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I've been on a tattoo hiatus which was supposed to last until October, but this weekend I kinda sorta fell off the wagon... By Nico, Blue Arms Tattoo (photo stolen from his instagram)

I call entire bullshit on the deep philosophical conversation with the clerk. Entirely made-up scenario to suit a very badly written narrative. What a load of arse.

clearly we aren't the target audience.

lol...hmmm, i wonder... she loves her cat shelves :)

He's speaks truth - I am not (ok a little) ashamed. But this little guy was scared - how could you not want to cuddle him!

I could only get through two paragraphs of that article. Definite douche chills.

Completely ignoring most mainstream media publications on topics of pop culture has saved me a lot of frustration as a general rule. Reading that article helped remind me why I do that. [/snob]

I hope essay #2 in the series is titled: "Crawling black panthers make great coverups!" I really have no issue with the tattoo. Nothing exciting to look at but she seems to like it so good for her.

When I got to the end of the article and it defined it as an essay in a series... I may have overreacted a tad. Not an essay, more like a rambling pretentious blog post. Also, I think initially she recognized her newbie-ness to getting tattooed, but then through these random confrontations as a result of the tattoo felt she was suddenly catapulted to understanding what it is like to be "tattooed". None of us on here are without experiences full of people prying into the meaning of our tattoos, even when none exists. What did this lady expect? And why would you get a tattoo as a result of a break-up? And a quote that basically states you understand all human suffering. Please. That epitomizes the douche-y white person mentality and it's getting old. I'll place it next to my deep-seated hatred of the hashtag 'firstworldproblems'. Not to mention that the artist suggested making the tattoo into an image. And all she could imagine was a dragon with a thought bubble. Tell me how that idea doesn't have the text in it. What?!

Actually, yes. And I own some that I bought or traded other artists for. And I've made some myself. To assume your judgement of 'what art is' is the gospel is pretentious at best.

Yeah I read the whole thing and still didn't get what she was babbling on about.

got these 3 by Steve Byrne last week and a couple from Bert Krak and Eli while i was in new york for the day they've all healed really fast and and looking very clean really happy with them all Instagram Instagram Instagram

I have some text-based art. I have a couple of pieces that chart the fonts of our local transit system over the last 60 years. I love that kind of graphical representation.

Oh God. Its true. I've recently moved to a large warehouse loft and my first thought was that I could build kitty-infrastructure like that. I may have to hit the hardware store on the way home. We are ridiculous. Our littlest cat was scared by a bug the other night. His tail went all poofy and my wife and I went rushing over to console him. Over a bug. A small bug. Sigh.

Me too. Massimo Vignelli is a design hero of mine (and everyone else).

Nice! We ditched cable a few months ago and its great. I'm finding I read more and have more time for video games. We still have Netflix, but I don't use it more to compensate. I also gave up Facebook about two months ago and its THE best decision I've ever made. I think you start focusing on what you truly want to fill your life with and stop worrying about how you will be perceived. I always knew I was an introvert, and enjoy spending quiet time at home > going out and adventuring, but now I'm more content and worry less about fitting my life into the Facebook mold.

Definitely check out the ladies thread - lots of answers on what to wear. I have full back and partial buttocks and not once have been completely naked - yoga pants. They will most likely use screens around the table you are being worked on. Honestly, it was not as a harrowing experience as I imagined, don't over think or worry too much.

It's her fault for continually translating the Latin for whoever enquires. She could just say it meant that she liked sunny days or something equally innocuous and avoid all the philosophical bullshit that follows the real meaning. Pretentious idiocy. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Bring the question on over to The ladies thread (thanks Lance!). I don't think we've talked about being nearly completely naked during the process, so copy your question right on to the end of the thread. There are lots of option for wearing clothes in unintended ways and strategic placement of fabrics. But yeah, I'd be pushing for a screen or curtains, especially to a parking lot! Good topic, and welcome!

I wonder how many here are tipping towards this. ;-) Crazy cat guy... - The Meta Picture

My grim reaper done by Dusty Neal at Black Anvil Tattoo in Fort Wayne, IN

@idyllsend While not a lady, I can say that most shops have some sort of barriers they can place to block the view of the shop, and if you address things in advance, it'll be taken care of. Even with walls in place, we often suggest to women that, if it helps them feel more comfortable, they can head to the bathroom and put on a hoodie backwards as covering (and to keep their arms warm). We also have a very large mirrored window in our backroom that is right next to a station where one of our tattooers was going to be doing a tattoo in a very, very intimate location. To make sure she knew we were going to make her feel at ease, before we put up our walls, our counter person and I made a big sheet out of dental bibs and blocked it off. Not saying they have huge sheets to block off the window, but if they can't do something to help you out, then there's some sort of issue. Definitely say something when you get there, though. Even if it's initially just a question to the counter person.

Aww, poor girl. (I slept until 1:30 today also...) The babies have finally hatched on the Raven Cam. Not much going on right now, they're just wee pink things. I'm just happy to see they've made it so far.

Y'all should see me when one of the cats has a sneezing fit. :)

Definitely never too old to have fun. My pop heli-skied well into his 70s. I hope I have that kind of energy when I hit my 60's and 70's.

All this text drives me crazy!. I like to look at tattoo's on pinterest but I have found myself having to narrow my search to back piece or sleeve to avoid pages and pages of text tattoo's. How boring! Why do people do that? Isn't this supposed to be art? Am I going to start walking through art galleries and see framed text? Wait, people are doing this in their homes now...

