Leaderboard

So, I have an appointment with Shige later in the year to talk about getting tattooed by him. He knows I don't have much space left for pieces of the size he prefers to work on, so I'm hoping he'll agree to do a smaller tattoo on me. We'll see how it works out but fingers crossed. Really excited about this. I've been tattooed by Tomo and it would make me really happy to also get something from Shige.

This is my first post in the General forum and I'm pumped to have a consultation for my back scheduled with Horitomo, in May. I have a ton of ideas and probably just as many fears, but I'm going to do my best at allowing Tomo to work his magic. Looking forward to the journey and appreciate all of the support in this online community.

Just got home after 2 weeks in Jamaica!! I will spare LST the pain of having to hear about how awesome our holiday in the sun was or how crazy of a place Jamaica was or about how I chain smoked spliffs for 2 weeks straight. I got the nickname "Colouring Book" during our last trip (everyone in JA has a birth name and a street name, my wife and I happen to be "Colouring Book & Rolling Stone" lol). There are a nuff tourists on the beach with tattoos, but as some Jamaicans I was hanging with said, there is only one Colouring Book pon di beach and that's me haha. There were cats that remembered me from 2012 on the beach, or had heard about a tattooed Canadian who was schooled in reggae, a Kartel fan and "socialized with the local people". The average tourist can deflect the hustle, but when you're a white guy with a rainbow bodysuit in a country that is 95% black people you are going to attract attention wherever you go. This big fat rastaman came up to me one morning and said "Wha gwan Colouring Book! You the man with the big monk on your back, we cyan see it yesterday from across the beach yeah mon. Whole heap a tattoo, sick tattoo dem!" Tattoos...you had your beach tourist staples: tribal, polynesian style, fairies, pinterest birds, philosophical rib essays, etc. There was the bro here and there with an unfinished arm sleeve and plenty of gals with sugar skulls. There was the wigger bro at the airport with a tweety bird on his neck. We saw a 50yo woman with a pretty wicked panther head (looked a couple years old) which re-affirmed how awesome panther designs are. I knew what her tattoo was of from across the beach bar. I met this older guy from Montreal who had a bunch of older tattoos. He said some old guy did it. I'm like "wait Montreal? whoa, Tony D'Annessa?" And him, his wife and his buddy suddenly got super excited, as did I, and they started telling me PSC tattoo stories. Got to see a 45yo D'Annessa swallow tattoo (off the wall, to match his Dads!) among a bunch of other cool things like old panthers, dragons and skulls and a brilliant wolf head that D'Annessa did 3 years ago! Also met this big black dude who had maad coverage. Jesus portrait, crosses, script, a two giant panthers on his back. Street style tattoos, intriguing and some were very well done. He was super friendly to me and was stoked on my tattoos. He gave me a branch of ganja, we talked tattoos. Said all his tattoos were done in the Arizona penitentiary! The Jamaicans for the most part are fascinated and get stoked on tattoos and in many ways having tattoos in Jamaica, as explained to me, is a sign that you are successful (money), somebody who commands respect (status) and somebody you don't fuck with (pain, sign of tuff-ness). NAH FI RESPONSE A MAN was a Kartel lyric my homeboy Romie quoted, implying my arm, my leg, my body, my life and I do what I want, I don't have to explain myself to anybody. I repeated that quote when a hustler was giving me a hard time and my homies were like yeah mon, Colouring Book a boss, take no shit. Tattoos became popular in JA because of dancehall artists like Kartel, so if you have tattoos and are down with Kartel than you are going to make some pals and get some respect on the beach in Jamaica. Some of my JA friends had tattoos like skulls/snakes, nautical stars, script. Typical fare. But they all lamented (and laughed) how you can't see the ink under their black skin. I would tell them, white skin, black skin it doesn't matter. A tattoo is a tattoo, you put it under your skin, it's yours and babylon can't take that away from ya. They liked that. We ended up at "Scrub-A-Dub" afterhours one night which we found out was a go-go (strip) club that the locals go to after last call at the beach bars. Intense, pretty crazy experience. Lot of pretty ruff looking characters, guys with thugged out tattoos and some with bleached out skin. The women had a lot of the ink, mostly breast, neck and butt/thigh placement. A lot of it was scratchy, but nevertheless still interesting to see. Sunburned a stripe across my backpiece (lol) I guess we missed a spot with the sunscreen on the day I happened to think I was part dolphin and stayed in the sea for 3 hours. I'm not too concerned though. @hogg I don't know you offline, but I do know you like reggae! I got a stack of latest dancehall tracks (CDRs) like Kartel, Movado, I-Octane, etc. PM me your email I'll add you to a dropbox I'm setting up for my pals once I sort through and rip the new music. Although I was warned not to play some of the music in front of the children or older Jamaicans, it gets pretty nasty and slack. And yeah, Kartel is still in prison yet somehow keeps releasing a maad amount of new material. I guess he's got a backlog of unreleased stuff and (so I'm told) uses a cell phone from inside the prison to get his voice out to his people. Crazy! ...voice of the people in modern day Jamaica...

