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Just Had the best two days ever, got to hang with some tattoo royalty get tattooed and spend an early Valentine in a cool hotel with my mrs, first I got my thigh / knee Tattood by Tim Hendricks Then I got my side / ribs done by Matt Arriola a day later I'm feeling a bit tender now, but it was totally worth it, pain killers and booze? don't mind if i do :D

Sorry for the poor phone shot but there is the progress...super stoked background finished up this past weekend. Added photo to full back piece thread as well. Mike

Thanks @Iwar I also got this Panther off Matt Arriola at Frith Street the day after

Here is my newest piece by Eddy Deutsche. Created last Saturday at Smith Street Tattoo. This Photo was taken the morning after.

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'm almost out of tattooable space on mybody which is a bummer but the upside is that I can start collecting originals from the tattooers I'm interested in. Andre Malcolm has some awesome watercolors for sale, check them out. I'm waiting on a response to buy the green dragon and the gold dragon paintings..... I really want this one but it's way past my budget... This is what I have so far, the first is a set of 3 prints from Grime that he printed on watercolor paper so he could continue to add to them making this set of prints all one offs... hese are done by my friend Horacio Martinez, the first 3 are oil and the last is ballpoint on a handkerchief... I'm trying to get a commission from Tim Lehi, he just emailed me and said he needs to catch with others and to contact him in 2 months, I want something like this...

Let's not forget Rodrigo Melo. Dana Helmuth frequently tattoos in NYC with Rodrigo Melo as well, I believe. Brian Kaneko is a frequent guest at Adorned and his Japanese is about as good as it gets in my opinion. At Three Kings, Adam Machin, Jeremy Sutton, and Josh Egnew do nice Japanese. There are so many good tattooers in NYC it's ridiculous.

You're in New York? Why go for "a lot of potential" when there people in NYC who do unbelievable Japanese work? Just off the top of my head, look into Chris O'Donnell, Mike Rubendall, Troy Denning, Shinji, Kiku, Chris Garver.

So nice! @Mark Bee Finished off my ribs with William Yoneyama, was a longer session than the first but so much harder, nearly tapped at one point but powered through. here's a snake preview, will post a full shot when it's healed.

I kind of feel like I ruined this month by posting my back piece, no one else wants to enter so I'll post some more :) - - - Updated - - - Done By Tim Hendricks at Frith Street Tattoo

The plan was to paint a ship in a vase. Not sure how this happened, Stoked on this one! A3

Hello! I've only been lurking here for a short period and I'm very, very new to tattooing. I've been toying with the idea of getting tattooed for years now, but it's only been maybe a few months since I started really wanting to have a tattoo vs just wanting to get a tattoo, if you know what I mean? I spent a long time trying to find a small, simple, "meaningful", and un-tattoo-like image to stick somewhere easily hidden on my body. I eventually opened up to the idea of something that wasn't text, but I had a lot of hesitation and hand-wringing over justifying them. Not sure what changed, but earlier this year, I came across Greg Whitehead's work up at Scapegoat in PDX and before I really realized what I was doing, I emailed him and now I have an appointment with him in April. My idea was to get a qilin (kirin) or longma with peonies, but interpreted in his style and not so much in a traditional Japanese style. Placement is kind of up in the air -- as long as it's around my upper back/shoulder/upper arm region, I'm cool with it. Is this sort of hybrid Asian/Western style doable? Is it sacrilegious? I really love his style, but I wanted the Chinese subject matter as a nod to my cultural heritage. Anyway, I'm hoping to learn a lot more about tattoos by hanging around here!

Latest effort, A3

People who tell you will regret it because it has no meaning, are usually the sort of people who don't really know a lot about tattoos and are likely to give you backlash for whatever you get, at least in my experience. Anyway, if it ties in with your heritage, which you are trying to connect to and looks like an amazing piece of art, then win win. I have cranes, turtles and koi and planning a whole lot more, although I know what they represent within Asian culture, I got them because I like the art. With reference to the Kirin, which as you know is also a Kylin/qilin in chinese. Here is a western style Kirin done by Jess Yen. The work you posted in that link looks really good and if you like his style then see what he thinks about your ideas and get yourself an awesome tattoo.

