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Can't believe I forgot to post this one! From Chris O'Donnell's LA trip a couple weeks ago. Left forearm. Blatantly stolen from Chris' Instagram ( codonnell_nyc )

Was lucky enough to get some work from Chris Conn last night. 1st session, halo and color next time. Ill try to post a better pic later. By the way.... one of the nicest guys I've ever met.

You have all probably seen this all ready but here is the session on my back piece from a week ago when I was visiting Rudy Fritsch at his shop Original Classic in Trieste, Italy. Had a super good stay in the city and the shop is truly amazing, I could be there for hours just looking at all of the originals on the walls from some of the best in the culture and also from Rudy himself. We had lunch the day after the session and he sure is a very interesting and inspiring person too. Beyond happy with how this is progressing! Next session with Iain Mullen, who is the other part of this collaboration, will be in Stockholm quite soon and then the three of us converge during the Scottish Tattoo Convention in Edinburgh early next year to put the finishing touches on this project. I am a lucky guy :)

My buddy jaie came to town so i had him stick this dagger on my shin.

For me, part of getting increasingly heavily tattooed is understanding and accepting that not everybody likes tattoos. It's tough when that negativity comes from your own family, but that's all part of what you take on by getting tattooed. For my part, my family has been more or less fine with it. I know my dad doesn't like my tattoos but we don't have a super close relationship so we've never talked about it. My mom always wants me to say that my latest tattoo is my last one, though I don't really see how it even matters at this point. She's coming more and more to accept that getting tattooed is just something that I do, but there are tough moments for sure. My parents were staying with us but were away visiting NYC during the Montreal convention a couple of years ago and they got back to the apartment just at the moment I got out of the shower the day after having my shin destroyed by Chad. My leg was super beat up and swollen and my mom saw it and immediately burst into tears about it. I guess a large part of that had to do with what @bongsau said earlier in this thread about our parents not wanting to see us in pain. At the same time, though this has never been said to my face, I know that some of my extended family has been pretty hostile about my tattoos. One of my uncles, a retired former career air force officer, a really straight-laced type, asked my mom flat-out why I look like a "goddamned biker" and have so many tattoos. I couldn't have asked for a better response from my mom. She told this uncle that I have so many tattoos because I like them. So yeah, she doesn't like that I have tattoos, and she has asked me what she did wrong as a mother to make me do something like this to myself, but when it comes down to it, she doesn't think I'm a bad person for it and has stuck up for me. And that's great with me. My in-laws don't know that either me or @Pugilist have tattoos at all. We see them in general a couple of times a month. It's all long-sleeved shirts and pants around them even during the hottest part of the summer, or hiding if they stop by unexpectedly. We say that they need to find out eventually, but if they do find out it's going to be a huge fight so it's best to just keep them covered. I think even when they do find out we're both tattooed, we'll still both keep them covered around them out of respect.

I was in a favorite blues club this week while away on business, and later in the evening, this dude comes up to me at the bar and points to the blue edges of my tattoo sticking out from the left arm of my sleeveless shirt. "So I see you have a tattoo there, so what's is about? Can I take a peek?" as he's leaning in to me. Sigh. So I turned around and showed him the edge of the tattoo sticking out from the right side and said, "It's the other side of this tattoo." The bartender (with visible tattoos) just laughed and told me she loved my response. It was completely spontaneous but I'm saving this one too for future cretins.

Angel Tyrael with Giger wings. Angel Tyrael healed, wings fresh. Tattooed by Tommygunn, Belfast City Skinworks, Belfast. I am beyond happy with it :) Next session in May 2015.

I only recently figured out that waiting for my mom's approval or appreciation of my tattoos is fruitless. I've been waiting for over thirty years & it's not ever going to happen. My mother hates my tattoos, she thinks tattoos are ugly and thinks that they look dirty!!! I realize that when she sees any tattoo- it's as if a veil comes down and she doesn't see content. All tattoos are the same to her. Well you know what was very freeing??? It was my realization that my expecting my mom to accept my tattoos is as unreasonable as her expectation that I would not like them or want to get them. It's her opinion and she is entitled to it. I also have an otherwise close relationship with my mom. Another thing that has changed is that at one time in my life I would dress to cover my tattoos while visiting my mom- now I do not. - - - Updated - - - Keep in mind that up until only recently - the last 10 years or so- tattoos for the most part were only popular with certain subcultures of the population- especially getting heavily tattooed. Bikers, people in jail, the military and sideshow freaks. No others !

