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Hey everyone. It's been a while so here are a couple new things. Got the "born lost" skull from Ross K. Jones at Idle Hand's get what you want. The flash was redrawn by Austin Maples. Also got this shishi head from Koji Ichimaru while he's at SOG.

I haven't posted this on here yet. Session four on my back, we shaded my butt and thigh.

Well, we (finally) started - after almost 2 years waiting for him to move and cut down his list a bit. Start of a full half squidpant. I wasn't going to post it yet - but he did, so I stole this image off of Thomas' instagram:

I had a fantastic experience at Diamond Club last night with one of my favorite tattooers, Brian Kaneko (truenaturetattoo on Instagram). I got this peony: Shad, Junii, and Dr. Claw were there, too, which made it even more fun. But the best part is that @Iwar wanted to get something from Brian, but couldn't get an appointment. He asked if he could show up during mine, and I said, "Of course!" He walked in right after I got there, so I introduced him to Brian and Shad. They all started laughing, then Brian said, "By the way, I tattooed him earlier today. I had a cancellation." So now Iwar and I are not only banhammer bros, but we're botan brothers, too.

Well since Stewart posted it on his instgram.....I will repost it here. Mine is top left. I will post a bigger pic when it heals.

Fun times in New York with my newly immigrated fiancée. Bug is on her by Bert Krak, torch and rose are on me by Eli Quinters and Beau Brady, respectively.

On another note. I have an old, old brother who is covered in home poke tattoos, mostly applied with a single needle between two match sticks wrapped in cotton. By anyone's "standard" they're shit, but he's sported most of these since he was 15, and I gotta say they've stood the test of time...he punched them in! I couldn't ever see him with anything else. They're him, they all tell a very particular story, he earned every single one...and you know? He today is just as proud of those tattoos as anyone of us who have had anyone of our custom shop pieces done. When I sit with him after all these years, even some of those tattoos bring back for us a very particular incident, a time in our lives to reflect. Isn't that what tattooing is all about? I think sometimes we forget the basic nature, that primal instinct towards why we mark our skin sometimes. And maybe I can place this part in the "what have I learned from becoming tattooed" thread...and that's not to be so judgemental on the aesthetics alone. Everyone has a story. There's lots of reasons to "why". "Booze, Blues & Tattoos"

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-ooma-mow-mow Papa-ooma-mow-mow Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow Oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-oom-oom-oom Oom-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow Papa-a-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow Papa-oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow Oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow Well, don't you know about the bird Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word A-well-a, bird, bird, b-bird's the word surfin' bird made by King Len kinglentattoos.com

@hogg The worst thing about the asscrack waves was the feeling that I was getting my anus tattooed. He didn't actually go that deep but it felt like he did. I guess this is what that spot feels like and I thought I was mentally prepared for it, but nothing can get you ready for what it actually feels like. The full ass tattoo certainly falls into the category of "questionable behavior".

Got this print in yesterday as a gift from Taki, Molly, and Horitomo at State of Grace. What a great bunch of people! The cat was more excited about napping on the wrapping...

Only thing better than two animals fighting is three animals fighting.

Two of the tattoos me and my girlfriend picked up at the calgary tattoo show, stolen from Todd Noble and Shaun Toppers Instagram , can't take one of my Noble piece because my arse has gone purple with bruising haha, and it's really hard to take a pic of your own bum

Been kinda forgetful/lazy to post in this thread. If you follow me on IG, then these are not new. I've gotten these since the Rassier baby heads. Tuesday flash from Candi Kinyobi at Tuesday Tattoo in San Francisco, CA. Under the tutelage of Jesse Tuesday (who's a badass tattooer that's totally under the radar). Ultimate sad girl with sad heart from happy tattooer and fellow LST'er Carolyn LeBourgeois @cltattooing at FTW Tattoo in Oakland, CA. Tengu from Stewart Robson at Black Heart Tattoo in San Francisco, CA. Was able to nab a cancellation thanks to Ross "INSIDE SCOOP" Hogg. I unfollowed a bunch of tattooers on IG, so I totally wouldn't have known about this. Thanks again @hogg!

Dude I saw that Fudo monmon cat backpiece in person while I was getting that shishi. It was right before the black shading and it already looked fucking amazing. Can't wait to see it colored.

I wish every tattoo felt like getting my bicep tattooed.

That's what she said.

A huge (yooj) thank you to @CultExciter for his handiwork on this preliminary flyer for the event!! Emails to artists will (hopefully) be going out tonight. Luckily, we've got the man himself @Scott Sylvia on board, as well as Justin Weatherholtz from King's Ave and buddies @Perez and Nash Hogan from 3Kings. And, one of my personal favorites, Michael Aul from Spiral. Beyond stoked with how this is coming together. And please feel free to spread the word and pass this along! For any more info, etc. check out www.thewarriorsfund.org and try not to make fun of my wordpress skills or just email me at [email protected] and I'll give you the rundown. Thanks everyone!

