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Some progress on my frontpiece with my boss, Josh Cruse. Did about three hours of color in the snake all around my chest and belly. I have another sitting in two weeks, but I'll probably hold off on posting anything until we get it all done... after it's healed and settled, we'll touch up anything that needs it and add some pattern work in that minty green stripe on the snake.

My name is Dan... I like tattoos and drinking beer. Oh, I'm back! Sorry for the long hiatus... Life got busy, but here I am. What's new?

It's a snake and tiger kinda time! 3rd session in, steaming through it! By Stewart Robson

If all goes as planned......I will be flying out to Oakland toward the end of March for 3 days to be tattooed by Dave Gibson! It's a milestone tattoo for me and he is the man I have chosen to do it because of all the advice he has given me over the years I have been getting tattooed....as well as the advice he has been giving me now that I am tattooing and painting! I could care less what he tattoos on me....it's all about him being the tattooer....not the tattoo! That's what's up in my world.....

Could well be the last session on my eagle/snake front by valerie in a week!! When its done Ill stick it in the tattoo of the month for all to see

The lack of appreciation of the amount of homework you did is unsurprising but always disappointing. Get used to that. Also like said above I never let people go home with designs or email them anything of the sort. Even if someone lives as far as 46 minutes or an hour away the in person consultation works better and your effort stays in the shop. Like person above pointed out, a touch up or rework can be 5 minutes or 5 hours. If it looks like a big job offer to hit it up for 30 minutes to an hour after each sitting on the sleeve you've been working out with him. If he's bad mouthing you around town then cut losses and move on. If it's a hopeless job to rework the entire existing tattoo then just say so politely and act nice and the client will still stick around if they get a good vibe. Not every tattoo is gonna be a rad tattooers dream; sometimes it's tribal feathers and/or polishing turds. If it's not hopeless then take the opportunity to wow and amaze them with what you can do with a piece of crap and they will be spending their very next paycheck getting the other arm started. In my experience if you treat people with kindness and respect, do a good job no matter what the job is and make them feel at home they will always come back and will suggest you to all their friends. Your name will be the first one they think of for their next tattoo.

Hello motsimus, I don't mind you asking, I am new to this and generally don't talk too much about my tattoos. I can be a bit shy about it actually. Hopefully this forum will change some of that. I really respect the people who I've chosen to tattoo me. They were kind and very thoughtful with their approah to my ideas. They executed them way beyond my vision. Travis Berg Chris Conn Scott Sylvia Jonah Levin Mike Lucena

Thanks guys! It is an awesome tattoo, and I owe it all to LST (and Aaron Coleman of course - and my cousin who helpfully got married in Arizona). @Mark Bee, I did throw a fairly poor quality pic of the fresh tattoo up in the "latest lowdown" thread but I didn't want to put anything in this one until I got a good healed picture. @guitguy - you can so get a crawling panther. If there's one thing Last Sparrow has taught me it's that everyone can get a crawling panther tattoo.

Thanks to this thread for making me aware of Aaron Coleman, who does indeed do amazing panthers! Healed shots: edit: I don't know why I can't get the closeup to be the right way up.

Hey all, The Few and Far is a project myself and my friend Travis Meisky first embarked on about one year ago. The goal was to create short documentary films about passionate and interesting people. The people that put their hearts into their work and make those around them better while they do it. We wanted to meet, engage with and befriend these people that we found inspiring. Creating for the sake of creation As the introduction to the series, tattooer, artist, business owner, husband and father of four children DJ Rose is an exemplary subject for what we aimed to accomplish. I thought this would be appealing to the folks here at LST. If you like it, I'd love if you shared it. Thanks for looking. The Few and Far - DJ Rose on Vimeo -Ryan Ryan Scott - Photographer

Finishing up some a piece with Theo Mindell at Spider Murphy's tomorrow...I'll post up in the lowdown later. Just laid my money on the barrel-head at Tattoo City for an all-day El Monga bonanza when he comes to guest in Feb/March. We're going to finish out my shin/lower leg, but haven't finalized the design yet. Can't wait!

I've got thursday next week booked to start on my backpiece, to get rid of that white 'spot' between my two sleeves ;-) But.... I'm having a hard time deciding on what (kuniyoshi) warrior design to go with, I know you can't really go wrong with a Kuniyoshi design, but thats what making it hard to decide, they are all sooo good ;-) I'm kinda leaning towards one of the top pictures, but maybe I should just go with a big ass full back tiger and be done with it :cool: I don't knowwwwwwww..

