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Got my feet done by Aaron Coleman last night. Great guy, super happy how they came out, and he was fast enough to get both done before I completely wussed out. They wrap a bit, but you get the picture.

I posted an earlier pic of this chest piece, but today Tim Pausinger at The Pearl in Toronto finished things up. I'm super pleased with the results. Tattooing on and around nipples sucks. Worth it in the end though. Now, planning for an epic back piece begins. Oh FFS. Why is this image sideways. F' it. I'm going for a nap.

Sorry for the poor phone shot but there is progress...background finished up this past weekend. Mike

Sessions 1-5 by Aaron Bell...16.5 hours on the clock so far. - - - Updated - - - Killer Don Nolan design! I remember getting this design sheet when I was just starting to assemble some equipment from spaulding rogers back in '90...anyone know what year it was drawn?

went in to ask him about getting an older tattoo fixed and ended up getting a spur of the moment tattoo. excuse the crappy pictures as I forgot to ask him to take a picture for me so I had to try to do it myself at home afterward.

Really love these by Rico at Daruma Goya in Japan

Fiyah! Dana's Instagram.

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)

This year's Montreal convention is still a long way off, but they just released the poster for the convention: Mike Rubendall did the poster and it's a truly great one. If past years are any indication, it'll be a while yet before we see what artists will be attending, but Val and Pierre from Tattoomania always do a tremendous job with the convention and get some of the finest tattooers from around the world to attend, it's held in a beautiful space, and it's a really fun time in a great city. We also had a little LST meetup last year and it was a real pleasure to meet some of you in person. This year, the convention is going to start off at the Yves Laroche Gallery with a showing of new paintings from Phil Holt, Timothy Hoyer, Lango Oliveira, and Edu Cerro and if you've been following those guys on instagram you know that the show is going to have some pretty spectacular pieces in it. Anyway, here are links to the convention: website instagram facebook Who is planning on going?

I'll be there with my wife. Count on it. And @BrianH, I'll buy ya a beer too, if you have to sit for that long.

@Mark Bee Your chest just showed up on my facebook feed and of course I recognized it right away. Looks fantastic!

@Mark Bee thats so nice man.

Don't know if this has been posted yet, but this is probably my favorite version of RoA. I know it doesn't have that "wow factor" that more modern versions of this piece has, but I tend to gravitate more towards the old-school images. William Grimshaw:

That's a really nice tattoo, made me stop and admire it for a moment when I saw it. Saw it... Hur hur.

@Reyeslv, yup March 7th. I'm going to go to the reception too, but I also want to listen to all the speakers on the 8th. Good thing I live 15 minutes from down town :-)

I've been diggin: RH Wells Grimey Tomas Tomas Kenji Alucky Greggletron Nathan Kostechko Alexander Grim Seth Wood

Don't forget my favorite Kuniyoshi : Kadzusa no Suke Hirotsune battling with the nine-tailed fox on Nasu Moor (which is going on my back ;-) )

you forgot to add that you ignored me in blackheart. BTW, solid story from last friday: While waiting for Scott to finish getting ready, a really awkward stereotypical tech industry/googleish type dude comes in looking for Jeff regarding something he was drawing. Jeff comes out with some phoenix/bird looking thing (pretty sweet from what I saw). The dude spends a solid 5 minutes with it right in front of his eye... like deeply analyzing the work. Finally, he says "I think it looks really good, but the wing feathers look too... hold on im trying to find the best word to describe this... organic. Yeah, they look too organic." I think the highlight was Scott making random "Hmmmmmmmmm" sounds while the dude was balls deep in the drawing. Fuckin love that shop.

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 ;-)

Since its the year of the dragon and dragons are bad ass lets see some dragons. Dragons you own or dragons you like, Post them up. I own these two. Thigh piece is from Shige, Yellow Blaze Japan and the dragon and sword is from Dean Sacred, Sacred Tattoo New Zealand.

Just out of curiosity--and I'm not being confrontational with this question or trying to dismiss your feelings--how exactly do you feel ripped off? I could see if someone was passing off a design/selling it as one of their own, but if someone gets that image tattooed on them, I don't really see it as the creator of said image being ripped off. I do understand that the tattoo artist is charging the person to tattoo that image on them, but they're charging the person for the work being done on them, not for the image itself. Now if a tattoo artist had someone else's design up on a wall w/o consent and was trying to pass it off as their own, then yeah, I could see where the feeling of being ripped off comes into play...but if an average Joe walks into a shop wanting to get an image tattooed on them, I don't really see it as ripping the artist off. Now if the image is copyrighted and the tattoo artist still tattoos the image, then I completely understand where feeling ripped off comes into play...but if there is no copyright attached to a piece of work, there's really no way to enforce it.

