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Matt Arriola pantherized my last big spot yesterday at Spotlight. He couldn't quite get it to fit, so he decided to add flames. Always a good call. I have some inner thigh/tenderloin spots and a few tiny spaces on my legs, but if I said "I'm done" now, I don't think anyone would fault me. But we all know that I'm not done.

@dcostello I was the guy who came in around 2 and found out I got double booked. Your knee looked killer when it was finished, have fun healing that beast. Here's what Chad put on me just a couple hours later:

Done yesterday by Mr. Chad Kopelinger at Rock of Ages... In 1.5 hours... Someone needs to do a study on how he can tattoo so god damn fast. Really awesome experience all around. - - - Updated - - - Such a good tattoo. We both had a nice painful day yesterday.

Fifth (final) session on my back, the long story. Photo Link to my other post in this thread. And here's picture from and what I wrote after the lining session ------ Last session - booked for Sunday, March 29:th, at the Scottish Convention On the friday I was supposed to take the night bus from London to Edinburgh where Iain Mullen and Rudy Fritsch were working the Scottish Convention and ready to finish my back on the Sunday. To make a long story short, I ended up not going on the bus due to having booked the wrong month (Second time this happens to me, damn you Victoria Coach Station!) and instead I found myself after a sleepless night (spent in a night open café in Soho) on the first train to Edinburgh in the morning. Finally I can sleep I thought. Wrong. Turns out scottish people likes to talk a lot and there is no silent compartment. After a few hours of trying, I get perhaps 20 minutes of sleep. When I wake up I have a text from Iain saying "Let's do the session today instead!" (Other clients could only get tattooed tomorrow) This makes sleeping again very difficult due to being severely excited and also scared/psychologically unprepared of a brutal session that I thought I'd get tomorrow. Stupid as I am, I convince myself that it's going to be all right. I sleep maybe 20 more minutes before I arrive to Edinburgh, where the wind is blowing so hard people almost fall of the streets. I've all ready been practically awake for more than 24 hours. By text, me and Iain try to arrange someplace where I can at least get some sleeping hours before the session. His hotel room turns out not to be a good idea. But there is a emergency room at the venue where I could get some peace and quiet. Great. I make my way over to the convention, after having bought pre- and post-tattoo food stuff. Choosing carefully to get a lot of nutrition and powerful stuff that will fend of the tattoo sickness I can all ready feel breathing down my neck. I've now been on a trip for 6 days, from Barcelona to Toulouse (where I got my lower belly/pubic area tattooed by Guy Le Tatooer, another wonderful horrible experience), a 32 hour bus ride from Toulouse to London, one much needed night in a proper bed, staying awake the night before in the café and now I am here. Last destination of the tattoo pilgrimage. Iain tells me to go to the big stage and look for a guy in a short mohawk named Tom/Tim and say "I'm the guy who's been travelling". This code phrase opens up the gate to my quiet sanctuary. Actually, it turns out to be a very small, cold, brightly lit, room where a big scottish man (emergency crew) is hanging out waiting for the emergencies to happen. There is neither a shower, as I had thought, or a proper bed. There is just sort of a portable emergency bed, barely wide enough for one person. I explain who I am and he lets me lie on the bed. I am too tired to fall asleep. This whole situation seems absurd. I pull my jacket and a hoodie from my backpack over my body and turn my face towards the wall. I try to relax, to breath calmly and slow down everything. The anticipation of the last session, and the pain that goes along, is very distracting. Over the com-radio there are sparse messages, barely intelligible in scottish. After a while two giggling girls come in. One of them has fainted ("This happened last year too!") and they are giving a routine check up and some good advice to eat and drink water. Meanwhile I'm this strange traveling, greasy haired, bum sleeping under jackets in the emergency room. After two hours or so I give up on trying to sleep and decide to go out, eat something and have a look around. Everything is like in a haze. I can not be bothered with all these people. I do not want to see the burlesque dancers doing whatever it is that they're doing. I sit outside and eat the big, ready chopped, stir fry with kale and