, not a kindergarten teacher." Oh lordy. I knew she already had a double standard about it being more ok for men to have tattoos than women. Now I see, it's also ok if you are an entertainer. I told her he is a grown-ass man and I am a grown-ass woman and that my job requires me to be an entertainer most of the time, too. Then MIL told my hubby that if we keep getting tattoos we won't be able to move back to Boston. Oh parents. They are so silly. We are in our forties and these are the conversations we are having!

Found out just before Thanksgiving that I got my National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification! It was a challenging 2-year process for me but one of the incentives to do it in my state is a pretty nice raise, so I'm really happy about it. It was a good experience, kind of like a master's program with no professors. Then our family went to MA and CT for a week to celebrate Thanksgiving & Hanukkah w/family. Fun times. Glad to be back where it's warm. I have some new stories for another thread...

We've got till July 2015 to figure it out... And thanks for the welcome you all. I've got one more by Higgs on my right arm in 91.

My recommendation would be to get in touch with your artist, not google. That's the same logic as going on WebMD instead of calling your doctor.

Just had reconstructive Jaw surgery a couple of days ago to fix my underbite. happy to finally have it after four years of braces. unfortunately I'll have no money for tattoos for sometime as the surgery was quite expensive. heres a picture of the X-ray, the titanium plates remain in my face for life

Thanks to all the LSTer's for voting! Amazingly many cool tattoos this month as always, so I'm very happy to win the November contest! Just look how happy I was when it was announced that I was the winner, haha​​! @Graeme, I think I'm in love with your Chad Koeplinger panther / rose mix. I'm jealous!

Second session yesterday. Was a lot easier this time around, not so apprehensive I guess and also made a point to just focus on my breathing for the few lines that needed finishing. Looking forward to the next session! Thanks again Stewart.

In our state, we have a yearly inspector visit to make sure we're keeping up to code. The last time she came through, she had a trainee with her to start splitting up the state between a few people. The new one thought the same thing. It was also her first time in a tattoo shop. At least they're getting people who are well acquainted with the process to take care of that stuff.

Tattoo shops smell like the best smells in the entire world. Aaahhh, I miss the shop!

One summer's Friday down the pub after work with friends the conversation turned to tattoos as a 'celebrity' had recently posted photos of her tattoos (roses over both butt cheeks) and it had been all over the papers. One girl at the table went off on a massive rant, something along the lines of "How could someone disfigure themselves like that? It's disgusting." I'm sat there with shorts on sporting my brand new calf tattoos so decide to call her up on it. "So you're saying that I've disfigured myself by getting tattoos?" I ask, as nicely as possible. So began the furious back-peddling. "No, your tattoos are different!" and "That's not what I was trying to say at all!" Which I didn't believe for a second. I also had a weird one from my Mum when talking about one of my sessions. Referring to the tattoo parlour, she asks: "But doesn't it get a bit smelly in there?" After inquiring what the hell she was on about, it turned out she thought that part of the tattoo process involved burning the skin!

^ I personally don't like the idea of a tattoo fragmented like that, I think it's kind of gimmicky. They should be able to stand on their own and be readable. How many times are you going to have your forearms awkwardly smashed together to make the complete picture? And I hate everything about Little Swastika (the guy responsible for the second pic).

I, for one, can't wait to turn another planet into a sewer.

@tattooedj Welcome to LST and please keep us updated with how it goes! Poster @RoryQ has been getting tattooed by Tomo and the pictures he's posted on his progress are pretty spectacular.

That promo video got me emotional, not gonna lie...

Here is my back-piece from @Stewart Robson Started - 11/25/2011 Completed - 11/24/2013 The tattoo has 78 hours in total.

Alright... here goes nothin. Pharoah's Horses tattooed by me, finished in October.

my girlfriend ordered me a copy as an early/late christmas gift. can't wait to check it out.

Horishin Syodai

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.

My latest two pieces I posted in the gallery. A bowling pin eagle by Mike Fite and a folk bird by Mario Desa. Nabbed them both at the Richmond Convention just over a week ago. Totally awesome getting tattooed by both of them, highly recommended!

Anything needing to be said, has been. See the artist that did the tattoo and relate your displeasure to them. The person who tattooed you will always be able to give you the best advice.

What a gorgeous photo, @else.

Awesome month with the best victory celebration yet! Congratulations!

Haha @HaydenRose! I usually end up scheduled for Sundays or Mondays - for some reason a Thursday or Friday has never worked out for me. Oh well! Today I have non-stick gauze pads with ace bandages wrapped around my leg. I'd take getting tattooed over the itch any day of the week.

by Tim Lehi So stoked on how this came out, will definitely be going back to him for more once I save up.