Done by Curt Baer while he was guesting at Dark Age Tattoo in Seattle. He is a big man with a sexy beard. Sorry for the shiny pic!

I will correct you, you are wrong. The purpose is the forum is to talk about tattoos and as a place to showcase what you have gotten and to discuss the various aspects of that entire process. I believe you want to venture to Reddit if you want someone to spend their time and energy designing you something because they are bored in their parents basement. (I'll keep it down Mom).

Ok, I see what you're saying now, looks like the text snippet is not part of the new system. on the other hand this is a new section that you might enjoy: Likes Statistics - Last Sparrow Tattoo Cheers

I'll work on digging up a litho or two to post here, they're mighty old, and I've working in silverpoint vs printmaking due to space/studio time/etc. @BrianH - at a certain point, the payoff isn't enough when it comes to salary and your well-being (commute time, time off, and stress levels), it does sound like you are better off!!!

@Lance That sounds good to me. I may be solo because our child care fell through. My wife is ok with it because she got tattooed by Valerie yesterday and I picked up a little something from Stewart as well. I will show you at the convention. I cannot wait.

So I am one of those weirdos who did their back first, and Stephanie always said to me that the great thing about starting there is that most other things will seem like child's play in comparison. Starting in my arms has been a treat!!

This fizzled out quickly. I think they interpreted my target salary as "fuck you guys" (it sorta was meant to say that) because they called me back the next day to say we were too far apart for them to make an offer. It was a long shot that they would be smart enough to accurately value my work but I'm more disappointed that I didn't get a chance to practice negotiating. I'm better off at my current employer with lower stress, 3 mile commute, and 50 days of time off.

I still want a hand poked Slayer tattoo, so, you know....sometimes you gotta.

This weekend can't come soon enough. I'll be there. Asian guy. Long hair. Glasses. Asian man's beard. Traditional black and grey japanese tattoos. @cvportagee, dinner would be cool, I'll be on the lookout for you, and others. Otherwise for anyone I haven't met previously and sees a guy matching the description above, feel free to say Hi. I'd love to match faces to LST monikers.

@JoshRoss, interesting question. I'm kind of curious too. I know tipping talk is sometimes frowned upon here, but this is more of a cultural question. I personally hadn't realized tipping was not customary in Japan until I was flipping through a travel guide recently, and according to that, depending on the individual, could be considered insulting. I don't know how much of that should be believed though. It does sometimes make me wonder if I had unintentionally offended Horitomo when I got my feet tattooed. I suppose a gift can't hurt, but I'd also be interested to hear from people who've actually been tattooed in the situation you speak of since one day, I plan to get tattooed at this Convention. Also them being in the US rather than you being in Japan, they may have a go with the flow attitude. When in Rome after all. Did you get an appointment with Horimitsu? What day?

Cross country road trip with the tatbros!

@Fala You guys met at lithography school?! I'm thinking of going to litho school in a couple years, and have started collecting stones. @Pugilist We should all get printmaking tattoos.

hey guys unfortunately still no luck on this. for now the option to like isn't available in tapatalk at least - so people won't waste their time trying to use it there unsuccessfully. i know that this is an important feature but the gremlins are against us on this one. I'm going to work on setting up a new testing environment to see if i can chase down the cause there but don't hold your breath for a speedy fix.. just being realistic. Thanks for being the best community in the universe and for your ongoing patience. Eventually the site will work the same on a mobile device as it does on a monitor (responsive) and we'll have access to all of the same features on both.

Not gonna touch on the OP or the thread, but I just wanted to say: cancer-treatment radiation targeting tattoos get MY vote for toughest tattoos, full stop. A bit tongue in cheek, this, but:

I'm noticing a few second delay after clicking "Like" before the like registers. No big deal but this is going to slow down my productivity.

Sure, though there's a world of difference between somebody who has received cancer treatments asking for advice in getting tattooed (answer: consult with your doctor and an experienced tattooer) and a tattooer asking about the specifics if tattooing somebody who has received cancer treatments. And honestly, I don't like the OP and I think we've been far too kind to him. A ton of scratchers read these forums, some have created accounts, I'm sure that far, far more are lurking and glean whatever shreds of information they can get from here, and whatever, everything here is in public and that's the way it goes and why people should be conscious of what they put on here. Here we have a dude who comes on here and says that he supposedly had an apprenticeship where he didn't actually do any tattoos, and he currently puts on shitty tattoos out of his house, and we should treat him any differently than we do any other scratcher? And who, not for the first time here either, wants to talk technical stuff about tattooing. If you're going to come here and be disrespectful, you can't expect respect in return. So I revise my original answer: this friend of a friend should go to a reputable tattooer because they've been through enough as it is and don't need a shitty tattoo on top of it all.

Ultimately who cares, it's not your body. We'll be wearing that shit for the rest of our lives, who are you to say what other people should get tattooed? Everybody's got opinions and tastes, just because you like something doesn't mean everybody else does also. If they like what they got and they're happy with it, isn't that what's important? I mean unless you're decked out in the best, perfectly executed ink done by the master of all tattooing on the entire planet, aren't you in a way, wearing shitty tattoos as well in comparison to what those perfect tattoos would be? Does that make them any less awesome to you? Didn't think so.