Fully healed from my Irish landscape/road done in a woodblock print style. The way the artist did the hills is different (I can't say not how I expected, because I wasn't sure what to expect with them), but I think it's a function of trying to get the reference picture into the style and I think as it fades a bit, it will look even better. My two minor issues are the shading of the road at the bottom right and the rock (I think) that looks like it got missed along the left hand side. Now that I'm healed, I assume it's not a big deal to touch base with the artist and have him fix those two areas real quick sometime?

Straight lines leave little room for error. Going over something again has a chance of making it look like there was a second pass unless everything is thickened as you suspected, and that might not be any better. From his FB, it looks like line work isn't his where is action is. There is only one other geometric tattoo with lines like yours, and it's unfortunate IMO. Personally, I wouldn't go back for line work like this, but if there is another type of tattoo you'd like, some of his stuff looks pretty cool. How perfect does it have to be? As perfect as you want it to be, but keep in mind these types of tattoos leave much less room for error than nice flowery or organic looking tattoos. Artists sent you away for small "simple" tattoos? Sheesh. Like your money isn't good enough? My first tattoo was small and took maybe 15 minutes. I had to pay the minimum which was higher than the amount of time it took to get the tattoo. Big deal. Maybe they recognize that lines and lettering aren't that easy and are hiding behind that as an excuse. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, just sharing the content of other discussions about tattoos like these. As my buddy @marley mission would say - they are great, embrace them, own them, and go get more tattoos! --- Here is the thread @Fala referred to: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/2396-what-makes-good-tattoo.html

Thanks for the responses my question on how artists might react to questions about sanitation practices. There were some helpful responses, and unfortunately several were unhelpful. Thanks to @cltattooing and @Hands On for helpful responses. I feel better now about asking questions now, but thanks to @cltattooing, I am going to reduce my list, and use my eyes to look around during my initial consultation. I’ll will be polite and will try not to sound like a know-it-all. By the way, my apologies on the Hep C vaccination question. I was wrong, no such thing exists, as some of you pointed out. I was working from memory, but I rechecked my source and found that I was wrong - they were referring to Hep A & B vaccinations. There was a “trust your artist, they know what they are doing, and you don’t” theme in some of the responses. While I understand that point, this is a health issue, with possible bad consequences and to me it is not enough to “just trust.” Tattooists are in a service industry, and we customers need to be comfortable. I know that the best artists are maniacs about sanitation, but the customer has to feel confident too. This is a process that borders on minor surgery, yet in many locales it is unregulated, and we all know there are bad eggs out there. So I think it is fair to ask questions - politely and respectfully (thanks @cltattooing). I work in a field (not medical) where every new client asks questions. Most are questions that I have answered a hundred times before. I keep reminding myself that they don’t know, it is all new to them, and need to feel comfortable with the situation.

