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The backpiece is done (for now at least) and i couldn't be more happy with it. Unfortunately i managed to pick up a chest infection which put a bit of a dampener on my trip to Oslo but there's no taking the smile off my face right now. Pretty much all the colour is fresh as well as a couple of the darker parts of the skull so it'll look a lot different once everything has settled down i'm sure. I don't mind admitting i barely made it through this session, definitely the hardest one i've had (certainly not helped by illness) but i'm so fucking glad we got to the end. By the legendary Marius Meyer. Now we await the healing process.... Also that left arm is looking pretty damn bare isn't it... fuck.

Hard to get a good picture of the elbow. Done by Chad Koeplinger last night!

Couple of progress pictures of the kingfisher on my leg. Wanted to add some color I sure got some! Just quick iphone pictures. I'll be sure to post some good ones after it's finished and healed. Lisa over at Haunted Hands in Tucson AZ. Can't wait to get back in to finish this one.

Session #8 ...a respectable 2.5hrs (27.5hrs total...what the seriously?). I was a bit anxious about this session. It was the first session that deviated from our regular routine (Mondays @12pm, take the day off work, wake up early, workout/train/stretch, eat big-large, pack my thermos and meal). I worked a really intense half day at my day job in engineering. Slammed a coffee, ate a sandwich, arrived at 3pm and ate a bunch of rice and beets. Steve took some time to draw-on the dragon into the monk robe directly. Dragon was quickly outlined. Coloured in with gold and yellow. The robe was coloured in with a dark cherry red. I made it through a heavy 2.5hrs on the spine, shoulder blades and bbq-back-ribs. Damn, my right side hurts more than the left! We were both happy to call it for the day. I'm still bruised from the section below 2 weeks ago too... I'm feeling very connected to the details of this piece. The symbolism of the good luck dragon in the robe - I've been part of my kung fu school's dragon team for the last 10 years. Before Sifu passed, he reminded me that the Dragon is the signature form of his kung fu school and to keep his legacy going. It is with great honour that I carry the image and power of the Shaolin monk on my back. And as I was getting this work done, I drew strength from some of my junior kung fu brothers and sisters who are presently over in China training at Shao Lin. We came close to busting the needle bar at the end of the sitting, joking about my iron shirt technique haha. No seriously though, you could hear a nasally phase shift in the sound of the machine response, sounded like a jews harp! I'm back at it in early-June for Session #9 ...likely the final session in which Steve will tackle the robe trim details and skin tones and eyes on the monk. Then it's time to relax and enjoy what is looking like a busy exciting summer for me. Go lake swimming, camping and burn my shirt in any fire pit that crosses my path haha. Steve and I will regroup in the fall after the ink has settled in for touchups and we will hit ALL the black again to really saturate the shit out of it. Then the real fun begins...filling the remaining small openings in my suit with fun little tattoos. "Eric, I'm bummed we are almost done! I'm never gonna see ya again...I really enjoy tattooin ya man!" Shout out to Steve Batt in Edmonton, AB. One of the most underrated and skilled tattooers in Canada...seriously this cat is on a different level, constantly striving to improve and progress his drawing, composition and tattooing. amituofo :cool:

What about clouds and lightning to represent..... clouds and lightning? :cool: If I were you I'd consult a tattooer and tell him/her that you want a tattoo with a thunderstorm theme. Simple as that. Most important thing is to find the right tattooer for the job if you ask me. Plenty of talent in Austin though, so that shouldn't be a problem for you. Come to think of it, my fellow LSTer @Flo Ania has an awesome tattoo with clouds and lightning. Check it out:

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!

That is not the nicest thing to say... People have different tastes. One person might be willing to pay $500 for a tattoo that someone else would not want if it was free. One person might place more value in getting any tattoo from one specific artist, while another person wants a specific meaningful tattoo but would be happy to get it from any qualified artist.

just extended my half sleeve with a snake from Johan Svahn i attached some pics skull by rg dragon by danh vu

Further to what @cltattooing said: It's incredibly important to discuss price beforehand. Many people have a specific budget and cannot afford more at that time, maybe ever. We are professionals, offering a professional service. Payment is one aspect of that service. Part of the consultation for any tattoo, be it a backpiece or a small walk-in design, is to discuss the price. Then you can decide if you will get the tattoo today, or at a later date. If you are not told a price for your tattoo, you should ask. (at my shop we make sure that every client knows the maximum amount they will be expected to pay for their tattoo session, before they book an appointment or agree to get tattooed - sometimes it works out to be less) Yes, we're also in London. Not mentioning the cost of goods and services is certainly not a cultural thing here.

