Leaderboard

Ok, this is my fat back after 7 hours. It is just roughed in and needs a lot of work still, but it's a great start! Go big or go home.

Who, Chase Tafoya, What everything in my pic just started working on the King yesterday. Bend Oregon - - - Updated - - -

Hello Everyone, Been poking around these forums for a while and figured I'd register and talk about my experiences. I'll give a little back story and show you what I've had done. I always wanted to get a tattoo but kept putting it off because I was nervous about the pain and how my body would react to it all. In September of 2014 my friend Jason suggested going to a convention in San Francisco and I thought that would be a great time for it. Before the trip Jason and I ended up going to a shop and I got something small. I was pretty relaxed walking into the shop but once the machine turned on I got nervous again. I had this one placed on the upper portion of my calf. I thought it was a nice concealable spot and it was meaty so it wouldn't be that bad. I felt the area twitching for most of time but it came out fine. So October rolled around pretty quick and we flew out to San Francisco for the convention. At the time I didn't know what style I wanted but I did know that I wanted to get an owl. So my friends and I were walking around looking at all the different booths and Jason suggested Katja Ramirez from Rock of Ages. So thats what I did! From this point I decided I wanted to go for my entire right arm. A few weeks after the convention when I got home I added a little more. Done by Andrew Stortz (he did my first tattoo) @ Hobo's/Congress St. Portsmouth, NH Here's more progress on the arm: Done by Andrew Stortz @ Hobo's/Congress St. Portsmouth, NH Done by Jebb Riley @ Hobo's/Congress St. Portsmouth, NH Kind of an interesting scenario with the next two... Hobo's and Congress St. are a 5 minute walk from each other and my friend and I both had the same time appointment but at different shops. Chad Koeplinger was guesting and Jason got on the list really early on. So as I'm getting the my work done Jason shows up and says Chad wasn't ready yet and he'd get a call when to come back. So he waited while I got the one below done. Done by Andrew Stortz @ Hobo's/Congress St. Portsmouth, NH Jason was getting a mandala and to kill some time I got this... Done by Spencer Scott @ Hobo's/Congress St. Portsmouth, NH Last week I had this done, forgot to get a picture when it was fresh. I didn't explicitly ask for it done upside down, it was a weird space and I thought I'd work. I ran it by the artist and he said it'd be fine. Done by Spencer Scott @ Hobo's/Congress St. Portsmouth, NH My future plans are to complete my left arm with either color traditional or Japanese, still in the decision making phase. Thanks for reading, -Rich

I don't know how to share this type of Instagram post, and certainly can't from my phone, but here's a link to my chest tattoo, done today by Steve Byrne at Rock of Ages. http://instagram.com/p/0i-naeNBEe/ Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bum progress. The ass and thighs are just plain nasty, and I don't recommend that anyone get them tattooed. :) Done by Mark Armstrong, Sacred Art Tattoo Manchester

Finished the outline yesterday and posted some pictures to my blog thing

Whew, I didn't know if I could sit through all this. Even Nathan was skeptical, but I wanted to finish. We didn't get a full on battle scene, but I loved what he came up with even more, especially the detail in the drowning hand, the ship, and of course, Poseidon's luscious locks!

I can give you some credit for your post, but when a co-worker approaches me about getting tattooed as a group from this place (Which is how I got curious about their work) and they are all well paid... Not so much... One thing for sure is my health is well worth more than 50 dollars...

im flying to la to start my back with bryan burk next week, appointment got pushed back a couple times, but finally after hundreds of wasted airline tickets were doing it haha. hes flying out that night so my appointment got moved to 10am. oof. going to be dead tired and after have no where to go until my friend gets off work at 8pm hahah

@BrianH @Diehardonvhs You two are DESTROYING this thread!!! WHOA!!!!!!

Yep several folks are. Here are some relevant threads: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/random-crap/5543-fitness.html http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/crazy-tattoo-stories/1887-lifting-thread%3Btraining-tattooed-warrior.html http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/1874-intense-exercise-new-tattoo.html

Excellent start to a great plan!

Just made an appointment for May with Josh Peters in Saint John, New Brunswick to get a swooping eagle on my forearm! Stoked! Here's a chest eagle he just did.

So I finally got my chest piece. So happy with how it came out. By Valerie Vargas of course.

That is AWESOME! So gorgeous. I would love to get work from both Steve and Tony eventually!

Sorry, I don't see fat. I see an awesome turtle on some nice skin with beautiful hair. Is color planned? I've only seen one sea turtle in person (and the light filtering through the water may have shaded it) that had green/yellow tones.

I did my first tattoo. I have been in my 2 year apprenticeship for around 7 months. Apprenticing has been one of the most challenging and humbling experiences of my life... until today. All of the grapefruit, melons, and synthetic limbs in the world could not have prepared me for the intensity of tattooing a person. In the words of my good friend, Albie Rock, "that first line is a real gut-check, m@therf#$er!" With the support of my teacher, and the confidence of an amazing client, we all made this Ohm symbol, together. My head is still spinning and I have yet to fully process the reality of what happened today. The highlight was receiving this picture from the client, thanking me for choosing her for my first tattoo and saying, "I love it! It's perfect!" I mean, we both know it's not perfect, but, in a way, it is. I learned so much about myself as a person today. It's not always about completing a flawless piece, it's about being a part of someone's journey. It's about being real with someone for a moment in time. Anyway, I don't know if this is appropriate for the Introduction section, but this is truly my introduction. I have so much more to learn... but that ever crucial tattoo #1 is in the books. Here's to many more. Thank you for reading. I'm spent!