@deadsp0t and @Graeme you both make valid arguments. However, when I clicked the link, this student states that she is an undergraduate Junior. This is not a dissertation, this is some bullshit project probably for an Intro Psych class. At least, that's all I can gather from the severe lack of information. I also did click through the survey, but not submit my answers to see if it is statistically sound (It's not). Give me a survey with a foundation in real research when you're in a PhD program doing a real dissertation, and then maybe I'll participate. ALSO, if you are doing a dissertation or thesis or something for Grad school, then you SHOULD go out and interview tattooers/collectors. You should immerse yourself wholly in the topic, so that you can create an informed measurement of the culture and perceptions of tattoos. To me, I equate it to not studying the brain (it's structure, physiology, etc.), but going ahead and conducting cognitive tests on subjects anyway.

I think @smiling.politely and @irezumi pretty much nailed it. I just wanna throw out one other piece of advice that you can take or leave, but that I have found helpful. Pretty much like.. you don't owe anyone your time or talents. If someone wants to pay you for them then get on it, but don't ever feel obligated that you have to go out of your way to draw or tattoo anybody for free. I have found that more often than not, the people who expect a hookup or free work are usually my friends. It's just kind of a bummer because if you like something enough to wear it on you forever, wouldn't you want to support the person/friend doing that for you? The only people who I will ever give the hookup to are loyal clients who have already paid me good money and let me do some fun tattoos. In those situations it's good because, in a sense, you are looking out for each other and it's a two-way street. But more often than not, if you give someone an inch, they will probably expect that inch over again even if they don't try to take a mile.

Nice stuff from Claudia Desabe

Far easier to placate a customer doing some quick touch up work or even re-working the whole tattoo, in my opinion. Is that tattooer still in town? Is he still alive? Did that client have a horrible experience with the original tattooer and not want to go back to that person? All three of those issues have popped up several times in the very short span I've been tattooing, by the way. But they usually come back for the other stuff that they wanted you to do as well, even if it takes awhile. They don't go in the portfolio, and, depending on the level of work needed, some are just a quick five second touch up as part of another tattoo, some are complete reworks at full price. Also, rather than send e-mail or send texts of images, especially if it's not a super close person you trust, I'd recommend having them come to the shop where you work to see the designs, just in case they find a reason not to get tattooed, then take them to someone else. Just a few thoughts.

Just going to share a quick story; I've read through this thread and watched the Hardy panther seminar, so pretty much was already convinced I needed a big panther piece on my chest. This past week, I'm spending a little time in the chair with the artist I've been going to and mentioned his big sheet of large cat flash is missing from the wall. Kinkos for prints, but that divulged into my desire for a panther head and watching the Ed Hardy gig online. His head suddenly snapped up and with excitement says, "I was there, only about 100 of us were in attendance!" What are the odds, right? I didn't already need the encouragement to get it done this summer, but the universe seemingly gave me that extra little nudge I needed to follow through. His excitement for making the tattoo seemingly matches my excitement to receive it which makes it extra cool. Anyway, just felt like sharing.

Read these threads: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/initiation/3459-hi.html http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/initiation/3468-apology-my-tattoo-study-thread.html If you're going to come here and ask for something but not contribute anything you're in the wrong place.

A few of us from our shop in South Carolina came out for the SFO show this year and what hospitality! Got a crazy psychotic Ren from Ren & Stimpy on my outer calf by Jeff Rassier after a discussion about the show and animation. Great tattooer and a great experience all weekend! Scott and everyone at Black Heart were very open and made us feel at home. That shop is full of top tattooers who are also incredibly down to earth...an amazing combo

I had a Rock Of Ages done on my calf last week by Stewart Robson, which I'm so in love with. And I've also managed to book an appointment with Paul Dobleman whilst he's guesting at Frith Street in March, decided to go for a peacock and crescent moon. February is going to drag by!

Its the approach that's off putting. Not here nor on the survey site is it stated with any clarity or purpose what the intentions of the study will be. Its a study for a univsersity paper, not a middle school report.

A crawling panther is timeless man no matter who does it, although Mike Wilson does the best panthers.

