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Thanks to me not being diligent about booking new sessions, I now have a mishmash of up and coming sessions. This pic is the result of my last session on Saturday which was at the Sydney Tattoo Convention. Only a small 2 hour session but was cool chatting to different people wandering past asking about my work etc. Was also my 1st attendance at a tattoo convention/show. I got to see alot of people getting tattooed by many artists and the main thing that surprised me was how few engaged with the artist and chatted. So many had headphones on or were playing with iPads with no interaction with the artist. For me that is a big reason why I "enjoy" getting tattooed and keep going back for more. To me a big part of getting a great tattoo is connecting with your artist, chatting with him/her, chewing the fat, disagreeing with him/her and at times arguing with your artist. (Something I have done once or twice.) Not sure what all you LST's do but my job is very technical and most would class as boring. Is another reason why I enjoy my tattoo sessions, I get to connect and chat to artistic and creative people. Much more interesting than the crap I deal with at work. :) Anyway enough of my rant, here is the latest pic. Cheers Jason

@TheAsian You dived straight in off the cuff, without thought and recklessly without giving a fuck apart from just wanting to get tattooed...just like a lot of us did when we were 18 ;) Tattoos are the stories of our lives, they form part of our life experiences and you've just embarked on one of your own. It's done man. Love it. A lot of us come from a generation of where having your hands and neck slammed are areas that were "earned" We also came from a generation that a tattooer wouldn't tattoo your hands or neck until you had earned it by having a high proportion of your body already committed. As my original tattooer told me when I was 18, "there will come a day, at least one that for whatever reason you will wish no one can see your tattoos, and when you're in that moment, I don't want to be remembered as the person who tattooed your face, neck or hands" I never gave that much thought when I was 18, but I learned to understand what it meant. I waited until I was suited to hit solid hands and neck and I love them. I'm still as reckless as what I was when I was 18...AND, I hold s respectable Govt management position. I just have to work harder to show motherfuckers I know my stuff. We're in a different generation now. We don't have the same "code" as what a lot of us here were brought up with. My parents couldn't understand why I pierced my ear at 14 and tattooed my arm at 17. I can't understand why the youth today plug their ears or choose a hand or neck tattoo as their 1st, but it's not for me to understand. It's for you :) Now!! Start working on your bodysuit! [emoji4]

This is a great reply. FWIW, I'm 40+ and am tattooed from the collar of my T-shirt to the tops of my feet with very little open space left. Yet my hands and neck are not tattooed at all. I don't expect anyone to understand why I'm so heavily tattooed, and I'll tell you right now that you'll meet lots of people who won't understand why you tattooed your neck. I'm not saying that you have it removed, but in the event that you want to open up your career options some day, you'll be pleased to know that laser removal has come a long way in recent years.

I always look forward to the start of the month because it means another 3 hours of work on my back, and another step closer to completion. This session I just could not zone out at all. The whole thing just hurt. On the other hand we have now basically finished the background and I'm stoked with how it's looking.

Marius Meyer backpiece bonanza. Me and @Kai Eirik Espedal

Not baby related (but congrats, everyone)... Got this rainy dude from Tron last week when she was at Atlas in Portland. Awesome experience and glad to fill this weirdo spot on my leg.

@Shaggy I completely agree with you. I can't speak for anybody else here, but I spend way too much time tapping away at this damned phone and one of the things I really enjoy about tattoo time is that it's me, the artist, the machine buzzing away, some good conversation, stories shared, laughs had, and all that. I will admit that during my ass/back of thighs lining session that I played dumb phone games to distract me because breathing and trying to focus mentally wasn't quite cutting it, but I felt pretty ridiculous doing that. Your back looks fantastic, by the way.

The lady and I went down to Dedication Tattoo for their 2 year anniversary party yesterday, they had a huge sheet of designs to choose from drawn up by them and their guests for the day and we had a lot of fun just getting spontaneous tattoos and hanging out at the shop. Bryce Operandi put a rose on my elbow, and she got a butterfly girl head from CJ Fishburn. CJ talked her into doing black and gray and I think it looks rad. Elbow wasn't as miserable as I expected either so that's a bonus.