edamame beans that I bought from the store. I eat some nuts, I drink some superberry juice. Must not get sick. I hang out in the both with Iain and Rudy. Rudy is tattooing both of Joe Ellis' feet in some strange tribal architectural freehand style and we talk about him doing something similar on my left elbow since Iain did the right one. After a while I go to the handicap bathroom to have what few people would have called a shower. After cleaning myself up with the water from the sink and slipping into clean clothes I feel a bit more civilized again. It is time for finishing the back piece. I would have much rather liked if the circumstances would have been different but after being awake for now nearly 34 hours I am lying face down at the Scottish convention, with my half covered ass pointing towards the small crowd that is starting to form, and one tattoo machine being tuned on either side of me. Memory of a lifetime moment, right there. Considering probably being in the worst shape ever before getting tattooed, it was not as bad as I had braced myself for. It was certainly bad. Somewhere between terrible and outright nasty, if I had to specify. In the start they added on some liner details that I was not expecting. Then they added some very thick dots that felt like evil torture to my ribs. Then they went on with the shading and I could settle in to the groove of it somewhat. Knowing how bad the first two machine session was, when we did the lines in June, this was almost bearable. It never got worse than the lining session. When it's your back being worked on and two machines are moving from spot to spot, you have no way of anticipating where the pain is going to be and for how long. You just have to take it, so I did. About 30 minutes before we were done I had to go to the bathroom. I was totally in my zone, something like what I imagine marathon runners go into to keep pushing, and was not ready to face a bunch of people watching me. Somebody said "hero" as I passed. I felt weird. The whole non-privacy of the event was strange. Both mind and body was in turmoil. As with the pain I can be amazed by states like this, the things you can experience when pushing hard. How it makes your head feel from the inside. I returned, back on the table, and we did the last bit. When I sat up in the end to have some more straight lines just below my neck I was trembling from exhaustion and emotionally shaken. It had been a profound journey. /// After the tattoo I hung around while the guys packed their stuff, we went with some other people by taxi to a pub but realized they had just stopped serving food at ten in the evening. We split up and I went with Iain and Rudy to have fish and chips at some hole in the wall. Veggie burger in dry bun for me. Finally the couchsurfer I was supposed to stay with showed up and we walked back to his apartment. We had a really good conversation on the way there. I chucked half of the burger in a trash bin. The apartment he shared with three other people felt very much like Trainspotting, except no visible drug related objects scattered around. I feel asleep in a windowless room and had no dreams, just blacked out for 12 hours. Two days later I flew home to Stockholm, had take away-dinner with my girlfriend and took the night train towards the very north end of Sweden. I felt it really bad all ready and for the coming four days I was bedridden with a massive fever and accompanying headaches and cold. At least I could watch the whole second season of The Wire from start to finish. /// I had planned to start my backpiece when I had turned 30. Now I am 28 and it's all ready finished. It's been a fantastic experience and left very warm memories. I am so happy that I asked them both to collaborate, that it worked out, and that I trusted them completely with the design. Since we started in June my personal life, a big portion of the things that happened, have been so good, enriching and developing that that whole time in my life feels very beautiful. Turns out that the biggest part of my body carries a piece of which I didn't even see the design until the hour when we started, yet now it holds so much significance and meaning. I really like the thought of tattoos like amulets imbued with qualities and forces. I'll always have power on my back. That's how I see it.

I haven't been around the forum for a long time. My computer went all haywire on me. Also, I had not got a tattoo in a really long time, until yesterday. And so naturally, I wanted to put it here to see what everyone thinks... :) I got this Ed inspired Tex Avery wolf/Panther/water mix up from Steve Byrne at Rock of Ages in Austin. Photo stolen from his Instagram.

