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Been a while since ive checked back on here but heres a few pics of the panther and the parrot i got from Chad K at the Amsterdam convention back in May, its really hard to get a good picture of a shoulder but Chad drew the parrot to fit the space perfectly. Also a Mum heart i got as a walk in from Jordan Baxter at Black Garden a couple of weeks back, picture pinched from his instagram.

"What's the toughest thing I could possibly get, so everyone can see how nails I am?" "I know, A Panther" "Wait, with a fucking dagger through it" Haha, my conversation with my girlfriend before getting my panther was almost verbatim. Tattoo (and photo) by Erik Gillespie, done at Great Lakes Tattoo

Started my ribs/the rest of my leg with Dave Cummings. I'll be in Montreal every two months to get this sucker done. Super stoked.

I just had my first tebori session (shading in the hair). I found it hurt less than electric tattooing and it was nice to not hear the buzzing of the tattoo machine. Pleasantly surprised!

Don't listen to other people. (Haha = that includes ME!!!) Go with your gut.

My oldest daughter wanted to slam some bullshit passage down her rib panel. I said, sweetheart...I love you, but if you ruin prime real estate like that with shit text, I'll be forced to trade you for another daughter with more brains. She's 25 this year and has learned the sound advice given by her father.

Hung out with my buddy Joe today. He's like a mentor, older brother, super cool uncle all rolled into one. Joe's responsible for introducing me to Henning and putting me on the path of my ongoing tattoo journey. For fun we snapped off this pic of our Henning backpieces. Both our sleeves are also by Henning. Joe has awesome work from Tin Tin, Aaron Bell and Mike Rubendall as well. Enjoy!

I'm amazed at your use of upper case letters. It is Very Difficult for Me to Type Like This.

Can we get your niece on here to give people advice about what tattoos to get? These are all killer.

My 10 year old niece was telling me her ideas for future tattoos... And they kind of kicked ass! She wants a dragon on her right arm, with vines & leaves wrapped around it. Then, she wants a wolf fighting a snake on her left arm. On her back she wants a hippocamp (horse/fish hybrid). She's thinking maybe a griffin on her thigh. I was like, "Damn! I might want some of those, too!" Wonder what she'll be thinking in 8+ years...

We Can't Help You without Knowing the Quality of the Work. good Luck.

We don't really like discussing prices here on the board, but frankly, $160/hour is not outrageous, at all.

I have stopped drinking alcohol while I'm working 6 day weeks and am amazed at the difference I'm feeling after only 3 weeks. My head is so clear and focused, my anxiety has pretty much taken a back seat and I'm making great gains at the gym. Really excited to see where this takes me.

Check out this Kim Saigh tattoo, @mhapp95. It's got a lot going on -- but it's also a full back piece. If you want that much stuff incorporated into your tattoo you'll either have to go big or simplify IMO.

That sounds really not cool to me. Stick with the original artist.

I can see your just really wanting to have this tattoo finished and can definitely appreciate how frustrating it is that it's taking so long. Don't let the change in price confuse you too much, I'd take a guess and just say he's working in with shop policy, but everything compounds when we don't know what's going on. Make an appointment to see him face to face. Sit down with your schedule and match it against his. Iterate your need to have the tattoo completed. Knuckle in and smash it out...if resources are not the issue. It's the communication both sides that makes it harder half the time. Good luck with it, I'm sure it'll be sweet once you sit down with the person and forge a way forward.

I was gonna say, if you're not jealous of @Iwar's tattoos, we can't be Internet friends. He's lucky I like him, because otherwise, I'd hate him.

Haha, yeah, @hogg is my online doppelgänger, and when @gougetheeyes and @slayer9019 gets their asses to SF we'll be quadrupelgängers. I can only imagine how many members we will confuse and annoy. On a different note, the tattoos you just got are mind blowing. Great decision making! You also make rad tattoos. Glad you decided to come out of the shadows.

Hello and welcome! Either way is going to be meaningful to you. I would say go with the younger portrait because that seems to be more what you want. I'm not super crazy about having her drawn as an angel because I think that a regular realistic portrait without embellishment would be stronger, but ultimately, it comes down to what you want and what you and your artist decide will work best. Who are you thinking about going to for this tattoo?

Finally got around to getting some pictures of my completed Nue half sleeve and chest plate. This was completed back in March by Brian Bruno at Absolute Art Tattoo and I can't recommend him enough. It's a really good shop full of great people.