I took the survey, out of consideration of what @deadsp0t said. That said, the survey was far lacking in it's ability to gather information from anyone who isn't getting tattooed for the Google/Pinterest flash reasons. I left a comment in the final page informing Charlotte as such, in what I felt were blunt, yet polite terms. I mainly did this so she would see it, because there's a good chance she won't be part of the discourse here beyond one or two posts. "Try to go out into the world of tattoos. Go to tattoo shops and learn a bit. Perhaps, even get tattooed a few times as part of your research. Anthropologists should immerse themselves in a culture to learn about it, right? I encourage you to do the same." (not all of what I said, but a short selection that summed it up)

Hey there! My first post and it's in a thread I am keenly interested in at the moment because I too am presently using tegaderm for the first time. I had the entire inside of my forearm done on Thursday night by Dan Smith and he was very recommending of Tigaderm. Here's my experience so far. Thursday Night - 3.5hour-ish session, finished up sometime after 10pm. Dan gave me two tegaderm sheets, dressed the tattoo fully with bandages and tape, and I went home. Woke up Friday morning, Took off bandages, showered and cleaned tattoo. Friday was leaving for a road trip up the central coast of california, and I wanted to make sure the tegaderm was really applied properly, so I went back to Captured and Dan was very courteous in cleaning and dressing the piece with Tegaderm. He told me it will fill with plasma and junk but not to be concerned. Sure enough, it did. Friday night I had trouble keeping some of it inside the bandage and actually stained the sheets at the motel while sleeping (Sorry Day's Inn Morro Bay!) I did have some trouble with one corner peeling up, and had to stretch it back down and use some tape to keep it down. It still curled up a bit. Through Saturday and Sunday the sheets simply stuck to me like glue, they are very breathable, and the plasma build up stopped pretty quickly. It all looks very dry (and brown) under the sheets. The tattoo really feels great now. I am probably babying my arm a little too much and being a bit cautious with it around my 4 and 1 year olds but I really am trusting this healing process and want it to work. Dan recommended I take three days time with it, so that would be this morning...will be peeling it off and cleaning + lubing with Hustle Butter in an hour or so, if you guys are interested I'll update you on how it went. Photos below are of the piece fresh and what it looks like after 3 days of tegaderm this morning....

Is it Sunday yet? I can't wait to get tattooed by Ron Henry Wells at the Philly convention. Another friend is getting done by him Friday, and then I have a friend getting tattooed by Eva Jean on Sunday. Oh, and my wife is getting her left arm (three quarter sleeve) outlined by Martin Lacasse on Friday. This is going to be a great weekend.

Scorpion Studios. They do nice tattoos.

Mike Wilson:

What's up with getting this Snapchat started? I changed my name from "Beefycock" to "danandout". No one would add me with the name beefycock. not sure why.

Nobody is entitled to have anybody participate in their research. If this poster was an active and contributing member to this forum, was getting tattoos, had experience, photos, and stories to share, then posted that she was taking this course and wanted to do this particular assignment about tattoos and could we help her by doing this survey, then maybe I'd be willing to help. Doing what she did, however, by coming here and asking us to take a survey with no indication of who she is, what her research question is, what her interest or involvement in tattoos is...what does she expect? If she ends up with shitty research because she doesn't understand what she's trying to study and how to approach it, that's on her, not on me or anybody else here for not participating.

I really like all of these: Tas Danazoglou Alex Reinke Stewart Robson

I've probably read this thread four or five times through since I started lurking around here. I can't get enough panthers. I've been trying to get something from Richard for a while, but unfortunately, life keeps happening.

Yeah, ya know what? The more I look at it, the more jealous I am becoming ! ;) Damn man ! That is so awesome. I have wanted a crawling panther for a long time now. But, not sure I can get one now because, it'll have to live up to that one LOL So awesome @Shaun1105 .

If you want to be involved with this community you need to start by getting tattoos. Drawing what you perceive to be traditional tattoo designs without actually having tattoos is silly.

Yeah I didn't join this forum to do surveys. However, if you have some tattoo stories or pictures, I'm interested in those.

So here it is, lots of swelling. Note that the dark part covers a small fugly tattoo. Big thanks to Christian Lanouette from Tatouage Royal in the greatest city out there, Montreal.

you're damm right 30 is still young!!!!

A giant rib piece by koeplinger automaticallly gets my vote. I think it could also win right now as a unfinished piece.

I agree. Hands make for excellent tattoos. I have a small tattoo of clasped hands on one wrist and a hand of glory on my leg. The hand of glory was done by Chad Koeplinger last summer.