I am over it and I hope they can be too I have worse things to worry about now than their opinion on tattoos

Saw this on IG, incredible man I love the colours with the generous amount of black too. William is great I have my feet done by him, of course one of his snakes.

The money argument is so overused.

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.

one from today and a few days ago

I just heard back from Andre, those paintings are as good as mine! :D

Great work! As good as any.

I think this is pretty true. I recently found Greg's work from someone recommending him on here, and it's incredible. I'm sure you'll get a killer tattoo.

Dan used to work at Invisible years ago,and does very nice work.He doesn't work at a high profile shop,and is a low key dude,but both Ricky & Dan at Inkman do real nice Asian work.

Hey, welcome to LST :) I think you're in good hands. To draw on an age old cliche, a picture's worth a thousand words. Images draw meaning because they tell stories, and it seems like you're found the right image for your internal dialogue. You're in the hands of a great artist, so just trust that their vision will collaborate with yours and I guarantee that you'll get a tattoo that will bring you great happiness for years to come. Good luck on your next piece and be sure to post up some pictures!

Oh wow, that tattoo is crazy. Do you happen to know what flowers or elements are typically portrayed with the qilin? I checked out "Chinese Art: A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery" by Patricia Bjaaland Welch, and she mentioned that they're often accompanied by peonies, but she doesn't mention anything else and I'm not sure if it applies to tattoos -- or even if it differs between Chinese and Japanese art. I'd been thinking peonies before because I just like the way they look, so it worked out well, but maybe there are other things I'm not considering. I did talk to Greg's assistant and she said he was interested in my idea, which led to a confirmation for the appointment and a deposit, so that's all settled! :D I do think that if you can marry meaning and good design, then that's awesome and all the more power to you. Looking back at the tattoos I wanted when I was 18 though, I realized that I placed too much emphasis on the former at the expense of aesthetic value. And to be honest, none of the ideas I had were very original; even if I had an important back story behind it, all anybody else would see is a fairly generic pinterest-style tattoo: tiny black linework or text that would've looked really awkward on my body. It's different for everyone, so I'll respect their views if they respect mine! Thanks! So glad to hear it -- all the justification is getting tiring. If anything, I like the idea that a tattoo represents me and my mindset at a certain time in my life, and that's something I don't think I should ever have to regret.

Yep! And it keeps getting crazier. I'm embarrassed to say what episode I'm on right now. But I guess that's what happens when work is canceled, roads are icy now, and my wife is away. Hahaha.

There you go man, great names there from Graeme. Check them out, pick out your favourite style, and get yourself a great sleeve.

I was browsing Tim Lehi tattoos and found this fucking sweet one (obviously not mine, maybe someone's here?)

definitely in the top 5. i also have fond memories of this gem: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/initiation/3512-newbie.html

Artist David Corden! We have tried something completely different work wise, totally out of mine and Davids comfort zones, it may not work but we tried for something different lol Brutally honest opinions chaps and girls lol we went for scribbly textured arty fartty style lol. We need to do more shading down the inside of the leg still and David said once its settled down we should see lots of textures. 10 hours on this and we still need to add more shading as its swollen really bad at the moment. What do you think?

Got my very own panther today. Tyson Arndt at Historic slammed this in about 2.5 hours. Couldn't be happier.

Clam/pearle tattoo by Karl Williams

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.

I am jealous of those who are attending on the 7th. I just got the invite in the mail the other day and it hurts a bit that I cannot go. I request a full report @Lance.

@DJDeepFried and I can't go to the opening as we are not Museum members, but we will probably go on the 8th...

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

Welcome!

Welcome!

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!!!

Dan Sinnes does really great script in my opinion. His shunga tattoos are far better known and are so awesome, but his script is top notch too.