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Had a big session on my back by Marius Meyer.

Back piece started by Steve Byrne at Rock Of Ages

I'll go ahead and get this month started - edit: almost!. All months should really have a panther tattoo, shouldn't they? I'd love to see Aaron Coleman three-peat.

I'm waiting until I can get a better pic of the wolf I got from Ron Wells this afternoon before I post. I'm way thrilled with it though, and he couldn't have been nicer. All in all a great experience.

Got started on my ribs with William Yoneyama today, 40+ degrees outside, nowhere better to be than under air conditioning. About 3-4 hours in, should wrap it up in a few weeks. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

here's an out of focus pic of one from two weeks ago my lady and her friend were getting bro tats i had a perfect spot it and was hangin out up there...know how that goes Instagram

Sorry for the delay folks! The winner of Tattoo of the Month January 2014 is @embers with yet another amazing Bryan Burk tattoo! Congrats dude!!! Please PM @steve1461686340 with your shirt info (size and male or female) along with your address. Thanks to everyone for your submissions! New contest will be up later today.

Ok I'll go First done by the totally awesome Valerie Vargas at Frith Street Tattoo, around 40 hours work, finished a couple of weeks ago.

@TaeTae @cltattooing @ironchef @hogg @Reyeslv and @CultExciter - Thank you for all the kind words!! It´s beginning to look like a back piece I think.. Next session is the 7th of March. Then we will start to color the dragon.

Sixth session, almost done! By Grez. Said goodbye to my old and very odd lower back tattoo yesterday, too.

Really cool that Thom got written up in the NY Times today: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/nyregion/for-restless-pioneer-of-modern-tattoo-art-a-life-beyond-ink.html?_r=0

@Wilhell! Daaaaaaaamn.

Mario Desa put this Higgs flash on me last night at the Philly tat con.

What he said!!! Daaaaaaaamn!!!!

I am tired of hearing this question and I am barely tattooed. anytime one of my TWO tattoos show, it is always the same question. How much it cost and what does it mean. The price part I answer truthfully, they always get sticker shock though. And always the reply is, "Oh my boy did mine for 20 bucks, you should hit him up" as they show me the most messed up cheetah tattoo I have ever seen. Then they go into this big long tirade about the fact tattoos are supposed to have meaning. "Blah blah blah my tattoo means x, y, z, and for my dead parakeet when I was three and my abandonment issues and how I have become stronger as a person." Then they stop and ask me if tattoos really hurt, because they have all these tattoos planned but are afraid it will hurt, and they dont like pain! it gets old, quick. and I only have 2 tattoos. How do you more covered people deal with this kind of bs? I am assuming you get it alot more than I do but honestly, I would feel like punching people if I had way more tattoos to be demanded on the spot to explain, give the cost, then listen to other people's future tattoo plans. A quick aside, I like telling people how much my tattoos cost, because the ones who want them but hate to pay, it makes them reconsider really getting a tattoo.

For more info on the show, click: Mike Giant @FFDG, Feb 7th Hope to see some bay area LSTers there!

Paul Rodgers. There, I said it. But Paul Rodgers got his first tattoo on the John Robinson Circus from this man, Mr. Chet Cain. I can't say who did his work, or if it was hand poke or no. Although at least part of it may have been done by Gus Wagner. I'd almost bet my life, but then you'd think about it and see how cheap I am... I can't find anything flash wise from Cain at all, so if any one has a dusty old flash sheet sitting in a cardboard box in the closet of their shop with his name on it, post it please. Oh, Gus Wagner got struck by lightening while working on his roof. Hand of God? That's why I don't do roofing. - - - Updated - - - OH yeah, I forgot. Those shorts are made from a circus curtain. Many tattooers back in the good/bad/disease ridden carny days also were attractions. I've seen the cut down curtains on Ted Hamilton too, so I figure it was pretty common to add just a little more look to your act, even though now a days no one would blink an eye to a full shirt.

Aaaaand we're off! What a start!

I feel bad for winning again thanks to Bryan but hey just means more people should get tattooed by him because he's the best! Thanks @Iwar I will be going to Oslo still but not til July so still quite a bit of time

At the moment, crushing hard on Brian Kaneko - so powerful

Love the thread on Chi tattooing. As a huge geek I love history of any kind, but ever since I got serious about tattooing it's all I can talk about it. Drives my lady crazy all my second and third hand tattoo things. I've been looking into artists that have not been house hold names, but never the less left a mark. Tex Rowe, Danny Danzl, and Ernie Sutton come to mind right away, and since this was about Chicago, one of the places Sutton worked, I thought I would post a picture of him and his partner Lou Lewis, who he worked with and ran the LA Supply company with. (I have to give credit to shaneenholm for his masterful and pretty darned funny entry on the Pike and Swingates, which proves that the more I know I know diddly. Read it here: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/crazy-tattoo-stories/86-swinggates-pike-more-you-look-less-you-know.html) Mr. Sutton is on the left and Mr. Lewis is on the right. Sutton worked with Tahiti Felix, Sailor Ted Warner and taught Mr. Zeke Owen and Tennessee Dave. He was also a bank robber from what I understand too. I think his flash book is out there although I haven't picked it up just yet. If anyone has more information on him let me know. Thanks For the pic...

