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Got this done last night by Heather Bailey at Spider Murphy's. Super stoked to have work by such a great artist! (First pic's stolen from her Instagram - Instagram)

Really nice! San Rafael bound next time I'm close for sure. Do you know how much this would hurt with pants on?

Sam from Silver needles, What a lovely girl One of the nicest and genuine people I have met, 9 hours on this today:) its very swollen at the moment!

A lot of literary tattoos are terrible because people are far too concerned with the literariness of them and not enough with actual tattoo design. I think there are a lot of ways of doing literary tattoos that are great and are probably overlooked by most people wanting literary tattoos...the scholarly skull or any permutation on that design is always great, you could look at ex libris bookplates for ideas, I can't find any reference images from a really quick google search but I am certain there are some Mucha or other Art Nouveau drawings that would fit the criteria. In general, I think too many people who want "meaningful" tattoos don't care enough about aesthetics and get crappy tattoos because of it. Here's my book tattoo done by Seth Wood. It's the Necronomicon, pretty obviously.

Yeah man...I agree with Josh. If you want to keep those designs have them re worked. Don't stress. I've had plenty of work re worked, covered and it all works in with the suit just fine. welcome to a fkin great journey in getting smashed in ink :) Take your time now, suss a few different tattooers, just talk with them, be straight up...find a fella who can cover/ re work well. Believe me...I've had real dark tattoos just ploughed over real heavy and it works well if the dude knows what he's doing...just be mindful, round 2 is the last round with this approach. When ya find a good bloke that will help fix these tattoos for ya, just treat him with some respect & give him some clean skin first to work some real nice pieces. It's about building rapport. Good luck with it all.

The beardo on the left is a fireman. The bold letters on his front identifies him as being in the "Chi" group of firemen. The text on his right identifies where he's from Sensoji in Asakusa, Tokyo. I believe it was common for firemen to get tattooed for id purposes if they died on the job.

I pillaged this one from Tomas Tomas's instagram and he said there that he got it from the Yokohama Tattoo Museum: That suit is so striking and powerful. I will readily admit that I am pretty ignorant about tattoos, and this photo really hammers that point home: I had no idea that there were Japanese bodysuits done like that with the heavy black and negative space. Does anybody know more about this photo?

Little Medusa Spider action on my very upper thigh, not a fun spot to get tattooed! He's going to add some webs behind her another time, the last thing I wanted after shading this thing was some thin liner work... - - - Updated - - - YES YES YES!!!

The elbow area of my right arm by Chris O'Donnell, the skull and peony were done a few months ago and the leaves and background were added about 2 weeks ago:

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 just drank a sierra nevada narwhal , brewdog clownking an a brooklyn black stout . got up to go to the toilet and i feel fucked after 3 beers lol i didnt realise theyare all 10% thought they were all regulr beers hah

I guess it depends on where the tattoos are and what kind of relationship you want with your parents. If they can be easily hidden, there's no pressure to tell them now or never, unless you really want to be open and honest about everything (even things that aren't much of their concern). My parents have surprised me about their opinions on me getting pierced and tattooed. Of course they hate everything at first, but they come around pretty fast. Things have actually gotten easier the more work I have done, whereas I expected it to be more of a fight the more I had done. It seems to be that way for most people on these boards: it's harder to take the first plunge, and everything afterwards goes a lot smoother.

Thanks! I'm going to be almost 40 when I go back! That seems so crazy, to be a...what..44 year old new teacher? I'm assuming it's a 4 year degree. Oof da. I read in Dear Abby years ago, a woman wanted to go back to school to be a Dr. and was upset that by the time she'd be done w/her 8 years of school , she'd be 50 (or whatever), and the reply was "Wouldn't you be 50 anyway?" I'm trying to keep that in mind, haha!

Sooooo my husband and I've been talking about it..I'm going to look into going back to school this summer and getting my teaching degree. Scary, it's been a loooooong time since I've been in school.

How old are you, Jnvlv? We're going to be getting more work done soon and will be needing my parents to watch the kids overnight so we can travel. They're not going to be happy and probably will have something to say about it. However-we're 39 years old, and I'm long past worrying if my parents will approve of my decisions. Don't give them the power of making decisions or forcing guilt on you-take it upon yourself to control your own life, put the parent shield up and let the guilt hit it and fall away.

Quick update. State of Grace and Horitomo released more prints so naturally I had to add to my wall. Filled in this space so far. Have six more pieces to place elsewhere in the apartment. Will provide another update shortly. LOVE the MonMon cats!!!

YEY! Got a cancellation! My artist is actually moving cities in the summer, so she's trying to fit everyone local in that was already booked in or has unfinished work before she leaves. 1.5 weeks baby! They've given me a full day appointment in March too to make sure it's finished. I'm going to go and see her with my references for the first time early next week. Now I'm having reference panic and what if she hates my ideas anxiety.

There's something magical about the full back tattoo. As young as 12, I was always awe inspired by seeing pictures, especially group photos of people posing for the photographs. I just knew that some day, I too needed to have that full back tattoo. Today, that's the tattoo out of all my collection that has the most significance. As people have already mentioned, it's no easy task. I think those big long sweeping lines that pick up all those different nerve endings was the most memorable experience for me. Don't concern yourself too much with the time you spend under the machine. I too use to look at long sittings as a significant feat, but these days I come to realise that time spent, is still time spent under the machine, whether you sit for 10,5,2 or 1 hours...every hour is still earned. There's no shortcuts. That tattoo has been earned through determination, a particular mind set and pain.

going up to see Grime in mid April, by then it'll have been around 6 months since the last session :(

Cheers Josh. Appreciate the comments mate, thank you. Yeah man, live in Brisbane..and I ride a HD. When we ride now, and the fellas I ride and camp out with take off for a run, part of the pre run conversation is....what we tell the pigs if we get intercepted. We hit runs northern NSW and shit, so pretty good once ya cross the border. Been hassled a little bit, but if ya play it cool and know ya rights ya pretty set. Not so easy for anyone who's been named in the "26" that are just motorcycle enthusiasts. All this with luck should get over turned at the high court. Where are you mate? Hours under the machine...I really don't know mate. Arms all re sleeved, decided to punch in real heavy with a solid black background mainly for that very reason of re working the arms. I'd take a rough punt and say 300 plus, from the waist to the ankles is as heavy as the torso. Sorry for straying off topic here to the thread starter. As stated, best of luck with it. Suit it up!

