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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.

Speaking of deep fryers, I just went through the humiliation of trying on new bathing suits (even the most body-positive person could get bummed out when faced with women's swimwear) and am now feeling like, fuck it, tattoo over everything.

We bought a deep fryer last week. I'm generating new space by the day!

done by tony hundahl at the oklahoma tattoo convention one shot drawn on

Well first post so why not submit my tat. Done by Rocky Lasure at High Noon Tattoo. Still healing a bit.

If they are equally tempting just pick one and move on. If you know that you're getting all of them eventually then it doesn't really matter.

Would you get me a panther? Thanks! ;)

A cheese grater takes much less space in the cabinet.

Second session with Chad Koeplinger! Done at the Grim Reaper Tattoo Shop in Roma! Great Shop, great guys!

...oh...Steve just got back from hanging with Roper and Shad in AZ. So I went home yesterday with some fresh tattoo on the back AND limited prints from both Roper and Shad. Man, best weekend ever.

Session #7 down with another 4 hours (25 total). First colour session! Did the details in the boots and pants on the monk. The sash is now a vibrant purple which I'm particularly stoked about - my claim to fame is that I was the first purple belt at our kung fu school. The boots just run over a tattoo Steve did on me 10 years ago lol. Damn A LOT of white ink went in the pants, with some dark and mint greens in the pattern. Going to look mighty against the saturation of the heavy black once the tattoo settles in. It was a very difficult session pain wise. Lots of motion over the kidneys, spine, and bbq ribs. The session started with 30 minutes of re-lining and stylizing the lines in the clothes. zOuch! And once again, the session finishes with a Ramones song :cool: Back in 2 weeks for another big colour sesh...the monk's robe and pattern. And then 1 or 2 sessions after that to go over the blackground again, tighten up the seams. Also throw in a mini banger (hehe) in this 2"x2" spot under my butt I requested to leave open for the victory lap. So yeah, the plan is to wrap my Shaolin backpiece up in June so I can enjoy the rest of my summer. WICKED

Hi all. When you have several tattoos planned, how do you decide which one will be your next? I have so many ideas in the back of my head and all are equally tempting. Regards Stlm

So... which subcultures and special interests did you enjoy as a kid/growing up? Do you believe that it paved the way for the passion you now have for tattooing? - If so, how? - Can you see similarities in the attitude, themes and aesthetics of those subcultures in the type of tattoos you like now? --- The reason I thought of this is because over the past couple days I had a major trip down memory lane and revisited some of my favorite stories and art pieces tied to the Warhammer 40k table top game. I used to be obsessed with the game and the whole universe, lore and backstory from about when I was 11 to probably 15. Short but intense. I didn't really play all that much since only one of my friends cared enough to start collecting and painting with me. Ah, those days. A lot of time spent in our boy rooms, listening to the radio, talking shit and having our eyes transfixed on various pieces of plastic. I actually think that Warhammer 40k was why I learned English so well early on. I read those thick books through and through. I also had a brief romance with the Warhammer Fantasty spin off game Mordheim which was super cool in my world. From the art of the game, I remember specifically laying on the floor while my parents watched television, drawing copies of the art in the rulebooks. That art was really captivating, wish I could see it again and also my probably not as fantastic copies. That's when I started to learn how to draw, and to have the patience for it. It was also the first sci-fi and fantasty themed stories I became interested in. Along with the world of Tolkien it's the only fictional universes that I cared about, and still have fond feelings for. I can easily see how the themes of the WH40k universe with all the grim dark, death, war, aliens, crazy demons and space stuff, religion and different ideologies sparked my imagination and interest for the same themes in other artwork AND in the history, religions and sociologial stuff in our own world. For those who can relate and want to do some reminiscing I can recommend these two starting points: Vaults of Terra on Youtube - Lots of listening material compiled about the lore of WH40k WH40k first generation art work gallery, 113 pieces When I came into the hobby it was second generation so I had never seen these until today, really cool When I came out of the Warhammer 40k craze I discovered music, especially punk and rap. So that shaped me a lot. Both when it comes to style and themes of the lyrics, and political ideas. I also started skateboarding around that same time. I started sketching graffiti pieces in all my school books, but didn't take it to the streets. Some years later I started to read comic books and going to hardcore punk shows. I don't really know when I started to notice tattoos, it kind of snuck up on me around the time I was 21 and suddenly I had my first tattoo. I didn't know anything about it until then and hadn't been longing to get tattooed either. That came later. I do believe however that the visual styles of these subcultures, and the themes usually explored in them, has shaped me a lot when it comes to what I enjoy to look at and what moves me. I got into tattooing sort of by accident and I am really happy that I did. I love it now and it has also opened up the doors to many other things that I now enjoy and take interest in. To me it's really fascinating to think of all the lucky accidents and random contexts you find yourself in through life and how some of them sows seeds for who you become and what you care about much later. End of another long winded, somewhat coherent, original post. Talk about your experience or nerd out totally in some obscure interests I've never heard about before, it's your thread now.

