Leaderboard

Healed from the London Tattoo Convention - by Chriss Dettmer

Just about every tattoo is better with flames.

I got a cobra wrapped around an ankh on Dec 29,2013 by Christine Vallieres at Old Town Ink in Scottsdale, AZ After my first tattoo, I thought about this one and what I wanted it to be. For me, it symbolizes rebirth of life and protection. I think snakes get a lot of bad rep but I think they are awesome creatures. I consider myself pretty spiritual so the Ancient Egyptian symbol of life fits with the snake imagery. Some people think it's an evil snake but it's not :p This tattoo, along with the one on my back of a scorpion and some Arabic script do mean quite a lot to me. I got them a year after I had a near death experience. I was hospitalized for a long time and lsot my job and almost had to return to living with my parents back in Connecticut. I beleive that I was given a second chance and was being watched over somehow. It made me think how precious my life is, how strong I actually was and how much people cared for me.

This sounds great. You should do a little blog or video series of this trip ala True Love.

10 hours now on this piece, more to add!

Not for me, but my wife booked with Martin Lacasse at Olde City Tattoo in Philadelphia for a geisha 3/4 sleeve at the end of the month. He did her other arm a few years ago and she's been itchin to get this one done for a while. It's the same weekend I get done by Ron Henry Wells, so that'll be fun.

@jetwash Are you going to Frith Street ? If so just say you want a peacock they'll do the rest .

We've all made the slightly unusual choice to embed words, symbols, and images onto our bodies until the day we die. It's barely accepted by the mainstream in liberal western countries let alone other cultures. People are going to be intrigued and ask questions just as much as they are going to be offended or mesmerized. That's part of being (visibly) tattooed. It annoys me sometimes too but hey it's part of the package.

I love the way she framed that owl. Incorporating old tattoos into new tattoos is rad.

Hey Guys So i have decided to travel to the states from Australia around July/August for a couple of months possibly with another tattoo friend of mine and would love to meet a heap of you guys while I'm over there. We are planning to start in San Francisco and travel across the country to New York hitting a lot of shops on the way for walk-ins (not going with a plan). I just wanted to use this thread as a kind of home base for information for the next few months. Thanks LSTers Also i will probably be doing a travel blog thing aswell.

A longer wait-time gives you more time to save. It'll be worth it!

Not tattoos. You get what you pay for.

Suggestion,go here Immaculate Tattoo - Aaron Coleman - Tattoo and ask Aaron Coleman the same questions. You will not be disappointed.

just a little Indian action and tiger from Kemer here at Superfly tattoos in Leon Mexico

Got another 3 sessions on my front with valerie over the next month'ish!!

Another LST tattoo save. Nice, guys.

If you ate two meals at a good restaurant and weren't disappointed, would you never seek out new restaurants ever again? :) I am not sure of wait times, since I booked in about 3 or 4 months in advance because I was travelling. But don't worry too much about cost. Aaron Coleman tattoos extremely fast, so even if he has a higher hourly rate than what you have paid in the past I'd bet the cost would be very similar.

It seems to be the impossibility of having a visible placement that's the biggest obstacle to you. Would you maybe consider your sternum? That'd allow you to have a 'proper' tattoo that you could see often but would be simple to hide away too. - - - Updated - - - WRT 'hardship'- do people know how 'hard', generally ball breakingly tough and motivated a chick needs to be to make it as a professional ballerina? Sheesh.

Google maps tells me that your route should take you through Phoenix, AZ. If that's correct, I highly suggest checking out Immaculate Tattoo in Mesa. Anyone there will give you a great tattoo.

Had my consult with Dennis at Providence Tattoo on Saturday. Such a nice guy. He seems excited about my idea, and I am DEFINITELY excited. Just bummed I have to wait til August to get it done! He's booked solid til May, and I'm busy this summer. Is it too early to start a countdown? :/

Yeah we have a few on the list :Idle Hands, Rock of Ages, Hold It Down, Greenpoint Tattoo co, Smith Street, Ancient Art vb and I'm still looking into a few more.

Haha, isn't it a trip how experience shapes perspective! I think a lot of, if not most people experience somewhat of a more profound change within themselves. You will find many small anecdotes of that phenomenon through the forum. Welcome to LST! Can we see the tattoos you have?

