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Too excited about how cool this looks to not share it. Please excuse the redness and peeling. This was the progress from my second session with Henning. About 11.5 hours total now. One more short session needed to color the tiger and the last few leaves.

got an old man tattoo from an old dude.

Got this from Rich Hardy. Zeis redo from the 50s.

@TrixieFaux & I just got back from a photo shoot at Memoir for Tattoo magazine. Don't know if our faces will show but it's the closest that I will ever be to being a model.

I did not like the head on a Raven on my right side. Took it to Joey Ortega at Triple Crown in Austin (who did the Raven on my left side) and he worked his magic. He knocked it out of the park.

Quick appearance on the beach. Still a lot left to do and layers to add, but it's coming together. Back in the saddle on Friday. Dude asked me, "Please don't tell me you did that all in one sitting." :rolleyes:

I was getting excited reading the young tattooers post, but it only takes one Henning piece for me to remember the some of the best advice about getting tattooed. Don't ever get tattooed by people under 40. Obviously not literally, but to see how someone has perfected his craft over decades, it doesn't get much better.

I got this urn from Ron Henry Wells at the Montreal Convention (I can't get these pics to be upright, but you get the idea):

"

here's my tattoo from cole dunn that i got today at the meeting of the marked. hard to get it all in one shot because it's caps my shoulder off pretty good but you get the idea.

No it isn't! I picked up this hoju from Ishmael Johnson at the Montreal convention yesterday. I wasn't intending to get tattooed this weekend, but I've been really into Ishmael's tattoos for a while now, and he had availability, I had a strange spot on my arm, so why not get tattooed by him instead of just liking his pictures on instagram like a chump? It was fun times. I'll post better pictures when healed.

I think certain tattoos fit certain people better, but just because people have been wearing Japanese, along with other asian styles and Maori inspired tattoos longer doesn't make it any less weird at times. White guys with no tattoos getting Japanese sleeves, always a little weird, but I don't blame them, cause it's cool stuff, way better than the first tattoo I got and I'm not japanese, or a biker, or a sailor, so what do I really have to say about it. I think it's more plausible for a white kid from california to associate his life experience with a culture that is really prevelant in his region and happening right now, versus a culture from thousands of miles away and many years ago. People are going to get what's popular, the smart people will find the best imagery in popular styles, the rest will be stuck with crappy lettering tattoos.

Got this from Austin Maples the other day at Idle Hand, good shop ,good dudes also heading to Phoenix tomorrow got myself booked in for a Hot Stuff Devil reading a Playboy!! by Mando Rascon at Immaculate cant wait.

You need to be confident in the imagery you choose for something as powerful as a backpiece IMO. The tattoo will give strength because of that personal connection to the imagery or it may end up making you feel uncomfortable and awkward after the novelty wears off. I think it is great that you are having this dialogue - on this forum - but more importantly with yourself. You need to listen to yourself if you are feeling conflict about the idea, because that conflict could become greater when you are in the midst of the project. To relate to my own experience. I am about to start my backpiece journey. We are doing something chinese themed, I've been training kung fu for a decade and have many experiences to compliment the image we are choosing to work with. I feel it represents my passion, loyalty and devotion - to both my kung fu discipleship and my commitment to tattoo. On the contrary I have a new student at my school. Super nice guy with a fresh looking dragon sleeve, some very nice work. He told me he is starting his backpiece of Guan Yu (sic). We were suspicious of him understanding Guan Yu's history or the weight of having a tattoo of the chinese diety "God of War" on his back after training kung fu for only 1 month. After all he called him a warrior-guy-with-a-guan-do-blade. But in the end it it is his journey and his tattoo he has chosen to wear. And the sketch he showed me looks great, going to be an awesome tattoo. So you can either "own it" and live, breathe the tattoo, aspire to the imagery or you can just have cool wallpaper art on your back. I think both trains of thought are ok, but *you* need to be ok with it. And the tattooer needs to agree to put it on you in the first place. Sometimes a tattoo, is just a tattoo. But for something big and bold on your back, well I for one just don't want any old tattoo, I want something powerful with a personal connection. I stumbled on some excellent info re: japanese style tattooing on Clark North's website. There is some excellent insight here on wearing a big powerful tattoo image that I think can be extrapolated beyond the japanese style and about tattooing in general. THE JAPANESE STYLE TATTOO EXPLAINED - Clark North Tattoo & Art - Las Vegas

I love that, @cookietruck. So rad that you got an Irons design from Bob, too. I got this from Ben Grillo yesterday: He applied it with a single needle and a shoehorn. The photo does it no justice; this is far and away my most detailed tattoo. I can wait to see it healed.

After 2 1/2 months rooming with my lovely mother after moving back to VT, I am moving into my own place! Living out the New Girl dream and rooming with 3 men... This should be interesting!

Perfectly normal. And on the topic of imperfect tattoos, I like what Thom DeVita says. Something like "any imperfections only add to its beauty." It's a human-applied art form. Consider those human touches. And welcome to LST!