This may or may not prove useful / interesting, and it may or may not be too much information to share on the Internet, but below is an exact word-for-word copy and pasted conversation I had with my dad a few years ago about my tattoos. Needless to say, this is the last time tattoos have ever been an issue between us, and I'm happy to say that both my dad and stepmom are cool as hell about my tattoos now (even after seeing me with my hands and fingers covered in tattoos for the first time when I went back to visit them a few months ago). This whole ordeal started when I got a text message out-of-the-blue from my stepmom that said this: "I thought I would pass on to you my critique of tattoo art. It is one dimensional art done by mediocre art class dropouts whose work, if not embedded in skin, would eventually be sold at a garage sale for a dollar to some lady in pink shorts." Needless to say, I was pretty frustrated / upset, and ignored the message entirely and sent no response. A week later, I got this message from my dad: "Just read what Kel sent to you on the "tattoo" ... Unless its a picture of Libby [their dog], I agree" After becoming even more upset, and after stewing over these messages for about a week, I finally responded to my dad, and the following conversation took place... Me: "I want you to know that I'm pretty unimpressed with the messages you and Kelly sent me last week." Dad: "We didn't think that you would jump for joy. Just an exercise of concern on that line of expression and the view of 56 (28x2) years of experience... Didn't expect you to necessarily agree, but wanted you to know we are concerned about you... Its of course your choice, but we are allowed to voice concern... I think we are anyway, love does that kind of thing..." Me: "That's fine, but I want you to know how I feel about your approach. First of all, I don't appreciate the unprovoked, passive aggressive attack in the slightest. Secondly, I don't expect you to like tattoos or understand them but I do expect you to have some respect for me. If you take offence to a decision I've made, or something I've done, or an entire industry for that matter, I expect you to be adult about it and have a discussion as opposed to making misinformed, uneducated and insulting jabs about a topic you clearly no nothing about. That being said, you're entitled to your opinion and I respect that. I don't expect you to like it, but I do expect you to be a little more tactful and treat me like an adult if you have an issue. I love you guys and it really hurt me to be treated that way." Dad: "Sorry Mike, you know we had no intention in hurting you and respect is certainly not an issue as we respect you implicitly. Yes, we know that Tat's are a form of expression. We just want to make sure that as you add them that it is something you really want as we know so many people who a few years later are sorry they didn't think the choice through a little further..." Me: "I appreciate your concern, and I take no issue with you guys feeling that way. Like I said, the issue I had was with the way you guys chose to say it. The nature of our relationship seems to be that we don't speak very often (which is too bad, but for whatever reason that's how it's gone) so I cherish the times where we do talk so much. It hurt me that your comments came so out of the blue and seemed to take the place of us being able to catch up as people because everyone was so caught up in outward appearances. What I'm trying to say is that I love and miss you guys, and I was upset all week about the way that that situation went down." Firstly, I consider myself very lucky that he was so open to my point-of-view and was willing to discuss it, but I firmly believe that open and honest communication is the key to remedying these particular kinds of situations. Either way, good luck @keepcalm!

This is a wonderful thread filled with great quotes and lots of things I can relate to. This is great advice. It's easy for us tattoo-lovin' freaks to sit here and think, "Who wouldn't love my tattoo? It's beautiful!" But what helps me is to try to understand someone else's perspective. Personally, I find scarification hideous. (No offense to anyone here who might be into that.) If my daughter, who is now 5, grew up to get good tattoos, I'd be happy. But if she went out and got huge scars, I'd be heartbroken. Does that make me a hypocrite? You're damned right, it does. It's no different from tattoos in that it's a form of personal expression wherein the canvas is one's body. So if I think of it that way, I can relate to your parents. Which brings me to another great quote from this thread: Or to my own parents, who--believe it or not--don't know that I'm tattooed. Let's just say that we're not very close. So I hope you can find some solace in the fact that your parents seem very awesome in comparison to mine, who are very judgmental (and old and uber Catholic and lifelong residents of a small town). In a thread filled with great quotes and stories, my favorite is from Deb: I spent many years vying for my parents' approval. I have it in certain areas--I'm married to a great woman, am raising a good kid, and I am successful in my professional life--but I'll never have it in others. And I'm cool with that. Einstein (allegedly) defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." It took years, but I finally stopped expecting my parents to accept certain things. And I'm happier as a result. Good luck to you.

