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Done by Horimitsu at the Bay Area Tattoo Convention. I've heard so many different things about tebori, but it was an awesome experience. So much that I'll ask Horitomo to shade my back by hand when we get that going.

Had my elbow blasted today by Juan Arreguin "El Super" at Superfly tattoo here in Leon Mexico. No pain, no gain.

Promised the tattooist (Randy Muller) that I wouldn't post any in-progress pictures - and after 7-8 sessions it was finished late Sept and now is fully healed: I'll post this onto the end of my laser treatment thread, too - just to wrap that one up for future referencing.

Here's a few photos I shot at the convention. I've got a bunch more to edit and upload. My favorite of this group is Anderson Luna analyzing his handiwork.

Nice meeting you too @Pete tattoo freak. Your new shark is super clean! I think I saw you walking around on Saturday, but I have a shit memory especially after the visual and mental overload that is walking the floor of the SFO convention. Your countenance is now captured in the electronic realm of my external hard drive and LST. Speaking of which, here's a few more shots. One of the clients instantly reminded me of the last illustration.

Just remember when you're getting your rips drilled that a rough tattoo session is still better than a good day at work.

The new set of prints are amazing! 10 brand new and 2 more which I believe must be 2nd re-printings. I got a bit too excited at The Convention this past weekend and accidentally bought them all. Oops. Guess who's not getting an iPhone 6 now.

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...

Tattoos are imperfect b/c they are done by a human, which in and of themselves are imperfect. I have some blown out lines from really rad and reputable tattooers. Skin is a weird and funny thing. Lots of different depths, lots of variables. Don't sweat it too much. If you continue to dwell on every imperfection you'll go crazy. There really isn't anything you can do to fix this sans lasering or getting it covered. I would consider that if you wanted to, but the tattoo isn't ruined by any means. It's just an imperfection done by an imperfect person.

Fun times at the Convention this year! No tattoos for me though. I missed out on Miyazo's last walk up space by 5 minutes. Doh! Thanks cvportagee, for convincing me to try to get in though. Miyazo told me he's guesting in Fontana at Espi's shop all November so... It was very cool to see @hogg, @ian, and @cvportagee again, as well as meet @CABS, @MoistTowelette, @cltattooing, @JoshRoss too. Although sadly some all too briefly. Can't wait for next year. I posted a few pics on my IG, "lgoda". And that meal with cvportagee and cabs was awesome. Some good yakitori down the street from the hotel. Mokutanya, give it a try.

@Lance Priorities dude...cats before phone!

Welcome to LST. Honestly, and I mean this in the kindest way possible, I don't like the idea you have there and don't think anything about it would work as a tattoo. This is often the danger of a tattoo that is crammed full of "meaning": the design suffers as a consequence. If you want to get a tattoo that uses geometry, take a look at the tattoos made by people like Xed Le Head, Tomas Tomas, Thomas Hooper, Jondix, Maxime Buchi, Maud Dardeau, to just name a few people who come immediately to mind, because they use geometric forms in a way that works for tattoos. I also think that design aside, if you really want something along these lines, you really need to go large because a big part of what makes these tattoos visually powerful is the way they fit and move with your body. Anyway, that's just like my opinion, man.

The people who said they didn't think the elbow was too bad are all insane. Or they have magical elbows. More fun stuff on the arm with Greg. Took the photo from his instagram. Feels weird to include something this little this week when there's so much crazy stuff on my instagram from the Bay Area convention, but oh well! The trend of 'never actually doing what we previously planned on' continues. At this point I kinda hope it always does. And now I am done until the end of November!

As I upload these photos, I realize how spoiled I am to live in the Bay area and get to see all these heavy hitters creating amazing work every year. On Monday, I was bummed that I have to wait another ~362 days until the next one!!

Shige practicing Zen in the Art of Tattoo... so good he can do chest pieces with his eyes shut. The knee tattoo brings back bad memories of pain and swelling.

I just thought I'd chime in and say I hate you all because you all went to this and I couldn't....... :D

Tats and cats, all day everyday.

It was a great convention this year. I had no plans on getting tattooed yet got a piece from Stewart Robson and Miyazo. (I will post pics when healed.) It was great hanging out and going to a amazing dinner with @Lance and @CABS. Although we didn't really meet except for a brief second it was nice seeing all the stellar work @MoistTowelette has in person.

How blessed can I be to be able to get a group picture with three GIANTS of the tattoo world (@shige_yellowblaze @gogueart @carlostorresart) who just happen to be the three artists that collaborated on my torso!?!?!?!! I am truly humbled and honored to be able to wear the work, but more importantly to be able to call these class guys my friends. Much love!!! Special shout out to @jessyentattoo and @jasonbutcher who also took part but could not be there. - - - Updated - - - James Tex in March at Summit Convention on my armpit to finish my torso!

Was lucky to get this dragon head from Horinao (IG: @horinao1) at the Bay Area Convention. Not sure if I want to add background to it later or leave it in that American piecewise style as I really like the negative space.

@daragao - as you look at the work these artists do on folks, you'll notice how smaller works are laid out differently than larger works, and that anything involving long lines takes up a larger portion of the body for more oomph and visual power. It is fine to have a meaningful tattoo, but remember to not let the meaning dictate the form. You want something that will work visually with your intended meaning, that may mean that you have to change the form. And, your tattooer will likely not care about your intended meaning; but he/she will care about making a kick-ass tattoo. So, my other bit of advice is to not get hung up on the meaning or the image, and to provide your tattooer with a list of ideas/images (high quality images) that represent what you are going after. Then, let the tattooer do their job and trust them to do a good job.

check out Kore Flatmo's work (located in Cincinnati). He uses enough black that a coverup may be possible sooner.