I used to live in Newton. Small world.

Tattoos hurt. Some spots are worse than others, sure, but they're all going to hurt. The good thing is that as much as it might suck in the moment, tattoo pain is bearable and chances are if you grit your teeth, focus your mind, and breathe deeply, you'll be able to get through even the worst of it. The point I'm trying to make here is don't let your perceptions of how much it's going to hurt influence where you get tattooed. Get it in the spot where it's going to look best.

Libra power from Bert Krak

Dragons on heads by some of the best out there: Marius Meyer: (@mariusmey) Filip Leu: (@tysonarndt) Mike Roper: (@living_ghost_az)

i flew out to london over the weekend and rich hardy did the second session on my back :)

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

Hi everyone. I'm 8 months into my 2 year apprenticeship and it's the most amazing and challenging thing I've ever done. I see a lot of people complaining about how hard it is to "get" an apprenticeship, but I have news for you, kids... getting it is the easy part. You are going to be exhausted and broke. I out in about 70-80 hours per week. I get to the shop before the owner and I am the last one to leave. I answer all of the phone calls. I schedule all of the clients. I clean everything, constantly. I scrub all of the barrels. I run the autoclave. I keep track of sending out spore tests. I take inventory and place orders when supplies are low. I paid for my own license and BBP certifications. I do preliminary consultations. I confirm appointments. I draw lettering and other design components. I watch tattoos, all day, every day. I give aftercare instructions. I set up work stations; I break down workstations. I set up all the machines; I break down all the machines. I sanitize all surfaces. I mop floors. I make stencils. I only have Sunday off and I go in anyway to clean even more and get some drawing/melon tattooing done. I get paid nothing. I'm burning through my entire life savings (the apprenticeship did not cost me money though). With all that said, I love it. My teacher is giving me a career. We have become great friends and, he admits, I have made him a better tattooer and increased his bookings. I'm saying all of this, because we are in a strange time in tattooing. I have been getting tattooed for almost 15 years now and this has been a dream if mine since that first tattoo. Everybody wants to take a shortcut and do color portraits in the first month of their apprenticeship. My teacher hasn't even let me tattoo a person yet and when I do start it, it will be a bunch of small, black silhouette tattoos. There are a million ways to learn this trade, but everyone that has done it this way is a working tattooer that supports a family. I just wanted to introduce myself and give any would-be apprentices a realistic view into an actual apprenticeship. It's hard. It's time consuming. It's inspiring. It's 2 years for the rest of my life as an artist. Anyway, I'm hopefully doing my first tattoo on a person this Thursday and I'm stoked. A small, black Ohm symbol on a girl's inner arm. You have to crawl before you walk and being ok with that will help you more than anything. Thanks for reading this novel. -Nate

I'm 20 minutes outside of Boston, in Newton, where we just broke the record for "snowiest winter." Both largeish lower-leg tattoos I've gotten so far have been in the middle of winter and have taken forever to stop feeling dry and uncomfortable.

As has been pointed out many times before, it's pretty weird to inject pigment into a layer of your skin. I have some year-old blue that's just finally started to settle down. I accept that cranky skin is a risk you take and most of it probably isn't worth exercising your imagination over. I put some Preparation H with witch hazel on my distressing bumps and they've already calmed down, so there you go. Still keeping an eye on them.

hey everyone, thanks for paying attention to my request- i meant scales like Libra scales. Here's what Bert did! @Cork kinda hard to get a really good pic since it wraps a bit, but i'm stoked on it

