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I was bored on my lunch break, so my buddy Chris Porter at Alley Cat Tattoo cured what ailed me. Super small and right next to the knee ditch. Sorry for the leftover stencil residue. I like bright shower curtains.

I'm heading off with my wife today as she gets to work on her half-sleeve. So, its not actually MY upcoming tattoo...although I will be in the shop....maybe a small one...

Why would you taste it if it smelled like it?! 2 out of 3 is good enough.

Things have been a little weird around here recently.

WTF? Now I know everything...Right?

hi @Victor! that tattoo trees is shit. everything about it is stupid. am i an internet bully now? no i have an opinion. LST is for good tattoos and good tattooing. not for dumbing people down with that bullshit tree thing. oh, did i mention that tattoo tree is pure shit? i did did i?

I have a feeling that we have met the most recent re-invention of Bruce Cove/Andre Murray/Master Zao

if it looks like piss, smells like piss and tastes like piss it probably is indeed piss.

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

Is no one selling tattoo magazines anymore? I remember that they used to be filled with a pretty diverse array of styles in each issue. Has the intervebs finally ruined any sense of adventure for the masses?

@Victor dude, the tattoo decision tree is dumb.

It's going from bad to worse rapidly.

I've been overweight most of my life. It's one of the reasons I've avoided getting tattoos until now. For years I was self conscious about anything that could draw eyes to me. I'm less insecure about that now. Although I'm still going to avoid getting tattoos on the larger areas until I lose weight. If I wasn't planning to lose weight I wouldn't worry about it, but I don't want skin shrinking to wreck things. Despite being American, there aren't a lot of fat people around where I live. There aren't a lot of people with visible tattoos either. I went to Disney World for the first time in my life recently, and it made me feel less weird. I saw plenty of overweight people with tattoos, and some of them were actually good. In line for a bus I saw a couple composed of a fat girl and a skinny guy. Both of them had tattoos, and the skinny guy had overweight pin up girls tattooed on his legs. I haven't had a tattoo for very long but I think I'm experiencing the same thing I've seen others describe in this thread, I care more about my health now that I have one. It's weird, it's like by putting something I value on my leg, my leg matters more. I never really understood why I wanted a tattoo until I actually got one, now I think I know why. When you put something in your skin forever, it's not only something that looks cool, it's a part of yourself. Do you know what I think the internet needs more of? Pictures of large people with tattoos. Here is a picture I took of myself to see what my tattoo looks like from a distance. It's not a good photo and the tattoo isn't healed yet, but I think it proves the world isn't going to fall apart if a large leg has a large tattoo on it. And here is me actually getting the tattoo, picture was taken by Fala.

I'm sure you guys have probably already seen this, but I thought it was pretty cool. Tattoo Parlor Offers 'My Little Pony' Designs Benefiting Bullied 11-Year-Old Boy

Looks like the attention has resulted in some action at least. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/21/my-little-pony-backpack-banned-school-north-carolina/6685403/

FYI it's usually not a problem to enter public baths "sento" with tattoos. Private hot springs "onsen" and hotel baths and pools are more likely to be a problem. This site is only in Japanese, but it offers consumer-based info on establishments that accept customers with tattoos: タトゥー・刺é’を入れã¦ã‚‚大丈夫ãªæ—¥æœ¬ä¸*ã®ãƒ—ールã«ã‚µã‚¦ãƒŠãƒ»æ¸©æ³‰ãƒ»éŠ*湯情å*±å…±æœ‰ã‚µã‚¤ãƒˆã€ã‚¿ãƒˆã‚¥ãƒ¼ã‚¹ãƒãƒƒãƒˆ

LST: Come for the tattoos, stay for the drama. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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

Aaron Coleman at Immaculate Tattoo in Mesa, AZ Today March 19th 2014 Black horse with flames rearing on my left upper sleeve

Eli at Smith St just did this one on me

paragraphs are your friends! :cool:

What the fuck is wrong with people, seriously

so I can vouch that a tattooed woman can be a hot granny,my wife,we have 1 & 5 yo grandkids (she looks pretty good for 54 IMO) , she only has a small tattoo,but she is the most loving ,nurturing,excellent grandmother ever ! #1 & 2 were in Kauai last year. #3 & 4 were a couple years ago,way back when she was 52 LOL . . .

Tattooed grandmas = awesome! Hope I get to be one.

Thanks. The friends I am going with aren't into tattoos. At least not like I am. One of them has a few but isn't really into them, the other has none. More and more I am thinking I want to try and make this work. My wife, who is being super cool just to let me go on this trip at all, is encouraging me to go for it. She's the one that got me into tattoos in the first place and I really want one the more I think about it. I guess time will tell.

CHAOS!

I recently bought a book called Mythical Beasts of Japan. It has a few bakeneko pictures in it. I don't know if you have already seen these but I'll post them anyway. Kuniyoshi, Kyosai, Kuniyoshi, Yoshifuji. Just found this blog. It's not in English but it has a lot of good pictures of Yokai.