To balance out Matt Arriola Jesus, I'll throw in my Theo Mindell devil. Finished a few weeks ago at Spider Murphy's in San Rafael Ca. Photo stolen from his instagram

This is a great discussion! A tattoo could be considered "trendy," but you LIKE it and enjoy it for years and years, and don't regret it, then there's nothing wrong with it whatsoever. Some trendy tattoos are actually very attractive. You just have to ignore the comments of others (we all judge each other based on appearance, it can't be helped). Think about how trends start - someone starts it, somewhere, others see it, and independently, they do the same thing, because they LIKED it. There is something to be said for an idea that has such strikingly wide appeal. That doesn't happen by accident. Is there really anything wrong with that? The only issue I have is people who tend to jump on board just to be doing it because others are doing it, to feel like they belong, and to fit in, and that's the WRONG reason to get a tattoo, for sure. A haircut, a style of clothing or shoes, no problem - you just move on and hope the pictures never surface. Tattoos are a different story. Has anyone had an original idea/concept for a tattoo that they'd never seen before, had it done, been happy with it, and years down the road hear people talk about it as if it was just a "trend?" Isn't there always the first one to come up with it, the proverbial trend setter? Like the OP describes, it can be demeaning and a pejorative label to write something off as being trendy.

Realized I posted in the wrong thread, was aiming for this one haha...

Oops, guess I'm trendy, now---does it count it if wasn't on purpose?! I found an artist whose stuff I loved (she does a lot of geometric mandala-ish work), and had her create shoulder caps for me--I wanted them to be symmetric, and reminiscent of Egyptian Revival jewelry. I *guess* they look kinda like mandalas...(?) Personally, I think they are kinda badass, but that might just be me. In all seriousness, I find some of the more popular stuff, like black tree skylines, flocks of black birds, feathers, cartoony stuff, tiny finger tattoos, mustache tattoos, etc., not to my liking. But I'm not the one wearing those for the rest of my life, so if it makes a person happy, great. If someone chooses to think I'm being somehow trendy, oh well. Guess I'll live with it. I'm old enough I really just don't care if someone thinks I'm cool, or a poser, or whatever.

No way dude! I saw him post that on Instagram. Such a solid piece! LST dude/dudettes need some sort of a general LST tattoo to we all recognize each other! And thanks. It feels horrible right now.

As other have said, take some time to plan and definitely consult with your artist or even seek out those whose work you admire. If you are into nautical themes and traditional style work, the history of modern tattooing is deeply rooted in that imagery. Check out classic stuff by the forefathers like Cap Coleman, Paul Rogers, Bert Grimm and Sailor Jerry (to name a few). As an old guy...my advice would be "pace not race". You have a damn nice start, but if you enjoy getting tattooed, what's the hurry? Use your travels to the advantage of getting work by people you admire around the globe!

@CultExciter Super good plans, both of them! Wish you all the luck man! My stuff: - Moved in with my girlfriend three weeks ago. Beautiful roomy apartment in the city. First time in my life that I don't live in the suburbs. Even though I really loved living with my four friends in the commune house this feels very exciting and like a new stage to live life from. - Moved out of the commune house but still rent a corner in there as a workshop/painting space. Just painted the walls and started arranging it. It's going to be awesome to have a space like that to really focus. - Started a eight week meditation course two weeks ago. Exciting and interesting so far. Don't think I ever sat down for any extent of time and tried to "clear my head" before. After 27 years of constant input/output, except for sleep, it's fascinating and also very hard. - Got back to spending more time and effort in the kitchen again. In love with cooking vegan food, so much to learn and try out! - Somehow got over my strong fear of interpersonal conflicts. Or, at least I can act the way I want and not choke up or suppress my opinions. It feels really good to be able to be honest with my feelings and opinions, instead of "being easy going" in fear of creating a heated argument. Conflicts are just obstacles to get beyond, it's not dangerous.

In defence of that tattooist at a party: Could it just have been that they were off the clock and the last thing they wanted to talk about was your prospective tattoos? It might be a bit like the situation doctors, police, lawyers face whereby... you meet someone at a party and suddenly you're listening to their questions about that growth on their penis/aggressive neighbour/problem with their mother's will. And you don't get paid for listening.

