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DOne by Tony Hundahl at Oklahoma tattoo convention. Had a blast all weekend drawn on one shot

Got this ass sucking Kappa when I was out working the Vancouver Tattoo Show from Chad Woodley. Healed beautifully. Great tattooer.

Hi I'´m Hampus Samuelsson from Sweden. Long interested in cultural tattoos and collected a few as well. It all started in the beginning of the 21th century when I traveled to Samoa for my first time. My girlfriend at the time had her family there. Her father worked at the hospital on Tutuila so we visited them during christmas. They knew this tattoo artist there, Wilson Fitiao, and he did my very first hand tapped tattoo. After that I needed to get back. And so I did in 2007. This time I had to meet up with Petelu Suluape. So the search began about a year before the trip. I talked to Heidi Hay in my home town, she were about to marry Paulo Suluape which tragically ended up in him being murdered :(. But even if she were close to Petelo, she could not help me. So I started calling to the US, tried to get hold of Freewind Suluape but failed, talked to a bunch of artists and customers but nothing. So I searched the internet. There I found I guy on bebo, an australian facebook version at the time. He was family to Petelo Suluape so we started chatting a bit and some phone calls. Eventually I could speak to Petelo himself. His english was not as good as I thought it would be, so I got suspicious. Talked to Heidi again and she also thought it sounded weird, Petelo speaks good english. Turned out I had been speaking with his brother, they shared the same name! The rumour says he was born Alaiva'a but took his brothers place in school and been called Petelo since. Anyway, time was running out and I left for New Zealand with still no contact with Petelo Suluape. Four month went by in NZ and I sat on the plane to Samoa about a year after I started my search, with nothing. But while walking the streets in Apia a saw an american that I recognized from the site couchsurfing. There were only two registered couches in Samoa so I had read both their profiles. This guy, Peter, had his wrists tattoed by Petelo. I called out his name, and he was much surprised that I recognized him. I asked him if he knew where I could find Petelo, -Sure, he's a shop right around the corner, next to Spoons (the ice cream shop)! A whole year of searching and it was this easy? I went straight to the shop where I met, another, Peter. He was the son of Petelo and a very talented artist. I asked him if I could book a time with Petelo. -Petelo? no, he's in Hawaii. *doh* -He'll be back on Thursday. *yay Got his cell number and waited for Thursday, called but no answer, friday nothing. Saturday morning, finally! I described what I wanted and he sounded interested. -Can you come tomorrow, 10 o'clock? -Hell yeah. It was finally happening. Took a taxi down to Faleasiu and we went through my ideas. He grabbed my arm and twisted it around almost to breaking point. Then finally said. -It's a big tattoo........ OK! Six (!) hours later it was done and they smuggled my out of the village in a minivan and dropped me of at the highway where I had to hitch hike back to Apia, manuia le kerisimasi. Why? It was Sunday and he wasn't allowed to tattoo on Sundays or he have to pay a fine to the church. Eight years later and my tattoo still rocks. Solid black and sharp lines. But, that's not the reason I came. I've done some viking reenactment in my days, about ten years, and met a lot of interesting people. Some of them tattoo artist working with hand poking techniques. Peter Walrus, Kai Uwe Faust and Colin Dale to name a few. Being a hobby videographer I ended up doing a short interview with Colin Dale that I'd like to share with you. Hope you like it :) Watch it in full HD here: https://vimeo.com/abacrombie/roots Maybe something for your video section @slayer9019