@idyllsend, the shop I go to typically puts up screens for privacy, so perhaps yours does too. I'd ask the Shop. As for covering up, some people put on hoodies backwards or something similar. I think this thread dealt with it in a little detail too. Hope it helps. http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/5371-ladies-thread.html

just been hanging out w/ @ChrisvK doing stuff, seein shit, and some other things as well. good times!

have an appointment with cole dunn may 2nd @ the rochester convention. so glad that i only have to drive 4 hours to NY to get tattooed by him now opposed to the ~10-11 hour drive to KY that i was planning.

I'm really sorry. Feeling worn down when you have intense stuff going on is the worst. I hope that you are managing to find a bit of chill out time for you to recharge.

I wonder what people think of my ink sometimes, I see a lot of people with just incredible things on them. I may be too critical on myself though. I'm in the process of changing shops right now that will take me to the next level. I really don't think bad of anyone with terrible tattoos on them, maybe they're happy with them or don't know any better. Rob

too close! to me :)

Happy to oblige! My first tattoo was a long time coming. I'd been watching my friends get tattooed in the 1980s and was fascinated by them. Unfortunately, this was an era when everything (around my crowd, anyway) was wizards and vikings. Black and gray. Never really appealed to me, though the artistry and talent was clear. I kept thinking about getting one, but kept failing to find a design that really appealed to me. I kept visiting shops (there were not nearly so many back then) and I finally just said "fuck it" I'm getting one. I walked into a shop that recently opened near my home and pointed at a tribal armband and said "I'll have that one." I didn't look at his portfolio, I didn't know what questions to ask either. I knew even then I wasn't getting exactly what I wanted in terms of design, but more important to me was the act of getting tattooed. I never covered the tribal up. I simply got lots of tattoos surrounding it. Its dated, but the artist did a good job and its held up very nicely.

My first tattoo was a big thigh piece, and I just got my other thigh done this weekend. Experienced twitching both times. However, the first time was much more painful than this past one. The outline wasn't fun but the shading was a breeze. Here they are, the first one isn't in a style I'm super into anymore, and I'm not too crazy about it anymore, it's not bad it just doesn't fit with what I'm going for anymore. Maybe one day I'll have it covered or reworked or something. I don't regret getting it, because it helped get me into tattoos, and really it's not a bad tattoo, just not what I would get now. Here is my latest one, which I've already posted in 2 other threads in the past couple of days, but whatever, done by Phil Hatchet Yau:

Always grateful for an opportunity to show my Stell baku. For the OP, it took about 5 hours, pain wasn't too bad. I'd much rather do another thigh tattoo than another session on my back.

Another by Jess Yen! Still needs one more small session(finishing toad detail), but we are mostly there! Done at the London Tattoo Convention over a couple of sessions.

In progress by jess yen. Thx for looking.

Here you go, on my left thigh, koi, water and cherry blossoms done in Japanese style by Henning Jorgensen. Not completed yet and also now connected to my back piece project. Will eventually get a piece on my right thigh to balance things out. Maybe a tiger or dragon or both.

Polish Prison Tattoos Look what I found! These tattoos outlasted their owners. There's a cool skull and snake, a random guy on a bike (no mustache), some very interesting couplings...pretty cool tattoos. :)

Looks like tickets are still available for Om, so I just might try to get to the show after getting tattooed by @cltattooing . If not, I'm always down to go to SF and hang out. Will also PM you.

@CABS Yeah,she did come off as real laid back,and not very talkative.but I thought at least Troy didn't interrupt her and let her answer his questions.Troy had a better rapport with the other girls,but I think he's got ADHD and he can't help himself and interrupt's when their trying to answer his question.I think he should have Garver do the interviews.He seems to be more laid back,and he's probably a better listener.

Come on man, leave some tattoos for the rest of us!

I'm up for whatever!

Last one by Hugo from Siha Tattoos (barcelona) the pain was bearable and it was about 3 hours of line. shading and colours at the end of the month! Teapot by Mors from Chiale Baby (Lille) and calf by Servadio from AKA London the lettering reads "DOOM"

Creativity only goes as far as what you can make work in the skin, which is all craft. AKA- creativity means nothing without a foundation, which is what is protected in tattooing. I usually try to think of all of the art side ending on paper, while trying to think of actually tattoo as craft. There are parallels and connections between both mindsets, of course, but it helps my mindset in both to think that way. Another silly statement, when explaining how to improve a design recently... upon explaining why something being too small would cause issues down the line as it aged in the skin, I was told by the client "Well, it doesn't have to be good or anything..." I was flabbergasted.

@InkedMumma Outlines and some shading done, but I can't seem to get a good picture of the whole thing so I will save it for later! Here's a teaser from Marius Meyer's IG account though: :cool:

No, my wife did. She is a vet tech and does id tattoos on animals at her clinic. My dog already had a 7yr old alphanumeric tattoo in one ear from the breeder...green ink and it is fading out and getting hard to read. So we took the opportunity to put an additional ID tattoo in the other ear while my dog was getting a dental and under full anesthetic. /offtopic

I´ve already posted this one in this months contest, but here it is. Mike Rubendall 5-6 hous. Most painless tattoo session ever,

I have posted these before, why not post them again. Greg Christian, left outer thigh Stevie Edge, right outer thigh

those are beautiful koi @ironchef