Read the whole thread and it touches on many things that I've thought about over the course of getting tattooed. Let me try to add something that's not all ready been formulated five times. 1. Tattoos now are like jeans. At first when jeans became a mainstream phenomenon jeans itself was the trend, and wearing jeans was hip. Then it went in waves, with different type of models that were "in", often making the previous model hopelessly "out". I'd say this went on until quite recently when really tight jeans for men became mainstream. Now it's not about a type of model anymore, but different brands and smaller nuances that decides if a pair of jeans are in or not, (good or not). I see tattoos going the same way. People are doing both old and new styles, and even if certain motifs at time/geographic context can be considered in the mainstream as more cool than others, no style of tattoos is really "the only thing" or is totally forgotten and shunned. This is from my perspective of course, someone not hanging out on this forum and keeping track of 200+ tattooers would possibly have a different analysis. 2. Being accused of following trends. I feel that the more tattoos you get, the more people you know/random folks on the street will accept that you are not following trends. Trends are in a way somewhat cheap, you can't invest in them too much if you are to be ready to throw it away for spring and jump on the next new thing. With something as permanent as tattoos, big portions of your skin all ready covered, you'd have to slightly retarded to put so much into a trend. I think most people can see that in general anyone who is so dedicated is doing it for herself/himself and not to "fit in". I also think that a small percentage of people really are slightly retarded and will go to such lengths. 3. The old ideas of earning your tattoos, I believe that they are there for good reasons. Not only because of the very real social and possible economic problems that a "job stopper" tattoo can make you face, but also to separate those in it for the love of the art from those who are more about being a tattooed individual. Generally the later group will be more likely to follow trends. 4. In this time tattoos are still a radical thing. One very tangible example is that certain types of tattoos/placements will stop you from getting certain types of jobs. People will have all sorts of ideas about you when they see your tattos. In some circles you will not be welcomed, and this includes some of the most influential parts of society. This is something you will have to relate to if you have visible tattoos. Some people jump on tattoos like a trend not thinking anymore of it, and in a way I guess that's always been a factor, but even these people will still have to face the resistance inside of society against their behavior. Just like every woman, every person of darker skin colour, different sexuality or any kind of handicap (for example) eventually will feel the problem that the mainstream of society has with her/his person, so will most tattooed people sooner or later feel unjustly treated in some way. It is very interesting that people can arrive in this (permanent) position from following trends. (Excuse my academic language, I enjoy writing like this. The last part was a bit more ideological. Personally, I think subcultures and counter-cultures are a very important channel for change in society. I believe that being at odds with what is "normal" or "correct" often forces people to think about their own position, their choices, the life they want to live, and what needs to be changed in order for them to not feel constrained by social/economic/ideological forces. Tattoo culture and associated subcultures, in my opinion, has this potential for radical awakening. Depending of course on how far you go and the resistance you encounter)

I can identify with what you're saying ... although maybe it's a *bit* harsh. However, everyone starts somewhere. Maybe that person with the feather turning into a flock of birds will go on a tattoo journey and finish up with a Filip Leu bodysuit. Stranger things have happened.

I'm just some person on the internet, but it looks good to me. The black and grey looks really nice next to the color since they're all nautical and done in a similar style. And even if they didn't match (which they do), well, tattoos that don't totally go together can look really good, anyway. When you get tattooed at a pretty good rate it can be easy to second-guess yourself, so maybe a breather would help? If you have some months to finish your arm, that is.

I think for the most part anyone who gets tattooed more than a few times has already said their goodbyes to caring about what the bulk of humanity thinks about it. There are no doubt exceptions to that generalization, but still. Like all extremely personal choices that run against the social grain, you open yourself up to criticism...but, assuming that it was a personal choice and made for considered reasons, it's not going to matter. 'Yeah, I hear you, but I do what I want.' I imagine the rest is a self-solving problem. People basing permanent decisions on ephemeral whims tend to be regulated by their own misery after the first few mistakes. (And if they come out of the other side of a trend with a tattoo they still love, then the point is still moot, because at the end of the day, they're winning.)