I'm sure her general reaction towards your tattoos comes from a place of love and her not quite being open to "getting it". Parents sure can be funny sometimes and it's interesting how much their approval means to their seemingly smart adult children. I use to be jealous of my friends who's parents yelled at them for coming home with Black Flag bars or whatever tattooed on them. I think it just means they give a shit. Getting tattoos on your body just probably doesn't follow the bogus script they've had in their head for what you'd be like as an adult. Doesn't mean they are not proud of all your other accomplishments. Maybe have the talk to end all talks about them, an open and honest conversation from both ends. Then the topics off the table. Don't let your parents opinions on something so simple as tattooed skin cause strain on your relationship with your mom. My parents were never surprised by my getting tattoos. I came home when I was 14 with a kitchen scratcher tattoo by my friends older brother. Who, not all that surprisingly, was not a tattooer. I showed my mom it with pride right away. Her response was along the lines of, "well that wasn't the smartest way to go about getting a tattoo". That was it. A few days later she pointed out that poor people, especially women, already have enough things stacked against them, no point in making myself look like a criminal and killing my potential. (Thankfully I moved far away from kitchen tattoos well over a decade ago.) My mom may not win any mother of the year awards, but she has a good heart and I know now that she meant well with her bleak commentary. She's just always been blunt and said it how she saw it, no matter how misguided it may be. Parents have their faults. She had known since I was 10-11 that I loved tattoos. I'd always check out all the tattoos on the bikers and scumbags that hung around. I sat in awe across the kitchen table from my mom when she got one (a terrible blue rose on her chest) when I was 8 or 9. I'd get paid to babysit with tattoo magazines. We moved regularly and always being on the go meant I had few belongings, but my mom would occasionally find a new tattoo or music magazine in a gas station somewhere that would keep me distracted. I can go home with a new tattoo and my mom will usually ask to take a peak. I'd say the real shocker and bone of contention was just my decision to grow up independent and sober, build some financial stability, and earning myself a comfortable middle class life. I'd say that causes more waves and tension. But, you know, different strokes. TL;DR: Just hug your mom. Tell her how you feel, have an open conversation, and actually listen to her response. She'll get over it, they always do. Then hug her again.

Little Uncle Alan reaper head on the side of my knee. Really cool shop to get tattooed at- probably the most unique / nicely finished I've seen.

If I were in your shoes, I would try to truly understand why your mom hates them so much. She hates them just because they are trashy? It must be more than that for her to act so serious about it. I'd sit my mom down with a bottle of alcohol, and I would force a clean answer out of her (my mom prefers avoidance of issues). And you have to ask the right questions too. This might seem silly but root cause analysis is a valuable life tool, use the "5 Whys". "Why don't you like tattoos?", "In your mind, what makes them trashy?" I'm not going to role play this whole thing out, but I hope you get the idea. Then explain your side, why you like tattoos, how tattooing in this day and age is very different than tattooing in hers, etc. In my own experience, I see a lot of it come from pressure from our parents own peers. If your mom's friends hate tattoos, then that makes her look horrible as a mother that she raised some miscreant that likes tattoos that would embarrass her in front of her friends. You have to see it from her side. If you were on her side of the fence, what would it take to change your mind? I can tell you, sure as shit, if I were to go to the beach with my mom, she would immediately be fearful of what the people around us would think about my tattoos. She can't help it, she is a mother. She wants all her kids to be seen in a respectful light, and that is her opinion of what respectful means. My older brother rocks a mohawk. It looks good. My mom hates it and it embarrasses the hell out of her because her friends see her son with a mohawk and she feels ashamed.