I'm getting tattooed by Matt Arriola this Saturday in one of my last "big" spots (back of my thigh). [understatement]I am excited.[/understatement]

Hey all, I want to share my appreciation for all that you've bestowed on me as a long-time lurker. I'm constantly blown away by the tattoos and insights that folks post on this page. I was born in the Midwest, am 29 years old, and moved to San Jose in 2008 to work with unhoused individuals. I'm the Project Manager for a ridiculously cool non-profit that provides opportunities for unhoused individuals to gain work experience through volunteer projects like beautifying the community. I'm fortunate to be living in a region where so many of my favorite artists live and frequent. I finally joined LST because I have some questions regarding an upcoming back piece that I will begin with Horitomo. For example: how will I scrub the plasma off that goddamn thing? Should I wear a specific material while healing? Can I just use a novelty sized Tegaderm sheet? Thanks!

I got my underside fully filled in February. Mine goes deep i.e. <1" radius around the asshole, no white skin with my legs together or apart. I think it looks better if you go as deep as you and the tattooer feel comfortable with. Because it enhances the natural shadow of the body (booty). It is very intense. The spot where the ass meets the thigh under the cheek is one of the most painful spots albeit one of the most thrilling sits you can have. Both in terms of physical pain and the mental block of spreading your ass for another person to perform the work in the area. You really need to embrace the vulnerability of the session to get through it. And once your ass and crack is tattooed you will have exponentially increased your no-shame quotient! I could care less now if my tattooed ass is hanging out of my shorts! Kiss my black ass! I was told the skin is very different to work on in this sensitive area. The shading appears to be cross-hatched and I do recall multiple passes, likely because of the type of skin, swelling/sensitivity, hair follicles, etc. I was face down with my ass in the air, like the sexy-wife-pose lol. Thigh hanging off the table at some points to give my guy some more room to work. I got electric shocked a few times too haha. I've got my session-report in the Full Back Piece Experience thread (Crazy Tattoo Stories). In summary, bring a towel or wooden spoon to bite down on.

@hogg yeah mon a fix up! (That would explain why I've never received a PM lol) - - - Updated - - - This is our rasta taxi driver Cappa and our tattooed pal Ali, they linked me with the latest in Dancehall He accompanied us out one night. Nobody stepped to me that night! Pretty rad though to be ballin around the town blaring dancehall from a dropped gold speckled Honda Civic!

Nothing specific, but in a spectacular last minute decision I've decided to move to the UK in a few weeks instead of the SF bay area. Which means easy access to a whole lot of awesomeness that wasn't so accessible to me before!

Horitoshi family has you pull your knees up to your chest to really get that stretch and get in there when the time comes. Cannonball style!

The other day when I was getting into my car, I reflexively pulled forward getting in so I didn't rub my healing back against the seat. Except I had my touch-up session 2 months ago and my second-to-last session-from-hell the beginning of January. (My penultimate session - I never get to use that fun word!) Sometimes in the shower I turn around so the water won't blast away at my healing back. Except I had my last session 2 months ago. Sometimes my back itches and I resist with great difficulty scratching my healing tattoo and end up slapping it instead. Except it's already healed. You get the idea. Okay, so it's not quite phantom pain, and yes, some parts of the tattoo are still healing under there so some itching is normal, but after 20 back sessions over a solid year, I'm finding that several unconscious behaviors have wormed themselves into my daily life. I definitely don't slouch back against chairs as much anymore. I wonder how long this will continue. I'm just amused when I catch myself being overly protective of something that's just FINE. :rolleyes:

On this very forum, I've seen more black panthers than the 60's era civil rights movement. :D

Shoot, I just turned 60 and I'm still in the game. I have had old faded work done over, same tattoo just with a new paint job and they look great. I've had older work expanded upon. I've broken new ground this year too. So aging tattoos.. a total cop out.

