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Nearly finished the anemone and shading and side corals, and shadows along the bottom. The red is the huge bruise already starting. The clownfish were already there, and the crab first pass was from the last session. I am so amazed at how this is all turning out! Two more session until we're done!

Had a massive 20 min session today. Added some more Germanic Runes.

“If your parents begin to like your work it's getting bad." -Charles Bukowski

@keepcalm you have some great responses here! I have had a similar experience with my mom. She hates tattoos and has made snide comments for years... but recently I feel like we have finally made progress. Basically, I would just argue with her about it a little each time she would make a comment, and then drop it and go about my business of getting tattooed as much as I liked. Then, this last time I saw her (over the summer) she was upset about a comment I made about her being mean to me over my tattoos. She said she has never been MEAN to me, but was just stating her opinion. I told her, "I already know your opinion so constantly restating it is kind of, well, mean! The tattoos are here to stay so get used to it!" Since then she has stopped with anything negative or any mention of them. For a long while there she wouldn't "like" any pics of me on facebook if my tattoos showed (whereas she "liked" all my pics where they don't show). Quite recently she liked AND commented, "I love this" on a picture that clearly showed my whole right sleeve. PROGRESS! I wasn't expecting to crack through her shallow, cold, hatred of tattoos, but it's happening! Or at least it's not in my face any more. Yay. Hang in there. You gotta be you.

Not sure if I posted this, but I'm getting tattooed by Linsdey Carmichael during the holiday. Stoked! I have no idea what to get.

Once upon a time, I had a pretty interesting conversation with a girl I dated at the time, how she wanted to get a boob job. I told her I wasn't into it. Then she said, "So does that mean I can stop you from getting tattooed because I'm not into it?" Safe to say, we aren't dating anymore.

Hi all, been slacking on my updating on here so heres some bits and pieces: Most recent thing I've had done was continuing this, was cool to chat to Brad Fink briefly prior: one session to go, hopefully soon although it will be hard not to get something else by Andre. Also got this from O'Donnell back in July: Both shameless instagram thefts.... As usual this thread has blown my mind with the awesomeness that LSTer's choose to get...

LOL! You know, that is a really good idea. One of my dive friends is a great underwater photographer - if he's going on our next trip, I think he'd love to do it. Thanks for the suggestion - that would be really cool!

I think that's a fair trade!

