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Here's the result of my appointment with Scott Sylvia. Btw, Great Lakes Tattoo is a very nice shop.

I teach writing for a living. Reading that poster has my marking-hand twitching.

^!!!! whoa!! Thanks for that link, perpetrators are exposed!!

^WHOA plagerists!! Damn I want answers too now. Is that an actual structured sentence? I mean I'm not an English major but it sounds a bit odd. Furthermore, however, consequently, I am curious as to what makes these folks 'pioneers of biomech design and applicators'. Edit; I just examined more of this site because it's very baffling and vague about who actually tattoos there. So I decided to click on various links under the 'menu' and found that they are posting Mosher's drawings from his books right there online as their 'traditional Japanese tattoo designs'. SUPER FUCKED UP AND NOT OK AT ALL. @Victor I would distance myself from these folks and not post anything else from that site. If you are involved with that shop than I would step back and see that this shop is doing one of the most taboo things to do.

And here we are again :) Today/tonight was the 4th session, this time 3 hours, I could have gone longer but my artist needed to pick up a guest artist from the airport. Anyway we still made good progress, my other side is now completely shaded as is my right left. Next session we are going to do the rest of the shading on my left leg, and on my ass (ouch! : ) ) and put some black in the clothing, and then we're done with the black and its onto color!

Bringing food and or sweets to the shop is one of the best random surprises you can do for us/your tattooer/local shop. That always makes our day. Funny that this got brought up today; I did that today for the guys at the shop working on my truck. Just showed up with 3 pizzas and got some high-fives and split. A random 'thanks' and show of appreciation for people doing you a service goes a long way.

I have to say that this was a great response and I second your new thread idea. Thanks for making me laugh.

@gougetheeyes - oh well, I thought outlines might have helped. But gee, props to the newbie who figured out big mistake #2. @irezumi - Thanks, the thought counts. tl;dr is better than nothing. @CultExciter - I figured. But after wrestling with the sucky search engine again, I said screw it, let me piss off some folks and ask. Maybe there should be a section here called, "Shit that's been beaten into the ground". @Tesseracts - wow - both are pretty wild. I wasn't looking specifically for birds - they just happened to be two of the first examples I saw that illustrated my question when I was surfing. I wasn't implying I *liked* either one in particular. I was reading about tebori when you posted your tattoo - neat. I really like the transitions - it's more like a painting like you mentioned. Thanks for giving your perspective and giving examples - something to keep in my head for next time. (Oops, did you just put a thought in my head for a third one? O_o) @Colored Guy - agreed. Thanks, all.

@49531 are you on instagram? Made a couple more, really starting to get more confident with spit shading, my biggest issue at this point is finding a good reference to paint from, and or coming up with a fresh idea.

What is this, the high school guidance counsellor method of getting tattooed?

we have some availability - call the shop or email!

I'm almost done with mine! Can't beleive it, haha

Perused the catalog today between appointments, and already have my Horitomo tenugui framed and ready to hang tomorrow. Entirely too excited about it all.

few recent ones

Does trash polka mean 'tattoos that aren't tattoos'? or just 'tattoos that look like shit'? If someone asked me for a trash polka tattoo that 'would get the wtf are you talking about' look. Please don't get something like that @scubaron and if you realllllly have to do it just bring in a reference to the shop, don't use that bizarre term. That must be a euro thing.

LMAO Holy Christ, why can't a tattoo just be a flippin' tattoo anymore. It's like going to a Chinese restaurant with 400 things on the menu and you're like "uh can I just get some egg rolls man?".

Getting excited. April is going to be a fun month. Octopus on shoulder scheduled with Yoni Zilber Yoni Zilber | Tattooing & Tibetan Art by Yoni Zilber Consult for a lady head scheduled with Anderson Luna Saved ♣ Tattoo Consult for a skull scheduled with Daniel Trocchio tattoos | Daniel Trocchio

I had a painting instructor who does really nice paintings. He's also a tattoo artist. However his tattoos don't look like his paintings at all. There must be a reason for that. Here are his paintings and here are his tattoos. They're different styles and they emphasize different things. I love paint and I love the way paint looks, but human skin isn't like paper or canvas. I don't think it's just a matter of fading, some things look better on a flat computer screen than they look on an arm. It seems to be that the best way to get something that looks like a painting on your skin, is to find a good tebori artist. For example, this bird by Horimasa has really nice subtle color transitions, more like a painting than like most tattoos. I also like how well white comes out with tebori. Dotwork tattoos also look kind of like drawings or illustrations to me, here is one by Valentin Hirsch.