Sorry duder. Didn't want to steal your thunder, was just really excited about the book!

You really should stick with what your artist has been having you do if it hasn't been causing issues. Aquaphor is exactly the same as Vaseline. 100% petroleum jelly (white peteolatum). They do something to make it a little less thick, but otherwise it's identical. The way the Tegaderm stuff is supposed to be used is to put it on immediately after the tattoo has been done, left on for 24hours, wash the attoo thoroughly to remove ALL the plasma, then reapply for 48 hours. It is sold specifically for tattoos in roll form as "Tatooderm" The owner of the shop where I work uses it all the time. Also, discuss it with your artist before using it to make sure he's okay with you using it. Otherwise he may not garantee the work.

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

Got something from Scott Sylvia yesterday. I'll post a picture in a few.

Caught Dani Queipo while he was doing a guest spot at 3 Kings. That gap on my arm really bothered the shit out of me. Way stoked on this one. Skulls and butterflies are now tied at 3 (I think I have enough butterflies).

Operation Double Dobleman Thighs is now complete: Between this and my Pharaoh's Horses, I couldn't be happier. (No jokes about what's actually between this and the horses, please.)

Put this up the other day in the full back piece thread and forgot to put it over here. Last session in for 2013 and starting back up in January. All work being done by Rodrigo Melo at Northstar Tattoo NYC. Mike

Oneshot from Marius Meyer. Pretty happy about this one.

HAHA, you'd have to pay me to do the whole thing, but the discussion around 16:00 about successors is pretty interesting. He says that until three years ago, he had a successor (Horitoshi II) lined up, but that the successor did not abide the rules of the family and was expelled. Then, he had a Horitoshi III lined up, but that this potential successor had no intention of leading the family. So, he has decided that they will elect a Horitoshi III democratically between him and his three oldest "sons." The ideal successor, he says, has to be good at tattooing, but also a man of character. He has to be mild-mannered because he (Horitoshi I/the family) has various domestic and international relations to maintain, and dedicated to the family. In another really interesting bit of the interview, at around 24:00, he says his "family" differs from other families in that his relationship with his "family" members is really one between father and son rather than master and apprentice. The apprentices start as such, but after spending some time apprenticing and being deemed worthy based on character, they become his sons. That is why they call him "Oyaji" (Pops) rather than "sensei." Despite this, in the most unfortunate case, he says, an apprentice/son left the family after six years. Finally, towards the end, Horitoshi expresses his devotion to the preservation of tebori as a Japanese tradition. He says that ultimately, he is teaching his apprentices to maintain tradition. The Horitoshi Family, in Japan, he says, is the family most dedicated to tattooing as a Japanese tradition. Machines could be used for lining, but shading has to be done by hand to preserve tattooing as a Japanese art. He doesn't think tattooing will be accepted in Japan anytime soon, but maybe in fifty years, Japanese people will have a more "casual" attitude toward it.

I'll probably get a big Lebowski portrait of The Dude from Cecil. I might just pick a spot on my body and let Tim Kern do whatever he wants, I love literally everything that guy does

The only thing that really irks me is when people ask any iteration of the tired question, "won't you regret that when you are older?" implying that they know how I am going to feel 40-50 years from now, if I even manage to live that long. I got my first tattoo the day I turned 18 and I still like it. After a lot of thought about designs, and finally having enough disposable income to get more, it was nine years before I got my second tattoo. Plenty of time to evaluate whether I wanted more or not. Since smart phones have made replying with a photo easier, I keep this handy to answer any form of the question I mentioned.

The City, SF, San Francisco. That's it! - - - Updated - - - When you say vintage, I immediately think of Paul Dobleman, Stu Cripwell, Theo Mindell at Spider Murphy's. Heath Preheim at Temple would be your guy too. Juan Puente at Blackheart can do anything and everything. Jason Phillips at FTW in Oakland, too. Shit, too many options! This is why I don't really want to travel for a tattoo anymore (with the exceptions of Regino, Santoro, Boltz, etc.) Jason McAfee at Temple kills it with the California tattoos. I would like to get one myself from him.

Just got back from a trip to the Bay area and my appointment with Freddy. Ya'll were right! Awesome shop, awesome tattoo, and awesome dude, and not just Freddy but everyone there. I would highly recommend getting tattooed at Temple or just meeting Freddy if you ever get the chance.

Hahaha!

BlackHeart Tattoo San Francisco: Our Shop - Jeff Rassier, Tim Lehi, Scott Silva, Nick Rodin, Cody Miller, Juan Puente Spider Murphys Tattoo :: Welcome http://templeoakland.com/ http://www.stateofgracetattoo.com/

This thread made it over a year before getting to off topic, that's pretty rad.

If you have to ask, you can't afford it.