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Well I haven't posted in forever but I've been following along, anyway, started my back on the weekend, didn't finish the outline but after 7 hours I had to call it quits, Im pretty embarrassed I had to tap out. Anyway, Done by Scott Duncan at Sugar Shack Tattoo in Kincardine

This is a little more technical in nature, but I think it's kinda cool to share. My mentor(s) have really had me focusing on the craft of tattooing lately. Making needles. Making pigment. Tuning and rebuilding machines. It's something that we take for granted with the ease of pre-made and disposables. But it feels good to know that I'm gaining the skills the old timers relied upon.

Went to the Calgary convention today and picked up a piece by Todd Noble and a bulldog by Shaun topper, both really nice guys, my partner got a native girl head by Todd and I can safely say it's one of the best I've ever seen in person, met a few other artists aswell and was good just to have a look around and catch some of the local talent at work

Tattoos also led me to Buddhism in a roundabout way. I had wanted to try meditation but didn't know how and couldn't find the motivation. Until one night @TrixieFaux & I went to a Jondix art show at this place in L.A.: Against The Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. I came back for their Wednesday night class and have been going ever since. It's pretty inspiring to sit in front of this at class – Aeons-Tulpa | A Solo Exhibition by Jondix – and I'll be bummed if and when they take it down. Now I meditate (almost) daily, went on my first silent retreat, and stopped using drugs & alcohol a little over a year ago. I definitely feel like I fit in there. There’s a very punk rock ethos to what they do there which does not feel hippie-dippy or bullshitty or creepy/cultie in any way. Noah Levine, who started the center, is tattooed head-to-toe by @Scott Sylvia, Eddy Deutsche, Freddy Corbin and some other heavy-hitters. He’s starting to become one of the most influential next-generation Buddhist teachers in America. I like that my koi and dragon tattoos have deeper meaning in the Buddhist tradition though that’s not why I picked those images in the first place. I mostly just liked the look of Japanese style tattoos and the stories behind them, but now they feel as much a part of me as my practice does.

I spent this weekend hanging out with my old buddy @Iwar and new buddies @Wilhell and Nina and their little boy. I went with Iwar to his Horitomo appointment on Saturday and all of us had lunch and visited the Academy of Sciences yesterday. Great times with great people!

Agreed completely with this. Dan Gilsdorf is my favorite tattooer. I really should fly out there and get something. Cheyenne Sawyer is killing it too. I also want tattoos from Jeff P and Ross over at Art Work Rebels too. Portland's got lots of good tattooers.

Yup. I never really planned how it would all turn out and placement would have been different if I did. When I started I just wanted to be able to get tattooed by my favourite artists (and didn't want to go below the elbow) I do plan getting some backgrounds added though. Sorry for the crappy picture quality.

Penises are like boats... you're probably better off to have a friend that has one rather than owning one yourself.

@DeathB4Decaf No he said it'd just turned up before he had to fly, il upload healed pics in a few weeks, mine is a battle royal which I've been after a while so very happy.

Curt Baer is guesting up in Seattle this week. Question: calling out early on Tuesday so I can get a panther from him. Good idea? Best idea?

You really should go by Atlas. Incredible tattooers and great guys.

Had an ass and back of thigh shading session yesterday. It wasn't so bad. The imperial stout helped keep my spirits up.

Me & my son just took Chloe the cat to the vet for her check up. We had to hide the cat carrier until the last second. My son picked her up, which she hates. Then we went with head-first into the cat carrier... no go. The cat made herself 36" wide in a flash. Then I stood the carrier up on end and lowered her tail-first into it. About 8 scratches between us, we were off to the vet. $383 later, we were home in about an hour. No big problems with the cat, she had her rabies shot, various imunizations and 8 months of flea protection.

discussing the possibility of returning to my former employer. i would welcome any advice on salary negotiation. key negotiation point is they haven't been able to find a replacement in the last 10 months so they want me back. feels good to be wanted.

For me it's a lot like exercise. I never feel like doing it, but I always feel better after I do.

@DJDeepFried Its an interesting practice, and you are right. It is not easy. I took to it pretty quickly and went to a daily lunch time meditation. I made it a part of my daily routine, and it made a significant improvement in my quality of life. I like your description of it as a "kind of bio-hacking." That's just about exactly how I would describe it. I'm glad to hear its made such a positive difference in your life!

It is indeed super difficult, but I think it's good for me to work at things that I suck at. :)

Immaculate Tattoo in Mesa, Arizona is the well known shop in your area. Worth checking out. Also if you have pictures of the tattoos feel free to post them. We can throw some ideas out but no one here is going draw anything up for you for free. Best bet is to visit the shop so an artist can see the tattoos up close and let you know what type of cover up is possible.

This is one of the douchiest things I have ever read on this board, which is saying a lot, because people have written some pretty douchey things on here.

It's a real classic look to have one tattooer do everything. I no longer can do that, so I try to live vicariously through others. I think it's rare to find someone that wants one tattooer to do an entire cohesive body suit. It goes back to that Cripwell bodysuit. Right now, Mikey Holmes is looking for people with no tattoos that want to get a body suit. I myself want Jason Phillips to do my entire front. While it's not an entire bodysuit, I think an entire front by one artist will look good. But I know part of the fun is collecting from as many tattooers as you can. - - - Updated - - - I knew I recognized that Erl tattoo. Nice one!!

I kinda hope you get tattooed only by Greg. A Greg bodysuit! The elbow sucks so hard. But the second elbow isn't as bad. True story.

Tattoo number two today! With Greg Whitehead again, photo from his instagram...not a great shot but it's good enough! Sounds like I'm coming back in a week to put a rose on my elbow, too. I'm guessing that one's gonna be fun.* *not fun

@hogg I'm gonna try and make it too. I haven't seen Bl'ast in 25 years...

