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Honestly, I don't know why you would pay somebody here to draw something for you when this is a service that your tattooer already provides as part of the tattoo.

stop here :)

You are going to love the Carpe Vita in Maldives. My wife and I had an amazing time on that boat last January. Below is the video I made from the trip. Divers on the boat were joking the mantas got close to me because of my manta ray tattoos.

Ill throw my leg in! One of em anyway. Artist Lisa Cardenas.

my girl head faces forward and my fudo faces backwards. the fudo stencil was originally placed looking forward but the tattooer felt that it didn't look "right" with the heads neatly stacked and facing the same direction. moral of the story is get tattooed by todd noble and eddy deutsche

Just got done with my chest/half sleeves from Horitomo at State of Grace. Took me a couple of years to get it all done since I had to fly there and book back to back sessions. First, here is a pic of my fucked up tattoo that I got when I was 18. Horitomo touched it up and incorporated it with his art. SOrry not sure why some photos are posting sideways, I have it upright when I loaded them. [/img] [/img] [/img]

Hot Stuff riding, well, anything really. Not really new but Hot Stuff is never going out of style. But for 2015, Hot Stuff will be facing backwards, for the individual.

Very Interesting Story ;)

<partial thread derail> In all seriousness, as much as everyone says "Go talk to your artist," if you don't already work with someone, there can be a real mental roadblock because once you take that step to book time to talk with an artist, there may some expectation (real or imagined) from either or both of you that you need to follow through with whatever is suggested. This phenomenon isn't just tattooing but a number of non-trivial transactions that require face-to-face interactions. The notion that talking to the vendor means "ready to purchase." That's why we research cars online now rather than descending uninformed into the new car dealership with a big "sucker for the extended warranty" light bulb over our heads. (When I purchased my last car, the sales guy informed me quite matter-of-factly that my husband would want me to get the extended warranty for my protection since I drive a lot. That sent my husband through the roof when I informed him of this fact. After all, did he not want me to be safe? ;)) I get it that there is a gap between waiting a tattoo and not being sure about the content and timing and looking for some brainstorming ideas, and on the other hand, being ready to commit and schedule with the artist. I think some people end up at LST looking that chasm in the face and are unsure how to deal with it. And we send them back to an artist. I sat staring across that chasm for a decade, and maybe this is why it resonates with me. Maybe there is a thread for this, or there should be. It could include some activities such as: 1) Directive to research your possible reference material more, and provide ways/places to do that, 2) Provide links to stuff on LST and elsewhere along the lines of the thread: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/2396-what-makes-good-tattoo.html 3) Recognize that you need to talk to people in person. Go to a convention and talk to everyone. I am sure there are more. YMMV. The last one worked spectacularly for me because I couldn't get the warm fuzzies from portfolios or people saying that they could do what I thought I wanted. It was less a hurdle for me to wander around a convention and talk to artists because the commitment factor was much much lower. Sorry I derailed this thread a bit because I think @Diana90, you said you plan to stay with your current artist, but I think you are facing the same thing.

That new D'Angelo album is too good.

At times, an incredible record and it almost made my list. The songs (and album as a whole) are just way too long for my attention span. Although I saw Kozelek play a two hour show a few months back and was spellbound the entire time. Weird sidenote about that album: right around the time it came out, I had spilled a bunch of gasoline in my garage trying to fix my lawnmower. I sopped it up with old cardboard and kitty litter, but it was a few days before trash day. I heard the song "Carissa" for the first time and spent two or three days panicked that I was going to kill myself, my wife, or a trash guy.

Totally forgot I've listened to Sun Kil Moon's Benji a lot. Dur.

Don Pugsley - IMDb Thats a fella named Don Pugsley. He was in the Rocketeer. One of the few heavily tattooed actors back in the day that wasn't always showing their tattoos, playing bikers or convicts...