@Mick Weder I'm not that advanced yet but I'm sure I'll get there. For now I just shiver in a corner, clinging to the bottle.

Whilst in the shower, can't forget that bit @Rawok ;)

Be confident, embrace who you are and show love no matter how anyone treats you.

It will take years @keepcalm. My folks too are so disapproving. But, I never seeked their approval to begin with. I use to wear longer sleeves and long pants so I didn't smash them full view, and slowly after time...well, I was just having a beer with mum last night in a pair of shorts and a singlet [emoji4] ...and they're both 78 years old. The comments only stopped within the last under 12 months. I would address them immediately, tactfully, respectfully though stern. See, you won't change that good person in you, and oldies are funny from that generation, they judge big time because their world was so square, but they were raised with impeccable values. You keep on chipping away and out shining with those same values, and after time, a long time, your actions will speak volumes to which they will realise doesn't match what their visual expectation is. Good luck [emoji4]

Booked in with Tim Lehi yesterday. Appt is beginning of March. Stoked!

I didnt think the shin was too bad. The center area where the bone is felt pretty tolerable. Going up toward the knee cap felt better. The ankle area and as he moved out towards the outside of my calf was real sensitive for me. Pretty much everything hurts from jaie though. He goes slow and deep to get everything really dark or bright. He outlined with a needle he spread out some, so the outline felt huge. Not that sharp precise feeling. When we were talkin about that he said mike malone made a joke about tattooing with huge needles is kinda like riding a bike with training wheels. Lol. - - - Updated - - - Oh yeah. I sent my lady a pic of the stencil and she says "you think he is gonna add blood drops to the tear?" Right as we were done he says. I think we should add some blood dripping down. You cool with that?

Some of yesterday's work, on the top parrot and bamboo from original Ed Hardy acetate. Juan Arreguin, my artist, got it from Nervio who worked in San Francisco for a long time. The next two were taken from Percy Water's book, done by Kemer Rodriguez. Done at Superfly Tattoo in Leon, Mexico.

I can relate, I feel ya My parents reaction to my first tattoo was OMG why why why...it's so big...why did you do that to your body... Then I got some bigger hidden pieces. I never disclosed because they clearly were not interested in acknowledging the big pink (well, purple, blue, battleship grey, etc) elephant in the room Then I got both arms done. And some legs. I wore long sleeves and pants to family dinners for years after the fact...then eventually my parents said, look, we don't really like or understand tattoos but we know they are obviously important to you. And we don't want you to feel uncomfortable when you come visit the family, you are loved and accepted. So please know you can wear a short sleeve shirt and shorts when it is summertime and be comfortable with us. You are our son and we love you, regardless. What I'm trying to say...your parents love you. And hopefully they come around. Change in perception can take time. And mom and dad did come around...after 10 years. I came home from a trip with a screaming eagle on my neck. They weren't that shocked which actually was super-weird! But then we finally had a conversation where they gave me an opportunity to open up briefly...about why and what tattoos give to my life, what it means in my heart, the confidence in my body Why your neck?! Well, easy mom n dad! because there is no space anywhere else! But until they do...remember your tattoos they are about YOU and they are to worn with your CONFIDENCE. Own it! So don't waste your energy trying to convince your parents, family, whichever people that aren't genuinely interested. That's their friggin' problem, not yours. Good luck :) about your Mom...Moms don't like seeing their kids in pain, which is all my mom could see in my tattoos. Pain. Until I talked to her. Open from the heart. Then my mom saw them as colourful and beautiful. The pictures on our skin are a reflection of what's inside us and where we have been. So talk to your Mom openly. Tell her all the positive things the tattoos have given you. And in time, let's hope your mom/family can drop the negativity and have an open-mind, to accept you and accept the things that are important to you. In the meantime, remember - your tattooed skin is thick and colourful now. don't let the negative vibes stick to you. Tattoos are temporary...and so is life :)

Hey @keepcalm since we know each other in real life, the only thing I can say, is that well, it gets easier in time. I still get the cold shoulder and I am in this industry. Its just socialization and stigma from a different era. The only time my folks did not get a bit miffed was when I showed them the tattoo I did on myself (Sidenote, I really should not have put that anywhere near my good tattoos). But, you know, that is your prerogative, you're a chill, nice, and seemingly successful person. Just keep at being the best version of yourself.