Welcome to LST. And get a skull. It works thematically and always looks rad. You can never go wrong with a skull.

I believe there is an LST member ( @robz ) with a sleeve of one shot japanese masks by mike rubendall, henning jorgensen, and stewart robson.

Anyone going to the Blackheart pre-party on Thursday? I'll be there, unless I get even older between now and then and go to bed at 9 (always a possibility).

@Graeme Thanks dude! super stoked on it. I just thought I would be able to power through and finish the outline, we both thought it was doable, but afterward he mentioned maybe it was a bit too ambitions of us. My embarrassment is because I've never had to stop, or quit in the middle of something before, tattoo or non tattoo related, always seem to find a way to push through. maybe I'm just getting old - - - Updated - - - That's awesome! what are you getting? Im headed back nov to finish the outline and again Dec 12

@DJDeepFired @Puglist Meditation was what got me through my MA a few years back. I loved the practice, but have got away from it in recent years. I really should get back to it. Thanks for the prompt!

@DJDeepFried That is an inspiring and awesome story, and reminded me not to slack on my own very novice meditation practice.

I don't think I ever purchased any art before getting tattooed. I picked up two prints at the Montreal convention. I think I just have a much greater appreciation for creative things in general now.

Maybe your girlfriend should get an account and speak for herself.

Out of curiosity, is this your idea or hers? You keep using words like "I" instead of "she"...

HAHA. Or maybe i should say "not too cliche". And yea, I am intending to post a picture of it here (that is if I can find a good one) here to update everyone. :) Thanks

Even though I'd said earlier that piercings aren't my thing, I got a helix piercing earlier today with some friends in Northampton, MA. My friend also got a stud in her ear and her badass 15-year-old daughter got an industrial (and handled it with barely a sniffle). I appreciated that the shop was woman-owned and that the owner's very active in the Association of Professional Piercers and has helped to set the standard. Overall a really positive experience that gave me a respect for the profession and will always remind me of the time when I did this thing with 2 generations of amazing women.

Welcome Johnny. Before ya know it, you'll be punching piss for breakfast. Ciders that is. "Booze, Blues & Tattoos"

Thanks, @hogg, and good morning :) Yes, I heard rumours about a breakfast/brunch today? ;) That was so nice of you to drive all the way out to State of Grace yesterday, btw. Uuugggghhhhh, I'm so envious of you guys...

Welcome! Uh oh. Hopefully it's a pretty big watch. There won't be a lot of detail in something that small, if you want to make anything out in a mirror. You can keep chatting here about it. In fact, it's kinda nice because other folks have done that, and then come back to their intro thread and posted pics of what they finally got! It makes for a nice complete story.

Yeah! It's only 50 minutes away, and I'd like to check out California electric on the way :)

Just got this from Eli yesterday. I think I have Smith Street fever!!

I think getting tattooed gave me a really intense appreciation for craft, and dedication and hard work. It was a tattooer that convinced me that I could still learn to draw at 25, and that obsession with craft eventually drew me to printmaking and has kept me there. Now I'm thinking of training to become a master printmaker.

!!!

This dingleberry I went to high school with came to me for a lion. Told him I don't do realistic but I can stylize it with heavy linework and dot work (this was about two years ago) said he was all in. Tight. Then asked how much. When I told him 150, which is a fucking steal, he got upset and said his cousin said he'll tattoo it for a 12 pack of beer. Nothing good can come after this. A few days later this is whats up on facebook with the caption, "Can't tame the beast in me." Let the laughs begin.

great thread idea! as a result of wanting my tattoos to heal nicely i've gotten into eating significantly healthier and crossfit/weightlifting so my ass will look nice on instagram #tattooedmanbutt #instamanbutt #buttgram i'm more willing to travel if there are tattoos involved in the trip. visited nyc, austin, montreal, and burlington vt for the first time as a result of tattoo collecting. i also hangout with more canadians than i did prior to tattoos

Have not had to much time for painting lately, trying to paint more often.

I really need to make it to this one year. Dave, who is doing my back, works it and he talks about how it's such a great convention. No nonsense, just loads of great tattooing. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but stupid tattoos taking up all my money so I can't travel to get tattoos.

This afternoon my father learned about my tattoo. "I just do not understand why you would deliberately try to ruin your little sister's wedding pictures like that. Look at how gross that thing looks, all flaking off like that!" A few things: 1. My sister has two tattoos, both larger than mine, and both of which will be visible in her wedding dress. (Perhaps Dad doesn't realize this?) 2. I asked Sister if it mattered to her that mine would probably be visible depending on the bridesmaid dresses she chose, and she said that it didn't make a difference to her, because, again, both of hers will be showing. 3. Sister is getting married in May. Tattoo will be long healed by then, and won't look dry and flaky anymore. I should have expected this reaction from my dad. He asked me if I wanted him to photoshop out my nose ring when we took family photos for my grandmother's birthday a few years back. But it doesn't make the comments any less irksome.

I have a piece going into a gallery show in around a month... it's the first show I'll be in that isn't affiliated with the school I work for.

Here they are (stolen from her instagram)! By Nora Townsend of Magnetic North Tattoo in Burlington, VT. So blown away by the end result and love how big (and low :eek:!) we went. Nora is so amazing, and it was refreshing to talk candidly about the tattoo industry and all our favorite artists. She's apparently heavily influenced by Wendy Pham... kickass! I was so impressed how knowledgeable a small town shop in the middle of nowhere VT can be. One of the co-owners of the shop showed me an old in-progress O'Donnell piece, soo good. Made me miss being in NYC, but very relieved to have a solid shop down the street from me!

if i fits...i sits