Gah, @keepcalm and all others, I certainly feel you in regards to parental disapproval! (although my mom did get a tattoo on her hip in an ill-advised attempt to bond and understand me and recently got it removed...and it was waiting for me in a tupperware container full of salt when I got home. She had a tummy tuck but asked the surgeon to save the skin for her. Creepy? Yes. Sweet? Yes. Fucking weird as hell? Don't even get me started)(ah, family). (y'all want pics?) (also this is my least fav tattoo, i am soooo glad to get it covered now! never would have done it unless she had agreed to also do the same tho) My parents have never liked tattoos. My dad didn't speak to me for months after he found out about the (little teeny tiny) flower on my back, and my mom just looked at me with sad, disappointed eyes. I really wanted more tattoos, and when I decided to go for a highly visible tattoo on my forearm at 23, I knew I was doing something that might cause my parents to literally never speak to me again. It was fucking tough!!! And then all the guilt for why I would do something that I knew would basically divorce me from my parents, what a bad kid, blah blah blah. Lots of guilt. But I still loved my tattoos. At some point before I got that first, highly visible tattoo, I showed my mom a picture of some cherry blossoms that stretched across a woman's entire body. I thought they were beautiful and I was sure my mom would feel the same way, even though they were tattoos --- NOPE!! And it was at that point that I realized that just because my mom didn't like something didn't mean it was not cool/right/good-looking/whatever - and that I could like something independent of her and that my opinion is still a valid one. As I collected more tattoos over the years, my parents began speaking more about what i would do at work, and what was I supposed to do at black tie events? At the time I was on the film festival circuit and attending opening galas pretty regularly, so it wasn't an out of nowhere question...but nowhere did I feel comfortable saying "I LIKE the way my tattoos look in dresses!". In fact I just felt humiliated and ashamed. Again, this feeling of guilt - how could I be so shortsighted and do this to myself? Do I not care about my future? Why would I have wasted all this education and this good job etc etc etc ad nauseam - it's really hard to get your parents' disapproving voices out of your head, even when you think they've been banished! Anyway - guess what - they can be covered up if you really want them to be. I attended a black tie event two weeks ago with my What Tattoos? look in full force. Long sleeves. Long gown or pants. NOT HARD TO DO. I did attend a few events this summer with tattoos out in full force. Surprisingly difficult for me to do because of those nasty voices in my head, but I got over it. (I'm 31 now) I personally gauge the event, the hosts, where I am (seattle is fine to show tattoos, oklahoma is decidedly UNWELCOMING). I make a point of looking spectacular to the normies so that not only are they embarrassed if they've trash talked tattooed people to me (more common than one might think) and later see my tattoos, but that maybe it gives 'em something to think about. In Oklahoma, when I am home visiting family, I keep mostly covered up. This keeps me from dealing with the huffs and puffs, stupid thick tension, and any assaults on my character or future. I used to feel very comfortable with this, because I'm not rebelling or trying to piss my parents off with tattoos (though they have certainly leveled those accusations before), so why poke the bear if it's not necessary? But now I feel kinda bummed that I can't be myself around them. Or like walk downstairs in a tank top. And I was just in OK for thanksgiving and I felt totally trashy and hated myself for getting tattoos. ?!?!! I LOVE TATTOOS so that was a weird feeling for me - I was just basically sucking up the disapproval in the air, I think! bc i adore my tattoos. I was just home recently and my mom had to use a fabric glue to stick the collar of my dress in a certain place - not to cover a tattoo, but so that the dress would fall right - and she moved the collar and saw some tattoo and made the worst noise...it made me feel bad, but whatever. It's okay if we all like different things! My mom gets hella plastic surgery, I'm not into that kind of body mod, so that's what I relate the tattoo thing to at the moment. I stopped expecting my parents to treat me nicely many years ago, @keepcalm. Eventually I ported it all into a "them" problem and have minimized my contact with them. I keep my tattoos covered up, though they are aware of them, and I choose to interact with them about different topics, and I refuse to be baited into an argument regarding tattoos. I guess what I'm trying to say is what many have said before me in this thread - wishing/hoping/waiting for parental approval that's never gonna happen is a dumb game that will make you feel bad. It's okay if they don't like tattoos - they don't have to - but they don't have to be jerks about it. If they are gonna be jerks about it, minimize your exposure and choose only to interact with them in neutral territory. If you're comfortable with it, cover up and just show your tattoos off to your friends who think they're cool as hell!

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.

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.

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 :)

I'm not very familiar with watercolor tattoos, but the colors look kinda muddy, and there's some shaky lines. Maybe look into a different artist if you're not happy with how it looks, and your new artist can clean it up a little? It also sounds like you're trying to incorporate a lot of different things. Keep it simple! Good luck!

I found that the main advantage of using Saniderm (or Tegaderm, whatever) was that I could sleep on my tattoo. The pressure felt good, none of that raw scratchy feeling.

I asked my son to keep it within the confines of a button down shirt until he knows more about the direction his life will take. He knows he's going to have an interesting holiday with his dad's side of the family. His dad and aunts are tattooed, but his Grandma will be disappointed. My mom asked to see it. He has a video game tattoo. I would not have it, but it is well done and important to him. He put it on the back of his upper arm, and he'll be able to expand it fairly easily, and highlight things that will be more important to him later in life on his shoulder. I just can't understand being so upset with your child over something so - unimportant. If a tattoo is 'the worst thing you've done' then you are a pretty good kid :)

Tommy Montoya has been posting jailhouse machines lately. Check out the one on December 3rd. instagram.com/tommymontoya

I love your post, @beez. BUT DAMN. She kept the skin for you?! Your mom wins everything ever.

Yes, I agree. WTF but also cool but also WTF?! Not sure which side I've landed on yet, but THANKS MOM FOR THE WRITING MATERIAL!

I feel like this is an "US" problem. We KNOW we like our tattoos. We got them on purpose. PAID for someone to do it to us, in fact. So why let disapproval from flyover states or other-minded parents get to us so strongly?! While I was dealing with the horrible "i'm so trashy and disgusting" feeling, I also recognized that I didn't feel like that all of the time, and knew that I wouldn't likely feel like that in a few days...so even though it sucked, that is what I held on to - the impermanence of the situation. You know how you feel, and you know that it isn't all the time. Remember that! Best of luck! It sucks. But you're an adult and you like your tattoos - that is ALL THAT MATTERS!!!!