Going to order two copies when the US version is available... One to watch, and one to tuck away in case anything happens to the first. Hoarder style.

Really guys? Speculating on why people were in a tattoo shop at that hour in that neighborhood? What, are we going to speculate on the length of skirt the victim was wearing at the time next?

@Graeme YES! Wish I had the funds for my back (reserved for Yoni) now, alas I do not! Upcoming for me: on Horitomo's list for my CA trip in April/May. We'll see if I get in, I really, really, really want a Monmon cat. Don't know where I'll put it if I do get in, maybe on my thigh.

pooh ghost!?! genius. yes, please leave your boyfriend / girlfriend at home if they're going to talk for you. nothing chaps my ass more then when I ask the guy what he wants to get done and his girl chimes in for him. grow a set. or I'll be tattooing a girl and she'll bring her friend with her who has one tiny tattoo of a dolphin on her wrist but bitch thinks she knows how it's done. " I heard white hurts more, is that true?"

One more thing, and then I'll shut up about this, but this: Is a genuinely very good explanation of what you would contribute to academic knowledge about tattoo culture. Great. It is of course important to be able to explain a research topic's place within the wider literature. What it is NOT, however, is an explanation of what you would contribute to tattoo culture itself. Many academic confuse these two--they think that by contributing academic knowledge they are "giving back" to the people they research inherently. That's bullshit. When in the other thread, people posted about academics taking and not giving back, this is what they meant. When you embark on this kind of research where you hope to have people share pretty intimate parts of their lives, you have to think about what you will be able to give them, and not accept this fallacy that the world somehow gives two shits about the academic "contribution" your making. It is MUCH HARDER WORK to make sure you're making both an academic and a social contribution, but it's also, the only truly ethical way to proceed.

I don't know when Matt Lodder wrote that, but Margot Mifflin's Bodies of Subversion covers a lot of this very well, and there's a new edition of it coming out in the next couple of months.

@SailorClaire Matt Lodder beat you to it by a few years. My opinion of this subject aside, I presume you've read The Post Modified Body? I skimmed your proposal and read the first questions. I must say, I'm not impressed. You won't get any further insight or information than a Daily Mail article or any of the tattoo books you can buy in HMV. Here's my opinion: When it comes to tattoos (and probably other areas of life), anything online is very far from the reality of the situation. Speak to real people in the real world and get a more honest view of what you're writing about. I don't know why I keep saying this to academics, they rarely listen...

I hope you find this place interesting beyond your research interests, good luck with those, and welcome.

Stock replies for silly questions: "yeah how much did that cost?" ...side note, this is a pretty rude question from a stranger and i usually -pretty rude question buddy -sorry buddy they are not for sale -A LOT -you don't want to know -$50...for everything ;) -140 hrs @ $150/hr...you do the math..."that's really expensive/waste of money"...eh thanks Dad! buddy, that's over 10 years. how much have you spent on blow and fast cars over the last decade? really it's a piss in the bucket. -respond with "hey how much did your <house/car/diamond ring> cost? yeah pretty rude question isn't it?" "what is the meaning/symbolism" ...side note, there is nothing more boring than crappy tattoo with overt contrived meaning. -it means something different everyday. -meaning? it's a fucking <tiger puking blood>. do i need to explain further? -sorry lady, i don't really feel the need to explain the personal meaning of all my tattoos to a stranger in the grocery store line -it's just a fucking tattoo. "did it hurt?" -no, i didn't feel a thing -yes, it is the most horrible pain you will ever imagine -yeah it hurt, so gnarly, i barfed in my mouth (true story) i especially like this one in the tattoo shop..."i bet that hurts eh"...yeah a bit eh, but not as bad as that upsidedown script on your wrist is going hurt! yikes i don't envy you. "yeah man my tattoo took like 8 hrs" -dude, you got ripped off. how do i deal with the stock retarded questions? i don't ;) i wear long sleeves all the time and keep my gentleman art below the collar and above the wrist line. that way i don't advertise the unwanted attention and i don't get called out for being a total tattoo snob haha - - - Updated - - - oh and my personal fave (i've had this same conversation multiple times): "sick tatts brah. you do time in the pen?" "haha you think you can get colour like this in prison" "no doubt brah. RESPEK"

Panther by Richard Stell. Thanks Richard and jennifer

My most recent is an image from a Black Crowes t-shirt.