Eli at Smith St just did this one on me

Got these crammed in Thursday by Josh Damnit at Classic Tattoo Upland, CA and finished my right leg :D

I've stayed in the Park Hyatt Tokyo a couple of times and although you can walk around without a problem if you want to eat / drink in either of the two bars or restaurants the staff can be sticky about making you observe the dress code, and doing that tends to mean you have de facto covered up. I was politely told once that they couldn't seat me in the casual lobby bar (I was wearing shorts). Embarrassing and a bit frustrating, but not unexpected really. The pool was a no-no without rash guards. Oddly the gym is no problem. As far as public baths go: I found two where I was let in... dunno if they are on the seedy end of the spectrum but it didn't seem like it.

Bigger people can get more cool tattoos. If your pale then thats just icing on the cake.

My parents are very religious muslims, so it wasn't even a topic that was open for discussion as tattoos are so forbidden in Islam. My older sister got a tattoo before me, and whilst i knew my parents hated it i was never around to see my parents finding out about it so i had no real idea about what sort of reaction they had. So i got my first tattoo on my back, second on my chest, and then my third on my forearm. During healing i was wearing a long shirt to hide it, and i kept bringing up the "Can i get a tattoo" and my mum would always say no, i brought it up once when i was in my mums room and whilst talking about it, she spotted the gap i had in my shirt (It had buttons down the sleeves kinda thing) and demanded to see my arm, she freaked out had a nervous breakdown, sent me out of her room, cried for a couple of hours and i could tell it was easily one of the most upsetting things in her entire life. This same ordeal happened (And to this day does) everytime i'd get a new tattoo and she'd "Find out" about it. I have a full sleeve now, entire chest and other tattoos here and there, and it's still something that plagues her, she can't stand my tattoos. The point is, even if your parents are only a little bit opposed to it, or completely opposed to it like my parents, showing them sooner than later is the only way to go. When i'm hiding tattoos i have this constant fear of them seeing them, and when they do know all about my tattoos at least i have a sense of relief.

Today at my appointment I asked the artists if they had reservations tattooing larger folks, as I had read on another tattoo forum that some artists have a problem with it. They seemed genuinely surprised that it was even a thing. I mentioned I'd heard about the difficulty getting a good stretch thing and they were like "no... we're professionals, it's fine..."

Well, son of a bitch. site:www.lastsparrowtattoo.com watercolor tattoo Thanks for beating me over the head with something I already knew. But that still won't stop me from complaining that the search engine sucks. ;-)

It's stuff like this that is the reason it's difficult to Google information about tattoos. You Google something like "good realistic tattoos" or "tattoo styles" or "how to choose a tattoo"... stuff any normal person would want to know... and all that shows up is tons of lists and images of tattoos that aren't even good, on websites that give you no real information and are just designed to be click bait. Most of the time they don't even credit the artists so you can't readily find the other stuff in their portfolio on the off chance you find something you actually like. The descriptions of the images are just superficial uninteresting descriptions of what you're looking at, like "birds are pretty." Or it goes in depth about something pointless, like how this chart is careful to explain to you the difference between monochrome and color (?!). I just now Googled "Japanese koi tattoo" so I could get an authentic example of stupidity, and this is a sample of the literature I found: "Of course, people may love fish tattoos for no reasons, just for cool." Not only is this sentence a worthless introduction to a page of 50 random fish tattoo images (without artist credit) but "just for cool" isn't even proper English. The only reason this sentence exists is to make the website more likely to show up when someone Googles the word "cool." Oh yeah and there is the occasional article you stumble upon filled with cliches about how "tattoos are no longer for criminals and sailors any more" which doesn't tell you anything interesting. I mean I know sometimes it takes more than 20 minutes of research to find something worthwhile, I'm just saying, stuff like this makes the entire internet worse. There is even more nonsense on the internet about tattoos than there is about most Googlable subjects. LST and a few blogs are the only decent sources of information I've encountered so far.

The problem I see with this "tattoo style flow chart" is that it enables people to do all their research from the comfort of the home computer. A consultation tool? Whatever happened to walking INTO A TATTOO SHOP! Y'know, feeling like your going to shit your pants when the scary surly tattooer with a cig hanging out of his mouth comes to the counter to greet you with a smile, flash a gold tooth and says "what'll it be kid?". And you say in a shaky voice "uh um uh uh...i'd like a tattoo" and mr.tattooer says "relax kid and make yourself at home, we gots lots of flash on the walls, photo portfolios from our tattooers are on the table" and you say "uh thank you!" and then you sit back and flip through the books, get excited and see what type of fine work this shop is capable of. THAT is research. maybe I'm being a snob. yes, most probably. but part of getting the tattoo is that experience. and I'll never forget the first few times I walked into tattoo shops. some of them i looked around for 30secs and walked right out. some I stuck around for an hour and half and waited to be able to chat with a tattooer who's work struck me. it made getting a tattoo a real thing. so maybe you are thinking about your first tattoo. or second or third. or you're nearly filled up! whichever way I encourage people to get off tumblr and instagram (okay, stay here on LST though hehe) and go into that tattoo shop with the butterflies in your stomach to see what the tattooers within your reach are capable of. don't dissolve tattoos down to binary decision making -- make your tattoo an analog life experience. GO FOR IT! /endrant!