In the meantime, there is LST. :)

@soraya I hear you, it would be really nice to have someone/s to be able to talk to about recent tattoos without the usual questions from non-tattooed people like "so why did you get a ....... tattooed on you?" or "so you must really love ........ aye!" We never know who may come into our lives in the future, hopefully we get what we wish for one day :-)

Here is a very cool video about his shop and work: The Golden Age of Hong Kong Tattooing | VICE | United States I'd also be very worried about getting infected/Hepatitis from a tattoo in Hong Kong. I have work from Ross Turpin at Star Crossed and definitely trust those guys. But still, it's true that there are no laws about tattooing in HK/China and it's totally unregulated. Regardless of how much more accepted tattooing is in China/HK today, I still get sideways glances and straight up stares while my tattoos are exposed. One Chinese colleague asked how long I'd been getting tattoos, how much it costs, and said that in China only bad people get them. The tattooed westerner is quite the curiosity over there.

i'll put this up here, not all healed up yet but whatevs Untitled by misomad, on Flickr

Finished or unfinished is certainly fine either way with a situation like that, I'd say. Possibly he has a friend or two who could respect what he's done with it and bring the art to some closure, too. If I were the partner, I'd certainly want to see the old work. Just ask her before whipping it out. She might even have some ideas about who he might have liked to see it through, too.

I posted this over in "http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/5952-thread-posting-while-getting-tattooed-page9.html#post107507" mid grind last night, but here's an update. Right ribs to arm pit and detailing out the right side. I'm still limited to what he puts on Instagram, so it's not close up and the lighting isn't great. But man this is getting me crazy happy! Although, of course, next session was supposed to be my last one ... but now it's not again... ;) But he can detail it out all he wants - I'm just in love. Ahhh, he just put up a detail shot. The right is finished - second pass on the blue and rays are next, and finishing the left ribs, then a final pass for whites and blacks. Stolen from Sean Zee's Instagram

I'd picked up a few pieces of shit when I was 19 then when I was 21 I found a artist in Leeds called Fil Wood really nice guy and I went for a double headed eagle on my chest, which I still love,

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/164/6/3/Laugh_Dragon_by_talpimado.gif

Well, there is a right and a wrong, there are also rules. Sure, rules are made to be broken but doing that without properly understanding the whys and wherefores (or taking advice from someone does) is likely to make one look like a bit of a prat, often. - - - Updated - - - I don't know the rules, the rights, the wrongs, the whys or the wherefores. None of them. So, yeah, I do as I'm told.

thanks seesea based on this reference artwork by david okeefe if you're not familiar with the scene - bill kills it

tears in eyes... by matt dunn rabbits den milltown nj crappy pic 1 week into heal still some peeling going on

Those of you who follow Lee M Knight have probably already seen this one I got from him a few weeks back but here it is anyway. Done at Cult Classic Tattoo on my trip to England. Was a ripper bloke to get tattooed by and he went out of his way to make this tattoo happen!

I don't know how I missed this story, but damn, that was cool. Thank you so much for sharing it.