2 and a half more hours. Still didn't do the black in the tail lol. been FOR EHHH VEEERRR since being under the needle. Glad to get the time in. EDIT: sorry about my sideways pics

Good question! I just read something saying new tattoos are more prone to sun damage. Maybe someone can confirm? Can you wear high neck shirts or a thin scarf when in the sun? As far as sunscreen goes, chemical sunscreens (mainstream, non organic brands usually) are said to be less effective because they penetrate the first skin layer and react with the skin in a way that can even make it more prone to skin cancer and certain sun damage. "Physical sunblock", containg Zinc Oxide for example is said to be better and healthier protection. Though many brands make your skin look chalky and the safety of Nano Zinc particles is debated. Some brands deemed fairly safe are Badger or Devita and Juice Beauty. I have used all three and Devita feels nicest when it comes to application, but it does contain Nano Zinc particles. The upside is it does not make you look chalky. Not all products with a high SPF necessarily provide good protection from UVA and UVB rays. Google Cosmetic Chemicals database, there is information about the strength of the sunscreen as well.

I added a bit to my other arm with Nikki Balls the other day - will post pics when healed

Damn you guys are sneaking back piece stuff in on me. I always look at the other back piece thread!

Here is my elbow from Josh Stephens at Hold it Down, about 2 years old. Also, just noticed the LST shirt I just got in the mail today laying behind me on the bed.

I read your username and thought, "Chris Brand!" Then I realized that you aren't that Chris Brand. Welcome anyway. :)

I'm in. Let's all go get some more.

Just popping in to remind everyone not to feed the trolls. Rad was a bummer, but I think a lot of us knew that he was trolling. LST is a great place--let's keep it that way. Please don't sink to a troll's level of discourse.

+1 on this. rad is trolling us all - successfully - I'm over it. - - - Updated - - - Also! Guys! There is a way to "mute" people so you don't see their comments on the forum. I think it involves going to your account page? Not sure but if anyone remembers can point to the relevant thread, would be awesome. I'm on my phone now but will see what I can do when back on a computer.

I'm just gonna toss this out there and then fuck off to eat crap hotel food and ogle my new Gilsdorf tattoo: I've seen plenty of people who don't like traditional best come here and express their opinions without getting everybody's hackles up. Nobody cares what other people like. People get riled up when someone starts making condescending remarks about how the thing they love is in some way inferior - especially since that's a completely subjective opinion that has zero to do with fact. Everybody gets that you think trad is 'inferior' and 'for posers' (the latter of which is weird to me, because wtf, American tattooing was born on one-shot military pieces, but okay). They just don't want to constantly hear about it. And it's kinda pass-agg to say things like 'true masters of tattooing,' insulting all of the other bitchin artists who are, yes, doing traditional work. Tl;dr: nobody cares that you don't hold traditional in the same esteem as other styles. Just stop being a dick about it! Then we can all go back to just appreciating the stuff we DO like.

