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Morning LST, after a long trip I made it home. As promised here is a pic of my finished (for now) back. Not the best pic but I'll see if I can get a better one ASAP. Completed over 5 sessions by Horinao at The Catclaw Tattoo-z Kyoto... I'm going to go pass out for a bit lol.

Saw this on FB today.. Kick ass piece and awesome to see it getting recognition!!

After 15 months of no ink, I'm back in the saddle and strapped in for a long ride. Randy Muller at Eye Candy in New Orleans finally started my back (partial cover-up) this past Tuesday night. We got 90% of the line-work done. Skull and dragon. He's asked for no internet pictures until we're close to finishing - so I've got to respect that. Obviously will be posting a series of photos some time (hopefully) later in 2014.

I hope you didn't misunderstand me. Your rework looks great!! Hair and all... I just dug the old one too. I can only hope that my own tattoos will be as relevant and look that good when they're 30+.

Those Trevino skull beads are my favourite. I love those. When I was trying to figure out how far down my arms I was comfortable going, and what I would later get to extend the sleeve, something along those lines definitely came to mind. Then I realised that if I was already thinking of extending a 3/4-ish sleeve before I'd even started it that I should just suck up my hesitations and get it all the way to the wrist to begin with. The skull beads still totally rule though.

Thanks man. I will keep searching collecting reference. I'll ask my artist next time I'm at the shop, he knows his stuff when it comes to Japanese and I'm sure he has got some good books too. A few more.

Hector Fong

Here's my stab at it. Let's start at the top row from left to right: Gobu sleeves (five tenths) with hikae (chest plate), Shichibu sleeves (seven tenths) with hikae, classic munewari with gobu sleeves and thighs or basically a gobu munewari, next is a variation of the munewari with hanzubon (shorts) where the inner thigh is completely filled in with tattoo work, full body suit or donburi soushinbori with nagasode (long sleeves), the back piece diagram is kame no koh (turtle back) then the last suit is a shichibu munewari (seven tenths).

Hi Libby! Welcome! As a rule, the members here will be glad to point you in the direction of a good tattooer, and then suggest that you take your ideas to them and let them do their job with it :) That's why they make the big bucks, right? ;)

For those who like Meshuggah here is a band I just ran across not too long ago. (Dual vocalists still feels weird to me) I consider this fantastic DSBM (that is if your into it) Then of course all out brutal black metal from my northern neighbors in Canada. Im actually seeing them tonight in Brooklyn.

i entered the top part last month now i am entering the bottom part. done by jeff gogue. sorry for the blurry pic and this pic was taken the day after so it wasnt "fresh"

Knee hurts like fuck! 5 hours on this by Piotr Deadle :)

Just finished last night! Chris Garver , Invisible NYC Timeless tattoos Rock!!

I got this from Chad Koeplinger earlier this year. I love it, and I want to share it with you:

You are almost correct: Air Freshener 3-Pack | Waverly Color

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

Keeping it sweet and simple. My name is Natasha. Natvenom is where I identify myself, so please address me by it <3 My nickname is also a promise I made to myself to become a professional tattoo artist. :o & & I reside in Miami, FL. My love for art lead me on this journey. I'm 21 y/o. I believe in equality and freedom from the labels of society. Video games, cartoons, rap/hip-hop, culture, spirit science, and fat fluffy kitty bellies! (Me in a nutshell) & & & To scratch the surface of my personality, I'm friendly, open-minded, well-rounded, passionate, and very silly. It's my pleasure to introduce myself. Good vibes ! +

There are a couple in here: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-designs-books-flash/2668-collar-tattoos-necklaces-chains-ropes-wreaths-no-script-please.html

Looks fantastic, @Duffa!

Hi stinkybutt, yeah, you could say that ;) Mmm, not sure what I'm doing wrong here as far as posting the image. I put it in my gallery and used that URL :confused:

pics of it ? and hell ! so you're the family rebel ? . . . oh ya,welcome ! :)

Ended up booking in with Frank Carter this coming January at FST. Can't wait to get tattooed there, having heard and read so much about this shop over time. Hopefully just going to pick something out of flash or drawings.

Thanks mate, interseting stuff. I also really like the small tattoo under the sleeve. My tattooist told me about this tradition, not many people are aware of it so it is quite rarely seen especially by western artists. Here is mine Now I am considering these type of roasary/beads.

Amazing! I doubt I will ever do my hands but if I was going to do them I would want him to do them.

I just made my appointment to get my life-ruining hand tattoos from Thomas Hooper. It's gonna be way cool.

got this today from justin hyde my cousin got this one from him

Just finished my first session with Tomo from Yellow Blaze. Super sweet dude with a magic touch. Plus the place itself is incredible - located just up the road from Yokohama's Victorian-era studios where all the Euro(-trash) royalty got inked in the 1800s. Got a few weeks for the ink to settle and then back for the colour...

