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Torso progress. 3 days back to back at the Bay Area Convention of the Tattoo Arts this past weekend. Sorry for the harsh convention lighting. Will get better pics once healed. Thanks for looking.

I got this from Stewart Robson at the Bay Area/SFO Convention :)

I am utterly shocked it took until PAGE 7 for this recommendation to be uttered. Really folks, is @CABS the only one with his eye on the ball?

Never get your torso tattooed. It hurts.

Don't feed. Also, I would just put a panther over it.

Kids love looking at tattoos so if you get some new ones it's kind of a present for everyone.

Did 4 more hours today. Was supposed to be a 6 hour session but due to circumstances on both mine and Kian's side we changed it to a 4. I am glad to say it is now time to re-commence my backpiece. For the last 2-3 months it has been all about things and butt etc etc. I had actually forgotten that I was doing a backpiece. :) I am quite tall so my butt and thighs is a substantial amount of area to tattoo. Today we have all but finished up that area and started colour on background elements further up. I love looking at the progress after every session but after starting colour on my "back" I realise I still have a long way to go.

Here's my chest that I had done by Jason Phillips at FTW in Oakland. My only thing was no eagles (I already have one on my arm). I've always wanted this design on my chest. Finally came into fruition.

This is the best thread! This picture was taken a few months ago at my sister-in-law's wedding and I was immediately struck by how much I LOVE the way the tattoo looks with the flowers and the floral print dress. I would like my whole body to look like a floral dress one day -- Since taking this picture I've gotten a few more big flowery pieces and I am slowly inching toward the goal :)

Does BrianH owe us a picture or something? I know you had a date with Rubendall coming up. Has that started now?

Lasered off 2 bodysuits? Un-fuckin-believable. "Booze, Blues & Tattoos"

I couldn't go wrong. All though I'm leaning towards a tough dragon. I really can't wait until I meet him to see the sketch and say, "Yeah, that's it."

I keep returning to this thread, maybe I am a glutton for punishment but... I have a tattoo with a blowout that has lightened up over time, when it first happened I was like, "oh shit, that sucks. Oh well, nothing to be done about it now." I am pretty sure I flinched when it happened. Regardless of the imperfection (or the why of the imperfection) I LOVE that tattoo. I would not want to be without it, and I highly value the experience of both getting the tattoo and having the tattoo, and what the tattoo represents to me. I love everything about it - even the imperfections. Life isn't perfect, we aren't perfect, and it is a nice little reminder that things won't always be perfect (if you want to start getting all meta about it.) So, why bother posting in this thread again? @flowergirl - tattoos are permanent in that they will be in your skin until your body dies, they change (just like your body will change as it ages), accepting the imperfections in yourself (and your tattoos) shows a certain level of maturity, and pragmatism. So, by "dealing with it" you are sort of forced to accept and love yourself as you are, just like accepting and loving your tattoo for what it is. It can be hard, I know. Go to the thread on things you've gotten into since getting tattooed. Take care of yourself, take care of that tattoo, and if it is still bugging you in 3 months then go and talk to another tattooer about what you can do with it. There's really not much else to be said about the whole thing. The folks who posted were trying to help you understand the situation since your initial post came across as you needing the help. The people who are involved on this site are great people, have amazing tattoos, and are super knowledgeable about tattoos/tattooing whether they be tattooers or not. We spend our time on here, we don't get paid, we are here because we like the people and community here on LST. If you don't like it, or can't step out of yourself enough to see what kind of place this is, then you shouldn't be here. Period.

Truth. Most of us treat this space as a community. We have limited patience for people who treat it as a service, and treat us like their employees.

Haven't started the Rubendall project yet but Henning did tattoo my ribs and chest yesterday.

@MoistTowelette "Harsh" is right. 3 days in a row!? Brutal but very effective.

He lasered off 2 full suits and is on his third one. Crazy right?

@MoistTowelette. So fuckin good man. It's work like this that makes me wish at times we could suit all over again. Top fkn notch [emoji106] "Booze, Blues & Tattoos"

My new calf piece - biomech - Matt Dunlap at All or Nothing in Smyrna, GA.

One thing for certain is you meet folks you never would have met! And in my experience, thats a good thing! SENT FROM MY LG G FLEX ON THE NOW NETWORK FROM SPRINT!?✌

I've definitely contemplated a trip to see Aaron Coleman. Good taste! Welcome!

Hi guys, I have been infrequently lurking here for about 3 years now. I don't want to get too cheesy but this forum has really helped me grasp and differentiate between 'good' and 'not so good' tattoos. So thank you to all the posters / forum members for their insight. I got my first tattoo from an artist I read about on here about 3 years ago and I currently have 5 tattoos with a 6th coming later this year. I work in the 'creative industries' (yuck) so I appreciate and respect the art and craft of tattooing a great deal. So yeah, hi everyone.

You got your question answered. Multiple times. You responded in an oblique fashion, repeatedly ignoring advice and information given to you by several tattooers and tattoo clients with similar experiences. I told you about the only thing you can do to fix it to your liking, and you completely glossed over it and focused on those you had already put off, rather than ignoring them. Do you not see how you could receive backlash from people for that?

As the Dead would sing, What a long, strange trip it's been:

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.

My inner thigh leopard tibetan dagger done by Chad Koeplinger at last Barcelona Tattoo Expo.

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.

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.

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

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.

Probably the last tattoo session this year: some time in later half of november, some hours on my backpiece with Rudy Fritsch @ Original Classic in Trieste, Italy. Will be a fun trip!

Got 4 more hours in with Jason this week. So close...

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!

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

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.

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:

This board is so heavy on the bromance.

Got this Rock of Ages from Bradley Tompkins last week when he was guesting at Frith Street. So happy with it and as an added bonus its started peeling already.

I cosign this. Getting tattooed led me down the path to go to art school, mostly b/c I was so encouraged by my friend (who is my tattoo hero) to draw. And well, yeah, here we are. It's never too late to do something you want to do.

Working out! Prior to getting my half sleeves I had a complex about my arms being too skinny/flabby to get tattooed and that it just wouldn't look good. I was extremely motivated and started going to a gym 3-4 times a week trying to lose weight and add some muscle to my flimsy arms. I wound up getting started on them anyways because I finally realized that rationale of thinking was entirely stupid and in no way shape or form should have prevented me from getting what I wanted. Once I got into a routine though I managed to stick with it ever since and lost about 50lbs. I'm healthier then I've ever been and no longer have to worry about my blood pressure.

My arm by Joel Madberg, Salvation Tattoo Stockholm:

No I don't actually and that's probably a good thing.

Back to kinda where it all started for us hey KBee. I think when we all make that decision we're going heavy, we think we must put a lot of energy into it, over thinking, complicating it, when the only complicated part is really being steered in the right direction, then it all just falls in place. I love that. Just doing it easy, enjoying the experience again, the vibe, the smell, the sound. On that, how could one sit in a shop with all rotary machines working? The silence wouldn't seem right.

My dad's forearms. Pictures taken last week. My dad was 16 or 17 when he got these in 1970/71. Done by Bob 'Eagle' Smith in Oxford, England. It says 'mum' and 'dad' in the banners.

Rich Hardy posted this on instagram today: "PERTH 2013 Pinky Yun, mid 70's One of the best eagles I have ever seen!" Instagram

Javier Castaño at Barcelona Electric Tattoo does incredible work.