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I have 3 daughters (22 yrs old and 14-yr-old twins) and for Mother's Day today they gave me money towards my floral shoulder piece planned for August. One of the twins is an artist herself and drew this bee for me, since bees are significant in my life, and she knew I was thinking about another bee tattoo (separate from the shoulder piece). She knew I wanted something bold, simple and stylized, and though this is pretty dang tribal, I'm impressed and like the design. She drew it up while killing time after a history test last week. I'll talk to my tattoo artist and decide the best place for it to go.

I started my back last Thursday with Alex Binnie at Into You in London. The snakes head, and the maple leaves were stencils, and the snakes body was drawn on. The outline will continue onto my backside, and will be done next time. The time tattooing was roughly between 3 1/2 - 4 hours.

Tony Hundahl filler and Chad Koeplinger blastover in a couple of weeks, and finish my leg with Marius Meyer in July

it's 20 years old now,and not "epic",but I got this for my mom when she passed away . it was done by "Charlie",a very old school tattooer at the "World Famous Emporium of Tattoos" in Van Nuys california in 95. . mom and me sometime in 1960

Got a small filler from Grez yesterday.

Hello folks. So I will be working in Portland, Oregon May 30th through June 1st and am taking appointments for flash, custom work, and hand-poked tattoos. Would also love to meet some LST peoples while I'm in town. If you are interested in getting tattooed, shoot an email to [email protected] Cheers!

Hi All- As most of the other introductions start....time to stop lurking. I started getting tattooed in 1985 and got addicted pretty quick (this is an addiction...right?). Fell in with the right crowd and continued travelling and getting tattooed by some heavy hitters for 10-12 years. My life took some crazy twists and turns and I changed careers twice and got married and had kids. Those changes put tattoo collecting on a temporary hold that lasted almost 20 years. Fast forward to October of 2014: Seeing a local tattoo artists hand painted flash in a newspaper article was all it took to bring me right back to the warm, stinging embrace of my dormant addiction. A week later I was getting tattooed again...... (sheepishly walking up to the podium and clearing throat) Hello, my name is Brian and I'M ADDICTED TO TATTOOS As of last Thursday, I've had 8 sessions and a bunch more booked for the coming months......

I just got an appointment with Marius Meyer this summer. Getting a japanese piece on my thigh.

My newest, I call him my Paleolithic pony. My back is to be dedicated to important events in human culture, and he's the first.

Loving this mate :)! - - - Updated - - - Done by Ryan Evans :) Sorry for the craps photos, there is a video on my Facebook and instagram pages. 8.5 hours, puff adder with an ant on its nose tip, always loved that photo so thought I would get it done, still in progress :)

Did you ever have the chance to get work done by someone and passed it up for one reason or another? You shake your head in disgust every time you think about it? I don't mean a wishlist, but actual stories of the one that got away. Mine was Ed Hardy around 1992 @ Tattoo City. I had already traveled out to S.F. twice and had work done by Eddy Deutsche, Dan Higgs and guest artist Henk Schiffmacher. Both times I hung around the shop for 2-3 days solid and stayed with Eddy and Alex Herman. Saw my first lungfish show then too.... The third time I went out to get work done by Marcus Pacheco and have Eddy finish my sleeve, Ed was around the shop for a couple days, which i hadn't seen on my previous visits. I asked Eddy to introduce me if possible. He did, and told Ed I was his old (Eddy's) friend from "the mean streets of Detroit" which wasn't really true. Ed was cordial but all business as he looked up for a second, shook my hand, and went back to his business. I mentioned to him "I would love to get some work done" by him and I was travelling to S.F. a couple times a year to get tattooed. Eddy told me "every once in a while, Ed will come in a do a few walk ins and leave. As I was staying with Eddy, I got invited to go to the movies "with a bunch of guys from the shop". That night Eddy and I went and met Corbin, Higgs, Igor Mortis and a few others at the theater to see American Me. As we were hanging around outside bullshitting, Ed Hardy walks up and we all go in and see the movie. The next day, As Eddy was finishing my sleeve, I noticed Ed in the shop again. I went out of my way to say Hi when he came over to see what Eddy was doing. He was polite and hung around for a few minutes,then vanished. Later, when we were done, I saw Ed again. This time he said to me " I have some time later (when he got back from an errand or something) if you wanna get tattooed". I nearly shit myself..... I said, I would talk to him when he got back.... I was simultaneously flustered/excited/nervous. This was my shot to get tattooed by one of the greats and I had almost NO MONEY! I had already withdrawn all the money in my bank account and my 1 credit card was maxed. I asked Eddy if he would give me back the money I just paid him with the promise i would repay him in a week or two with interest..he said No, he needed what I paid him. I called my mom to wire me money and was again told "NO"! When Ed got back to the shop, I had to embarrassingly tell him "thanks. but can't do it this time". I told him I would be out again and would DEFINITELY love to get some work done. He smiled and said "nice meeting you". well, you can guess the rest.......... Share your stories about the one(s) that got away!

Another sitting with Grez this Saturday during the Hardy weekend at Kings Avenue.

Hi guys, we have anything uploaded to 'tattoo pictures' set to moderate since we don't want anything new uploaded there. i moved them all to traditional and approved.

8 hours on your foot = you are a beast

finally a decent pic of my backpiece. It was really difficult. Even in this one the hands aren't shown at their best.

ya,you're right,I must have had a few too many that day.

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

But he is banned... Btw, I know this forum is pretty liberal and you've been here way longer than me, but the language is a bit much...especially the "g" word. Not anything I personally take offense to, it just looks like a middle schooler who hasn't learned how to curse properly, and you might offend others on this forum...

