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All right. For those who've seen it all ready, for those who've been waiting, for those who don't know what the fuck I talking about, for those who don't care: here is my back now. Finished this Saturday at the annual Scottish tattoo convention in Edinburgh. Iain Mullen and Rudy Fritsch converged for the first time since we did the lines in June, to do some two machine shading on the lower part and add some extra detail. One more touch up session with Iain in Stockholm and then this experience is over. It's been a great ride on so many levels and if I were to explain how happy I am about the result I would have to invent some new words. Both Iain and Rudy rules and everybody who has the chance to get the chance should really consider getting something from them. I will post a longer write up on this thread full-back-piece-experience-thread.html shortly, perhaps tomorrow. Right now I have a bad fever to pull through. One good thing about getting tattooed is that, if you do it right, it teaches you how tough you really are. Peace!

got this guy from Lee Knight yesterday, was meant to just be a consultation but he had space that afternoon and was blown away by what he was sketching up on the spot so went straight for it. Sits between the last two i posted the other day, on my shin

Great hand tattoos! Can't remember if I've posted mine here, so fuck it, just in case I haven't.

Picked up this Thin Lizzy "Cowboy Song" themed a couple of week ago from Ethan Franklin at James River Tattoo.

Sure man.

@BrianH if they are heavily tattooed and know what a full back piece entails I'll show them all the goods. Otherwise I usually just show the top and listen to all the comments about how they can't believe someone would get their ass tattooed.

@TrixieFaux @jen7 @pidjones @peterpoose + ALL THE LIKERS Thanks for the comments and likes people! The day after the session, one of the better (so I'm told) tattoo magazines of the UK took photos of the tattoo. I told them that I'm stoked that this tattoo even came into being, the beauty and power of it and also the uniqueness of the collaboration, but that it's actually on me that's just above my head (still)! I feel so very humbled and blessed to have this art, memories and experience. @Dumpleton No worries, happy to provide! The more tattoos you get, the more an empty back seems ridiculous ;) @sophistre Thanks! Actually this was the tattoo that finally made me totally comfortable with stripping in front of people I've only just met ;) I feel there's a certain type of social codes around tattoo people though, I'm not doing it around plainskins. @bongsau Thank you! Two machines is interesting indeed, an experience you can't have without having it haha.. Third time for me. I advise anyone to try. If you discover that you can deal with it, it gives some confidence for more crazy things. Hmmm maybe arm pits next?

Look through more portfolios and find someone who you know will draw it up in a way you like.

Got my big day tomorrow... I will figure out a way to take pics as I am going by myself to the expo. :( Man I am so nervous! :(

There's mine. Surprisingly it didn't hurt that bad. The beer belly helped.

There's mine completed in 2007ish. I now wish it were more detailed but at the time I wanted the biggest back piece with the least amount of time and effort and money. So it goes.

@BrianH I'm not one to be afraid of pulling off my shirt and dropping my pants but being self aware, I usually just show a pic from my smartphone first. Some people want to see it in the flesh and I would start with the shirt and depending on where the conversations lead, usually show my ass off too.

I've healed a lot of tattoos in less than ideal conditions. A leg sleeve in 95 degree Thailand weather. Leg and belly and hand tattoos while working as a carpenter. Lots of tattoos while living on a sailboat. In all of these cases I've have good results. On the other hand I've healed some tattoos under ideal conditions while working desk jobs, and had terrible results on a few occasions. Unless you're a scuba diving instructor there's not many jobs that will ruin your healing. Just baby the area in the critical first few days and be aware of it. And while you're at it get me a double double please.

Actually a three-month old tattoo, but I finally got back (weather and schedules kept putting it off) to the artist and he was very agreeable to correcting what I saw a major flaws in the design and execution (and, I told him I was to blame for not rejecting the stencil). This will need to heal for a month or more for the new to blend in, but I now feel comfortable to wear a short sleeve shirt. Please excuse the flash glare on the aftercare ointment. And no comments on my Dunlop disease, please!

ahaha yeah, ah well. Like i said. There are other great artists. Maybe in 10 years when i have a idea for an other tattoo and his kids are all grown up.

I'm an apprentice in Dayton Ohio and I'd like to meet more people who are into tattooing. I talk to people I know, and the more I talk the more they get bored. I just want to talk shop with some fellow tattooers! If you're in Ohio or the surrounding state lets paint some flash or grab some drinks and talk tattoos!

I booked for Mike Rubendall. TJ (his awesome crazy mustached assistant) said his wait was 3 years, but I could get one year since he looked me up and I was an artist. I waited that one year and got an awesome tattoo. I would gladly wait 3 years for a Mike Rubendall tattoo. Hardest working dude I've ever met. He's in that New York state of mind ;)

@smalltownVA Jason, Ethan has been killing it lately!

???? I'm pretty sure these lady head faces don't belong to actual people! They are merely characters! Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your post..