First time posting hopefully I uploaded the image correctly. Finished this little guy in the summer.

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

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.

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

Actually, I also just booked with Ron Henry Wells for February at the Philly convention. He's going to be filling in the gap between my Grez and Scott Sylvia pieces. I can't wait.

Please keep in mind that I am in no way trying to attack you, as I don't get any sort of malice or any other such tone from your post. The problem with this is that you're asking people to work on spec, and then maybe you'll pay one of the people involved. This is all going on your word, of which, keep in mind, no one here has any examples of the integrity. For future reference, it rarely comes across as anything other than rude and condescending to suggest that an artist of any sort work on spec. It suggests that what they do is simple enough and that so little work goes into it that they shouldn't mind whipping something up on the off-chance that the prospective client likes it. I, for one, won't begin a piece of art for a prospective new client without a significant deposit.

Awesome! Love those! Here is the start to my outer thigh Tsuru Kame [/img]

By WT Norbert today. Its a bit bloody in these pics. Saw Chad Koeplinger at the shop, if I knew he was in town I'd have booked in with him too! Bummed by a missed opportunity there.

Yes, because us "artistically inclined" people really love to work for free. Go to a good shop. Show him/her your tattoo and discuss possibilities. This forum isn't really for satiating these kinds of questions.

lady head by Valerie Vargas skull drawn on by Stuart Robson

I just put a picture of the front of my thighs in my gallery i figured if I tried here it would be huge and my pastiness could scare the faint at heart

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!)

5 1/2 hours of color blending on my neck by Will Lollie was brutal back in 2001. This was before he was killing it with scratch your eyes out cool Japanese stuff, back when "New School" was the big thing still. The longest I sat was with Damon Conklin back in 2000, 9 hours on my forearm. He's a lot faster now. It wasn't near as brutal, as I knew I was going to sit for a long time and ran 2 miles a day and drank a gallon of water every day for two weeks prior to be physically sound. The longest I worked straight through on a client was 10 hours a day, two days in a row. He was in town for 3 days only on holiday from his tour in Iraq and asked if I could do his sleeve in that time. The first day was planning and drawing. It was tiring on us both!, but like Calvin Sewell always said, "when the eyelids are heavy, the pockets are too."

Nobody in the world cares about my tattoos. But I really like them. I've got a bird friend on my shoulder who will be with me always. Poor little Squeaky, the real bird, died when I was away. I never got to say good-bye and now I don't have to because Squeaky is always there on my shoulder. I've got a story of hiking a long trail on my leg. If I ever get Alzheimer's I will probably at least remember that experience since it's right there on my leg to remind me of all that I saw and did out there. I've got big blue roses. Lots of color. I was hated and criticized mercilessly all my life for being ugly but now I have pretty colors on my skin to make me happy. And finally, my butterfly. First time I went to a tattoo shop the artist there told me of giving an old lady a tattoo of a butterfly on her arm because she had always wanted one. There are so many things in life I've always wanted to do and it took me a while to realize that someday never comes. Do it now. And even though a barely-graduated apprentice did my butterfly, he cleverly mirrored the motif of the leaves of my roses and tied it all together. I feel like I carry a flower garden and a little bit of spring around with me wherever I go. I claimed my body from those who had prior claims, defined it my own way, not theirs, and made it my own. Nobody cares about my tattoos, some people probably scorn me for them, and for that I even feel more grateful because against their disapproval, here I am, taking up space with my garden and my memories, just being me.

I met Frank at the Philly Convention last year (2012) as he was sharing a booth with Mario and my girlfriend and myself both got tattooed by Mario. Couldn't get tattooed by him at the convention due to lack of funds but we made a trip to CTC a few months later and I got tattooed by him. Super nice and does real nice tattoos.

If the tattoo is wrapped by the tattooer that is the last time anything happens to it. I have never had much problem healing, but I am getting my knee tattooed in a three weeks so we'll see how that goes. Actually I'm getting my knee and my ribs tattooed on the same day. I am an idiot.

speaking of new artists who joined state of grace, Beau Brady is to die for. I want to head up to San Jose now

Although not a tattooer, I work in a shop and can I please add: 5 friends + 3 iphones taking pictures should not equal 1 tattoo. That is annoying math.

a backpiece would be awsome...to most it would just look like a grim reaper...its the small details, like the owl, hourglass, and the earth that make it santisima muerte..i dont see a problem if you dont worship it...better for you, it usually involves some sort of offering..

Ice cream is delicious

I like freddy's

Our shop is "family friendly", which means we get customers in here with their screaming 8 month old babies. Last week, I had a girl say (in reference to her screaming baby) "Oh, just put him on the floor. He'll shut up" I politely told her "Fuck no", and she asked "Why, is there like bacteria and shit?" Awesome.