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Not sure how well this will upload from my iPad, but Grez posted this one today. Edit: should be more clear. This is not on me. I wish!!

Hi guys. I haven't posted anything in ages, but that doesn't mean I don't stop by regularly and check out whats new. The past year was kind of a rough one for me health-wise, but I'm cautiously optimistic that things are looking up. I only got one tattoo in 2014 but that's okay, as it was the last big spot I had left open. I spaced out getting this tummy tickler done from May through October. Just now got around to getting a healed picture (and a shitty one at that) of it. Done by my local dude Paul Pearson at Bright Ideas in Murfreesboro TN. (P.S. Although we used a print of the original Pharaoh's Horses painting for reference my plainskin Missus prefers to call it a three headed horse with a gunshot wound).

Welcome Luke! If this is really how you feel, tattoos may not be for you. Workplaces and workplace cultures will vary, and while I'd expect that tattoos would be accepted in most so-called creative environments, things always change, and what's acceptable now may not be so acceptable ten years down the line. If you want to get tattooed, you have to be okay with that and be willing to deal with the potential consequences of being tattooed, and if career advancement is more important to you than tattoos, wait on it, think about it, and don't get tattooed until you're ready for it.

Heehee, lol! Yeah, I'm scraping up the deposit for Horitomo after I pay the Christmas bills this morning. Consult in April!

I've been really enjoying getting lots of little fillers done recently, as I work on my left leg. This weekend I went to The Okey Doke to see Franz Stefanik. He did the mace, the tooth, and the chain link around the bulldog that he did for me in the summer.

Whoa, with all the awesome tattoos posted in the Lowdown thread recently I'm surprised no one's posted here yet. I'll kick it off! Here's my thigh by Seth Wood, started at Temple and finished at Saved.

1st = Do you know what "style" of tattoo art you want? next = Keep in mind that whatever you end up picking - it doesn't have to be a "traditional" representation of a memorial tattoo. Anything that reminds you specifically of her or something you two shared and which brings a smile to your face will work best.

great stuff in here, as always . got something new today, photorealistic :

All healed up for now. 2 sessions in with Chad

Explain to the shop manager that Polynesian was only part of what you described earlier, and that specifically Polynesian is not what your consult and deposit were about. Give him or her a chance to liase with the artist . . .

@suburbanxcore i just scrolled through thousands of dog and cat photos in Graeme's instagram to find it

Man! I go away for a day, come back, and people are killin' it all over the place! So much good work, both here and in the contest. I think I've muttered "holy shit" about 10 time in the past few minutes haha!

@ThatGuy I put the progress from my last session in the lowdown thread in Nov. I can get a healed shot in here for ya tonight if you need more convincing that eagle vs snake is the way to go

I use Google extensively (Eagle snake chest tattoo) and Pinterest (traditional snake eagle flash).If you can find a copy of "Sailor Jerry Collins American Tattoo Master" and look on page 75, there is one kick-ass Wivern (Wyvern).

What is this horseshit? Remedy that post-haste.

got my hand tattooed by max kuhn yesterday

done by Chris O'Donnell at his private studio happy new year to all

Welllllllll....if it makes you happy get another one, right?! Went and saw Paul Dobleman at Spider Murphy's last week...please excuse the inflammation Hope everyone is having a great New Year so far!

Also, and my apologies for missing this the first time 'round, but the "PERSIST" script on my upper knuckles was done by Norm, the bonji Om was done by Chad Woodley, and the "KNOW LOVE" on my lower knuckles was done by Trevor Taylor.

There is a lot of skin that is exposed with casual clothing, but covered with "work" clothing, and skin that is usually covered except at the beach that you can tattoo regardless of your profession. Visible tattoos are not always ok, even in "casual" work situations, but it can vary widely. I used to work closely with a corporate art department. Some of the artists had visible tattoos, some had covert tattoos, and some had no tattoos. It was not a barrier to their jobs in the art department, but they may not have moved into client facing sales or convention positions because of them. To be quite honest, the woman with hand tattoos and a full back piece had no interest in client facing work at all, so it was not a barrier to her.

Very much. Quite talented. Trained in New Zealand.

well probably best to start from the covered areas on out - go chest or upper arm or thigh - plenty of areas to start with that will be typically covered in a workplace environment i would love to go on my lower arm areas but i have concerns as well working in a school environment (I hate / never wear long sleeve shirts) havent ruled it out the placement though for future ink but in the meantime - i got plenty of space to play with i'll worry about it more once i've heabily covered the other areas anyway - good luck

Not at all! That tattoo rules so much though.

P.S. this also varies a lot from country to country of course. While tattoos are currently fairly common in certain age groups in the US and UK, they are much less common in many European countries, and even rarer in many other countries.

Every workplace has its own dress code and guidelines. Looking at the big picture, it may be wise to hold off on getting heavily tattooed until you establish yourself in your career. Chances are, you will work for many different companies until you find yourself. Are you willing to wear long-sleeved shirts for the entire time you are at X company? Will you be dealing with external clients that may (right or wrong) pass judgment on your company because of the tattoos you have?

Yeah,it sure does...Looks like a comfortable and warm place to get tattooed.I was there years ago and it wasn't as refined.And was checking out Cyndi's work,and it's real nice.

For first timers of the Philly Tattoo Convention... It can be a bit much. Think 800+ tattooers. And pit bull rescue booths with dogs wandering around. And Al Fliction from Stink Master. And Dante from Clerks. And Eddie Munster.

Sounds like foliculitis. I had that before when I had my legged tattooed. I just had epsom salt baths and dry healed. I would refrain from using any cream or lotion, likely making things worse.