Nathan Kostechko Instagram

I for one am proud to be a (small) part of a forum whose members are posting some of the best tattoos in the world right now.

Wolf head from Mike Aul, pretty killer capture

I can officially add "appointment with Horitomo" in my upcoming tattoos list! Scheduled for end of April/beginning of May. Very excited! So much for my "I'm done until I have enough money for my back" and "have to let husband get tattoos too" statements!

what are your thoughts on the use of slang and terms that folks use to try and make tattooing sound cool? as an example i don't like the use of the terms tat, tats, or tatted up. i think that the word tattoo is cool enough and has always had a certain power to it. there's not really a need to attempt to make it sound cooler or clever by shortening it or adding z's instead of s's. i don't like gun for a tattoo machine either, but do find it amusing when people use it and sometimes i'll say "do you mean a tat gat?" so are there terms that you do or don't like as well as does it give you an idea of the type of person you're talking to when you hear them use certain slang?

The rules: The tattoo picture that gets posted in this thread for February 2014 with the most 'likes' for the month wins! The contest starts on the first of the month and ends on the last day of the month. Your tattoo picture must be posted in this thread (both tattooers and tattoo customers can win) in order to qualify. Include with your photo/post...tattoo artist name & tattoo shop. You MUST be the one who has the tattoo or did the tattoo. You can 'like' as many tattoos as you want. It can be a finished or in progress tattoo. You cannot enter the same tattoo in more than one contest. So sorry for not posting this up earlier you guys!

I'm sure you all have at least one good one.

Well holy shit, guys! Party on!

The first two have always been top of the list, since they were my first two favorite tattooers. After that, it's been a slow addition. Chris O'Donnell Steve Byrne Stewart Robson Mike Rubendall Frank Carter Smith Street crew Frith Street crew (already got two down) waaaaaaaaay too many to list here...

Some of my extensive list: Freddy Corbin Ron Henry Wells Horitoshi/Salmon Family Jeff Rassier Jaie Devore Matt Wes

This +1

@semele @Wilhell @Tittleton I'd say you guys are winning at life and are making good decisions.

Currently, Seth Wood.

@Wilhell AMAZINGLY AWESOME! So BOLD!

Dan Sinnes, Ron Henry Wells, Horitomo, Pino Cafaro, Sandor Jordan, El Monga....too many amazing artists, hopefully got enough skin left!!!

@Dumpleton Those are rad! I love the dots you use, dots are so cool. Perhaps I am just amazed by how the simplest and smallest of marks can have such an impact. @Graeme I LOVE THAT. DO MORE OF THAT. :eek:

@semele Rad!

Hey, so that's the only decent picture I got of my sleeve in its current state. Done in Beijing. It's been fun so far!

Just keep getting rad tattoos. Eventually, you will get to a point where you won't care about the fairly minor specifics of that part of your arm. Don't worry, let it happen, if you have a cool little piece you want to get and it feels right to stick it in there...then do it!

It seems to me the cross is an old tattoo, possibly have it re-worked (blasted over is the new term du jour, I believe!) if your happy to do so, make it look more in keeping with the rest of your trad stuff and maybe have something incorporated into or around that, possibly something like the attachment. I have a negative space around my Traditional tattoos and personally I feel it looks the best, it gives each individual piece definition, if you start filling with things like stars/smoke etc it can swamp up the whole arm IMO.

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

Iron crown tattoo in Monterey CA was established in 2010 and has grown faster than imagined. We are a full custom shop in a great location. We have 2 colleges and 2 military installations and countless of local tattoo enthusiasts and tourists and travelers that keep our shop plenty busy. We need artist with high talent and skill with 3-5 years at least of experience. You have to be comfortable with custom artwork, top quality customer service, and providing a welcoming and enjoyable environment. We need someone that is dedicated and reliable. We've earned a great reputation locally the hard way, and need folks that arent afraid of the hard work it takes to keep it. A love and passion to the craft of tattooing is an absolute must. What we DONT need are the typical things no tattoo shops need these days like rock stars, druggies, unreliability, unprofessional talentless, inexperienced, drunks, tough badasses, drama queens etc. We encourage you to come guest spot to see if you're a good fit to our team You can contact us and send some samples of your work to [email protected] Our website is being revamped as we speak so you can check out Facebook.com/ironcrowntattoo

Anyone know if that's a Hardy original creature he's painting, or is that some mythical "tigon" that I don't know about? Full disclosure: my 3-year-old keeps asking me about it, and I don't have the answer.

Ed Hardy painting studio session -