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I got started on this tattoo by Ron Henry Wells last while he was guesting at Tattoomania in Montreal and we'll finish it at a later date. Sorry for the not great photo, it wraps a bit so it's tough to get a good one. As always, it was a real pleasure to be tattooed by Ron, and the Tattoomania crew were very gracious hosts. I love tattoos.

Hawk wrapped around my forearm by Timothy Hoyer

oh thanx for mentioning me! yes a bit more than 2 years now - - - Updated - - - Florian Santus from Paris, a bit more than a year of tattooing : http://instagram.com/floriansantus Mina Aoki at fun city, i think around 2 years also? : http://instagram.com/minaaoki Becca at Hand of Glory, she started just a bit after me : http://instagram.com/beccagennebacon Jemma Jones at Rain city, 2 years also : http://instagram.com/wolfspit

I think Kim-Anh Nguyen (aka @bleakandblue) has only been tattooing for 2 years, which seems impossible. But in this interview from March 2012, she says she's only been tattooing 6-7 months.

me in my big pimpin days.

Eddy Deutsche did my full back piece in 12 hours!!

Cold beers on a hot evening in Manilla, Philippines. At a Crocodile Restaurant. Good times.

Pretty sure Hiroshi Hirakawa has only been tattooing for a couple of years . Instagram

Chris Rigoni, apprentice tattooer at Holdfast Tattoo in Australia, since 2012 Instagram

Here is my latest. Done on Tuesday by Aaron Coleman (Immaculate Tattoo, Mesa AZ). I asked for a crawling panther plus "whatever, as long as it's fairly traditional". Got a sword and some roses and I am extremely pleased of course. Done in only 2.25 hours as I mentioned in the 'fastest tattooers' thread.

My 3 year old niece wants to grow up to be a badass. Tattoos by Pixar, I believe.

@hogg Oliver Macintosh is too good , this is one of the toughest tattoos ever

I don't know how long Oliver Macintosh has been tattooing, but holy shit, is he good.

I love flowers on the hands and I also really like this ... Jondix Gerhard Wiesbeck

These are my hands. The bird by Bailey Robinson and the panther by Steve Byrne. The knuckles and little guys were done by Vinse One. Actually Matt Arriola did the anchor.

Iain Mullen from Imperial Tattoo in Stockholm did the one one the left on me last year. Took about 2 hours.

Cody Eich:

Here's a good one of me before the epic back piece progress. Nothing better than canoeing and camping. Bonus points to anyone who can point out why the canoe looks "off". You guys look like a good crowd.

I had no idea Mina Aoki has only been tattooing for a couple of years. Jesus. I assumed from her tattoos she'd been at it a lot longer than that.

@HettyKet Those are soooo pretty! You have great taste :) Also I am popping into this thread to complain about crab walking up my 3 1/2 fights of stairs to my apartment every day.

Update: New piece is happening. Put down a deposit today, appointment is January 20th. :) It's going to be a hare, with possibly a moth, foliage, and whatever else to help fill space and make it purty. After this is finished, my lower leg will be more or less complete and I get to move on to other projects.

By Scott Sylvia last month at Blackheart.

Got this subtle vag-rose from Olivia at Mom's Body Shop in SF today. Super fun! Loving the pink and black. The little 13 is cause this was the 13th tattoo of 2013 :P

I love a good back piece or a solid sleeve, but my obsession is hand tattoos. Here are a few of my favorites from the collection I have saved on my computer. Tim Hendricks Seth Wood Ron Wells Ashley Love Annie Frenzel Peter Lagergren Peter Lagergren again I'd love to see some other favorites, or hand tattoos that LST members have!

I hope to get down to have it finished in late February, so I'll keep you posted!

I know it's not 2013, but tying into the idea of old classics... I saw an Operation Ivy cover band last night that was probably the best punk set I saw in 2013. Guys from a bunch of local classic hardcore bands (including Paint it Black) just killing it.

San Francisco is literally filled with dorks, don't worry about it too much :p but in other words, I hear the actual coffee is good!

I started following Bradley Tompkins' work when he was an apprentice. He has quickly gotten to the upper echelons of tattooing.

Im liking Craig Ridley's work , he has gone from strength to strength since moving to Brighton.

Mine

If I was to get hand tattoos Alex Binnie would be my go to guy .

Just dropping in for a quick moan about my elbow. Had the upper 2/3 done yesterday which hurt a bit, obviously. But fuuuuuuk is it sore today. Not to mention hot and swollen. Oww. Am well chuffed with it though :o - - - Updated - - - here, just after clean up with quite a bit of warping from the swelling and the position it was taken from. The one above it its not quite settled in yet.

George burchett flash dragon done by Cheyenne Sawyer at Atlas Tattoo in Portland

Love these photos! Here's mine, taken around Halloween time.

Taken last year. No peeking!

