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

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 I had already withdrawn all the money in my bank account and my 1 credit card was maxed.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!

I agree with @marley mission, get the tattoo and see. If you're going to piece many smaller tattoos together into something larger you don't have to decide anything right away. There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach but both can land you with something great so it's really entirely a matter of personal preference.

I love doing that. Don't think I posted this on LST, but I am 90 percent done with my left arm now. Filler by Tim McAlary at Port City Tattoo LBC, CA ALL DAY. Great experience getting tattooed by Tim. Highly recommended. Port City has some heavy hitters.

I've been tattooed by dozens of people, and I wouldn't trade those experiences. That said, after seeing this arm by Paul Dobleman, I wish I had given him a full limb:

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

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.

@marley mission, @Graeme have some good advice.... My 2 cents would be "pace not race" meaning, don't rush it.... sounds like you waited this long. The cool experience for a lot of folks, including myself, about getting tattooed is the adventure. Wait and see how you feel about the first one. If you dig it and want to commit to a sleeve, see what/who else is out there. Take a road trip or plan part of a vacation around getting tattooed by someone you may have discovered. There is soooo many GREAT artists out there, it won't be hard. I personally think several artists mashed together, especially for traditional imagery, looks cool.... Nothing wrong with sticking with one artists either....just take your time either way!

I recently completed my right sleeve (an 18 month project), and with two exceptions it was done by multiple (5) artists from the same shop. For the most part, it chronicles my time I spent caring for my wife as she battled and lost her life to brain tumors. The folks at Envy Skin Gallery "get it" and made me a part of their family. I cannot thank Billy Hill and Company enough. Fuck Cancer.

I have a dagger/knife done by Tony Nilsson!

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.

I had a couple of little fillers done by Nikki Balls from Tattoo Paradise in D.C. while she was in Toronto at The Pearl. I got a pig and a heart. Filling in them sticks. I met Nikki a couple of years ago when she tattooed an octopus on the inside of my bicep. Good people.

Just finished my left inner arm with Tim McAlary at Port City Tattoo, LBC. My recommendation is to book the appointment, then bounce ideas off your tattooer and something is bound to stick. I definitely wasn't planning on getting a "Boxing Jesus surrounded by 4 eyes, and a flower and a spider and a black drop."

Going in in September for my left side/ribs with Yoni Zilber - for a dagger and skull, after that my right thigh (bird/flower) with ???, then I can concentrate working on my back (TBD).

Yeah...no boo-hooing about it, I appreciate every minute of those experiences. I had a lot of years after to set up something with Ed again and didn't. In my mind, he was always out of reach, as far as his price/time. Plus, how cool would've have been to get a walk in tattoo from Ed Hardy..... Like Hogg said "I was a young idiot"

get your first out of the way - see how the experience goes i think its alot of fun going to different artists suprising you have 62 posts and no ink yet ;) get on with it :)

Got a small filler from Grez yesterday.

Not the first time Ross has called me a hoe. - - - Updated - - - This totally resonates with me. I feel like I should get tattooed by as many veterans as possible before they retire.

Are you going to Texas?

Really looking forward to seeing that leg finished up (well i'm looking forward to seeing everything you mentioned...).

I'm working on it :p It's taken me a quarter of a century to get this far. My progress in the past three months has been hypersonic by comparison :D Fuck cancer indeed. Sorry for your loss.

I had the inside scoop that Capilli was coming to the Bay Area, so I emailed him right away. This is end of May 2013 and around this time, I also had made some friendly wagers that I could hold off on getting tattooed for 7 months (till the end of the year). My friends didn't think I could hold off because I had been going pretty nuts getting multiple tattoos a month. I wanted to prove them wrong. A free prime rib dinner, a couple free lunches, free beer, and a "winner gets to choose the loser's tattoo" were some of the prizes being offered. I finally get an email back from Capilli saying I had first dibs. Had to regretfully decline the offer and not get tattooed. Still bums me out to this day.

bam! its a triangle seriously sick, awesome foot piece dude

My friend Céline Aieta interviewed me about collecting tattoos and my photography project tied to that, when we both got tattooed by Guy Le Tatooer in Toulouse this March. She is running the new, all year 'round-blog for the Paris convention, Mondial Du Tatouage. Have a look: Joakim Mathiasson – Le tatouage intégral | Le Blog du Mondial du Tatouage It's all in french, but try google translate and it converts it to english pretty well. Was fun to be a part of this!

at the airport for 9hrs. I am starting to buzz hard.

This is what I have done for the piece I am getting this summer, I gave the artist some pointers and I will let him do his thing based on it.

Holy shit you are my role model. - - - Updated - - - Jealous of the Grez sitting. He's in my Top 10 for sure.