With respect to cohesiveness and advance planning, I did a reverse approach to my tattoo suit. I didn't get my first couple tattoos with the intent to do a bodysuit, I just got some tattoos and then continued to balance side-to-side to maintain my symmetry. I had arms, legs, ribs, stomach, chest, neck/shoulders and thighs completed before I started my back, which is an opposite approach. That's just the way it worked out for me as my interest and excitement for tattooing grew. I got tattooed by 14 different guys over the years. I had one session in particular in 2009 (my chest, during my 100th hour) that the shop had a full house of heavyweights. Me working on full size chest piece and 3 other cats working on backs (waist up). Everyone hit the day rate, after 5 hours was no charge, and there was some magic in the shop that day. From that moment seeing backpieces in the flesh in progress, I knew that's where I was headed tattoo-wise but wasn't in a place in my life to commit to the time/money nor had I an idea for a subject I felt strongly enough that I could carry the weight of on my back. I was headed there all along in hindsight, just sometimes in life that direction you're headed does not reveal itself fully to you until you are ready to become aware of it. I've been to China to further my kung fu training 3 times since 2008, the last 2 times (2011 and 2014) to train at Shaolin. The first trip is when I finally knew I wanted a monk on my back, similar to the murals etched in the walls of the temple and the design on the back of the training vest the monks wear. I connected with the tattooer and the correspondence for the back began in 2012. In the meantime I worked on some other spots like the tiger in my belly, some thigh tattoos, collar/neck while I patiently waited for the green-go-light. Because of my existing tattoos though, there were certain spots I wanted to complete first in sequence to frame and layer my works the way I desired. There was some other life-shit that went down in the meantime, namely my Sifu - my kung fu master - passing away suddenly and one of his dying wishes was that we take the students again to Shaolin and continue our relationship with the temple. That's an intense story on it's own and it just heightened the desire, cemented the idea for my Shaolin tribute. It wasn't something I picked out of a comic book and was like yeah that's cool -there's nothing wrong with that!-but I wanted something ~heavy~, you know what I'm sayin? I know what I'm sayin! So ffwd to my first back session. Seeing all the crazy stuff and bright colours I have going on all down the front and arms/legs, my tattooer designed my backpiece to be simple, bold and black (as fuck) to balance it out, align the horizon lines and gravity of the water in my tattoos, really attract the focus, make the tattoo powerful and tie everything together. Because I had my ribs done prior, it made my back canvas a bit narrower to work with, which is why I ended up with 1 monk in a kung fu pose instead of the original idea of 2 monks in combat. It all ties together, maybe not as clean as a bodysuit from japan, but nevertheless ties together my stories and experiences, 14 tattooers and 69(?) sessions. And whether you are tie-ing pieces from one artist or many, a full body tattoo has people mesmerized and going "what in the fuck" because it is not a common sight to see in public. It's going to look cohesive because it's YOU! And I am very happy I waited. It has made the experience more exciting, I'm more tuned into what's going with the tattoo-process and most important of all it has made it all more meaningful to me. so @knucklehead211 to answer your inquiries and add some other points: 1. how to prepare? MANIFEST the idea of tattooing your back. the subject/theme/motif will come to you in time. 2. acne? i can't comment on that, see a dermatologist and deal with your issue now in preparation. 3. Do from shoulders to at least below the belt and onto the bum. No biker backpieces (jokes)! You don't need to do your front either. 4. Don't sweat the cohesiveness, as I wrote about above. 5. Let the tattooer make it fit your body, an experienced tattooer will. 6. Don't rush! See #5, I know a lot of dumb-dumb friends who I pointed in the right direction and vouched for to get proper tattoo, but people these days get very impulsive and gratified, so they rush out and get some half-baked poor tattoo because they can't wait a month or a year. 7. Know what you want and be able to articulate it. Keep it simple. Manifest the idea until the idea is solid enough and you are 101% behind it. 8. Start saving now so when it's go time, you've got money in the bank to keep up with the progress i.e. weeks between sessions not months. 9. Get inspired! And I don't mean scrolling instagram every hour or even LST. I mean get inspired by the real world. Go to the library, research old wood block prints and illustrations, go to the museum when the samurai armour exhibit is in town. Spend time in the mountains and rivers, go to the gardens in your city. Travel. Go to the art gallery. 10. Try and get the piece started in the fall so it will be worked on/healing in the winter, done by summer. 11. Plan long-term, plan in advance and be patient. 12. Have fun and enjoy the whole process. There is a reason why not everybody wears a backpiece and even fewer have finished backpieces. It is a big commitment. It took 2 full years of correspondence to make mine happen. The most rewarding things in life are the things you work for and wait for. cheers

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.