I've never offered to finish a tattoo started by someone else. Usually the only time I've been in the position to finish something someone else started was if something happened with their previous tattooer, ie moved too far away, etc. If it's just someone offering you a "deal" then I'd say just stick with who at started it. Best of luck

I'm sure it's frustrating paying more than you initially expected to pay for that tattoo, but a couple of things stick out here: 1) if you go to a different artist to finish the tattoo, you might not have a consistent quality throughout the tattoo, especially when you seem to be happy with your existing work; 2) maybe I'm not understanding this correctly, but it really rubs me the wrong way that somebody offered to finish a tattoo by a local, available tattooer at a lower rate. To me, it doesn't speak very highly of that second tattooer's integrity, and while I'm sure stuff like this happens all the time, it isn't an approach to getting tattooed that we really condone here.

Doesn't every TRASH POLKA tattoo end in disappointment, usually around the time the person with the tattoo realises they got shitty, outdated graphic design and not a tattoo?

Me too -- and that's what I'm getting! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Just got back from a pretty great trip to see family in Newton, MA, Cape Cod, Martha's Vinyard, and Springfield, NY. Last night we ended the trip with our annual Red Sox game at Fenway Park. That didn't go so well for the Sox, but we had fun. My friend got a foul ball. What did I miss around here?

I just watched this past season. What a complete waste of time. HOWEVER, I do love watching the l live finale shows because they are so poorly done and the truth of how bad Navarro is at his job is revealed. Also, this show is so incredibly boring that the editing becomes a character.

Haven't posted pics in a little while, here is my progress so far. One or two more sessions to go for shading and it'll be finished!

Dragon by the dude who's doing my dragon back piece, Evan Dowdell.

90's Raygun Magazine LIVES!!!! ;-)

nothing wrong with some shitty DIY brotatz but this is taking it a step too far. Someone needs their fingers broken

Buy 3. Room Essentials® Over the Door Mirror - Black : Target

He will do tebori if you ask or, I am pretty sure, if the piece requires. You can ask @Lance because I believe do to the large amounts of white in the monmon cats on his feet it was done by tebori, but he may have also requested it. I am having both arms done by him and we are doing certain parts by tebori. If you wanted a monmon cat I am sure you could have it done by tebori and complete it in one sitting. Just call Molly at State of Grace (Taki's wife and the only one who manages Tomo's schedule) and she can answer all your questions. By the way, last week when I was getting work done there were some awesome upcoming monmon cat tattoo (and one monmon Frenchie) drawings. I definitely had some tattoo envy.

I didn't realize Tony Polito was still tattooing here. That's great, I'll totally get a piece from him!

I would get tebori if he offered it. Although from the sounds of it he does the Monmon cats by machine. I could be wrong. Pain is pain, so I don't think that should be your deciding factor. If he offered you tebori and you turned it down because you thought it would be too painful, tell me you wouldn't regret that years down the road.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Thank you.

not finishing the tattoo is the cheapest option.

Is he only doing the chest, or is going down your arm? Hey if you happen to get the inside scoop if Horitoshi 1 is coming to the Us East Coast, I know a guy with 2 thumbs who would like that info.

I admit I laughed at the cheeseburger train.

I spent the past weekend in waaay upstate NY harvesting herbs, hiking, and roasting a pig on a spit in a cement cistern, with friends/family. Pretty awesome.

I'd go with the picture you find yourself looking at more, that brings you the most joy when you look at it... If you want to picture her young and in her prime, that will make you happy. It's still her. You had the bond with the woman your mother was, so whichever image you go with, it's her. As long as you have an amazing portrait artist, you should be happy either way.

You get what you pay for. It's permanent and on your body, how much is that worth to you? Don't skimp. There's probably a reason why your original artist is tough to book with, most likely because s/he is that good and highly sought after. Go original or go home.

I've been painting pictures...

I wrote as much in the upcoming tattoos thread, but thought it'd make sense to report that I had a consultation yesterday with Horitoshi 1 here. Stoked to get work from a master!

Welcome! You shall receive no judgement from me. The first piece I am truly proud of is Harry potter influenced :). It's the Doe by Lizzie Renaud in my gallery.

You pretty much are going to have to double the size or more of that tattoo to have it covered properly. If you don't want to commit to that size, you really need to look into lasering.

I would much prefer the occasion of the masseuse saying nothing versus having a conversation about it. It's like the dentist trying to make small talk while their in your mouth.

Has your wife seen your tattoos yet?

This is the greatest thing I've ever seen.

@Mick Weder @Graeme people are the worst. Friends/family will criticize our tattoos but random strangers at the grocery store or out on the street will compliment us.