I think I'm ready to join the club. I have exactly one month until my first appointment to start my back. I'm glad to hear the mortality rate isn't too high, as this is also my first tattoo and I'm doing back to back sessions. The tattooer told me it's not always a bad thing to start with the back, because "you don't know any better, so you're dumb enough to think that pain is normal for a tattoo."

You could call it a rule, or you could call it a design principle - so the tattoo flow looks right. If the head faces backwards, the tattoo will always be in conflict with the wearer, moving opposite to the body. Rules are meant to be broken! But if you are breaking more rules (or principles) than you are following you lose a lot of the focus on the piece. That being said, I have a tattoo where the head of a dive bombing eagle faces backwards, but the momentum and body of the eagle fits with the flow of the body with the placement. I think it works in the context of my surrounding tattoo works and also on its own.) To the OP, if you put the beak on the shoulder, the body of the crow will remain static and the beak may twist awkwardly with the arm. It may look distorted if the design and placement isn't correct. But if you find a legit artist, they can tell what they can make work and (hopefully) will make your crow design look like it was always meant to be there on your body. The tattoo becomes part of you. Tattoos need to look good on their own, but more importantly tattoos (and placement) need to look good on the wearer, to flow with the body and move through life. ---- ps...and trust me, after you get a bunch of rad tattoos on your chest/back/torso, you'll be going shirtless more often than you'll care to admit! haha

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!

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.

Thanks, everyone, for your stories! It's good to hear about other people's journeys and how they have dealt with reactions from family. Intellectually, I know this is true, but it's hard to remember when I'm getting an icy cold shoulder from my mom for days at a time. Looking forward to the day when I can chime in that my parents may not like my tattoos, but at least they don't treat them as such a huge, offensive deal anymore. Thanks again, guys - I feel a bit cheered up! :)

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 )

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

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

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

when I think about a mom and their kid getting tattooed, i think of Marcellus Wallace during The Bonnie Situation sayin, "Oh, no fuckin shit she'll freak." I did the same thing as @sophistre but after I got my first tattoo... sent a long ass heartfelt email with a photo of the tattoo with some explanation about it and she called me soon after saying she understands. that broke her in easy, but she had no idea the coverage that would later ensue. ;) I think what a letter (or email) does as compared to a conversation is allows you to clearly get all of your thoughts and points out to the reader rather than having the listener rebut, interrupt, or shut off altogether. it can't turn into an argument and you don't have to deal with emotions. you can get all your emotions in writing and the reader can let their emotions flow as they read, soak it all in, and reply when they're ready (if at all). either way, it found it to be a bit safer and more effective for my mom. just another option, depending on your situation. good luck!!

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.

Ah, happy to announce I've joined the dedicated crew here...started by backpiece yesterday! Lined in from shoulders to back of knee. Some long line pulls and wow the bottom of the ass cheek wow that is advanced level tattoo. Thank you to the LST crew here for sharing your backpiece experiences, I felt it helped me be prepared for this important session. Sat for 3~4 hours and it was one of the most comfortable tattoo sessions I've ever had. My feet were totally relaxed the whole time. Very cool to reconnect with my tattooer. He did my first in 2003, a rib dragon in 2005 and my crane arm in 2007. Full circle, especially when this back tattoo connects to his older work. Tattoo is being made by Steve Batt (TheGangOfOne) in Edmonton, AB. We are doing a Shaolin kung fu monk with rocks, waterfall, cloud swirls. (You'll have to forgive me, I'm not quite ready to post up pics for the general public, and i don't want my tattooed ass to "break the internet".) This tattoo is the missing puzzle piece...all my tattoos neck to ankle are now connected! :) Feels great, my back is tie-ing everything together, and I've reached the bodysuit zone after 11 years, like I'm walking around wearing armour. But really this is just the start...gonna get going on black and colour in the new year and see what kind of rapid progress we can make.

I finally get to give this a shot! Dana Helmuth, 95% completed at Read Street Tattoo in Baltimore, the rest done in his private studio.

Got it this past summer. First Harley. Not the color I would have chosen but it had 2400 miles on it and the guy was letting it go for cheap.

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.

Got the ladyhead by Max Kuhn yesterday! Not the best pic. It wraps a bit!

Here is the list that I think would get you going without breaking the bank: Stoney Knows How Sailor Jerry: American Tattoo Master Bushido: Legacies of The Japanese Tattoo New York City Tattoo Ed Hardy's Tattoo Time