gently patting dry a tattoo that has been healed for months/years

Sounds like you've got a plan! And you also did the right thing up front by asking for responses from tattoo artists for their perspective on these types of questions. You might want to bring in a list of your last 5 sexual partners too, you know, just in case they ask. ;)

So sorry @beez. This was incredibly insensitive and shallow, and it must have been heartbreaking coming from someone you “thought” you knew. He could have let you down easy without playing the tattoo card. He could have politely declined your offer for a date. Or, he could have respectfully said said, “I’d like to keep our relationship on the friendship level.” But instead he stuck in the knife, choosing a rationalization that basically slammed every door to the future. If he had thought about it for 15 seconds, he had to know he statement would hurt you deeply. Perhaps the sting of the tattoo thing that you are feeling could be because he didn’t just reject you, he also chose to attack something that is central to your being, part of your physical body and your persona, that you can’t - and wouldn’t - change. I tend to be super-analytical, so here goes… My theory is that although plainskin people know that tattoos are permanent, I don’t think they fully understand the psychological meaning of that. To many of us, our tattoos are not just pictures on the body; they are our body, no different than our hand, or ear, or breast. And in some ways tattooing may be even more meaningful than those “natural” body parts, because we chose to make them part of our body, forever. I think that untattooed people may have difficulty understanding what that means to us. Perhaps they think that since we chose to put them there, they are not really legitimately a part of us physically or psychologically, and thus fair game for for criticism. This is consistent with the classic insensitive comments many have heard, ad nauseam. Consider the statement that your “friend” made, but change one word (I hope I don't offend, but I’m trying to make a point). Most (but sadly not all) people would never say “I could never marry you because you breasts aging would be a problem for me.” But they will say (as your friend did), “ I could never marry you because your tattoos aging would be a problem for me.” But to we tattooed women, our tattoos are as much a part of us as our breasts.

... I'm new here and have been lurking a while. I'm so sorry Beez, that someone was so awful and didn't put your feelings first with the hurtful words. Ugh. As for this post, I am married and my husband has no tattoos. I only have 2 AND am getting a new one this week (Yes!!!), but he has always kind of had a gentle curiosity about them but no desire to get one in a serious capacity. He says he might if he found something he really wanted but I doubt it. It hasn't really made the least bit of difference to me or him that I know of but I wonder if deep down he doesn't understand why I'm getting new tattoos at 40. I think maybe he lives vicariously and is just content to let me be the tattooed one. Either way I know he would never tell me not to get one and I wouldn't ask... it's my skin and it makes me happy and that's something he loves so it's a win-win. Lucky I guess.

I'll answer your questions, I think they're important questions and not outside the realm of reasonable inquiry. While I do think that a veil of secrecy is important to the artistic and technical aspects of tattooing, this is stuff that the customer should know about especially if you are concerned about your health and safety. In my opinion, the quality and transparency of your sanitation practices should be comparable to that of a physician. The information I am about to give anyone reading this right now IS NOT LICENSE TO GO INTO YOUR TATTOO SHOP AND SARCASTICALLY GRILL THE TATTOOERS ABOUT SANITATION PRACTICES IN A KNOW IT ALL MANNER. BE POLITE AND RESPECTFUL OR SHUT THE FUCK UP. Also don't take my word or anything you read on the internet in blind faith. This is how I keep my customers safe: Saran wrap, drape sheets, and dental bibs covering every surface of my workplace including station, armrests, and massage tables. Anything that I touch during the tattoo will have saran wrap, barrier film, or tape covering the surface. I use stainless steel tubes which are scrubbed with a detergent and then autoclaved for 60 minutes inside of sterile pouches which have steam indicators on them to let you know that they have reached the appropriate sterility temperature. I use single-use stainless steel needles which have been ethelyne oxide gas sterilized by my supply company, also with an indicator strip. Every part of my setup is single-use and disposable except the tubes which are autoclaved, the soap bottle which is autoclaved, and my machines which are wiped down with a hospital-grade antimicrobial chemical. We perform weekly spore tests on the autoclave to ensure that it is sufficiently killing all of the nasties. Once my supplies are disposed of, I also spray and wipe down my entire workspace with hospital grade antimicrobial chemicals according to cross contamination practices I have learned and am tested on according to my Blood Borne Pathogens certification that I am required to update yearly. I have been vaccinated for Hepatitis A and B, although no vaccine for C exists as of yet. I am also licensed to tattoo by the Alameda County Department of Environmental Health and will gladly show you my paperwork for both my license and BBP certification. I have been asked by customers in the past to explain and demonstrate all of this information and to me it is never a hassle because I am doing my part to keep myself and my clients safe, and I do not want to tattoo someone if they are uncomfortable getting tattooed by me.