Congrats, Bunny! I imagine finally getting that tattoo after seven years of waiting is a very satisfying feeling. Greg and I didn't get to two tattoos last night, since we got an unavoidable late start. We did go with the creepy Lo Pan hand holding a dragon that we were joking about the last time I was there. It's pretty much all a result of talking about Big Trouble in Little China with he and his coworker when I was the last one in the shop on my last appointment.

Hey all, I'm pretty sure this topic has been discussed to death around here, but I'm hoping this thread can maybe focus on some helpful, active solutions for a problem I just can't seem to get over. I'm sure other people have encountered this, too. (P.S. -- there's a "too long; didn't read" summary at the end!) I'm 29 and have been living a life independent of my parents since I graduated college 7 years ago (read: I'm my own person; I do what I want.), but I can't shake the insecurity I feel because of my family's perceptions of my tattoos, and tattoos in general. My mom ABHORS my tattoos (she gives me the silent treatment for a few days each time she finds out about a new one, when I am visiting them), and I swear it seems to physically affect her. She has said as much: "It makes me sick." In these moments, it feels like she hates me, and I have to endure a few days of THICK tension on what should be a nice and enjoyable visit with my folks. I doubt my dad is thrilled about them, but he acts like a normal person, treats me the same, and has even expressed a tiny bit of interest in a few ("Oh, that is a cool design."). I am close with my extended family, and though I'm not the only one of us to have tattoos (some of my cousins have a few, too), the general consensus among my aunts, uncles, and grandparents is that tattoos are kind of trashy, and we're all just kinda going to pretend like the ones my cousins and I have don't exist. Because of all of this, I feel uncomfortable showing my tattoos around my family, and this has leaked over into my decisions on what tattoos to get and where to put them. But I'm tired of it! I want to get what I want to get, and put it wherever I want it, and not feel guilty or ashamed of it! I'm especially upset by my mom's reactions. We have a perfectly acceptable mother-daughter relationship -- except when the topic of tattoos comes up. I am tired of my personal decisions affecting my relationships with family, but maybe that's something I just have to accept if I want to continue getting tattooed? TL;DR: What can I do to "get over" this insecurity? Should I talk to my family? Tell them how I feel? What could I say that would help them understand why I get tattoos? Would it make a difference?

Super powerful stuff, @ mmikaoj. Congrats! And damn, @MJH IV, you chose a couple of great guys named Chris to get tattooed by.

this has been a very cool thread - lots of great support from the folks here for keepcalm and just in general we've all experienced some push back from people we care about in regards to getting tattoos this thread was a reminder to me just how polarizing the whole thing is especially once you start getting more than a couple on you many people just dont and wont understand it and thats ok by me because i'm not sure i can explain it for them anyway my parents and in-laws sorta pretend they dont exist and comments from extended fam and friends have ranged from 'you know you are starting to look like white trash' to 'those wont come off will they' - (RIP grandma) anyway - keep calm and tattoo on!

Pre tattoo I try to get a good nights sleep. Post tattoo I get a cold (used to be beer but people on this site changed my mind, it just sounded soo good (and it was)) cider, some greasy food (must have melted cheese in it) and a two hour nap to get rid of the slight fever I always get.

this dude does nice colorful work@ Instagram

A couple sessions into my back, I found the wonders of brownies as tattoo food. Since then, I have been making brownies and giving the rest to my tattoo artist. Until this summer, when I realized that I had started to associate the taste of delicious fudge brownies with tattoo pain. O.O Turns out my tattoo artist was getting tired of brownies too! So I branched out. I've made chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, and tonight I am making cut out Christmas sugar cookies. I never intended for this to become a ritual, but every Thursday before my Friday session has become Baking Time! Bizarrely, it's kind of calming.