I have many tattoos on my hands. Two words on the knuckles of each hand which are about two years old and look just as good as they did when I got them, the sides of my I guess palms with a phrase on each and are around the same age as the knuckles and have yet to be touched up and only have minor fading which a simple touch up could fix and then along the outside of each pointer finger which is about a year old which has faded a bit but nothing a touch up could not fix. However unlike most people I ride a motorcycle so I rode to the shop with riding gloves not cruiser style but motoGP style gloves and as its my only mode of transportation throughout the entire healing process I was putting on and taking off these gloves man times a day and also sweating as they were done during the middle of the texas summers. I do take good care of them and simply by the nature of wanting to keep my hands from being all dry and cracked i keep them moisturized constantly. If you want them get them, as long as they are done by someone who knows what they are doing and you care for them properly you should be fine. Yes you'll probably need to get them touched up but don't you also have to go get say an engagement ring etc checked once a year and possibly cleaned to ensure it looks its best for eternity?!

Here's my kitsune. Done by Casey O'Leary at Anchor Ink in SLC, UT

Matt Dinovo- Black Squirrel Tattoo, Omaha, Nebraska - - - Updated - - - I can't seem to post the right picture of this tattoo. The full picture is in my profile. Thanks for looking.

Thank you @Iwar :) Yes I'll let you know when the Oslo trip is coming up! Not until after summer. Healing armpit tattoos has to be hard enough even when it's not hot out hahaha... Remember my interesting thread about other ideas that turned into a thread about if Eddy Deutsche was still making good tattoos? Well, I I've been looking at his stuff and people like Walter McDonald since then and.. I kind of changed my mind. It rules! (But they, as any other tattooer, sometimes makes pieces that I do not care for at all) Would like to see your Eddy tattoo, that is!

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/

My husband always points out when he sees women w/sleeves or half sleeves-he likes it and he knows I do too. It's very..I don't know, I find it sensual and beautiful. This is what I have so far. The cherry blossom side is going to be added to-more flowers and wind bars. It will go around the upper arm and then up across my upper back to meet the water piece on the other side. Frog will be redone and incorporated into everything. Maybe add another frog in there someplace, who knows. If I thought the school district could handle them down to my elbow I would go that far at least. And it's not that much farther, but still, better to not push it. If my husband's business takes off and I can quit-full sleeves!

Like I said, do what you will do, but pain that you choose willingly, and that no matter how much we complain, we still GET THROUGH and then CHOOSE AGAIN, is not the same thing as pain that comes from something being wrong with our bodies. Like these conversations need a little goddamn perspective. If you want to dope yourself up, feel free, but don't pretend it's a necessity.

I mean, I know that tattoos hurt, sometimes a lot, but I had some medical shit happen to me in the past year that was among the worst pain I have ever experienced, like pain that makes you vomit uncontrollably (for which I was prescribed far LESS in terms of painkillers than what some people are describing in this thread), and it's made me have a low, low tolerance for otherwise healthy people (i.e. without chronic problems that exacerbate what it means to sit for a tattoo!) not being able to grin and bare it through a tattoo. It really sucks sometimes, I am not disputing that, but we all deal with it. And we are doing this voluntarily. We are feeling the pain because of something we want, not because our body is telling us that we are ill. The pain also stops as soon as the needle does. If folks want to use painkillers or muscle relaxants to make the process easier, that's up to them and their tattooers--I have never found it worth the side effects, and I really resist the notion that it is ever "necessary". Like do whatever you want, but let's remember that just because something is really painful, doesn't mean that we can't just... deal with it. We all like to complain about how much tattoos hurt as some kind of bonding exercise, but we wouldn't still be getting tattooed if it really required sedation to survive!

Have any of you seen the documentary G-DOG? It's about an amazing man, Father Greg Boyle, who helps men and women get out of gangs and turn their lives around. He runs an organization in L.A. called Homeboy Industries. They have rehab services, a cafe and a bakery that employs the ex gang members, and they have free laser tattoo removal for gang related tattoos or tattoos holding them back from getting work. It's really good. One of our good friends works there.

Hey now people, let's all calm down. There is nooooooo reason to use harsh language like "Bieber" in here. We're all friends. Sheesh.