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Got this from Kirk Jones yesterday, birds wing look distorted but it is just the photo. Awesome guy, it is a shame I don't have another shoulder to get tattooed, easiest spot so far.

Happy Christmas, as you lot say: By Matt Staydohar, Anvil Brand Tattoo, Marysville, CA.

This is the most fun way to get tattooed, booking the appointment not knowing what you're gonna walk out with. First thing to pop into your brain.

Took the wrap off and got it cleaned before bed. Now, am I imagining things or is there a line missing? On the bottom right as you look at the picture, a line to mark the side of the petal?

Just got these two from Dusto at Tower Classic in St. Louis as a Christmas present to myself

Welcome to the forum. There's nothing at all wrong with getting tattooed from flash, though from what you're describing here, I would suggest checking out John Sultana at Saved Tattoo in Williamsburg.

I'm visiting my parents right now and my mom found a sketchbook I had as a little kid. I must have been six or seven when I was drawing in it, and I was totally stoked to find that even as a little boy I was drawing skeletons, demons, and upside down crosses. I have no idea where this stuff comes from, but at least I come by it honestly.

Got Monmon Cats in the mail today. An excellent little book to go over with the cat loving wife. Unfortunately it wasn't signed because @hogg is a real Christmas grinch, but I guess he is still kind of cool.

some from last week

here's some stuff I painted yesterday:

Got this yesterday.

I can't remember where that post is, but what you said here is what I was going to say. I'd maybe only add that if you want a tattoo to mark having a healthy lifestyle think about tattoos that will accentuate your body. That's more of a size and placement matter than one of imagery and there are basically unlimited possibilities there.

anything that makes you feel powerful and happy to wear the tattoo. a tattoo can mean whatever you want it to mean and because it is art it doesn't have to be so literal. For example you can get a rose and a skull to remind yourself how much of a bad ass mother fucker you are for overcoming obstacles to meet your goals. Or a warrior battling a dragon could mean the same. @Graeme had a well worded post about tattoo meanings but i forget what thread it is posted in.

@hogg Do you still have that flash sheet of the reaper benching , deadlifting etc ? Something along those lines would be cool, otherwise OP if you are prepared to read through the " lifting thread " on here you will find it .

A buff Phoenix punching a bipedal donut in the face.

As @MadeIndelible says there are a few posts already that mention some interesting stories. I've mentioned these before in a couple of other posts but I've rarely seen tattoos of the story depicting Akugenta Yoshihira, or Uesugi Kenshin vs. Takeda Shingen. I'd love to see more. With the latter I've only seen 2 done. One, a body suit by Horiyasu, and the second is in progress by Gasen. Probably not all that rare, the image of Benkei vs. Ushiwakamaru at Gojo Bridge is one I never get tired of either. The story of famed archer, Minamoto no Tametomo's suicide is cool. Speaking of archers, so is the tale of Minamoto no Yorimasa shooting the nue with an arrow. I can go on and on but I'll stop there. Lately I feel like an amateur historian on this site. Ha ha, I'm sure it's getting tiring to hear me. There are hundreds of years worth of myths, legends, historical figures, etc that would make amazing tattoos. Oh, I on the other hand am perfectly happy if no one EVER decided to get a tattoo of Oda Nobunaga ;-)

@Dumpleton damn, that is a really pretty tattoo. I am absolutely in love with everything about it. Those fades are just so smooth! @guitguy thank you :)

Killer pieces, everyone. Especially like those roses, @JAllen , and the eagle @Dumpleton .

The way pretty much every tattooer who you see people on this forum getting work from does things is by drawing each tattoo for the individual client. If not, then the tattoo was likely flash. Both are great options, but it seems that for you, you would want a custom black and grey piece. If you let us know where you live, I'm sure a few of us can point you in the right direction.

Some recent stuff: this was my end of the trade with Olivia. We decided to use her birthmark as a nipple. :cool: And then this was a medical illustration of a humerus bone. This is actually on a dude who is from the same town that I apprenticed in. It was pretty nuts actually, he told me that he had gotten work done at the shop I was at, and turns out he had a tattoo that I had drawn for my mentor to use. Small world..

I just got this from my friend Matt Brotka at Salvation Tattoo in Richmond, Virginia. However his full time gig is at Left Hand Black in sunny San Diego. Pic pilfered from his instagram .

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 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"

yes,I did with my Jess Yen piece,I did'nt know what it was going to be or where it was going until I got to the show.I did'nt care,I trusted him.

@JakeWolfSkin A stencil, or lack thereof, is actually not a good way of measuring tattooer skill. Go into the What Makes. a Good Tattoo sticky thread in General Tattoo Discussion, and you will find a great resource.

Thanks :-)

She isn't and I probably wouldn't trust her around sharp objects in any case.