Wifey got hers from Joey Ortega finished up this week . . .

Here's an update on my back piece from my last session with Fill Wood @ Black Crown Tattoo in Leeds. I'm getting close the end- maybe another 2 or 3 sessions to finish Hoichi's gown, the detail in the Biwa and a few other bits. Link- https://instagram.com/p/15lGppmzSi/

Man, so many killer tattoos that I saw on Instagram in the last few days. Of course they belong to members here. Haha. Great work everyone.

I've come full circle with my feelings on aesthetics, placements and overall look... When I started 30 years ago, I never had the thought of being completely covered and therefore, didn't have any plan other than WHO to get tattooed by. Once I started travelling to the artists I admired, a lot more thought went into what/where and how it would all work together. At one point I made "tattoo map" of my body. I took a roll of 3ft wide printer paper (used in BIG factory print shops), laid down on it and had someone trace me. I roughly sketched in the work I already had and then put the general idea and name of artist on the spots I wanted to get covered. That "map' hung on the back of my closet door for a few years and I got about 60% of the work I had hoped for (I had an entire body suit mapped out-HA!). At the time I really believed that the total coverage look was the right way and everybody who didn't think in those terms and got random work all over them was an idiot with no planning skills. A bunch of shit changed in my life and I put my map on hold for awhile....which turned out to be A LONG WHILE. Over that last couple years or so leading up to me diving back into this, my attitude towards total coverage has changed somewhat. Now I find looking at people with many tattoos not all tied together and the not-tattooed skin in between them, pretty cool. I still completely appreciate the well planned, total coverage stuff too but I no longer have a "tattoo map" and just plan on getting what I want, when I want and if the mood strikes me, get it all tied together in the end. Overall though, I've never worried about my "look" and how others perceived me. I may have be more aware back when tattooing was not "normal", but now-a-days, lots of neck/hands/face/feet tattoos make me look average..... or at least normal.

Actually, i got tattooed by that same artist at one point years later and brought it up. She admitted it was a snob move and apologized.

This is sad. My first tattoo was an ankle band. There's a tattoo artist who is a friend of a friend who I ran onto at a party. I started talking tattoos because I wanted more serious work in the future but when she saw what I had she literally turned her back and walked away. Years later I have more ink than her. Don't judge. It does no one any good.

I honestly don't give a shit about most people's opinions on my tattoo's. alltho I got my dot work sleeve off xed lehead a long time a go seems to be becoming more and more fashionable. I feel sorry more for xed really his style has been copied so much. half the time he doesn't even get credited with it, people that have worked along side him and been influenced by his stuff do (not naming names) I suppose it's like being in to a unknown band tho and when they get popular it upsets you that every one likes them now. The thing with a lot of current trends at the moment is in the future there going to look like shit, especially the water couler stuff!!!

@Alexandr Melnik Hey man, so not to be rude but this thread is meant to showcase member artwork, not pictures of tattoos. There are plenty of other threads those tattoos would be suited to. Nothing against the pictures, just that they are probably better off elsewhere. Cheers

No problem, it's Chris Conn! I have been yapping about him on the http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/2257-chris-conn-back.html thread... :D

Go ahead, but make sure u have backup flowers and chocolate.