For sure. I'm feeling like Saturday is going to be a madhouse. My friend is heading down there pretty early to see what's up with walk ins that day. I'm just glad my appointment didn't get bumped. Haha. I wish I could swing a walk in with someone else too, but I'm kinda strapped for extra cash right now. So yeah, say hey. Or we'll comment on instagrams or here the next day. Haha.

@UglyButProud = trust this is your sad part of the story - but - how special is it that you got to actually MEET all these folks . . . - - - Updated - - - this would fit into the "regret" part of the thread - back around 1976 - while living on a serviceman's wage, somehow actually saved the funds, made the arrangements took the subway (+ more) from Manhattan to White Plains and got a piece on my back from Spider Web. Given the pre-internet age combined with me being a post-hippie (fill-in-the-blank) sun-worshiper - I gave the artwork hell, and over the years it suffered accordingly. To make matters worse I THEN let some hack tattooist convince me he could bring it back to life. Needless to say the mistake was made - and I permitted destroying what was left of an eclectic piece of history. Embarrassing and a crushing shame, to say the least. I've since covered up the resulting abomination. I love the educational properties of the internet . . .

I don't know,but I kinda miss the coil noise.

A silhouette of my son - angled really well so that when I hold my arm out at a 45 degree angle from my body, it looks level. The negative space is a motherhood symbol. Part of an unfinished half sleeve for my 2 boys.

I endorse this statement. If i hadn't left Portland last week, I'd be down for a stick-n-poke for sure!

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

@hogg @Iwar @gougetheeyes can we ban this embarassment yet? Sorry if I'm out of line for asking this but holy fuck

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 saw this on Instagram, it's on user tfjesse1046. Sailor Jerry put this on him in 1967. Readable and strong as fuck almost 50 years in.

I'm not sure I understand your point here. Eddy Deutsche is a traditionally trained tattooer who had also branched out in subject and style but keeps within the technique. Also the credo isn't exactly "traditional is better" it's "bold will hold." I don't know. This thread has gotten kind of ridiculous. If you have a chip on your shoulder, don't engage other users in a negative or confrontational manner, go start a thread that promotes positive information and education on the tattooing that you like.

I'll throw my hat in again this month with this piece, all healed and new :)

One thing I've learned at LST, if you aren't sure whether you should ask a question about the industry insofar as how to break into it, buying inks/machines/etc, or any other hair-brained questions that can be thunk up: just don't. Think before you ask, if it revolves around the industry, if you wouldn't ask your tattooer and be met with a reasonable response, you don't ask it here. Period. Don't be a smart ass, or think you're trying to shake things up and break the mold, or turn into a lawyer who minces words and parries with semantics. I am here because I want to share with others my love of getting tattooed, and talk about the history and culture of it. I'm NOT here because I want to talk about how to acquire the tools of the trade without actually being in the trade. It isn't my business to do so, nor do I think it is anyone's who is not a tattooer.

How about we let...

Some awesome inner bi's here. I'm quite fond of skulls in this location. Brian Bruno Chris O'Donnell

This is a real LST problem...

left - waves and maples by Jill Bonny right - stank skull by Gary Koblis when he was in SJ. i actually got the anchor (Jilly Bonny) and mini tiger (Chad K) before, so the skull was the weird filler. the smoking monkey is by Sean Baltzell, done at Liberty Tattoo in Seattle at their 12/12/12 party. i kinda wanted to, but strayed away from getting a shunga kakushibori. glad i did, because every once in a while i'm wearing a tee and i stretch or yawn and see people take peeks at my arms... i could imagine saucer sized eyes if a coworker or family member caught a glimpse of that.

I forgot about this one on the other inner bicep. This one was done by Nick Collela on a visit from Chicago a couple of years ago.

Party wolf by Eddy Deutsche

Here we go. Fudo by Matt Brotka RFTC tattoo (and surrounding) by Andrew Conner.

RHW bicep club represent! Haha. It's quite tricky to take a photo of my own bicep but here's my fox: I'm trying to plan my 3rd arm tattoo around this and my bird and it's been a challenge. I sometimes wish I'd thought ahead a little more with the placement but I'm sure the tattoo artist I choose will able to come up with something.

here u go

All of my tattoos have been stuff that my artist and I visualized differently. The awesome thing is, I have loved every single one of them. When I went in for my first tattoo, I wanted to get a skull (minus the jawbone) laying on top of a pile of bullets, photo realistic. I wasn't very good at conveying that though, so my artist drew up a skull that was a bit more cartoony with smoke coming out of spent shell casings and the skulls open jaws. It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen, and to this day I still love that it was my first ink. I've learned from experience that I get more fun out of giving him a general idea without any real structure, and letting him run with it. They always turn out awesome to me, anyways!