Now that I better understand the question, I have given it some thought and came up with this, my answer: I don't give a flying fuck what anyone else thinks of me. As long as I live my life in line with the morals I believe are fitting to me, I am good to go. Will you be judged by the tattoos you choose? Absolutely, and by the very same people who would judge you by your clothes or hair or car or any number of things even if you didn't have tattoos. In this Millenneal age of "Tolerance", I have come to realize that the tolerance only extends to those thoughts and actions Millenneals deem to be correct. In other words "you shall tolerate that which is, by our standards, tolerable. Otherwise, you will be shunned." Which is as it always has been. You will outgrow it, sooner or later. But you may miss some pretty great times along the way. If you are worried about what others think about a tattoo, then do not get the tattoo, because you will allow them to make your reaction. But realize that you are not getting something you think is beautiful because you are worried that someone else - who has no stake in the matter - may disagree. There are enough things happening in our lives over which we have no control. To give up that which I do control willingly because of peer pressure? Not gonna happen.

@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:

@CultExciter, it's a Big Move spring! Been up in Portland Maine working for the last three weeks while the wife wraps up things in NYC and we do the big move Thursday-Friday. Walked away from a great job (and job offer..) and tons of great people -- but also walked away from a city we're simply not willing to simply survive in anymore for more reasons I care to list. Don't know if it's the right move, but I was giggling by myself in the car when I shot outta there three weeks ago.. Had an unbelievable send-off on my last shift. Doing my best to look ahead!

To revive this old threat on a good subject, I present the first ever picture on the internet of my Rock of Ages thigh piece Done by Peter Lagergren in the spring of 2013. I like it a lot. Hope for the future of humanity and individual freedom lies in abandoning metaphysical dogmas and authority imposed superstitions. By doing so we can search for what is true.

save your money for more tattoos. leave the tattoo machines for the tattooers my $0.02 :)

@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.

Well, some of you pals already know, but it's relevant, so I'll tell you all. I put in my resignation at my day job so that I could be at the tattoo shop more often. It's a big scary step, but you gotta start somewhere. Also, I quit drinking after being a lush for the last 10 years. Onwards and upwards folks.

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.

I haven't been getting tattooed for very long, but after my first one was completed I was all gung-ho to start working on my back. Then I realized that instead of rushing into it I should let everything marinate until the right idea came along. I've turned over several ideas in the intervening years, and am now (I think, yay!) settled upon something that feels right and true for me. Great advice @bongsau!!!!

This was a great time, thanks to the stells for putting it on

@Lance Thank you! Well, the way I was treating my body for a week: sickness was well deserved :) Surprised it didn't come earlier. Too me it shows that eating and drinking properly goes a really along way! Crucial part of surviving on a low budget tattoo pilgrimage: hit up health food stores in every city you visit, drink water and stay away from alcohol. //Vegan Health Nut, signing out

I'm Mr Baron from East London :) Nice to meet you x

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.

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/

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.

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.

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

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.

We started up sign language classes again, on the 4th of 8 sessions this time, and we did 6 last time. Getting better and better w/the short sentences I have to sign at work w/my little guy. I sign to my kids and husband too...husband isn't impressed. But whatever, I'm impressed w/myself so who cares.

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:

I Stumbled on this forum looking for alternative after-care advice, I stayed because...tattoos. My name is Allis, have several smaller pieces by local artists (most of which I still like). I am set to be tattooed by Hoffa at Hell City Columbus this Friday, May 1 and I am very excited. It will eventually turn into (hopefully) a floral half sleeve by various and sundry artists. I'll post pictures as soon as I'm not on my work computer. Thanks for listening. Look forward to participating more.