Here's a shot of inside of my left thigh. Purple is my underwear. Bottom is the backpiece and top is the front thigh piece. Hope that helps in getting a sense of how "deep" things can go:

Here are the pics of the first session today. 6 hours of pain. Loving it.

Here's a couple - - - Updated - - - Then one of my and my newborn for the heck of it. I'm just not sure how my other arm would look if it was half b/g and half traditional color since there's no way to add color to what I have. I'm not worked about mixing themes. I like the look of traditional with a Japanese background. Just wish my traditional arm wasn't so dark and had more flow. Next thing I'd like to change is darken up or do something to my mandal. Just seems a little bland. Maybe some dotwork inside or something to make it more detailed.

@bongsau - Shad is super nice, and SO FAST! We got that snake done in 4 HOURS! 4!!!! Outline, shading, color!!! He does use bactine, as you mentioned, and that helps so much. He said he is going to be up in Canada, so I hope you get in to see him! This was a really painful session, all in all. The upper back is like hot fire. Not fun! I am so stoked to get to this point in my tattoo, though, and I can't wait to continue the collaboration. We were talking about a dragon on the rest of the back of my legs looking up at the snakes. !!!! Anyway, for those who might have missed it on IG, here is my new snake!

Going to get my knee done, what do you guys suggest?

So today's Father's Day and my dad is celebrating the only way he knows best...by spending the day at the mah-jong parlor. My lady is working so that leaves me with a free day to my own devices to which I decided to mount and hang up the Horitomo cat prints I have accumulated. I love the entire series and the various ones that are not in print but posted on Horitomo's Instagram. Patiently waiting for more prints to come out and the much rumored book that collects all of the various tattoo cat incarnations. Hopefully one day I make it out to the west coast to get a tattoo cat from him...would be an awesome experience.

Hello all, Just introducing myself. I'm about to pull the trigger on a new tattoo this week and after reading this forum for weeks and weeks, I am learning about the dos and don'ts I never would have known. Great site. Brutal honesty and great information and advice. I have two small and rather generic tattoos that I got at 18 in Biloxi at the old Jack and Diane's shop. I just turned 40 and have been holding onto a tattoo concept for about 4 yrs. After researching for while and two consults, I'm going to the Black Sparrow, (Andrew Trull) for my new work this week. Excited to say the least. Thanks for all the info through this forum! It's greatly appreciated!

Rather than obsess over the minute details of these tiny tattoos you have now, why not get just get more tattoos? I have some script on my arms that isn't as clean or even as I might it to be now, but rather than try to re-work the existing stuff I figure I'll just get cool tattoos around them! Nothing's perfect, but focusing on getting better tattoos is, in my mind, a better use of time and skin than seeking out a way to marginally improve a tattoo that you otherwise like. I was getting tattooed some time last year and I overheard another artist talking a client out of covering a tattoo and instead getting a better one next to it so the one could make fun of the other. I think that about sums it up.

Welcome! Forget trends - if it's what you want, then it was meant to be.