I second @Graeme's recommendation on John Sultana for black/grey geometric work from Saved Tattoo. Also check out Zac Shienbaum from Saved as well for black/grey work and dot work.

The internet has made me lazy. I can sit on my couch drink beer and easily browse work from 100's of different local NYC artists. But when it comes time to choose, the choice is overwhelming. Time to get off my butt and visit the local shops.

You might like Tim Beijsens work @JakeWolfSkin, he does a lot with colour but is clearly perfectly at home in black and grey too. Works at Black Wolf in Rotterdam some days. Great shop. - - - Updated - - - Sorry, should have said, he'd definitely want to draw.

Yeah, I'm from Seattle, but Lived in Glasgow for a year, where I met my husband at the Horseshoe Bar. I just fell in love with Mackintosh's style...when I went to school for Graphic Design I did a couple pieces based on his style for a project.

wow great pics everyone. @Graeme "squidmitts"! Hah! I don't generally seek out dotwork so those Jondix, Weisbeck, and Hooper hands are completely blowing my mind right now. Amazing! Unfortunately if I am ever able to get my hands done, it won't be for several decades. But in the meantime, here's a couple more on other people. Rich Hardy Grez

Alex Zampirri at Heart and Soul Tattoo isn't doing too shabby.

Haha @spookysproul swap !! , its been raining for about 2 weeks solid now !!

Remember reading someone, somewhere, saying that every time you get a tattoo you should ask yourself why it's not a dragon. Don't have a dragon myself (plenty of space left though) but it seems like valid advice!

That wretch! She was supposed to let me know that she was on her way so I could take her place!

I pretty much disagree entirely with this. First, it presumes that you understand the reasons why people get the tattoos they get. I read recently, it was either on here or on IG, a tattooer (I think for some reason that it was David Bruehl, but I'm not certain about that) talking about how there was a point in their career where they were tattooing a lot of yin yangs. The tattooer asked those clients what religion or philosophical belief that the yin and yang belonged to and none of them could give an even close to accurate answer, but that regardless of this, they were seeking to achieve a kind of balance in their lives. Horiyoshi III says in an interview in the book JBxH3 that a lot of people who get tattoos of Buddhist deities don't even know what they mean. They like the appearance or the name of the god, and maybe they learn more about it after. So even within what you describe as a "culture" people are getting tattoos that are outside of their realm of familiarity. Second, it's useless to talk about culture as this monolithic thing. If you want to talk narrowly about western traditional tattoos, a lot of those are sailor tattoos or military tattoos, or are deeply rooted in those cultures and traditions, and if you want to talk about people "staying within their own culture" a lot of us wouldn't have the tattoos we have. Third, at this point in time there are very few tattoo traditions that are "untouched" so to speak and aren't influenced by tattoo traditions from elsewhere, and I don't see this as in any way a bad thing. Shit, this isn't even a new thing. I read or heard somewhere...maybe it was from an interview with Horiyoshi III again?...that Japanese tattooing and this whole body compositions were originally influenced by Polynesian tattoos. You look at classic Western tattoos and you'll see all kinds of Asian influence there with dragons and what not--George Burchett went to Japan and observed the masters at work--not to mention that way that Sailor Jerry took that Japanese influence and brought it into Western tattooing with those incredible backpieces he did which have been so influential on the way we get tattooed now. What about Ed Hardy, who synthesised so many things into his tattooing? What about Thomas Hooper who does very European tattoos but is very open about how much he's influenced by Polynesian tattoos? I'm going to say that most of the exciting things that have happened in tattooing have happened precisely because people didn't "stay within their own culture".

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

Welcome, and love the skeleton tree!!

Welcome, love that chest piece!

hey roddy and welcome!

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.

21 Vintage Postcards Of Krampus That Will Haunt Your Dreams Pretty fucked up... But it could make for some killer tattoos.

Yes, that's what I'm saying. I know it might sound crazy, but not everyone has a website/instagram/facebook, etc. Go out, stop in a shop, talk to people. Maybe you see them doing a tattoo, maybe you talk and interact with people. Who knows what you might find out there...maybe you won't find what you're looking for but you also might find something you didn't know you wanted. You don't have to take reference or make any commitments, I'm just saying don't be afraid to explore what's around you.

Living in austria puts me smack down in Krampus territory. In the bakery/cafe where I work we've sold hundreds of krampus cakes, chocolate thingies and whatnots. Some of the cakes were creepy as fuck and for some reason the little kids love them. They would make for good tattoos tho!

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

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

I might make one or two different choices, but overall I like the way things have come together. Its all a reflection of me and my own imperfections and I'm fine with that. Generally, in life, I don't look back with regrets. I don't find it particularly helpful. I simply try to learn from past mistakes and move on.

Thou shalt tip your artist on a job well done!