Seems like there is a new regard for that spiky black tribal trend of the 90s again - and rightly so. First it was a little bit ironic (black tribal creeping into traditional motifs) and now it feels like it is heading towards a wholesale reappreciation. People are like, wow, Leo Zulueta style tattooing can have massive visual impact and hold up well. I always thought it was odd some people who loved recent geometric and black work might have turned their nose up at 90s tribal. Paul O Rourke from All Star tattoos a lot of this type of thing and man, if this is what 90s fad tattooing looks like then they weren't as bad as I remember. I don't think this ever went out of style for tough guys. When it comes to later fads for feathers flocks of birds - where it's more about iconography than just style - I wonder can you think of them as just being new entries to the pantheon of popular flash. A feather is not to my taste, but it's no more arbitrary than a swallow in some ways. Now, Victorian dressed animals smoking pipes... I can't stretch to getting on board with those. [emoji16]

Soooo, I had a thought recently that Hubbs should let ME chose his back piece tattooer and subject because I was the one who was going to see it ALLLL of the time and vice versa. He didn't go for it. But isn't that just the most practical and wonderful idea y'all have ever heard? I could wake up to a giant Horitomo Kanon EVERY morning! I'm certain it would make me a better spouse.

It's an interesting conversation. Some trends hit society like the whole Middle Earth/ Celtic thing of the late 80's early 90's and boom everyone has Knotwork. Also, some is due to advances in Technology. Ther technique of color wash/water color tattoos lent itself to softer tattoos without an outline. And in came all the girls with their Audubon bird images. WWF wrestling became popular on TV and there were a ton of barbed wire/tribal arm bands followed soon after. Tattooing has always been a marker for a point in time(Tazmanian Devils, Little Devils, marijuana leaves,etc, so whatever style one chooses will become dated. And hats as it should be. We wear our history on our sleeves-hey I just made a pun- but I fear a lot of kids are thinking that here will be an eraser cream so they don't even try to be original. Hey, try to keep a "PMA" because after all "YOLO."

Finished up with Rob yesterday. That guy is an absolute champion. It's hard to find the words to express how happy I am. Here's a link to his instagram for more vertical pics, hah. https://instagram.com/p/1y_HRiCO7e/

Tattoos are definitely more popular and mainstream than they have ever been, but remember that people have been getting tattooed since the dawn of homo sapien. My parents used to say similar things, but then you realize that when people pass judgement or ridicule upon your appearance, it's usually because you are making them confront their conditioned opinions and they don't know how to deal with that internally so they project it into you instead because you have become a symbol for that. Also when you understand that, it makes that sort of bullshit a lot easier to deal with because it's not actually about you. If it really does bother you that he's saying that stuff, hopefully you can ask him to be more respectful about it because even if he is right it still sucks to hear and doesn't contribute anything positive to your relationship, especially when it is a parent! Good luck :)

Havent painted for around 5 weeks as I have been over in the Philippines enjoying life surfing. Painted this one just before I went over, thanks for checking it out

I have only tattooed two peoples' faces and they already had facial tattoos so I was alright with it. Fucking difficult type of skin to tattoo though, so thin and delicate! I'm generally not a big fan of face tattoos, although the two people in my opinion who do pull them off well are Sonju and Freddy. As a general rule though, the face is the last place on a person that I would tattoo. Like for instance I would way rather tattoo your dick than your face and even that's a stretch (do you see what I did there?). I also won't tattoo your face unless you have significant coverage on your hands/neck/head.

Mreh. Mandalas are beautiful. They've been beautiful since like the 9th-11th centuries, B.C.E. Just because they've become popular subjects for tattoos doesn't make them any less beautiful! Geometric designs likewise; you have only to look at the ceiling of any given mosque to be blown away. Whether these things make great tattoos or not is open to discussion (by people who know more about these things than I do), but that's entirely a separate conversation. Trends are a social phenomenon that has to do with perception and self-image. They often have little or nothing to do with the intrinsic worth of the object of acclaim/derision; it's more about social identity and group belonging and whatever else. I would totally get a mandala tattoo, and I don't give a fuuuuuu. It'd have to be placed well, but they're still stunning, imo. Don't care what anybody thinks, or who else might be wearing them. We tend to want to reject things that become trendy when we feel wiser about the thing the trend concerns itself with than the bulk of derps following the trend, but sometimes that's just cutting off our noses to spite our faces. The other tattoos under discussion draw fire here because they make for crap tattoos. But, still. If somebody loves it, even if they got it because it's trendy, it doesn't really matter. Their body, their life. More joy to them.