Ice packs - I have to remember to bring some zip locks for the the hotel. And maybe one of those instant ice packs you have in first aid kits. It's a long flight home. Can't wait! I've left wrap on a couple times for 9 hours - very late night finish + couple hour drive home + attempt at sleep. I never had a problem with a long wrap if I was diligent with the first shower. But 13 hours and no leakage - that's a good wrap! Good luck on the straight-legging and I'll be looking for pics. Ah yes, arnica. Don't worry - we will have a blast! Going to Muir Woods, definitely some winery action, and probably a touristy SF tour are starters for sure. And the seafood street vendors and drinking beer out of paper bags at the waterside. :) I'll let you know when I am in town. Maybe we can meet up to say hi and meet F2F. And maybe I can see that lovely crazy dragon your daughter picked out from @cltattooing's flash sheet! :D

yo I'll pick up the slack for you xcom ;) in all seriousness - take your of your business and good luck man those tatts you seek will be there when all settles down how dare life get in the way of tattoo collecting curse you tattoo gods!!:mad:

I took a sketch concept and let my artist run with it. It's going to be a realism tree with 3 detailed birds in different aspects of flight and perch. I wish I'd done it sooner (4 yrs ago) as now I find that birds and tree have become more popular. Oh well. I'm excited for a job well done and to have a beautiful tattoo this week!

my girlfriend and i flew out to LA on friday and got tattooed by bob roberts. i really only have these weird spots left and i told him he could do whatever he wants and he just grabbed my arm and pointed to my ditch and was like "right there". walked over to the wall and he goes "what about this one?"

Mine goes in deep enough so that when I am standing normal, no empty butt crack skin is visible. That seems to be how Dana does all his backs. Also upon close inspection of my butt, I made the comment here that my wind bars are appropriately scalloped in that area. I'd rather not put my special collection of tattoo pictures on the internet. Just kidding I don't have any like that, but they're on my computer. Regards to social comfort, it's very awkward, but if your guy just plays it professional, you'll both finish with dignity still intact. Regards to body comfort, for me there were a few tweak spots where you can't help but twitch. It hurts as much as you'd expect, but it ends. I wish this was a bigger picture. I don't actually have a nice one of the heal product, so I stole this from Dana Helmuth's website.

Looks good. I'd say go back to that same artist and have him design the rest of the sleeve and then outline it in one shot. That's the best way to have it flow.

i'm buckling my seatbelt for this thread... ok - i'm ready...

Hokay, cross-posting by request, cos SeeSea is such a flatterer. I was going to wait until Greg posted the pictures he took of the new stuff, but he may not. Sun came out today when I was about to head to the gym, so I tried to get some myself. I got a diving girl, and we started a cobra, though we didn't finish it. They're looking a little bit foggy/chalky because I peel fast; they'll probably start flaking by tomorrow. It makes it hard to see the blue details in the diving girl, sadly. Sorry for the terrible angles! These links are just an overview of the whole thing, before we added the cobra. https://instagram.com/p/1gugZ7TBPK/ https://instagram.com/p/1guZOxTBO-/

Just got an email from Greggletron. He is going to tattoo a spider on my chin. It will go under my chin with the legs peeking up onto the front. Stoked!

The OP was about asking in person. As in, how much to I talk about this ahead of time with my artist without sounding like a paranoid client with 9,000 questions and making the artist want to back out? I have an honest question about the money conversation I've had with all three of my artists, but I'll never ask it here because of this kind of response. The bottom line is that it is your body, and you're entitled to ask any questions you'd like to ask. If the artist thinks it is too much, well, find someone else. Customer service has to be part of the equation if you're going to art on human skin, and the health concerns are legitimate if things aren't being done correctly.