Psh. You just said that to get more likes.

I have come to really not enjoy conventions anymore.....I haven't been down to Richmond since the year Billy Eason passed! However.....I am toying with coming down for this since there may be one or two tattooers there I'd like to add work from BUT nothing is a definite though! I did see Scott's name on the list as tattooers coming!

All this print making talk is making me want to screen print again. I'd love to see some of you fine folks lithos/intaglios/etchings. Here is one of my favorites I've done, albeit it isn't saying a great deal.

Jesus @Graeme like I said, I'm rethinking every idea i have for my back. I mean, tiger and snake, why would you need anything else? :D

Major tattoo envy going on here. I knew those peonies were on guys here when I saw them on Instagram. And that damn Fudo Monmon Cat is on @ivarro isn't it?

@Mush I have to agree 7 hours being tattooed is nothing to embarrassed about. 7 hours being tattooed constantly is a big effort. I have done a few 6 hour sessions on my work and that is more than enough even with a 1 hour break for lunch between the 2 x 3 hour sessions. Next week I have a 6 hour session on my backpiece and trust me I am not looking forward to it. :) The thing about back pieces is they take a F**king long time. But once done they are a thing of beauty. Cheers Jason.

Can I come too?

@hogg It's funny because when I saw Diamond Club post a Brian Kaneko peony on their instagram yesterday I mentioned to Anna that you got a really beautiful one, then she told me that you hadn't had your appointment yet. Of course it was on @Iwar. His botans are so gorgeous.

The peony on my left arm was done over a very dark older tattoo with a lot of black in it. This was done in 2011 and the white and blue have held up well since then. I'll have the white touched up on a future appointment. I would have never guessed it was possible and was entertaining a chemical peel or having it lasered off.

Ask your mentor or a more experienced tattooer at your shop. See also the bit in the FAQ about trade secrets.

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.

I've been told there can be a connection, just because after the trauma of getting a tattoo and while healing, your immune system might not be working at its best. As it was explained to me, this could make you more susceptible to sickness or it could affect you worse because your immune system has too much on its plate. No idea if this is actually true or not, just what I've been told. I did catch a bug that was going around, right after a tattoo session one time. Everyone else got a decent cold, I got a fever of 101. Could just be a coincidence though

It comes down to how YOU communicate your expertise. Your in the prime position to help educate. The average collector/ enthusiast without any understanding or artistic knowledge needs to seek their ideas from somewhere.,.dont they? Do you just expect them to come in with a blank idea and you magically come up with the same interpretation, or expect to only tattoo what you want to put on their skin. That comes with time and trust. It's like an old time piece of flash, it's been duplicated a million times. Isn't that plagiarism to a degree? A panther is a panther is a panther. I understand to a point what your saying, a custom one of a kind piece, well maybe, but pieces say things to people and can capture exactly what that means to that individual as well, so it could mean more than just wanting a copy cap design. It's like my smoking wizard with the starburst from the pipe as the background. I had wanted a wizard for 20 years, but no wizard captured that exact pictorial message, until I came across this wizard on the net. I took that picture in to my tattooer and said...man, after all these years I found the one. I can understand if you need to change it, but it's emulates something quite specific. His response, and knowing me for years was...man, your right, it captures you perfectly, I couldn't make it any better. We slightly changed some aspects like hat band & colour, but why try and reinvent the wheel on this occasion? It was perfect. Is this wrong? Fuck you to anybody who thinks it is, this is one piece out of my entire suit that had already been captured, it speaks volumes, it's my favourite tattoo next after my back tattoo. There's also been times I've taken an exact design in and said ...man, something like this...and from there we come up with a complete new transition, sn even better custom piece. Maybe next time someone comes in with an exact picture and turning them away (only to have it tattooed by someone else without any education) you can say...man, that's a great design, I can see why you chose this. What's it's meaning to you?...dig a little, become a consultant, tap into that individual a little and say, ya know man?...leave it with me, I reckon I can come up with something even better for YOU without doing s copy. That person may just walk out of there with a little bit more knowledge than they did prior to them entering, and maybe you EARN a loyal and devoted customer for years to come. I'm no tattooer, I'm also no artist, but I've learned a lot from my tattooer over the years because he actually took the time to help me understand. This is the 1 reason that he has been responsible for my entire suit, and the rework of everything he didn't originally do. I'm just offering a different perspective on this subject, not having a dig. We all help educate each other, because my tattooer had mentioned to me the same, that over the years has learned to appreciate where his clients come from also. "Booze, Blues & Tattoos"

Ummmmm.....Paul Booth is the "God-father of tattoo art"??? Glad I read that article....I never knew.....

I read this entire thread - it's really helpful to people like me who are new to getting tattooed. So some good's coming out of it, even though it's a downer.