Of interest, worth a 20 minute watch. Good morning LST!! http://noisey.vice.com/under-the-influence/under-the-influence-new-york-hardcore?utm_source=noiseyfbus

Depends on what time your flight comes in - four hours at O'Hare can easily turn into eight, but it can also shrink to two if you're incoming flight is late. Four hours is cutting it close to make it "downtown" but you could run through the park and see the lake. You can get on the L at the airport. It probably takes 50 minutes to get to the Loop, 45 minutes to get to Lincoln Park, 45 minutes to get to Great Lakes Tattoo... There is Frank Lloyd Wright stuff in Oak Park, close to the airport. There's a huge outlet mall right at the airport. There is food - everywhere. Chicago is an excellent food town. My suggestion would be to eat :)

That is truth indeed. Cheers to you for that *excellent* write up. Thank you bongsau!

@CultExciter there are a couple decent shops up and around here and obviously you've got Portsmouth NH not far. We only have a one bedroom but we'll get that air mattress ready for ya.. And meanwhile I'll continue working on other friends to get them to open a shop..

@bongsau doling out the advice of experience, thank you good sir. It is not going to be happening soon, but I figured what better time to ask for advice than when I have at least three other pieces on my brain? That was a good read, and exactly what I wanted to hear. Thanks again man.

Now that's funny I don't care who you are!

@RoryQ I've heard nothing but good things but I never tried to watch it. @BrianH I do see it when there is nothing on. Discovery usually just keeps repeating that and bering sea gold.

You don't by any chance have a beard a quiff and a full sleeve of bird silhouette's do you? (joking)

My advice on acne is like Mr Toby's, don't pick, let it run it's course. Like beez, I've also seen less acne pop up under tattooed skin so hopefully that all works out for the better. For coverage and cohesiveness, you have a few options for Japanese style. You can just do the kame-no-koh, which is the shoulders to thighs, then call it a day. It's okay for a back piece to just be a back piece, you don't have to blend it into the shoulders.

When it came to me planning my back piece my thoughts were quite simple. I want one and I want it to be big. The result is that I have a full Japanese back piece in progress. With this as an on going project I have been a little aware of the possibility of spots especially across the top of it as I can get some big spots on my shoulders. The way I have approached it has been the same as the healing process for a new tattoo... whatever happens don`t pick the spots... All that's gonna do is make any damage worse. So far this has served me well. With regards to combining a back piece with existing tattoos I feel it is something that happens pretty frequently and a good artist will be able to balance and work with what is already there and make it look good. And certainly there is no necessity to expand a back piece in to a full suite. Mine stops half way across my ribs and doesn't look strange or unusual. In fact it is quite a traditional Japanese design to stop with an almost straight line running down either side of the body. My advice would simply be find a subject matter you like and and an artist you want to work with and just go and speak to them. Simple as that.

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.

The last few posts about this post.. After some extended deprivation of sleep i was thinking, from what i understand you guys basicly said that no panter is the same. Therefor it is still unique. But this website still looks down on young girls getting a tribal tattoo just above the but or a feather disolving into birds (correct me if im wrong on this). I think we've all seen this picture and laughed about it How is one allright but the other is not? Too quote Aragorn 'What say you?!'

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.

Got a shoulder piece done on the 14th. At this time, I'm not getting color or shading. I like the negative space. And hope it conveys the softness and femininity I was going for and doesn't just look unfinished. Now I just need to figure out if I want to continue with black a gray pieces. I have an absolute love for neo-traditional tattoos. I'm just a little unsure how to mix my pieces.

Believe me, at 50, 60 - you won't care if it shows. You'll probably flaunt it!