@Victor Stop being a fucking clown. Is this the website for your shop? Why are you stealing, nearly word for word, the welcome statement on the LST website? LST: The Halifax Tattoo Machine: We want answers.

I'm actually envious of bigger people who get tattooed whether "fat" or "built", trying being a skinny short arse and getting tattooed, not enough real estate for Tattoo's! In all seriousness fuck what people think, enjoy getting tattooed and proudly showing them no matter what body shape you are. Tattoo's are not just an accessory for Gym Bro's showing their guns.

Thank you.

I'm tempted to take this into my shop and start asking for "painterly" or one of the other terms. Oh! the laughs we'd have. I appreciate the thought from the OP, but I wouldn't bring this to any professional I know.

I'll leave it up to you to decide how credible or experienced I am when it comes to tattoos, but in my opinion, if you went into a shop and asked for a "black and grey, illustrative, painterly, realistic" tattoo I would expect that you'd be met with a blank stare. This chart is a joke.

Also... "griffiti"?! WTF?!

Being new to tattoos, I like this. Not necessarily to help me decide what I want, but to see the different styles of tattoos and the understand the terms being used by people more experienced. Trash Polka for example. If I wanted something like that, I now know what that style is called and can research Trash Polka tattoos and artists that do that style.

Although I did not actually see the image you posted, SeeSea and CultExciter gave intelligent and mature responses. It seems like a shame that you chose to focus on what may or may not have even been a rude response by one poster, which in my opinion wasn't. If you're gonna ask for opinions and critique, you have to take the good with the bad and laugh at yourself a little. Life isn't so serious, and honestly man, it's kind of silly to delete your work just off of that. Take pride in your work, even if it's not the best job. Learn from your mistakes and take feedback gracefully or don't put it out there cause nobody wants to hear "poor me" when you ask for critique, naw mean?

I really appreciate how well that diagram credits all the artists!! ..................

All kinds of no.

Maybe that's supposed to be a saggy breasted luchador wrestler?

This topic has been beaten in the ground on this forum. That bottom one looks like a style someone developed to hide the fact they are a poor craftsman.

i'm a fat lady with a fair amount of tattoos. i know alot of people say you should go bigger with the pieces, but the way i see/saw it was that it meant i could get more work done, so i'm enjoying having a big amount of work on my arms and still having a bunch of space left. as for how it helped with my body acceptance, i couldnt really say. as i started getting tattooed at age 18 (nearly 24 now) i could say that having tattoos has made me feel more comfortable, if not proud to show off my skin, but i would also kind of hope that thats also down to me aging, maturing, knowing what i see as beauty in myself and in others. the only time where i have found being fat and getting tattooed an issue is when i am thinking of getting my stomach done. i know i dont plan on getting pregnant ever, but thats the one time when part of me is always saying "i'll wait until ive lost some weight" (knowing full well that i probably never will) that is one thing i would like to see more photos of, ive seen plenty of mens beer guts with stomach rockers, but i'd love to see some chubby girls belly tattoos, maybe then i'll finally get round to starting my own!

More video posting. Horitaka! Taki lectures the first half and during the second, is where you see 50 backpieces/bodysuits walking around. Kip Fulbeck! The photographer talks about how everything was put together. Chaz Bojorquez! Lettering genius.

"That's really pretty. Please don't get any more."

I guess I will try an even the RHW vs VV count valerie was kind enough to do this tattoo at SOG from a picture of my wife @Eilin that is utterly magnificent!.

Giving this a shot. This is my alligator tattoo done by Seth Wood who works at temple tattoo in Oakland California. We finished at Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn this Monday the third of march

@suburbanxcore and @graybones if you're going to play it like that, I'm going to throw this into the ring and we're going to have a three-way Ron Wells showdown.

@suburbanxcore , since you're entering your Ron Wells wolf, I'll throw in his cousin, the Ron Wells fox:

GREAT response: Sometimes Sweet: Why Yes, I Will Put a Bumper Sticker on this Ferrari: An Open Letter to Lisa Khoury

I see this guy on the road sometimes:

I think we are missing the point here. I would totally put a bumper sticker on a Ferrari. Especially one that says "I have a Ferrari, and you dont."

I might as well go balls deep with my second post and stick this in!:p My latest piece from Ross Nagle: As per my introduction thread, the top of the skull looks a little distorted because of the way my arm is turned but you get the idea. (I really need to get healed pics!!)