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Here's my new one, done yesterday at the mondial du tatouage by Chad Koeplinger! STOKED!!!

Added onto my arm yesterday with Clare Hampshire. Could not get a decent photo at home, so pic is from her IG.

Yeah! It was so great being tattooed by Chad! I had a lot of fun! Looking forward to the next session!

Racking up thousands of kilometres [emoji4]

I'm with pretty much with @Graeme on this too. I'd never planned to have any reference to my children in a tattoo, wasn't something that even occurred to me, but as it happens I ended up with one anyway. Amongst the reference I took in before we started my arm was a copy some old botanical type drawings of eggs and nests, they weren't meant to refer to anything in particular - I just like the images. So, a few sessions in he pulled out a stencil he'd drawn up of a nest with 2 eggs in, 'you have got two children, haven't you?' he says... Well, if he'd not said that I'd probably never have associated it with them. But he did and now I have a progeny centered tattoo, which is nice. No names though. - - - Updated - - - The only photo I can find is quite blurry and possibly not fully healed, here: reference: - - - Updated - - - uurg - curse of the massive photos. Sorry. This is maybe better. Maybe.

Hi! Been lurking for a while and thought I should make an account! Im a 19 year old flash painter from New Brunswick, Canada. Starting painting in this style about a year ago when I saw guys like James Mckenna do crazy stuff. I thought "This is EXACTLY what Im looking for in art making". Its colourful, creative, bold, dark, clean, permanent and sinister. Currently looking for an apprenticeship, in the mean time Im painting every day. Have 5 tattoos so far, hoping to get more very soon. Here's my instagram if you want to flip through that: https://instagram.com/a_beukeveld/ Thanks for looking!

@Rory@ So the place opens at 12, but if you want to make sure in with Franz, go at least an hour early. Let me know if you come through town - I'm happy to go down and get you a spot in line - of course I'd have to get a tattoo myself, so that could work out nicely.

@rufio I would suggest turning off your computer and looking at real tattoos instead. You said you're willing to travel, so I'd recommend going to a good convention and looking at tattoos there. Paris is this weekend, so it's probably too late for you to hop on a train and go to that one, but London is coming up in the fall, I believe in September or October. These are both world-class conventions and if you go you'll be able to see some of the best tattooing in the world in person. I know that when I started getting tattooed, seeing tattoos in person was really critical in helping me to understand what works about tattoos, what gives them, like @bongsau said, the WHOA factor. There were things that I thought were really impressive in pictures on the internet that were far less so when I saw them in person, never mind how they'll look with some years on them. There were other tattoos that I wasn't crazy about when I saw pictures of them, and I'm thinking of Chad Koeplinger's tattoos here specifically, but when I saw them in person they were so strong and bold and powerful and vibrant, and I immediately understood what I'd been missing in just seeing the pictures. The point is that tattoo isn't something you can meaningfully understand without leaving your desk chair. Good luck and I hope you find what you're looking for.

Here's my new piece after a couple hours. It looks much calmer already but the knuckle marks in this picture are making me laugh. It's B&G, I just bruise like crazy.

I have a girl crush on @HettyKet's sleeve.

My son is nearly 12, my daughter nearly 10. My daughter likes looking at my tattoos but says it won't be for her. She's funny though, she sees other people with tattoos and frequently and quietly comments, "dad, you have way more tattoos than him" My son is always planning his suit which comprises of dragons, snakes, ships and skulls. They can never understand why people have to stare so intently when we're out when I'm rocking singlet and shorts. It's nice to know they're developing a non judgmental attitude towards people who "appear" different.

As promised. This is the second session of 4. We will finish the pixels, planets, and the galaxies on the next session. Pixels in the unknown.

Finally got around to taking decent pics. Sorry if this is posted in the wrong section.

I missed it in the theaters due to its length, but look forward to watching it at home real soon.

you are very kind. I also keep terrariums

Definitely an awesome movie. Kinda wish I would've seen this one in Imax, but it was still a great theater experience. The score was so perfect for it too.

April 15th, back in the saddle with Greg after I had to cancel my last appointment due to illness. Then, on May 4th, Dan Gilsdorf. :O

Mark, thanks! I could get there an hour early... good to know. I might be in Toronto in April - if it works out I'll post here again.

Thank you! Yes maybe in Germany or Barcelona, trying to keep the commitment to the max! ahah

Purified water is the secret. - - - Updated - - - I have a tattoo based on this picture. a favorite

@Mark Bee or anyone else who knows... How early does the line form for the Okey Dokey walk-in day on Sundays? Might be in Toronto this summer. Was curious how much of a madhouse it is. If you get there are 1130 or so is there already a queue?

@Flo Ania Looking fresh bro.

@Flo Ania Holy shit dude! That's gonna turn out epic. Will you get the opportunity to do another session before next years convention?

@Flo Ania, Sick!

@Flo Ania epic man! I love it. So fucking good!!!! He drew mine on as well and that was a lot more pleasant than the tattooing!

@Flo Ania KILLER

I am glad you got it all sorted out and got your MRI done! YAY! So that make the other clinic discriminatory? Not funny but funny :p lol

Well reporting back that this is an awesome lotion. Hands down the best I used so far.

Daaaaaang that's tough! How long did that take @Flo Ania ? I've heard lots of people say that Chad is fast, but that seems like a lot of lines!

I got a GoPro to take with me on my mountaineering adventure, so of course the first thing I did is attach it to the dog...

Is that the start of @Flo Ania's backpiece I just saw? Because holy shit.

w000000t!!! :D

HERE WE GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just got my Income Tax return and the first email has been sent. Excited and hopeful of response. To be continued..........