I have a 22-year-old and 14-year-old twins. They never paid a bit of attention to my tattoos until recently when I had coverup work done, changing things in a noticeable way. My 22-year-old has done stick-and-pokes on herself, but very, very tiny ones, so far only on her big toe and ankle. I got her to do one on me, a bee on my knee, because I'm a medical person and I wanted to be sure she was using proper technique, especially if she decides to do them on others. I gave her disinfecting wipes, gloves, and drapes and stuff, and she did a great job on me, with good India ink. I'd rather have a machine than a stick-and-poke, though. I can zen out with the buzzing but the poking is really irritating and hard to get into a rhythm with, since it is slow. One of the twins came to me with a design on her hand written with Sharpie, and she told me that she was figuring out what kind of tattoo she wants. I told her she wasn't getting anything until 18, and even then to consider things very, very carefully, especially placement as it relates to her job plans. She's thinking about law enforcement and a hand tattoo is not going to fly! I don't object to the idea of 18-year-olds getting tattoos that they may someday regret, because tattoos are a reflection of your life's journey, to me, and they may require revamping or covering up at some point, but that doesn't have to be a big deal. As long as they're in a spot that can be hidden, when necessary, then there's no real issue. I didn't start getting tattooed until I was in my early 30s, but even when you're more mature you can make dumb tattoo decisions. I don't have any regrets about my own, but I have a friend in her 50s who got a completely awful one that she wishes she hadn't.

Here's my Derek noble thigh in progress. It goes all the way around. Poor Derek has to work around my fat ass and sweaty crotch. Stellar dude. Go see him!

Make sure you go to someone who specializes in palms. Brody Polinsky, Hooper, etc. Those guys know the secret...deep as fuck, and plunged (i.e. stippled). I say plunged because its more like drilling for oil than stippling. And if you want your fingers done too then you'll have the pleasure of knowing that your tendons are tattooed as well. Just don't do it. Its not worth it. But yeah, do it.

Hi all, I figure I'd plug this here. I've been helping my pal Dave Regan put together a reference book for the last, hell, almost a year. It's 300 plus pages of all sorts of different elements: Traditional, Big Cats, Japanese, Lettering, Floral, Etc. They are $80 and come delivered on a USB stick. You can learn more on his instagram account @dutchraven or email him at [email protected]. Word!

I'd like to add Andrea Giulimondi to the list. He works at The Family business in London. I love this girl in particular!

I sent an email, so we shall see! Now, I wait.

got this panther a couple weeks ago from curtis pettigrove and the pilot lady about a month ago from harriet heath

I haven't gotten tattooed in like 5 years... Well, in a local shop started a new artist. Young cool dude, just over twenty, been tattooing for 3 + years or something. I thought that fuck it, he has some potential, I will get tattooed because its time. I first was going to get a chest piece, just a compass rose. But, Murphy's law struck and got a horrible shave rash in my chest. When I went to the shop, we mulled it over and decided not to tattoo the chest. I remembered he had a Bill Hicks drawing and in 5 minutes we decided to do the late great American Rebel who I have been a fan for about 10 years. He loves to do stuff like this, so I just let him do what he wanted and choose the picture he wanted. Have fun with it. Its now about week old. We will expand it to a sleeve and then start another sleeve. Next up is Carl Sagan. https://instagram.com/lekkeri_wct/ If you can guess what part of his act its from, 10 points! We weren't shure and I checked, well, funny shit ;)

Seriously. It's all about the nudity. It is so ridiculous how some random dude dropping trou on stage steals the show. Even the nearly completely-nude chick standing in line in front of me wearing the black dental floss thong and bra was pissed. I think the judges must have been so distracted by her that they got all the scores screwed up. Caught a lucky break, didn'cha, @Cork? ;) - - - Updated - - - @xcom - good luck! http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/6258-tattoo-convention-contests.html

Good luck in the contest. Not sure how you'll place because there is so much random shit that shows up. Some dude with a crazy traditional Japanese deity back could come in and bump you from the rankings, ain't that right @SeeSea? :P

sounds like a cool opportunity. a wise man once told me - 'you can never step in the same river twice...take the opportunities when they are given to you'

I also have the same obsession with hand tattoos. Here are mine !

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

I concur with @bongsau A great artist is worth the wait. I too waited around 24 months before I got a consult with the artist who is doing my work now. I had almost forgotten about contacting him and being on the wait list when I finally got the call that it is my time to come and see him. :) Worst thing was I was on holidays for about 6 weeks when he rang so had to postpone it further. :( Waiting sucks big time when you want the art now, but from my experience even a 2 year wait has been more than worth it.

If you want something bad enough and you put in the time, patience and persistence...it will happen. I waited 2 years to finally get a spot w/ my tattooer. Well worth the wait if you really want it!

It's not on me but I love this (by Grez) Have only got the lining of the central piece of my belly down at the moment, we'll finish it next session (all being well). I don't think I've got any photos though. Shall rummage.

image url upload[/img] Lonny did this in 3 sessions. Aces High Tattoo Shop | West Palm Beach and Jupiter Award Winning Tattoos

I was 9 when my grandfather past away. He was my hero and he really ment a lot to me. The last thing he said to me on the day he died was "I hope you always find a reason to smile". When I turned 16 and my parents agreed on having a tattoo I decided to place that sentence on the inside of my upper arm. So now I always have a reminder on my grandfather. It was my first tattoo and it definitely won't be my last. But it will be the most important one to me. Because my grandpa made me to who I am today. He was a really wise man and died way to young. But I'll never forget him

Right on! I got this fun little Geisha that he had pre drawn from some old Hardy flash. I was even representing LST whilst getting it, haha!

Here's my hand by Rudy Fritsch, made at the London Tattoo Convention.

I still can't get a handle on what a Hipster is. Maybe the generation gap lets me down. Are we talking motherfuckers who change their style depending what the current trend is? In Australia we have a simple term for them types. "Wankers".