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Well.....I went to Virginia Beach the Thursday night before the Richmond Tattoo show and woke up Friday morning to go to Ancient Art Tattoo (VaBch) to be tattooed by Scott Sterling! What was going to be a small banger to palm size tattoo.....turned into this........ Due to a lot of weight loss....I do have a roll on my side.....Scott used the fact that I have this and made it so the mouth opens and closes.....LMAO! Very fresh photos....sorry the photos isn't better!

'Bout to start driving to Portland on four hours of sleep. It's a four hour drive. Two tattoos when I get there at noon, both on the inside of my arm, until whatever time Greg punches out tonight. Gonna be a long day! If it is possible to simultaneously be looking forward to a thing and also be the opposite of what looking forward to a thing is, that is me, today. Ha. Gonna let him put a panther head on me, too. I think this marks the beginning of the end of the beginning.

Yes, I did......I got the tattoo below from David Bruehl......and I got another piece to my snake (no photo of it) by Mike Fite! Mike Fite and I have an agreement.... He started a skin tear snake head on me about a year and a half ago sooooo......every time we see each other....he adds another piece of the snake on my body somewhere as a filler piece....LMAO! :D

little sumtin...for da kids...

Well, I womaned up and dared to bear my post-natal belly at my appointment yesterday - thank you all for the encouragement! Turns out the skin wasn't a problem at all, a bit of a challenge but doable (just like you said @Pugilist). Only got the lining and a teeny bit of shading done in the time available but TBH that was plenty. Sternum and navel were, urm, fun.

I love that little scorpion, @hogg and @cltattooing ! Chill dude. I feel like you have all already seen this on the 'ole Instagram, but I had the great pleasure of getting a couple of peonies from Brian Kaneko this weekend. It was a great experience to get zapped by such a nice, funny and talented person, and it was also our first time at Adorned, which was also very fun! What a lovely space. Can't wait to go back there, and will definitely be getting more work from Brian! You can peep the tattoos on his IG here: @truenaturetattoo I am of course in love with the peonies, which I've been wanting forever! It's such a treat to look down and see them there. They are healing like a dream so far. I have to say, I love this finally tattooing my arms business - soooo much more pleasant than all that back/thighs crap I started with.

I should be getting tattooed by greg christian agan in 2 weeks or so.

finally got the word, i'm starting my turtleback next week. pretty excited, been trying to align this tattoo for 2 years. the best part is that the back is really the last major piece of real estate i have open, so it will be cool to see everything start blending together as i enter the bodysuit club booya!

Hahaha - the first rule of the Peony Club is that you don't talk about the Peony Club.

You are unlikely to ever get any good info about the "industry" without any tattoos. I'd suggest you read this thread: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/152-non-tattooers-opening-shops.html

I saw a Kiku backpiece in person a while back and it was just about the boldest, most dynamic thing I have ever seen. He is amazing.

An interesting read from The Atlantic -- just offering it up for perusal: The Identity Crisis Under the Ink - The Atlantic Excerpt: In 1998, Velliquette and colleagues conducted an interview-based study that found people use tattoos as a way to cement aspects of their current selves. “We were hoping to look at the postmodern identity, and really what we found is that we were in this modern era where people did know who they were,” she said. “They had a sense of their core self.” Eight years later, the team revisited the idea. The second study, like the first, found that people used tattoos as a means to express their past and present selves. But the people interviewed in the second group also seemed to need proof that their identities existed at all. They relied on tattoos as a way to establish some understanding of who they actually were. “We continue to be struck by rapid and unpredictable change,” study co-author Jeff Murray said at the time. “The result is a loss of personal anchors needed for identity. We found that tattoos provide this anchor. Their popularity reflects a need for stability, predictability, permanence.”

Those roller sessions are super good for me when i would do them prior to a workout. Agree they can help out A LOT but suck at first.

Thats so effing awesome! I've got one similar and they're so badass.. Unfortunately I live in the UK so rarely get to show it off :(

I think the word you're looking for is "dreading." that is me almost every time and especially at the thought of eventually getting work on the chest, ribs, back of the knee, and finishing up my back. of course, when the machine stops buzzing and you get the cool wipe down*, the final product is always more than worth the pain and sacrifice! *some people hate the wipe down, but I'm in the group that loves it. can't wait for pics!!

Have fun!!!

Hi Geoff! Welcome to LST. Do you have any tattoos and will we get to see them? :)

@Bunny Switchblade, love that panther. I love seeing full back pieces make creative use of back-flaps too - there's a Thomas Hooper one where the eye socket of the skull fits into those folds perfectly. Back fat: the possibilities are endless! (I hope to adorn mine someday.)

Haha @Bunny Switchblade - my back flaps are conveniently hidden in the rippled dorsal fin of a moray eel. Great artists use the canvas to the best advantage, right? ;) Looks great!

To be fair, we did end up going out for drinks after we split up with you guys, which is I think what tipped the scales.

i'm getting a lighthouse inked tonight - i'll throw it up later

I like the black-and-white houses with big spiral stripes or vertical stripes. If your artist is very good, the light from it might provide a lot of added interest - perhaps illuminating or directing another piece. Or, just big, bright yellow/white and badass.

@SeeSea just thought this one came out the best? Here's the one with the flash so you can all our lovely faces!

I got my first-ever hand-poked tattoo last night from our own @cltattooing: It's also my first scorpion. Let's be honest: I needed one.

Here we go, done by Darcy Nutt at the RVA convention this weekend. Couldn't have asked for a better experience, she is top class in every way possible! There's some weird shadows and lighting in the pics, cause they do the piece no justice at all.

I've got some work in progress by Badj at Black Eyes Tattoo. Some pictures that were taken after my last session. Thought dinosaurs would be a fun addition to my collection.

It's done. It's actually done. The last session was the worst one I've had to endure. Major touch ups to the wind bars/clouds, double lining, basically every soft spot got hit in one day. By the end I was definitely spent, but so stoked. Dana was very pleased with how this came out, and that makes me happy too. He wants me to show up to the Baltimore or Philly conventions and do the back piece contest. This took a year and a half, and it was an amazing experience.

I keep coming back to this one. It's such a rad way of filling an awkward spot and I feel like I've never really seen anything before like it. I'm going to keep this tattoo in mind for a long time especially as I get more and more awkward gaps.

Just tripped across these lacy fingerless gloves with UV protection - pretty colors and it made me think of those of you with sleeves wanting sun protection. These are lined, so they would be great for events like weddings or cooler days when you need some warmth, although they don't look that heavy. Pretty cute. But...not what I'm looking for. I need some heavy fur lined gloves for this glorious stretch of 23 degrees we are having. Oh, I wish that were Celsius!

Loose lips sink ships, including your own.

I can only speculate, but I doubt Frith Street was started so someones 18 year old son could get an apprenticeship..