@sophistre What would you recommend as a good starting point with Ramsey Campbell? I know there are people who love him, but I read his The Darkest Part of the Woods and really didn't like it. Maybe he just isn't my thing, but I really love Thomas Ligotti and Laird Barron and classics like Lovecraft and MR James (hell, my first tattoo, before I learned that tattoos don't have to be full of obvious and overt meaning, is of the Necronomicon) so I figure that Campbell is in my general field of interest.

"Hi! This is my daughter, Bendy Skull-Shaped Lady."

I have my kid's names, but I didn't dwell on any meaning or specific reference to their personality or interests. I got my son's name before we even knew we wanted another kid. I was down in Austin visiting a friend and went to Diablo Rojo and picked a sacred heart off the wall. Leo changed it a bit based on things we talked about and threw "Ethan" in the banner. Really just because I like catholic imagery. And then when my daughter was about 4 years old she started giving me crap about having Ethan and not Ruby, so when Kore Flatmo was drawing up my cover up, I asked him if he could just toss in a banner with "Ruby" on it...bam...problem solved. I actually really like how it turned out. She was floored then...and still thinks its the best thing ever.

My oldest is six and she doesn't even see mine or my wife's tattoos. It's like they aren't even there. My two year old, on the other hand, is checking out what I have for tattoos whenever he has the chance. I wouldn't be surprised if my daughter never got a tattoo, and my son came home with a hand poked anarchy symbol at 13. Haha.

So my wife and I moved from Las Vegas to a small town Manteca CA to be near her folks. So we opened a shop thinking we would struggle for a while, well we where wrong. I am overwhelmed with the response of this town. I really could use some help. I need someone full time who is serious and makes good tattoos and also wants to be part of the family. Most tattooers in this area are not very good or work from home. So if your looking for a clean shop normal split with most supplies supplied for you let me know. No drug addicts blah blah you know the rest. Check us out on line Onesixteentattoo.com instagram @onesixteentattoo my personal one is @stevethompsontattoo

unless they befriend a quality tattooer! if I were mike rubendall's buddy and he wanted to tattoo me at his house, I'd be down! ;) wait til she's 40 and get a body suit from Shige's daughter. imagine the potential progression by then!

Nguzunguzu. I did my PhD dissertation on the paleoclimate and oceanography of the Solomon Islands. They are smack dab in the West Pacific Warm Pool, one of the "heat engines" of the Earth's climate. They also sit under the largest perennial rainfall feature on earth, the South Pacific Convergence Zone. I spent a lot of time out there caving, sampling fossil corals, and hanging out in villages listening to villagers and elders tell amazing stories of the past, and depressing stories of the present; logging and overfishing are becoming epidemic. In the Western Province, tribal warfare and headhunting raids were often conducted between the small islands, with warriors transporting themselves in large Tomoko war canoes. One of the iconic images of the Western Solomons is the figurehead that adorns the prows of these canoes: the Nguzunguzu. A guardian God carved of ebony wood and painted black, with v or z shaped shell inlay. The eyes are always open, on alert. They are mostly either depicted holding a head or a frigate bird. Frigate birds are merciless, hardy, seagoing predators that will not spend the night at sea. They hold a place of reverence in the West Pacific. When I got my diploma, I got this piece on my chest. The flowers are Dendrobium laevifolium, an orchid species native to the remaining Western Solomons primary rainforests. The artist was Chelsea Kotzur at True Blue on Red River in Austin.

@xcom very cool @mclovinfg4 - I'll throw myself under the bus, if I kept getting tattoos at 18 I'm sure I'd have some cannibal corpse/ slipknot/ nine inch nails crap on me. I cringe when I think back at my great ideas for ink from ages 18 - 22. Thank god I was perpetually broke EDIT: can't forget chuck pahlaniuk quotes either.... oh god I was a mess

Just booked the final session on my back! March 18th to clean everything up, add more black and detail it out. Several places along my ribs and (UGH) love handles the blue color fell out. I have a problem with some lighter blues. Ironic this is an underwater tattoo, right?

You will be great! The best thing about the back is that unlike arms and legs, you only have one.

My Raijin and Kirin by Dave Cummings at PSC, in Montreal. It's all don except for some background to tie in my rock of ages below it. Stokes.

It's been a while, but I just recently got back to reading the forum and looking at what other people are posting as far as new work. By way of jumping back in, it seemed like posting what I've been up to since I last participated in this thread is the right way to go. This might be a bit of a long one. Sorry. Sometimes you're in New Orleans. Sometimes you end up with a butterfly. Brent at Uptown Tattoo did this one: Jake Miller from Cathedral Tattoo in Salt Lake did this little ditch guy for me: I did a bit of a run of appointments at Great Lakes Tattoo. Erik did this one: Nick did this one: And Matt did this one on my calf: Javier Rodriguez at LTW in Barcelona made this crazy tiger head for me: John Raftery, who is also at Cathedral in Salt Lake now, did this snake while he was still in New York at Fun City: Ben Haft at Fun City did the tops of both of my thighs with a sinking ship and a rose of no man's land: And finally, Mike Suarez at Hand of Glory in Brooklyn was able to squeeze me in on Saturday and do this on my shin: I picked up a few little bits of filler here and there, too. Next up is getting my left knee done, I think. All of this has really just motivated me to start thinking about back/chestpieces. Further down the rabbit hole.

unalome.

+1 to advice to keep it simple. However, this effect can be killer in the right hands. Check out some of James McKenna's stuff. Some of his stuff pushes things a bit too far for my tastes, but there are some really amazing ideas in there too: https://instagram.com/j__mckenna/ https://instagram.com/p/zYrrrqQ2sH/?modal=true https://instagram.com/p/wilI64w2vd/?modal=true https://instagram.com/p/j9HGFKw2sI/?modal=true