@Cork thanks! Seems like every time he is at Northstar, I go there the Saturday afterwards. Dana is an amazing artist and he has been doing a killer job on your back piece...congrats again on the progress. Maybe I will get to see him if he comes up to NY for the convention in March. Hopefully one session of sumi black to go for the koi in the end of March and then onto color in April. Feels great to have the background done. Oh by the way...think you mentioned earlier...have a new reference for pain when getting work done...it was livable but that rotary was humming ;) Mike

I hope I'm stating the obvious, but you misspelled "absence" in your drawings! It's probably a good idea to run any word you want to inject into your skin through a spell check first. And then decide against a lettering backpiece. Looks like you're in the stage that comes after the "I think I want a tattoo" phase: "Now need to find something with meaning". Obviously, words have the most accessible meanings. Wait till you're over that, and then let someone draw something beautiful for you. How it looks is what matters.

Did you help me book my appointment?? If so, I didn't know!! I'll def say what up next time. Might be sooner than later. I do have a tax refund on it's way... And that story is hilarious. - - - Updated - - - I wore a beanie that day, thank you very much!

This is definitely my favorite thread on the entire forum.

That didn't take very long haha. There are at least 3 tattoos posted already that could very easily be winners if they weren't all posted in the same month.

Hi, just curious: are those tits part of a religious tattoo as well?

If that's the case I will buy you a beer afterward because it will be well-earned and necessary.

I really enjoyed last year and will be there again this year! If Henning attends I will most likely be getting tattooed by him for 6-8 hours. Hoping all the distractions of the convention atmosphere help me sit stronger and longer.

Anybody who lists "manipulation of others" as an interest sounds like a total douche.

@dcostello are you the shop dude there? - - - Updated - - - these are all cell phone pictures, sorry if they're a bit sloppy - - - Updated - - - if someone would be so kind as to post, I can put the rest of them up

Had my oni coloured yesterday.. Took about 4 hours and some work still needs to be done as you can see..

I think this might help: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/3501-help-theres-tattoo-my-pimple.html

google translate much?

blast over the little fuckers >:]

Did this one yesterday, 5.5 hour one shot. Tough girl! @Wilhell I know I've already said it, but I really love your backpiece. The powder blue with the orangey reds looks real slick. :cool:

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:

Hello and welcome to LST! Who did your tattoo? In my opinion, it looks good as it is and there's no need to add anything to it. About getting a quote tattooed on you, I suggest you read this first: Most Honorable Blog: The Letter of the Law: Laws for Lettering and Tattoos You don't have to accept everything in there, and there are things in there that I disagree with myself, but it's at the very least worth reading and considering. I also really don't understand how you can at the same time come here asking about what kind of quote you should get but insist that it has to be meaningful. The two are kind of in contradiction, no?

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.

Back piece started by Steve Byrne at Rock Of Ages

Had a big session on my back by Marius Meyer.

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

What these guys said. Getting tattooed is meaninful in itself, there's no need to force meaning onto a tattoo. Usually it just means that the strength of the tattoo is compromised for the sake of meaning. Don't get hung up on your idea. A good tattoo has everything to do with the skill and experience of the artist you go to. He or she will be able to design you something that's going to look good, that's going to fit well on your body and will age gracefully with it. The best idea in the world will never make up for poor tattooing. Money isn't important. This is on you for life, go to the best person you can. Pick up extra shifts at work or sell things if you have to. It will be worth it.

Here's my opinion: 1) It's been stated pretty explicitly that cost is not something to be discussed publicly here. If you're unsure, check out some other shops in your area and get a feel for what the hourly rates are. 2) Take the quote out: it's on the middle of your back (if I'm interpreting your sketch correctly) which you WILL regret later if you get into the whole tattoo-thing long term. That is prime real-estate. Also, the images you've chosen probably represent what you are trying to say anyway and the words will ultimately fall-flat in time (my opinion). For what it's worth, I agree with the author of this article regarding text on the body (you might not!): The Letter of the Law: Laws for Lettering and Tattoos | Occult Vibrations 2) I think both of the images could be stronger if placed elsewhere. I would put one on each upper arm. I think the kite-girl could be really cool in the right artist's hands, but I don't think the image is big enough to be a side-piece. Again, that's prime real-estate if you decide to get something larger in the long term. 3) Instead of feathers, why not something like a phoenix or bird-of-paradise or peacock? I think those animals tend to make for a stronger image. Good luck!

As an artist/illustrator, I've had people ask me if they can get my work tattooed on them, and I usually say it's okay. I have had people not ask me though, and i've somehow stumbled upon a photo of a tattoo of my original work without my consent. The way I look at it, is a tattoo artist should be okay with tattooing someone else's work so long as the client has the permission from the original artist. Of course, there are exceptions, like artists that have passed on or artists that are very popular and difficult to get a hold of. It's not really a black and white issue. All I know is I feel pretty ripped off when someone copies my work.

@Iwar found this photo yesterday. Mike and Mike, Rubendall and Roper. Sooo good! Coolest thing I´ve seen in long time! Another dragon-king, Hide Ichibay:

Seppuku is your only option. Farewell, friend.

here's some pix of my sleeve from Marcus Kuhn...