Yeah, the plan is to have my right forearm done by him with some sort of Tibetan motif, possibly a dragon. Right now it's just a matter of figuring out travel and timing and what not given that my tattoo priority at the moment is saving money to start my back in the summer. I've been super impressed with what I've seen of Tom Yak's work, and my wife really wants to get tattooed by Robert Ryan (so do I for that matter) so a trip to Electric Tattoo is certainly something we'll eventually do as well. Sorry to derail your thread @AwakenTD

@taaarro pics or it didn't happen!

I'll be heading down (staying with @suburbanxcore) and hanging out for the weekend. Depending on how much money is in my tattoo fund envelope will decide if I can snag a walk up with anyone there.

:o thanks again. He's finished that one for me too now. Only have bloody, warped and blurry photo though (one under it is also 1/2 fresh)

I got tattooed by Cheyenne back in September. He is a great guy, and makes really nice tattoos.

Don't forget Flying Panther and Tahiti Felix's Master Tattoo! (edit: wait, that's San Diego.. d'oh)

My arms are all pick and stick tattoos, and if I were to start over with the same aesthetic, I would definitely get large tattoos in the large spaces first. Nothing sucks more than wanting a big tattoo in a certain area and realizing that you don't have enough room for it. Also, when advising clients on where to put a design that they have already chosen, I tell them to put it in a spot that is the same size and shape as the design. So if I were starting my arms over again, I would start with larger pieces on the inner and outer biceps, large vertical designs down the backs of the forearms(mid upper bicep, over the elbow to upper wrist) or a large diagonal design wrapping from back of the elbow to front of the wrist, central/circular designs over the ditch, and then porkchop sized pieces on the inner forearms and wrists. It is always fun to put smaller tattoos between the spaces that are already well-framed and fit nicely in the area. That is just my own opinion on what I think looks best in terms of placement on the arms, but really it is up to you. I think the most solid course of action is to definitely start from the top to the bottom and place things where they fit best.

I didn't read through the whole thread, but has anyone mentioned Aaron Coleman? He did a quite large sized panther today on my calf ( ditch to ankle) in only 2.25 hrs. Don't worry, pics will be coming soon...

its hard to say. i normally set out to do the exact opposite of what inspires me for the soul purpose of trying to bring something of my own to the table. i definitely love his tattooing from the late 90's and early 2000's( i started tattooing in 97-98) and have always loved his painting. the little that ive seen of what he does now still gets me going but i dont try to emulate it consciously. there are so many things that are floating in the back of my head. i honestly can say that what i like the most, is the art that would be associated with metal. specifically heavy metal magazine but i cant stand most metal. puss head, biz, frank frazetta... shit like that. i also like the classics. my whole point to to build off of history. to copy your contemporaries just helps you produce whats popular which is definitely necessary to survive. i have more thoughts but i cant sort them right now. kinda feel like i jumbled a bunch of shit together to answer your question. :p ive been doing off beat weird shit for a long time took a long ass break to clear my head from family shit so im just getting back to where i feel i should of been a few years ago... see im rambling again anyway hope i answered your question lol - - - Updated - - - heres a couple more

BTC and Les Skuse .

The best advice for any thread on this forum but this subject especially. And greetings welcome to the spot.

Paul Aherne is a really good, young, Dublin tattooist (About the only one in the city I'd recommend to people actually). I would hazard a guess that he's been tattooing for a bit longer than 5 years, but I think he fits the brief for this thread all the same. He's a street shop tattooer in the sense that he seems to be able to have a stab at anything, from traditional to Japanese style to tattoo portrait. Instagram

I just sat for my longest and it was only 4 hours with 1 bathroom break only. I could have gone for another hour, but I was chewing on painkillers anyway and we agreed to wrap it up at the shop's regular closing time. Rob

When I wanted something higgs influenced I had an idea of people I thought would do it justice. I waited a little bit just to see whats what. When I meet Jason Scott I found out Dan Higgs worked with/for him...did a bunch of tattoos on him including a fucking GREAT back piece. THEN he told me he had a book of a bunch of rare higgs flash,drawings and pictures etc and then it was obvious who I would get to do these higgs influenced tattoos. I told him my general idea and he came up with something heavily influenced but "new" with integrity. Certainly hes not the only one in the world to have this kind of contact but I think hes a great person/tattooer. Is he into as much of the mystical ideas behind the tattoos....NO...but he speaks the language via his tattoos stronger then those who have no contact with higgs. Hes more a fan of tattooing and strongly looked up to higgs. I think its a BIG factor when it comes to something like getting a higgs flash or something based on his style. I would have been bummed just walking in with a print out of some higgs flash and asking someone with little knowledge to pop it on me....but your free to do as you wish. Plus the great stories you get from a tattooer who knows the guy make it worth the going out of your way.... Good luck. ps. I could just be a fan boy....but I dont care. Everyones a critc.