Nice shot of Valerie giving my inner thigh the bizzness. Great meeting Hands On, MoisTowlette, and hogg!

Exciting! Welcome to a group of fellow crazies who've jumped straight to a full back. You're not alone. You may be crazy, but you'll never be alone! :)

@DeathB4Decaf - Thanks! As for how long I've been working on it, well that's a bit of a loaded question. I started it about 5 years ago, but Jason moved to Portland literally after 2 sessions. So, progress slowed down quite a bit but I'm just about done! @Cork - Thanks! No filter. Just my wife on an iPhone and my fat ass in all it's glory!

OMG I love those little googly eyes! So great!

This reads like a personals ad.

My arm by Joel Madberg, Salvation Tattoo Stockholm:

@Hands On, thanks so much for posting all these great shots. I was so overwhelmed that I didn't take any photos.

I would treat everything @Ain Hallap says above about laser removal with a healthy dose of skepticism, as he'd previously been run off the board when his introduction about DIY at-home laser tattoo removal didn't go over as well as he hoped.

I sent him an email...I have had two laser sessions done, there are places the black is unpacking, slowly...But yes IDK where around here to get laser sessions done anymore since Rethink your Ink seemed to disappear...

Totally agree with above. I will add that my finger tattoos showed similar 'blow out' in the first few days/weeks, but they tightened up a lot in the following months and now 2+ years later, they still look good.

I agree with Graeme. I'm really into Jondix's work right now. You might check out Kenji Alucky, Nazareno Tubaro, Garcia Leonam, and Roxx at 2Spirit as well.

Thank you Graeme ;) really! That is the kind of input I am looking for, I will look into it, and come back with something more thought through. Thank you, hope to chat more soon.

Truth.

definitely a fan of whatever floats your boat and i think the subject matter you want to commemorate is very cool but... i think the right tattoo artist will be able to help you develop a better articulation of the subject (i.e. - something cooler ;) ) good luck and welcome

@a1steaks I can't tell if that's an Instagram filter or if your back really has that amazing contrast. I hope its the latter. It looks badass anyhow.

I am so so jealous of your arm, @sophistre.

Sneak peek of my first day. Convention lighting sucks balls.

...and I'd just like to clarify that I have no idea exactly how shitting a tattoo goes down.

Beyond happy with this rose from Chris Garver this week. Pic stolen from his IG

i like it because it doesn't scream "super meaningful tattoo"

It cuts deep alright when family feel they can say whatever. It particularly annoys me even more because it just reinforces to me that they still don't get it and never will. I've had very deep conversations with my family about what this journey means to me. You'd think that since my 1st tattoo at 17 years old up to now that my words would actually hold some weight. That the seriousness in my tone and a well thought out response would channel to them a certain kind of meaning. And, in a heartbeat statements like...don't you think enough is enough...your getting more ink?, don't go any further than there...you won't get your face done I hope. Even to the point (I hear) that these are common discussion points between them and the fuckin neighbours! How do I know about that? Because the fuckin neighbours are dumb enough to tell me. Ha, and then they wonder why 90% of the time Micks aloof, doesn't say too much kicking back in the corner being anti social, at times appearing down right rude. Because it just ain't worth the time. @SeeSea. I'm hearing ya here. Family have a way of still making it hurt, even after all these years. Then, I had a "mate" who called me out at work in front of a heap of people when seeing my hands and fingers blazed. ...what are ya doing, there's rules to this you know, you must be breaking every HR rule in the book. This came from a dude who's got tribal sleeves, torso and back. I looked at this dude for a second in disbelief and just said...I don't follow your rules Greg and show me any HR guideline that states anything about tattoos because I haven't come across one. You should really get your facts right before shooting off your mouth. Hence, he's no longer part of my small circle of trust. That one didn't hurt, it made me angry. Ironically, I was watching Bad Ink last night and they were going on about tramp stamps. Made me cringe with embarrassment. No wonder the GP loosely use the term when it's perceived that we do as well. "Booze, Blues & Tattoos"

I love the tramp stamp. I think it looks sexy, not slutty. I have my back done and when my shirt rides up, my wife calls it my ass crack tramp stamp.

For fun, my peony by Wendy Pham done as guest spot at Red Rocket Tattoo in NYC

I pillaged this one from Tomas Tomas's instagram and he said there that he got it from the Yokohama Tattoo Museum: That suit is so striking and powerful. I will readily admit that I am pretty ignorant about tattoos, and this photo really hammers that point home: I had no idea that there were Japanese bodysuits done like that with the heavy black and negative space. Does anybody know more about this photo?

Photo heavy post... I'll include the captions from the Life article where appropriate. Not going to post the whole Irezumi book because there's lots of images, and there's something magical about flipping through that thing... some things are best discovered through some digging. These are by far the coolest shots from it, though. The tattooer they cover is called Apache Harry. There's a shot of his travel kit and flash set up on the first page. He has a sign reading "Tattoos Removed Without Scars. Apache Harry. #22 Bowery NYC." "For decorating 'Six Ring' Dutch and other clients, tattooist Apache Harry makes $3,000 a year." "Front view of Michael Brandmaier. His 300 designs by Apache Harry are worth $400." "Rear view of Michael Brandmaier. It took four years to tattoo him all over." " 'Professor' Wagner is responsible for this girl's condition." Irezumi, 1966.

Cap Coleman (I think) Bert Grimm (I think)