I feel like a moron; I only just realized what "TL, DR" means. (I did actually read your entire post btw) and I try to force a quick whizz as well, just to make sure there are no unnecessary breaks. As long as the tattooer is comfortable, stopping just makes starting suck all over again.

My mother has been extremely supportive of the tattoos my brother and I have, but they do still make her uncomfortable on some level, and this is definitely why. She's less concerned about what other people will think of her than she is about what they'll think of my brother and I -- she worries that they'll make snap judgements about our character, and sees this as the potential for doors in our lives to close unfairly to us. I sent her a long letter before finally getting started on getting tattoos, explaining my interest. She'd made the usual 'what will you do when you're old and they look terrible?' remark, and as part of the letter I explained that I'd rather be interesting when I'm 70 than a bangable 70-year-old -- seriously, who cares about that at 70? I'm 33 and I barely care now -- and added sort of on a whim that, given I hope to donate my body to science when I pass away, I hope the person who receives it spends a few moments puzzling and wondering over all of the art on me. Bizarrely, this latter image is the one that seems to have made everything fine for her. She finds it hilarious. Everybody's mom is different. Communication is worth a try at least once, though, and if you can get to the bottom of it, all the better. It'll be a shame if not, but you have nothing to feel guilty about either way. A mother's job is to prepare her children for the world and the decisions in it, so that we're ready to make those decisions for ourselves when the time comes...even in the presence of opposition to what we find important. Sometimes it just gives rise to uncomfortable differences of opinions in the end. ;)

I have the same problem with my mom and dad. They hate tattoos and think they are trashy. So, I just avoid showing them to them and I avoid talking about tattoos with my family. My mom is never going to come around (she's now 80), and we live in different cities. So, I figured why bother making her upset. She'd cry for months if she saw my coverage.

I've gotten tattooed by Virginia Elwood and Tamara Santibanez (both at Saved). As well as Ashley Love (now at Adorned) and I would highly recommend all of them. Virginia especially is the nicest to sit with and chat. She really has that bed side manner thing down :) I don't know why but I've gotten more and more drawn to women tattooers as I've gotten older. I think it's just because I'm pretty much drawn to badasses in general. I'd love to get something from Rose Hardy at Three Kings soon.

Oh jeez, I really feel ya on this one! There have been many tears shed between my mother and I about my tattoos. We are finally at a point where we don't talk about them anymore and that only came after one of those mother/daughter fueled arguments (I was 29 years old when this happened btw!!!) where I told her how shitty it made me feel. I think telling her that what she is saying/doing is hurting you so badly will perhaps help put things in perspective. I believe that at the end of the day our moms don't want to hurt us but we have to be diligent about expressing our feelings in order to move past them. Good luck with your mom! I swear it will get better with time.

I met a girl, we talked tattoos, she's from az, shows me her legs done by roper, says they're friends and she can text him and give me a referral. Looks like I'm saving some money and flying to Arizona sometime this year. !!!! Also naturally me and this girl have been seeing each other. Life is cool sometimes.

So half sleeve is coming along nicely - foo dog and goldfish recently added. Sleeve by Daniel Innis at the Pearl in Toronto.

Got this from Horimatsu in October. It was a great experience, he is such an awesome dude with some pretty cool stories to tell. Also I got this cattoo on a caturday so I kind of won the internet that day :D edit: can't figure out why the picture is all wonky but if one clicks it again for full size it looks like it is supposed to... edit2: oh, and it's located on the outside of the calf.

eh some of us like those too

got this beauty from nick oaks on his visit in toronto @ the okey doke beyond happy with the turn out

One more session to go and filling in the blank spot underneath.

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!

Sorry no pics. I got a chance to look through a pile of Dana's secret stash of Roper pics, some are pretty good. I also got a chance to scroll through Bloodwork Bodies. Man, that book is amazing. The green dragon is in the book, I had to steal a clean pic for you guys. Not to mention it was good to catch a glance at @hogg's ass on more time.

Molly wrote me!!! Excited!!! After some chatting about a recent order mix-up and that I've been a loyal customer (read: Monmon Cat addiction), she told me that Horitomo's schedule had opened up due to cancelled travel plans and she offered me a sooner spot!!! April consultation!!! ::dances around kitchen::