If you need some sort of diagram or tree to help you decide what tattoo you want to get you really shouldn't even be getting a tattoo to begin with.

My latest tattoo was done at the Motor City Tat Con by portrait artist Kyle Cotterman. Idk how I feel about it, what is y'all's opinion? Sorry if that's not an ok link, I'm new and don't know how to post pics yet http://rightonkaleyross.tumblr.com/post/77534524828/got-a-portrait-of-my-beautiful-mema-today-by

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

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

^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.

@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.

@Tuchaka I'm sorry man, but that "rating" system posted above you is bullocks. It seems we have had a great deal of bullocks on this board lately. You can't deduce a tattoo's quality down to those elements. Mostly you just need to look at clean lines and solid application. Trying to scientifically deduce it to separate elements based on "ratings" isn't going to get you anywhere. Use your judgement, read a book on art, etc etc. Tattoos are supposed to have a little bit of soul in them. They are not mechanical and they cannot be reduced to a 0-10 rating. This was the first book I had to purchase when I was in university, I'm not saying it's bulletproof, but it'll be more advisable than the above: http://www.amazon.com/Design-Basics-Multimedia-Edition-ArtExperience/dp/0495128457/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1395351100&sr=8-4&keywords=design+basics

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.

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

All kinds of no.

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

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'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!

Miss @beez, you are an inspiration!!

Three Tides is in Osaka and Tokyo.

#1) Everything REALLY DOES look better with GOOD tattoos. (Even douchebags wearing Ed Hardy shirts...:rolleyes:). Whatever you're self conscious about ain't no thang when you've got a bad ass tattoo. Why would it be? You're too busy being stoked about the awesome tattoo. IMHO. #2) Keep watching, @growltiger, because it's not anywhere near finished yet! :) And if you wanna talk backpiece stuff feel free to PM me for anything! #3) It really is. Like I said, I've spent a lot of time (years) changing scripts in my head and weeding out the shaming stuff - btw totally get rid of anything that has advertising and/or commercials in it...anyway - I visited a friend who I had not seen for 3 years recently, and some of the first words out of her mouth were about how heavy she was and her weight - in response to a question that had nothing to do with anything at all about her or her weight! Because I don't have that particular shame-script running through my head any longer I was sort of shocked and surprised - and then really sad, because it sucks to have that awful, shameful, guilty, not-good-enough feeling running through your entire being at all times, and a lot of PEOPLE (all of us, regardless of gender) have that subconsciously ruling our lives. Just behind all of our other thoughts. And I felt sad for my incredibly talented and awesome friend who after three years, it was the one of the first things she wanted to communicate to me :(. FWIW, when I was younger, I realized that when I saw a woman who was clearly confident and also fat or somehow unattractive, my thoughts went along the lines of "who does she think she is? she's fat! she can't do/wear/say that!". I became afraid to go into public for awhile, because if *I* was thinking that then what were people thinking about ME? Literally would not go in public unless I had to for work or groceries. I began to wonder why I had such a sharp reaction, and such a negative one, at that? And what kind of asshole thinks that!! So I actively reversed my initial instinct and began admiring confidence in all who had it. (Why am I writing all of this? This is embarrassing/painful to admit, geez ) I think that there was something in me that was jealous of them for having confidence when I couldn't - if that makes sense? Like how could you be confident if I am not? (How dare you!) I think society gets mad when people go off script. I didn't like the way those thoughts made me feel, the way that negativity would sort of take over and poison me. A quick aside: Can I be honest, in the middle of this writing, and say that I am feeling a little bit of shame at ever having had such poisonous feelings...and feeling very grateful that I was able to literally change my mind....but wow, how petty and shortsighted and young. Life is a work in progress, always. Anyway - I traced a lot of my anxiety, guilt, fear, shame, and poisonous negativity to some of those thoughts I was describing (and of course many other thoughts and patterns in my life) - and I realized that I didn't have to accept my part of the deal. Just because society or some jerk or my mom or WHOEVER offered me this deal (i.e. be 'fat'! = feel shame, you're worthless!) didn't mean I had to participate. My thoughts are kind of falling apart here, but I think I'm trying to say - remove yourself from the equation. It takes some time to shed what we've been fed our entire lives, and you have to actively identify what is making you feel bad and then actively change it. Listen to your body. Do you feel bad? Knots in your stomach? Headaches? Active guilt/shame? Identify what triggers those feelings...dig deep if you have to...and then remove yourself from the thoughts/people/environments that are causing it. Ugh, word vomit, in the end just go get a big, awesome tattoo. I think that encapsulates what I'm trying to say...

Blackheart Walk-In Day is coming up!!!

I was hoping to see some troll (or atleast onis, demons, etc.) tattoos here...

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!

@cltattooing You're a good egg.

I have an ankh and people always ask me if it is: a) a satanic symbol b) a feminist symbol c) a lesbian symbol d) a cross I tell these people it's a stick figure with their legs shut.

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.

Here's part of a Troll sleeve Trond Kjørkleiv is working on. Norwegian mythology, folklore and fairytales are crammed with trolls, so they're kind of a big deal over here.