Been so long since got thighs done, the memory of what it was like afterwards has drifted into the ether :p wish you luck @SeeSea and, am sure you'll be fine. Do have some space on thigh which will eventually get filled in and there is the back of thigh that needs done too. One thing do remember, don't have sex the same day/night as new thigh tattoo (esp if front of thigh) ... it fucking hurts!

Well, I am no longer a plain skin gal. I made it 4 1/2 hours minus 1 potty break and 3 1minute stretch sessions. All while on the dreaded (.) and I now have the begenning of an awsome 3/4 sleeve. The worse part was the funny bone and under the arm pit. I think i may have been levitating about 6 inches off the bench the last half hour, but I never complained!!!!!! Im feeling really great about the session and I love my artists. Yay!

Hogg, your snake may or may not have ended up in my reference pile ;). I'm flattered! Polliwog - I have no idea how in the HELL he did that in four hours. Even though I was there for it I can barely believe it. He said that since he had drawn and colored the snake completely already on a picture of my back, and then he drew it again on me in marker before we started, that because he had drawn it and colored it in he knew exactly where to go and that's why it was so fast. <throws up hands> he's a mad genius! I have never been tattooed by anybody who is particularly slow, either! But the other half of my back definitely took multiple sessions of AT LEAST 4 hours each, so this was soo fast! The one thing that may have helped was that he used bactine after the first 1.5 hours, and the lidocaine in bactine kept me nice and numb. But once I was numb he went for it and started digging in there - I could DEFINITELY tell I was being worked on. I don't know if I could have handled it without the numbing. On numbing: I used to be sort of anti-numbing, but I got numbed for the last 90 min of the eagle/dragon thigh piece and then for this, and I don't feel like I really missed out on the tattoo experience. I was definitely there for all of it! And the numbing may have removed the "hot fire" element of it, but not the continuously working over chopped up skin feeling. So that's it! @cltattooing that hector fong piece is sick!

By Trevor Shea in Vancouver BC. Healed and no filer...seriously. Trevor is the Mike Roper of Canada in my opinion. Bodysuits that you will never see online.

I have a bunch of Sak yank tattoo's from various ajarns and monks, I wouldnt say it hurts less them a machine tattoo. I had to really try to reach my happy place on a couple of them. In the next couple of weeks probably going to get my back finished. About 30% coverage left. it is a risk tho,some of the monks never change there ink and mix it with all kinder crazy ingredients. The Cambodian black magic yantra is where it starts getting real sketchy, they mix cremated baby's in with the ink or the cremated ashes of there master,snake venom all kinds of weird and wonderful stuff. I recently got a small yantra on my Adam's apple, the ajarn just laughed and said "no swallow" and proceded to stick a huge needle in it. Never wanted to swallow more in my life :) check my pictures. if you go to well known/famous ajarns (tattoo masters) in Thailand your normally fairly safe, random monks it's a dice roll if your going to get something nasty. When my back is fully finished I'll post the pix. Shame recently a very famous ajarn said if I taught him machine he would teach me how to do sak yant but much like an a western apprenticeship it would take a very very long time to learn. The meditation side alone is very complex..shame I'm moving back to London in a couple of months.

Thigh tattoo swelled a lot but basically didn't hurt at all while healing, no evil stabby feelings upon standing up as with the lower leg. I did an 8-hour workday standing up the day after getting it and then walked around in Boston/went to a baseball game the day after that, both days with Saniderm. Keeping the blood moving seemed to help. You will be OK, just bring loose pants in case the airplane makes the swelling worse, if you're prone to swollen legs/feet while flying...

Progress shot....pretty much finished the top half.

Good thread. Here's my mutant viking. This is years old, never been reworked. I remember this one well, Dino (RIP) belted the fucker in.

I've probably posted this somewhere, but I think it fits well here. The screaming gorilla is on my left elbow, the tiger on the right. Both by Tim Pausinger at The Pearl. (The tiger is a little distorted by the way my arm is lying.)

Way better than the beating heart! Nice. And good thought for a thread.. @steve1461686340 stickie??