I can only speak for myself but I think you'll find the overwhelming majority would agree that if there is such a thing as intruding into our industry (and there is), collecting the tools of our trade is the definition of it.

So as soon as I finish healing from one, I went back in for work on my sleeve, and now I feel like someone has burned the inside of my arm. Sleeping was fun last night since we did color on the inside of my arm, and outlines on the outside of my arm, so finding a way to sleep so that nothing new was in contact with the sheets was damn near impossible. Oh well. Looks awesome.

Boy, your return flight must have been just as fun as mine was.

Panthers! LST Panthers!!!!!

@RoryQ and @jen7, I realize it's a bit harsh. It probably comes from the area I live mixed with the work I did up until about a year ago - very affluent community with a hipster undertone at the retail store I worked at. I saw more than one person hear our company's very open tattoo policy, only to immediately go and get the most random tattoo on a very noticeable spot (behind the ear, neck, forearms and hands). And that would be all they got during the three years I worked there. I almost felt bad, because they were making their career path harder outside of this company. But that's beside the point! All I'm saying is working within that kind of community, I saw a lot of trendy tattoos that were never expanded upon, sleeved out etc. That's why I'm with you guys on this forum! I'm not hating on trendiness, I'm just more interested in a community where more people are going for full coverage. Apologies for any offense taken.

Finally getting tattooed by Jonas Nyberg in a few weeks. Five senses bowl in the armpit. I all ready really liked the motif and had decided I wanted Jonas to do my armpit but was just not sure what to put there. Then I got inspired when I saw the one that Jeb Maykut did and put 1 and 1 together. Sometimes the answer is right in front of you and you are just waiting for someone to point it out with a big neon sign haha.. Also, now I am breaking my self-imposed no more skull tattoos-rule, but who cares.

That is SUCH a good idea. Are you using an app? I need to do this. Now. :D

Very nice tattoos. Get what you want, stick em wherever - there's no right or wrong way to do it as long as you're happy with it. I would go in, or phone in, and talk to your artist. Brainstorm ideas with him, he's probably got a bunch of nautical images he can show or suggest to you. And welcome.

Not exactly @Lance... man head modeled after Doug but with a man bun. But seriously though, no I'm not 100%. I have two ideas and I'm leaning toward one. His assistant said he would love both. Man bun. Sorry, it has nothing to do with a man bun but I can't stop saying man bun and man bun lifestyle. We just went out to dinner. It's the chocolate flourless cake talking.

Trends are bad, people who are doing something just because it's now in the trend wrong. And if relatively unserious things like hairstyles, clothes or selecting what to see - it does not affect a person's life. But the tattoo will last a lifetime/ And when the trend to something will pass the poor man would have to go either to laser removal or a cover because the new trend appears. The choice of a tattoo should not affect neither trends nor the popularity of a topic, any advice from the (if not only the technical aspects) or opinions familiar / friends / relatives. This individuality and personal choice. This is my opinion. =) And vice versa - if a person wants to do something owl mandala or not because it's fashionable, but because he had long wanted to do it - then let him do.

Tattoos may be a trend but they're not a passing fad -- partly because that ink isn't going anywhere. You can throw out that pair of '90s Hammer pants, but you're not getting rid of that tribal tattoo armband without a laser (or some high grit sandpaper).

No more easy spots left.... JR Tubbs - inner arm, elbow to pit in May Nick Colella - chest eagle in June Mario Desa - Lower leg/ankle in June Smith Street crew - possibly later in the summer

The boss just set me up with a full collection of his flash. Check out this score!

I won't tattoo faces of anyone who is not either a tattooer/piercer, or a collector that is already pretty well covered. So no to answer your question, I don't get any bad gut feelings. I do get asked for it about once a month though.