Got my 4th appointment for my sleeve coming up tomorrow. No matter how many times I get tattooed I still get excited :)

Upped this to March 30th. Should have pics up here this time next week. Do I put them here or is there another thread for that?

spam? ^^

Thanks everyone. You are so kind and loving. It really got me through the last few days. My artist and the others in the shop were truly professional and no one made fun of my curves and rolls. I am now looking forward to going back and perfecting this giant tattoo!

@jen7 I just saw your back piece in the latest tattoo lowdown thread. I thought you said you were fat ;-) My $0.02: Our body image problems are just that: ours. We don't see ourselves the way others do and they don't see us the way we do. I'm a stay at home dad and the people I spend my time with are all women. If I ever wrote a blog, it would be called "Drinking Coffee With Other Mens' Wives." They're all in their thirties, fourties and fifties and they all have kids. I think they're all gorgeous but I know they wouldn't agree with me. I often joke with them that I have low standards because to me, all a woman needs is good personal hygiene and a smile. For my part, I'm 6'2" tall (good) and weigh 280lbs (not so good). I'm pear shaped so while I have broad shoulders, I have an ass the size of Venus and a gut you could surf. Even when I lost 77lbs a couple of years ago (all since regained), I still had to buy my trousers from the right-hand end of the rack. It's not the body I'd choose but my friends all love me. Love the skin you're in and get tattoos if that's what you want. Don't reward yourself for losing weight; most diets fail and what good does it do to deny yourself something that makes you happy? Get them now; you might get hit by a bus tomorrow.

I have some near-twenty year old ink I was considering getting reworked. Then I watched a show on Velocity about these guys who totally rework the innards of hot rods but clear coat over the faded paint to preserve the mojo. "It'll only be original once", they said. So I slapped some Aquaphor on those old tats, looked at them in the mirror, and smiled, remembering every moment that led up to those early decisions. "They'll only be original once."

It's all a matter of prospective and when I find myself getting all high and mighty about the quality of my work versus someone else's, I remind myself that Tattoo is, and always has been, The People's Art. A lot of folks do not have hundreds or thousands of dollars for tattoos, but they're just like a lot of us who get off work Friday with a paycheck and can't wait to get stewed, screwed and tattooed. I was raised in Appalachia dirt-poor and broke, escaped when I was 22 and will never forget where I came from. There will always be a place in this world for $50 ink and may God Bless those who go for it!

Shading isn't so bad. It's not like a joy but it's ok. Kidneys/love handles were brutal but watching all the lines take shape as you sneak glances to what your piece is becoming more than makes up for it. Every time we took a pee break we'd snap a photo so I could see it grow. It was too cool. If only I made a blog of some sort :)

sorry to barge in ladies - just got curious good question - i basically chill from exercise for the week after i still might do some core stuff but none of my usual stuff that gets me sweating excessive movement of the area and sweat / moisture are not your friend in early healing imo plus - its just a week - if you workout on the reg you're body will actual prosper during this time of 'recovery' just stay tight on the diet during that time if your worries are there anyway - hope that helps

@peterpoose Honestly, I would suggest just go to a Barnes and Nobles or Library and look at some art books or tattoo magazines. Get some ideas because you never know what may inspire an idea.

I'm going to try to post a picture from my phone here: By Steve Byrne at Rock of Ages. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@BrianH in my experiences thus far, the shading is a lot easier to deal with than the line work.

Upper right thigh. I gave him all the space from mid-thigh up to the swimsuit line, and around to the side midline. I just said that these are the boundaries, and however he wanted to use the space. Thanks! Hmmm, not sure there is a "club." Molly is very nice - she books for Horitomo, so write to her specifically. She uses the email [email protected]. When I called at first, they said to write an email saying what you were looking for, where on the body, and give as much information as you could about what you want. Molly emailed back the same day, and at the time (summer 2014) said she would put me on the waiting list and that I would get a call when they were booking for 2015/2016. I just had the consultation appointment (phone call and email follow-up) today. If it helps, I was incredibly deferential in my initial call and email, and wrote clearly what I wanted and provided reference pictures. I consider this an honor to be tattooed by Horitomo. Your email truly is a sales pitch. They probably pick and choose the work they'd like to do.

Horitomo September 23rd! Woohoo!!! :: happy dance ::

The obvious elbow tattoo. Scott (Skotydont) Fox, Columbus.

My teacher said that he just recently found a bunch of his old "first tattoo" pictures. I asked to see them and he said, "I'm going to hold on to those until you're having an especially rough day." Hahaha

Made quite a bit of progress today with Fil Wood at Black Crown in Leeds https://instagram.com/p/0dTv7zmzSG/?taken-by=fil_wood

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 . . .

For that size, I would go ribs. My ribs aren't done, but I think the thighs are such prime real estate and look super badass with a big piece.

@Walter Kerman - do you have pictures to share showing the tattoo before and the post-laser results? That is the best recommendation you could give.

tattoos make everything look better.

While I was at Frith Street my beautiful squeeze had her second session. A really stunning Day of the Dead Girl, tattooed by Stewart Robson.