I was thinking a bit more about this topic and had some more food for thought... The cut of a tattoo suit (or even a single tattoo for that matter) is very important. The composition and borders of the tattoo needs to match and "fit" the body of the wearer, like it was always meant to be there. We are all different shapes and sizes! And we all have different preferences to achieve the look we desire. Some folks want their sleeves to go right up to the hand, some are content with some space on the wrist. The borders of the backpiece on the shoulders, how far up the collar/throat you go on the front, how low below the belt you (no biker backpieces! jokes). Some body types will look better with the vest style bodysuit, others prefer the full blast across. The emptiness of negative space can have a very powerful impact too, and I've seen lots of backpieces where the negative is very thoughtfully incorporated. The inner thigh, crotch, butt crack and underside is no different. Some may feel it completely unnecessary to tattoo in the crack, just like others may feel it taboo to tattoo armpits, heads or feet even. I know I did not want a stripe. For me, my tattoos (made by a dozen guys) are all continuous and blend into each other, so I knew I did not want the crack stripe and wanted to maximize the tattoo coverage, get a little freaky haha. Go however deep or as shallow into the danger zone that you and the tattooer feel comfortable with and get your suit to cut where it makes sense and for the tattoo to look good on YOUR body. Don't compromise the "cut" of your suit out of fear of the pain. We all know and expect it to hurt. Bite down on the wooden spoon for an afternoon and than bam you are in the clear, looking good and feeling confident. That's why we are all in the mess, ain't it? A tattoo after-all has to fit YOU, compliment and enhance your body and whatever else tattoo-wise you got going on. That's what I love about tattoos, it is very personalized and you can go as conservative or extreme as you desire...no need to response a no one! @Dennis suit - the cut and composition looks great. It fits the body, compliments it. Tattoos (bodysuits and one-shots alike) should look like they were always meant to be on the wearer, this is a fantastic example, very precise cuts and we are lucky to have Dennis sharing an in progress peak. The way the vest cuts on the torso, the thighs, ankles yeah man! wow @Rad Kelham ah i took the photo down off my IG after a couple days which would explain why the link is broken. Backpiece (and 25% of my tattoos) are by Steve Batt in Edmonton. He doesn't put anything online, off the radar type of guy.

I can say a little more about this now. So far all of my tattoos have a similar style, meaning they are all rather minimalistic silhouette tattoos with just black ink. The reason for this is also because I worry about the tattoos harmonizing with each other. I don't think I could bear a watercolor style tattoo next to something old school for example ;). I have shyed away from colors so far because I wear a wide variety of colors and styles....all black one day and then florals and pink the next day. I do want something with color but I am thinking long and hard about what colors will match most looks. I also want colors that harmonize with my skin color ^^ which is probably a weird thing to consider? But I can go on and on about these things. They need to be perfect for me. I'm the type of person that if I wear mismatched colors or outfits, my day is ruined hahaha...I can not even handle wearing mismatched lounge clothing at home. I will change into something else... And I do know I will always try to balance out how many tattoos I have where...I am planning it like an architect. I did a fairly good job with my piercings. I was able to fit 5 on my face in one area ( nose, mouth ) and it still looks balanced...imho :D

"Fear of a flash planet" http://tattooartistmagazineblog.com/2012/08/01/jojo-ackermann-fear-of-a-flash-planet/ It's been posted before, but reposting it is easier than rehashing the argument about the role of flash in helping people get good tattoos. And Jo Jo Ackerman makes it better anyway :) Classic or modern flash that is tattooed however many times (that army of crawling panthers) just isn't the same as someone copying what is clearly intended as custom work...

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.

hey folks - lets remember that this thread is about throwing down your latest and greatest lets get back to that huh

I think you've got it right there. Neither of you will be having fun when the needle goes right into the Grand Canyon though!

I met a tattooer a few years back, can't remember the guy's name but he was a real nice dude and a pretty decent artist. He was telling me that even as a tattooer he was having a hell of a time finding someone to do his hands without his arms being done first. His argument was that he didn't WANT his arms done. As we get more and more into the "general public" (I loathe using it, but I can't think of a better way to delineate the difference between "tattoo people" and everyone else) using tattoos to express aesthetics that aren't so codified to our subculture... Sorry... got really wordy there. Anyhoo.... He eventually got his hands done. Still doesn't want his arms done. I worry that we're trending into a snobbery thing and that we're the ones that need to change. Like when Hardy started really pushing the planned out Japanese bodysuit versus the more traditional 'patched vulcanized tire' look there was a "these people don't GET it" snobbiness towards single piece Americana tattoos. But we've luckily worked through that. Now we're more evolved and just make fun of chromed up pieces. That or these Warped Tour Bodysuit folks are just douches. Either way.