Chris Stuart from Ace Custom Tattoos in Charlotte has two amazing ROA back pieces up on his IG. Definitely worth checking out.

I meant "... where he's from--Sensoji, Asakusa, Tokyo."

i'm a big fan of Bonnie Prince Billy and Chuck Ragan at the moment.

Well today i had my first session. On my back. And after 6 hours i was woord out. I was shakey And couldnt hold my pain anymore ( normally I can sit up till 10 hours at the time) so we called it a day. We did most outlines but next time we do the last couple of bits. And do the shading part. I underestimate how much pain and work this was going to be. And to be honest I feel like a pussy for tapping out. I feel really bad right now. Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met behulp van Tapatalk

Had to pull my Tegaderm off about 8 hours too early due to a scheduling conflict... Bad idea. Take it from me, let it stay on a little longer rather than too early. Still healed great though. Here's a first thing AM dry as a bone pic from today That sucker hurt to peel. Also, though I don't have any big chunky scabs there is still a bit more of that thicker skin feel to some of this rounds work. I should point out though that this session was A LOT of color pack and that likely has led to a bit harder heal too Worst part of this heal though had nothing to do with the early Tegaderm heal. I woke up this morning and snapped off my shirt like normal, not realizing parts of the owl face was glued to the shirt. Ouch! Made it bleed actually a bit, as you can see in this real up close pic

I feel like everyone with a back piece is just biding their time waiting for their month to come.

I've come back to this thread so many times just to stare at @Russ 's back. That tattoo is so fucking phenomenal.

Phantom Tattoo Pain à la Phantom Limb. Phantom limb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I also posted this in the backpiece thread, but i'm soo stoked i just had to put it in here too :-) Well, Since today I am an official member of the Back piece squad :) We had a (pretty brutal) 5+ hour start of my backpiece, we managed to finish all the lining (except for the big flower that need to go on my upper legs). Next session will be for lining the flowers and the rest of the leg part, and to start shading... I can't wait ;-)

Well, Since today I am an official member of the Back piece squad :) We had a (pretty brutal) 5+ hour start of my backpiece, we managed to finish all the lining (except for the big flowers that need to go on my upper legs). Next session will be for lining the flowers and the rest of the leg part, and to start shading... I can't wait ;-)

I´ve already posted this in the back piece-thread, but I throw it out here too with a better photo. Next session in March:

Perhaps not the right place for this, but as a follow up to the no drawing rose painting/video I posted last week, here's a no stencil/no drawing rose I convinced a friend to let me put on him tonight. Sorry if this could have gone in a better place, since it's not painting-related... (the anchor and lily barely visible on his calf was my 14th tattoo, 13th if you don't count the one on myself to start things off)

Back piece started by Steve Byrne at Rock Of Ages

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

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!

Wolf head from Mike Aul, pretty killer capture

Update on my back ) Next session's scheduled for February 10. There should be only about 5 sessions to go..

Got this super-awesome psychedelic-multi-eyed-alien-tiger colored in and finished up yesterday (black is healed). Flash and Tattoo by Theo Mindell at Spider Murphy's. Pretty stoked on this lil' guy!! You can check the pretty colors on his instagram: Instagram Or check out a crappy-hotel-room shot attached! What's that saying someone said around here about Tattoos being tough to photo because there ain't no lens that can capture the magic? Totally true in my experience....

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

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.

Here's a fully of the progress so far, not just butt teasers from Dana's Instagram (though no one was complaining.....). I had a little fun and struck my best rear "relaxed" pose from my bodybuilding days. My internet personality is way more interesting than in real life. But hey, we're all just in it for the "likes" anyhow, amirite?! :cool:

After 1st session with Horitomo. Back was much easier than I thought/ heard, of course we haven't hit the problem areas yet...

next week i'm gettin my "lasered" arm covered! took the picture on the right, 2 days ago. finally it's over after 1 1/2 years of lasering!

That bear is a tough first tattoo, nice choice! Mine is kinda dorky but real representative of who I was when I was 18. It's just a skull with the cap removed and the brains sticking out. No pic right now, I'll get to it. I had a different idea (tribal, it was the 90's so don't judge!) but when I got to the shop I picked this design off the wall because it had brains. I know, cool story bro! Anyway, I don't regret it. I wouldn't choose it now, but it's who I was then and it's fun to remember. It's also on my shin right on the bone. I had to prove to my friends I could "take the pain maaaan!" haha. Being 18. WTF?!

Mine's already listed in the August contest, for for future prosperity on this thread: I'm a Steamship Agent in Louisiana and Texas.

I say just laugh it off. Probably half the time the people are thinking about that tattoo they wanted when they were young and did not get. So they are just envious of yours. When My wife and I go to the public pool I always come out after her so I have to gaze around till I see her, every time I always think to myself, man why are these people looking at me. Then I remember I have a crap load of tattoos. The stares are funny. Get used to them and laugh.

Hard to tattoo but if you put the balls on the elbow, it would totally be stretchy and have the same texture.