Dudes, I need a weekend from my weekend. We conventioned HARD this year. I am done.

So not been on here for a while but I have finally had the 3rd session on my back after a short break... I went on holiday. It definitely felt like we hit quite a lot this time round but it might just be that we were moving a little bit all over. So to add to the conversation going on above I definitely prefer to gradually work from one area to another rather than jumping all around. Suddenly moving to a new spot really sucks. Anyway this is how the progress is looking.

Well, the SOLE purpose of my collection is not to showcase a certain style. The fact is, the southern california black and gray style really speaks to me, and I find it timeless and beautiful. I found that the majority of artists I really looked up to were guys from Tattooland, so really the list of artists came first - and the realization that the collection would be a great example of southern california tattooing came second. I also really think California is the mecca of tattooing, and want to show off what we have to offer.

I would go this route. I agree with this too. My two cents, you don't have to be a sailor to get sailor tattoos. You don't have to be Japanese to get Japanese tattoos. Plus, living that close to GTC, it makes sense to want to get tattooed in that style there. I'm also saving my back for last, because I am truly putting a lot of thought on what to get back there. Good luck!

I had an absolutely awesome time at my first convention. It was great to meet up with everyone, thanks for making my brother and I feel so welcome! I will definitely try to get back to Montreal next year (or maybe sooner!).

Looking good both @MrToby and @SeeSea glad to see I am not the only one chipping away at backpiece sessions. Had another 3 hour session on mine last week and we reached 2 seperate goals. 1. I think we have now finally finished background shading. A few tiny spots that need touching up but on the whole the background is done. I have worked out in the course of my job I do quite a bit of driving, the few spots that need touching up are basically where the seatbelt rubs. Who would have thought being safe in a car can be so bad. :) 2. The last of my original 4 (crappier) tattoos have now been covered with much better art. I know there are mixed feelings about covering previous work etc but 3 of the 4 were basically flash pieces off the wall and had no meaning to me at all. The 4th I wasn't happy covering but it was a decent sized piece in the way of doing my backpiece. It was sacrificed for the greater good :( . The 1st of these were done nearly 20 years ago and I like to think if forums such as LST and in general the www were around I would have probably made a more informed decision back then and probably not just picked flash off the wall. Showing my age now but using Lynx and Gopher just wasn't quite the same experience back then as the internet is today. :)

I would ask Chris Brand. May not be the best advice, but he's the only person whose opinion will really matter when it comes to getting the tattoo.

What an interesting question. Are you trying to identify a murderer? Is this the only photo of the top-secret russian super spy-assasin who killed the Malaysian prime minister? Hmmmmm?

Wait till you both get your back done. You'll feel like a Playboy Bunny ;-)

@SeeSea I love it, it's come so far and it's gonna be killer when done Next session Saturday it's been ages since I've been in the chair. I have to admit I am Anxious

Haha, I was so surprised cause I never get PMs! What a let down that was.

Hi Joe, last time I was at the convention (2012), Eli and Santoro made walks-up, you could choose design from the book that they carry, we went with a friend on Friday early to the booth of Smith Street and an assistant pointed the name and Mobile phone on a list. As van crossing out names on the list they call you on the phone to tell you what time you go to a tattoo with them. I guess if you go at first hour, the same day may take you. Definitely the best day is Friday, normally not so busy than the other days but I'm sure this year will be a madness of people. Luck! (excuse me for my english)

So far, for the first 4 weeks at my new school I have kept covered up with long pants and long sleeve shirts...even on these 90-100 degree days. I do have working A/C in my classroom so it only gets hot outside. Well, I got some cropped pants yesterday that show the bottom of the monmon cat tail and I'm going to wear them tomorrow. Yeah! Livin' on the edge!

I've mostly been a lurker for a few years, so 'hi' everybody :). As far as my 'overall look' goes, I'm covered top to bottom. Sleeves on both arms, my legs are covered, stomach, ribs, feet, hands, fingers, neck, even palms. No head or face tattoos and I try to avoid getting a face tattoo. I have to admit that I have never been a big fan of back pieces for the plain reason that you can't see it, but as I'm slowly running out of real estate I strongly consider getting a back piece. Since I'm a big fan of American traditional, I'd love nothing more than to get a badass piece from Judd Ripley at Sailor's Grave :). It all started when I was 19 and I got a lettering (which is now covered) and a bunch of stars (not covered) tattooed. As the years progressed, I got about 1 tattoo per year. At the age of 26, I started my left sleeve. I made the common rookies mistake and impatient me made an appointment with a tattooer who had time the following week. I wanted to get a fullsleeve as fast as possible and so I had an appointment with him every other week. I didn't really have a solid idea for my sleeve (I just gave the tattooer the word 'music'...), so I wasn't really happy with the outcome. As I started travelling a lot and with Instagram popping up, I began researching and finding new artists and booking appointments with these artists. The idea to travel to get a tattoo from a great artist hadn't occured to me to that moment. And now , I'm here covered in tattoos from a bunch of different artists from all over the place and I couldn't be happier. About 98% of my tattoos are just designs I really like. Panther, eagle, shark, Sailor Jerry designs,...some are music-related (lyrics, potraits) and maybe 2% have a deeper meaning. I live in Germany, so people are a bit more conservative when it comes to tattoos than Americans. When it's hot outside, I never wear short pants or skirts. As an American friend, who once visited me,put it best:"The Germans have a staring problem." It really is a pain in the ass, even though I live in a big city. I travel a lot and sure, every time I'm in the US, people stare too, but it's just different. Usually Americans come up to me and say something along the lines of "I really like your tattoos". I like the sincerity. I hope I didn't get too offtopic here. Sorry for the rather long post.