Yes, definitely thinking of a couple of things to start up since I do have the appointments. Depending on how things go, one of the future slots might take a few hours for touch-ups but I'll discuss details with Rubendall.

Thank you! @ironchef, you would be absolutely correct. Laying down in his space was a great experience to be had. He's a very nice guy too. I'm not sure if it's been mentioned previously but both Horitomo and Yokohama Horiken have rooms to work in while everyone else at the shop works in an open plan. The rooms are raised platforms and you remove your footwear before entering. You lay out your towel on the floor and he sits to tattoo. Very traditional. Being able to lie there and see him work, see his drawings for ongoing or upcoming tattoos/paintings, seeing his reference materials, and the little sculptures of Fudo Myo-o was a great time and while laying there being poked on the feet may not sound fun, I'm pretty sure I was wearing a goofy smile the whole time. BTW, if anyone was wondering, to me, shading by tebori didn't feel as painful as by machine.

Got a this little wrist filler by Henry Wyatt at Inkies in Fremont, CA. Representing and supporting the Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda Relief... The design is a a guide taking the deceased to the Hereafter by canoe, based on an artifact known as the Manunggul Jar. #TattooForPhilippines https://www.facebook.com/tattooforthephilippines Needles and Sins Tattoo Blog | Tattoo for the Philippines

Pure awesomeness ! Memoir is such a great shop I think if I won the lottery the first thing I would do , would be to book a flight to see Shawn Barber his work is just mind-blowing. - - - Updated - - - Got my wife to take some photos of my latest tattoo all healed. The photos are a bit glarey cos of the flash. Tibetan Skull by Ema Sweeney at Custom Inc .

I like seeing the pics of all everyone's overall look, so here's my updated one: (ETA: now my right arm tattoo is going down farther than my left arm, so now I'm going to have to add more to my left. And so it goes...that's how they get ya.)

For your consideration. Just got this yesterday from Beau Brady while he was at Invisible NYC this week and a few forum members suggested I put it up in here. Thanks!

hello all, my name is scott bakoss and ive just signed up to last sparrow.

@Diehardonvhs Always loved Chris Dettmer's skulls. Very nice tattoo.

I got the first layer down on this new oil. Trying to improve all the time.

I had the exact same experience as you Lance. Both Horitomo and Jill have used it on me, but not sure if it worked or not.

Let me know if you want to get a beer!

I'm getting tattooed by Hillary Fisher White in a few weeks when she's on the west coast. All sorts of excited.

Thanks. The Elephant was done by Michael aul. He's done a ton of great sailor jerry pieces for me.

Very strong month so far!

Haven't finished these just yet, but bad Instagram photos of a few new sheets I started a week or two back...

Got these swallows done by Jeff Zuck in Ann Arbor after a few forum members recommendations. Love it

I was hoping to go but I am in a wedding opening weekend so I won't be able to make it. My friends wife just doesn't seem to understand why she should postpone her wedding for a week.

Hahahaha, that was amazing. I hope they got a happy ending after that back massage. Edit: kind of reminded me a science fair volcano eruption.

Love Chris Brand's work so much .

- - - Updated - - - Just wanted to share, I love her. Pulled from tumblr.. the tag says the artist is Bradley Stevens - Fun City - NYC

I've been loving the Gibson girl heads Ron Wells has been doing lately and was wondering if anyone on here has an adaptation of a Gibson girl. I particularly like "The Eternal Question" based on Evelyn Nesbit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, who has a pretty fascinating/tragic life story. I didn't used to think I'd want a girl head...

I believe that is called Sharpie.

Have to disagree with you there Graeme, looks pretty awesome to me. Maybe that person asked for a doily anyway ;) Another piece by Dotwork Damian Dotwork portrait by Zack Singer

I'm losing stamina. I used to be able to sit for longer than I care to now. I'd rather break a long session into smaller ones. It would be different at a convention or if I travelled to meet with a particular tattooer. But if I'm at home with my regulars then I'm definitely going for shorter sessions.

Ryan Gosling in The Place Beyond the Pines somehow pulls off way oversized, inside-out, ratty t-shirts, and terrible, terrible tattoos.

I won't even get in to what happened after I showed Roy Cooper my Tiger collection.