Before you decide to do 'non-laser' tattoo removal, have a look at this. 2 years after a single treatment and the client is left with pinkish-white scarring. They came to see my yesterday so we could start fading this with FDA approved lasers in hopes they will be able to get it covered up. I don't do 'non-laser' tattoo removal, but if you have questions in general about what I do or how it works, please ask me. This type of scarring is not a fair trade-off in my mind.

Haha, yeah, I guess he like making 'em. I just showed him the spot and gave him free reign.

@BrianH, actually, I'm an idiot and had my dates wrong. I'll be there with Grez from 12:30-3:30 on the 16th, then just hanging around a bit. A friend of mine is going to try and snag a walk in of the Hardy flash. We'll see I guess. Stop by and say what's up.

@Iwar During my last appointment with Grez, I commented that he'd be "putting bird feet all over Norway." I'm glad I was accurate.

I wish I'd gotten something from Mike Malone other than tribal rosettes (in green, at that), but I was a young idiot. I've since cured myself of the young part.

I got a "mom" heart tattooed on my wrist as an ode to the woman that gave me life. I also thought at the time, it would stop her from nagging about all the tattoos i was getting. See, I was inspired (sort of) by my dear mom having a small tattoo on her back a being in awe of how many people complemented her on it.... When I showed her the mom tattoo I got on my wrist "for her", she wasn't impressed and said... "I hope that's the last one" Love you mom!!!

Capilli Tupou. Too painful to type out the whole story. Would share in person.

Get tattooed by Carolyn, y'all! She's the raddest of the rad.

Just booked an appointment with Daniel Albrigo at Port City in Long Beach. So stoked he's in California now.

Looking really good so far!

Have fun in Portland!

I don't have any pictures on hand, but it was a shark and anchor design to commemorate his time in the Navy and the Navy Reserves. Someday I'll have to get pictures of his tattoos to remember them before they get old and blurry. :p

It wasn't pleasant lol

Sorry for the double post, but I just noticed this debate above and wanted to give my two cents... @rufio, your distinction of traditional tattoo images being cliches for men and tumblr tattoo designs being cliches for women is just plain wrong. Traditional tattoos work equally well on both genders. It took me many years to get over my fear of them being "too masculine" and commit to getting a few myself with plans for at least one sleeve of them (female, here). Women have been getting these images just as long as men have. My issue with the tumblr designs you're talking about is not so much "a bunch of women have them and they're cliche now" as it is I just think they're weak designs. They're so small they'll definitely be black blobs in the future, I'm not a fan of silhouette designs because they can be hard to read, and a lot of them are just nonsensical (an anchor with the phrase "I refuse to sink"...THAT'S WHAT ANCHORS DO!). I think people are flocking to them because they're all over social media without really thinking about their strength as art. Traditional designs have so much power and emotion behind them and they just plain look good. - - - Updated - - - Are you looking for black and grey/color realism? Is he talking about copying tattoos or copying reference photos? There's a little more leeway in my opinion with drawing realism from scratch, because artists need to work from reference photos to nail the realism. Even then, artists sometimes have to invent things to make the image more tattooable, so it's never going to be an EXACT copy. Anything that's not meant to be a replica of a certain picture should be drawn (or at least altered from a photo), in my opinion.

I love the bee, what a great design. Your daughters are very sweet, you must be a lovely mom.

If it's a custom tattoo you're referring to, no matter what, you'll be getting an imitation. Probably a shitty one too, as any tattooer with respect for him/herself won't do it. Why not find a tattooer you like, give them an idea of what you want, and get your mind blown when you show up to the appointment and see the linedrawing for the first time? Or just get something off a flash sheet if you wan to see the design beforehand, and don't mind that a lot of other folks wear that same thing.

Bumping this thread for mother's day.

What makes tattoos hold up well over time isn't necessarily the color used, it's more the contrast with black. Black is high contrast with the skin and with most colors, so it makes other colors look brighter and helps the tattoo stay readable with age. Depending on what design you're thinking of, I honestly think you might not be able to tell much of a difference (initially) between black ink or dark purple/blue/etc. To the naked eye after it heals, it might just look black anyway with no other contrasting colors around it. But after several years, all color will fade significantly, and without having any black to anchor it, it's way more likely that a colored outline will lose readability. That's up to you to decide if that's a factor. I don't know anything about toxins in ink. I think that probably falls under the realm of "trade secrets." People have been tattooed for thousands of years with more primitive materials than we have now, so I figure it can't be too bad for you. Again, that's kind of something you have to decide for yourself.

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.

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.

A cheese grater takes much less space in the cabinet.

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

This thread is packed with a lot of good stories, ideas and shared experiences. People who consider getting any type of coverage should spend some time reading it before making the decision. A lot of this stuff you don't notice or know about until you are one of the freaks yourself. (Too late for most of us on here anyway.. haha) Thank you @UglyButProud for sharing your stories and struggles. Was a good read, gave both toughts and inspiration!

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

Coloured in today. Looks awesome.

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

Couldn't agree more. And on that subject, less than 2 weeks til i'm back in Oslo for back piece session number 3 and a little one shot from Morten at Blue arms. Can't wait!

you are in Norway so you are 100% obligated to get tattooed by Marius Meyer

He was banned. Any time you get a spammy PM, report it by clicking the little exclamation point in the triangle below the PM. It will notify the moderators, and we'll ban the spammer. Thanks to those of you who did just that, and thanks to @Iwar for banning this dude immediately.