Gunshot! Your Missus is awesome!

Oh you should totally go to the Maine Diner in Wells and eat yourselves sick on lobster rolls and lobster mac n cheese.

@DeathB4Decaf holy SHIT that looks great! can't wait to see how it comes along! The butt is NO JOKE when it comes to lining and getting tattooed. Ouch but worth it. @SeeSea i think i saw somewhere else that you are done with your backpiece! (except for finishing touches and whatever) WOW! you must be feel great! is there any sadness associated with it being done, though? Or are you already planning a companion piece somewhere else? ;p Ladies, I must say - we are killing it lately. Props to all!

Thanks for all the likes and comments, @marley mission, @Russ, @sophistre and everybody else! @SeeSea Amazing to see this one finished, looks grea! I really loved reading your story behind it, very ambitious and fun project! @Cork Haha no I'm sticking to the black and gray-theme, FOREVER! Last session is to put shading on the lower part, under the face, and then do some touch ups. And at last I'm done, can't believe it! @majorpenalty Wooow! Good choice!

Thanks for all the likes, folks! I'm having trouble comprehending that it's over. I thought of it in the past tense yesterday and surprised myself. @Bmore - yeah, sharks. Sharks are many times misunderstood creatures. Most we encounter either don't care for us and just leave (often because photographers and videographers are chasing them for the shot), and others either ignore us or check us out with a drive-by and wander off. I only had one near-wetsuit-soiling event but hey, we're in their ocean and not the other way around. @Mush - thanks! Yeah, I'll take your vote going up against all those spectacular Japanese pieces! There are just soooo many awesome pieces around this place. If I had another back I'd love a Battle Royale, and if I had another back I'd love something with a lot of negative space that included my butt, and if I had another back ... I have learned so much here. @KBeee - funny! It took me a couple tries to accurately list all the critters in my last post. I kept leaving things out so I had to stare at the tattoo to list everything! Thanks! @pidjones - if I continued around and did a torso, that 3D app thing would be really cool. Thanks! @OutOfIdeas - ::SMACK:: Smartass. :p @Pugilist - yeah, holy hell is right. This finished in a thundering climax of 4 long sessions in 7 weeks. I'm not yet right in the head. Thanks! @graybones - thank you! @HettyKet - thanks! Actually, I didn't know Zee was Sea in Dutch. An online translator even says it means a large body of salt water. Wow - I had no idea, but the irony is wonderful! Thanks for sharing that. @marley mission and @sophistre - yeah, I know? Is this the year of the back or something? @scubaron - thanks! I didn't originally think about the stories, I just chose a bunch of pictures because I loved them. It was only after it was completed that the deeper meaning of the entire piece came through.

I just bought a new house. Bit of a downsize from current home but I dontt need all that space. About 10 minutes from where I am now in a super small town, bigger lot, no back yard neighbours and cheaper taxes. Just need to sell my current home now... fun

i'm not going to clutter up the board by making a thread for it but.. today i made my first tattoo, and i thought i would share it with you all. i have been apprenticing for a bit and was given my first pair of machines last month. today he let me put this small design on my cousins thigh next to tattoos by all my favorites. was incredibly nerve racking but turned out better than i expected :D

My latest, first in a few months. Small piece but so nice and easy to sit for. Done by Jovic at Eternal Ink in Sunbury, Melbourne, Australia. I seem to be leaning towards the idea of filling up my legs with lots of small pieces rather than one large cohesive one. @ItsNewport that is an amazing piece, can't wait to see more progress on it.

Just finished up my second session with THooper on Monday. Have some serious crankle action going on today. Next booked for 2 days in a row in early Feb. Wife also got her 1st tattoo started yesterday, with Joey Ortega. They'll also finish up this one in Feb:

@chrisnoluck Fuck yeah! Here is what I got from my friend Adde Ramstedt the other day. Felt so good to get the other foot done, never more (still need to do sides and toes...) Adde just moved down to Berlin and will be working at Lowbrow Tattoo Parlour for about 6 months. I encourage anyone to visit Berlin, hugely inspirational city with many things to experience and explore. While you're there, get tattooed by Adde too ;)

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

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"

Word. I can relate to this 100%. There's no better feeling in the world than shattering someone's expectations based on how you look with a solid proven track record and a strong work ethic.

@bongsau. Excellent post. Sums it up exactly. Took me 20...something years to hit solid neck and hands/ fingers. Even then at first I felt exposed, but they're my favourite additions because as mentioned above, it compliments who I am and the rest of the suit. Even the compliments from work surprised me. As I've mentioned before, I work health care at a majour metro hospital within Corporate Services. Even attending Executive meetings, I lay my cards and hands on the table, and when you can prove your able to talk the talk, people become more interested in what you have to say rather than the way you look. Breaking down prejudice is great.

Thanks so much, @Euchlid! Fortunately, I work for one of Canada's leading boutique digital media studios where tattoos are not only accepted, but are actually seen as an asset in certain situations. I've, obviously, had to work quite hard to get where I am, but it's definitely pretty great to be in a creative working environment that doesn't pass judgements on me based on aesthetic decisions I may make with my body.

I know I already posted this picture when I first got these done, but I figured I'd include a photo in the actual "Hand Tattoo" thread as well. Here are my hands. Applied by Thomas Hooper.

The final result of my chest piece. Done by Robert Aalbers of Clean Solid Tattoos in Waalwijk, The Netherlands.

Beautiful. OTOH?

These are my hands. The bird by Bailey Robinson and the panther by Steve Byrne. The knuckles and little guys were done by Vinse One. Actually Matt Arriola did the anchor.

I really want one from Jeff Rassier. Photos stolen from his IG.