Like @exume said above, neither of those pictures you posted initially look like an ocean to me. I can see how they're supposed to represent an ocean, but they could equally be a desert, some kind of topographical map, a visual representation of radio pulses, probably many other things. That kind of abstraction and ambiguity is maybe fine for some things, I don't personally believe that it belongs in tattoos, but if you want something that is clearly and unmistakably an ocean, those ideas won't work. The thing about tattoos is that they tend to look a certain way for a reason. I'm not saying that you need to go out and get Western traditional or Japanese tattoos if those kinds of tattoos don't fundamentally move you and get you excited, but there are very fundamental design principles in those kinds of tattoos (and in other kinds as well, but we don't tend to talk that much about, say, tribal or black and grey here) that should be respected if you want a tattoo that is going to last. A couple that are relevant here is that 1) lines will thicken over time so if you have a lot of dense linework like in the reference images above chances are that they're going to bleed together over the course of your life; 2) the nature of skin is that it is going to age, your muscles will slacken, your skin will sag, etc., etc., and this is all going to impact how your tattoo will look. A well-designed tattoo is going to be drawn and placed in a way that will, to an extent, take this into account. I am not convinced that a design based only on very precise linework is going to age well. Stubbornness is your enemy when it comes to tattoos. We all get the tattoos we deserve.

8 months ago I took on a new position at work on a contract basis. Totally different from what I've been doing for the previous 16 years, but a great challenge and I really liked it. 3 weeks ago the position became available permanently. I applied, interviewed, and last week I found out I got it. I'm excited because the schedule fits my family better (no more shift work), and it does come with a modest raise (for more work). The best part has actually been the feedback from my co-workers, who have been telling me how much they appreciate me in the position and how well they think I've been doing. Now I just have to keep it up!

I'd advise against getting the other side of your neck tattooed, especially if you're not actially interested in tattoos and not interested in how it will affect the rest of your life. There was a lot more rant here but lol yolo.

Finally finished. This one took about 25 hours. The artist asked me if I liked it. I told him yes. He said good, because you're stuck with it now. No panther is going to cover this thing. Ha! The colors are brighter than what I expected, but they are growing on me. Overall, I'm pleased with how it turned out. The coolest part about this experience, is that I feel like I can just go down to the shop and hang out and have some beer and pizza with these guys. It's a really fun place to hang out and I'm definitely going to get more work done by him. But the artist knows I'm also getting pieces done by others in the area. He recommended several to me.

Awesome and wish me luck people. Just applied on becoming an Adjunct (Part-Time) College Professor. Hoping things work out so I can quit my current job and focus on getting my MBA degree.

Who is this "shige"?

Some more pics!

Welcome to LST. As much as I am sure you want to be a tattooer, it sounds like you need to get the fuck out of this sketchy apprenticeship.

No need for apologies..... I just feel bad that you walked into this without being warned by your tattooist. What's done is done though, so rock it the best you can.

If you think that a handful of people giving you a hard time on the Internet is the most adversity you're going to deal with now that you have a neck tattoo then...well...you probably shouldn't have tattooed your neck. YOLO, bro.

Haha another reason to hold off, what if you want to do a massive backpiece down the road?! I've left my back and chest alone for that exact reason.

In tonight's episode of Shitty Reality Check: You got face tats, you might get strong reactions!

Indeed! Our son is due mid-June. Gonna be an interesting summer. And damn, @Wilhell. That is so great!

so today on Kauai we participated in the dog field trip program with the Kauai Humane Society today,they let you take a dog out for the day with an "adopt me" vest on and they supply leash/water/water bowl/treats/potty bags and we took her on a hike and to the beach all day today,her name is Jillian,what a cutie. we had a totally great day with her. It gives the dog a chance to get out of the kennel for the day and it exposes them to more potential adopters. Shelter Dogs on Field Trips | Kauai Humane Society . . .

Welcome @tacifone. Spend as much time as you can reading the forums; there's a lot of wisdom packed in these pages. And if you don't have an account yet, get on Instagram and start following local artists whose work appeals to you.

@Mark Bee you can't seem to go wrong at The Pearl! Love seeing your already impressive collection grow. - - - Updated - - - I can't believe I haven't posted these here! I got my butt snake colored in at the beg of feb. Basically I got home from my tattoo trip, and my dog had a big sudden health issue that had to be dealt with STAT! So I didn't even think about it. Pics attached. I'm booked for more at the beg of Apr too!

i flew out to london over the weekend and got this from lee knight:

I got this today from Skylar Grove at Polished Tattoo in San Jose while my car was being washed. Yup, total impulse tattoo and I love it.