It comes down to how YOU communicate your expertise. Your in the prime position to help educate. The average collector/ enthusiast without any understanding or artistic knowledge needs to seek their ideas from somewhere.,.dont they? Do you just expect them to come in with a blank idea and you magically come up with the same interpretation, or expect to only tattoo what you want to put on their skin. That comes with time and trust. It's like an old time piece of flash, it's been duplicated a million times. Isn't that plagiarism to a degree? A panther is a panther is a panther. I understand to a point what your saying, a custom one of a kind piece, well maybe, but pieces say things to people and can capture exactly what that means to that individual as well, so it could mean more than just wanting a copy cap design. It's like my smoking wizard with the starburst from the pipe as the background. I had wanted a wizard for 20 years, but no wizard captured that exact pictorial message, until I came across this wizard on the net. I took that picture in to my tattooer and said...man, after all these years I found the one. I can understand if you need to change it, but it's emulates something quite specific. His response, and knowing me for years was...man, your right, it captures you perfectly, I couldn't make it any better. We slightly changed some aspects like hat band & colour, but why try and reinvent the wheel on this occasion? It was perfect. Is this wrong? Fuck you to anybody who thinks it is, this is one piece out of my entire suit that had already been captured, it speaks volumes, it's my favourite tattoo next after my back tattoo. There's also been times I've taken an exact design in and said ...man, something like this...and from there we come up with a complete new transition, sn even better custom piece. Maybe next time someone comes in with an exact picture and turning them away (only to have it tattooed by someone else without any education) you can say...man, that's a great design, I can see why you chose this. What's it's meaning to you?...dig a little, become a consultant, tap into that individual a little and say, ya know man?...leave it with me, I reckon I can come up with something even better for YOU without doing s copy. That person may just walk out of there with a little bit more knowledge than they did prior to them entering, and maybe you EARN a loyal and devoted customer for years to come. I'm no tattooer, I'm also no artist, but I've learned a lot from my tattooer over the years because he actually took the time to help me understand. This is the 1 reason that he has been responsible for my entire suit, and the rework of everything he didn't originally do. I'm just offering a different perspective on this subject, not having a dig. We all help educate each other, because my tattooer had mentioned to me the same, that over the years has learned to appreciate where his clients come from also. "Booze, Blues & Tattoos"

@bongsau Great story - thanks for the very interesting read.

I'm taking this over here now because I feel like it. And I'm not talking about anyone in particular so if you think I am don't get defensive or flatter yourself. This isn't about you. A "troll" is commonly defined as someone who posts sh*t on the internet to get a reaction -- even if it's something they don't believe themselves, e.g. OBAMA = HITLER. It's very hard not to fall into their little traps and, as annoying as they are, I must admit I have a weird respect for them as pranksters and anarchists. They can be pretty entertaining sometimes (though not often) but it's best to ignore them and hope they go away. Then there's another type of person who makes some kind of inflammatory or potentially offensive statement that they actually do believe. Those people are also trying to stir the pot and get attention – even if it's negative attention, kind of like our six-year-old at times. Those traps are harder to avoid. I think the thing to remember is that some people don't care about having a meaningful discussion or debate – only being "right." And they will never stop arguing until they get the last word. They will never see your point or try to understand your point of view because they don't care. They won't admit they're wrong – ever. (BTW I've also seen a few "success stories" on here of people who stop being bullheaded and stubborn and actually listen to what other people have to say – other people who know a lot more about the subject than they do. Some people just go away which is fine by me, but LST has also "saved" one or two from getting bad or mediocre tattoos by steering them in the right direction, suggesting artists, etc. Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing a thread just about those success stories, but maybe later.) I myself have said plenty of dumb sh*t on here and been schooled a couple of times. I've agreed to disagree on a few occasions and always apologized if I offended someone – or at least tried clarify myself if I felt I was being misunderstood. But really we're all here for the same reason, which is to talk about tattoos, share and look at kickass tattoos, and occasionally debate the finer points of tattoos and tattooing. Preferably in a respectful way without name-calling or singling anyone out. One reason why this board is so great and different from a lot of others is that we've been able to maintain this kind of intelligent, respectful discourse. In part that's because we're able to "police" ourselves and call out the trolls and the haters when they do rear their ugly heads. There's been some talk recently about this board going negative and scaring some people away. I hope that doesn't happen but that's also part of the process of weeding out. Some people need "tough love" instead of telling them what they want to hear. If you've read this far, thank you for letting me get on my soapbox for a bit. I've been really proud of the people who've been standing up for themselves and others – some women in particular – and not letting the haters and the trolls get away with their bullsh*t. But at the end of the day, you can try to slap some sense into some people and all you get is a sore hand.

Since we are posting Hardy backs, this one is from the panther tattoo thread:

Found another great Hardy backpiece on an old computer I haven't used for ages