Finally finished my left knee ditch, drawn on. Right knee ditch healed, from the Black Heart line book on Walk-In Sundays. Both done by Jeff Rassier at Black Heart in San Francisco, CA.

LST has never steered me wrong with advice. Does anyone know about tattooers in the Philippines? Looking for Americana or Japanese one shots. My grandpa lives there, so I may be traveling there this winter to visit my ancestors' Mecca. I know there's an old witch of a lady who tattoos in the local style, but I think it's far fetched to think that I'll get something from her. Thanks in advance, LST.

Great thread and awesome advice! I'm getting a tattoo on my thigh in ~2 months which will be during serious winter up here in the north of Sweden and I'm thinking shorts for the actual session and a long skirt/dress with loose long johns in something soft, like meriono wool (the kind kind of course). KBee, I'm nowhere near covered in any sense but have of course (like every other female in the world, tattooed or not) dealt with the unwanted male attention. Such a waste of energy... It sounds awesome if they (men I guess) actually become kind of afraid of you the more coverage you get :) (sorry if there are some spelling mistakes, my browser atm only corrects my swedish)

I asked today, and was told that once it's over on the 14th - it's over for good. I hope that I'm mistaken!! - - - Updated - - - I finally made it today - and my mind was blown. Such a beautiful exhibit - down to the last detail. That genuinely made me decide to donate to JANM because it was so amazing. It's kind of small, and yet I spent two hours walking in circles looking at everything. Kip did a great job - It was truly breathtaking. The majority of people I saw there were not visibly tattooed and seemed so impressed with the quality. I officially think Kip is one of the greatest ambassadors of the tattoo community today.

In my eyes London is the European Tattoo Mecca, so you're in no shortage of great tattooers where you're at. You've got people like Alex Reinke, Stewart Robson, Ian Flower, Valerie Vargas, Xam, Claudia De Sabe, Jondix, Jordan Tear, Mo Coppoletta, Sarah Carter, Frank Carter right in your back yard, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. What style of tattoos do you like? Also, The London Tattoo Convention is on in a couple of weeks. They are known to have one of the best lineups in the world, and this year is especially great, as they are celebrating their 10th anniversary.

With a process as important as getting a piece of artwork permanently drilled into your skin, how could you NOT use a professional tattoo designer?? Online of course. Face to face interaction is so last generation

So I finally got my zombie horse tattoo done! Pretty stoked about it! Took 4 and a half hours..now I have a question. I got it done Thursday, and it hasn't started to peel at all, is that weird? It's stabbed up but shows no attempts to peel. Both of my other tattoos started peeling by day 3. Next session will be 7 hours, going to add another zombie creature to the inside of my calf and start a little background! Not sure on what zombie creature it will be,was thinking maybe a bucking longhorn..that or even maybe the headless horseman! Plus, I'll be putting canis lupus on my wrist too during that session just to knock it out of the way since it won't take long! It'll be on the 17th! Next session after that is on October 1st! Then mid October I'll be with a Bob Tyrrell to get my Raven done on my rib cage!

Update: I filled in the inside of my right knee a month ago, and on Sunday, I'm having Ben Grillo fill in the outside.

Already posted this in this month's contest, but this was done today by Nervio from Roses and Panthers. In the States he has tattooed at Diamond Club in San Fran. He probably has the lightest hand of anyone that has tattooed me yet! Very pleased.

You should be going for the "ugly" girls anyway. They are more likely to become hot, than a hot girl is to develop a personality. Stereotyping is fun!

Because the last thread was locked... This is for you @Pugilist:

Yeah, the worst part is already done. The rest is way more tolerable. Here's my new tattoo by Unmon at LTW (Barcelona). Line by machine, shading using tebori (holy shit is it slow!) A classical samurai and oni fighting. One session out of 3. Next one will be on september 9th

Just wanted to say thanks again to those that gave me advice - two days work now done and I feel very sore, but happy. Found a bra that could go into a halterneck, which was perfect for my back today, and I have just tucked my vest strap into it.

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...

I think a lot more accomplishments would be made and goals achieved and fun had if people would stop saying, I'll do XYZ but I want to lose 20 pounds first.

Lots of people have said what they think it sounds like, etc. But it sounds like a Tom Haverford creation, to me.