Oooh, very cool! We share some tastes in fiction, then! Campbell's is an interesting voice. It's not as bleak or subtle as Ligotti, and it isn't as poetic as Barron. Calling him a contemporary horror author feels like stretching things to me...he's been writing for over fifty years. I'm having trouble remembering where I started with him, but I do know that I started with his short fiction, which I remember preferring to his longer works. It might have been Dark Companions, or possibly Alone With the Horrors: The Great Short Fiction of Ramsey Campbell. I suspect it was probably the latter, but I dunno. I'll have to go back through and read some to refresh my memory. His prose is solid, but what impressed me most about him, when I was blitzing through his stuff, is that he's able to capture the unreliable reality of a descent into madness and paranoia better than anyone else I have ever read. I suppose The Face That Must Die is probably the standout example, though it is a novel. Campbell's mother was schizophrenic and suffered from paranoid delusions. The intimacy with which he depicts characters who slowly lose touch with reality is really something; it lures you along with them gradually enough that you follow the leaps of strange logic that the character makes, and all of it makes total sense...only it's a false kind of sense. Still, it makes the lapse of sanity seem understandable. You get how they got there. I prefer Barron and Ligotti and Ballingrud for the most part because I love lyrical writing, but Campbell is an old master for sure. I had to laugh, because 'funny dead English people' is probably actually a huge genre of its own. Not a narrow field, haha. Er, something modern and in that general direction...Jonathan Strange & Mister Norrell, maybe? As for my jerb, well...I'm writing a book. Trying. I call it a profession because I'm doing it every day to the exclusion of all else, but it feels a bit cart-before-the-horse until somebody buys the thing from me. Still, though! A good reason to wallow in genre fiction. edit: I almost forgot to ask -- what about you? I think I might lose my mind if I had a mandatory reading list that I didn't create myself.

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.

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.

...but that's what I doooooooo! It's easier to kick it around here with tattooed people. It isn't like, a serious stress in my real life, but it is fun to talk about on the internet. Look how many pretty lady arms we got out of it :D

I think @Tornado6 means Art Deco ornamentation? Check out some of Lars Uwe's work, @Tornado6, see if that gives you some ideas of how bold and feminine Deco/Nouveau-ish stuff can look: ETA: Since I see a lot of people posting their own tattoos, I just want to make sure it's clear the above image is not me. :)

I got tattooed by Eli back in January. I dont think I ever posted it here.

personally I think that second link looks like a mess of random stars and lines... but that is what fireworks are. So, maybe it's great? I understood what yours was when I saw it immediately, I think you have some buyers remorse and cannot really admit that. This is how you should fix it :D http://38.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lswtybVsZk1qfp499o1_500.jpg

Just got tattoo today by Eli. The whole crew is super cool and the atmosphere was great. Here is the panther he did

Hey all! I'm new here and have a initiation thread going. Thought I would kick off my posting here with my latest tattoo, done two days ago at Blue Arms Tattoo in Oslo by Tony Nilsson. I have borrowed the picture from Tony's instagram, which can be found here: Instagram

Yesterday by El Monga at Spider Murphy's....There's a better shot on his instagram, but you get the idea.

Very nice Inntrospect is it by Diego? - - - Updated - - - I had a session on my back at Frith Street today, while I was there Stewart managed to squeeze me in for a qucky, and I so glad he did, I love it

Funny you should post this, as I was just thinking about something similar this morning. When I met my wife, I was tattooed, but just tattooed. I had half sleeves, a chest piece, a few things on my legs, etc. She didn't have any tattoos, but loved mine and eventually started getting tattooed herself. She's now about as tattooed as I was when we met. Now, I'm heavily tattooed, and it occurred to me this morning that it would be weird if I were single and met someone who wasn't tattooed. (Obviously, that's not the only reason I'm glad I'm married!) I think that there's a line that gets crossed when one becomes heavily tattooed. I don't know of anyone with lots of coverage who's with someone who isn't tattooed. It just becomes such a big part of who you are that it's hard to imagine being with someone who isn't at least partially covered.