Don't post very often, but with @Graeme showing progress on his badass backpiece and the overload of cool stuff here to look at the past week, thought I's show what I've been up to the past year or so. Progress on the front side of me. Working on finishing it out and tying it all together with the back. It will be a shirt soon! October 2012 - April 2015 (chest/stomach). Got Angus Young put on me by Mr. Bob Tyrrell at the Full Moon Convention in Nashville on May 8th. I'm still blown away that this is on me. It's also the easiest tattoo to heal I've ever had. P.S. It is really hard to get a good pic of this one.

Or you could go with a big Raijin (God of Thunder) like this one by Kiku (on one of my oldest friends):

Session 3 done, backpiece done (although we have already talked about adding background - my bank account and body both screamed in unison). Such a cool experience, i've met some awesome people, had some great times and i've come out of it with a tattoo that i have to keep reminding myself is actually mine. To think that 6 months ago there was nothing, it's crazy! Already posted in the latest tattoo thread but i had to bring it to my chums in the backpiece thread! I now looking forward to sitting back and seeing what the rest of you guys are getting, bring em on!

Money topic is understandably a factor in getting tattooed but its also the root of people making questionable decisions when deciding on who to do a tattoo. My personal take is tattooing is cool as fuck and I want to support people Who I feel are doing really cool shit that I get to see or have. I am paying for a service yes but I also view it as my tiny little part to allow them to continue to do awesomeness. I personally have never talked about prices or budgets before a tattoo.If the tattooer didnt mention money during scheduling I guestimate and have always left a tip and had a few bucks in my pocket. I see people all the time comparing hourly rates or by the piece prices but do not factor in time it will take or quality of the work put out by the different tattooers.

This is why I love leaving deposits. Makes me feel like I'm paying less for my tattoo at the end of the day.

Always really liked this stormy piece by Chad Koeplinger. Not complete yet, and not on me:

couple hours yesterday on my upper back / spine / shoulder blades pretty bruised up ... holy fack bro lol

If my photobucket wasn't being a jerk, I'd upload a bunch of pictures and a little recap.

Haha! Well, I don't think I paid too much at all. I am quite certain none of you guys would think so either. My friends who think I pay absurd prices are either have no tattoos or actually choose their tattooer based on the low hourly rate she has because she has a studio in her basement. True story. And for the most part I don't even tell them the real price. I just give a vague round-number answer. Because they won't get it anyway. Value is subjective! Further reading, because I'm an Austrian economics nerd in addition to being a tattoo nerd: The subjective theory of value is a theory of value which advances the idea that the value of a good is not determined by any inherent property of the good, nor by the amount of labor required to produce the good, but instead value is determined by the importance an acting individual places on a good for the achievement of their desired ends. This theory is one of the core concepts of the Austrian School of Economics. While the modern version of this theory was created independently and nearly simultaneously by William Stanley Jevons, Léon Walras, and Carl Menger in the late 19th century it had in fact been advanced in the Middle Ages and Renaissance but did not gain widespread acceptance at that time. (from wikipedia)

I find it a lot easier to sleep on tattoos covered with one of the adhesive -derms. I imagine re-wrapping with plastic wrap and medical tape that first night would help a lot, too. Obviously check with your tattooer about aftercare first. It still swells but at least you don't have to deal with the raw feeling of fabric rubbing against abraded skin. Sometimes I take Benadryl to fall asleep and I wonder if this would help with the inflammatory response. Almost all of the tattoos I've gotten so far are on my preferred sleeping side because I'm an idiot.

I don't think it's awkward to ask that at all. Definitely good to just straight up ask the hourly and the amount of time expected, which imo is a bit more graceful than asking for a $ amount. If someone can't answer that for you, they are probably extremely stuck up or shady. The "if you have to ask then you can't afford me" attitude is bullshit, tattooers need to understand that tattoos are a luxury and there are lots of other expenses in life that take priority to getting tattooed. Also how are you supposed to build a returning clientele if your clients leave feeling like their business wasn't handled with full transparency?

Got this done by Steve Byrne at Rock of Ages the other night.

I picked this one up today from a relatively new artist...Dakota Parker from American Classic Tattoo. I couldn't be happier with my experience or how it turned out. The lining was done with an electric and the fill was done with a rotary.

Sneaked this cheeky filler in today with Nicholas from Blue Arms, Oslo. Nice little warm up for the back piece session tomorrow!

More badassery for you. Starting to see the finish line on this one. By Dave C., PSC Tattoo.

Just got this beauty from Josh Peters at High Tides in Saint John, New Brunswick. So stoked! Im a little paranoid about the healing atm, like I am with every tattoo I get, but We'll see when its healed haha

holy fack bro !! very nice deep red in the leaves i'm really digging the waterfall and rocks on your right thigh it's like your tiger is giving your snake a nice warm hug n a hickey lol

Exactly! Not every artist works at the same speed/efficiency/quality. Also cracks me up that people are willing to bargain shop for something they will have to live with for the rest of their lives.

I wonder.... @peterpoose how did your session on your foot was like? :D I am looking about 6 to 8hrs. Not sure yet.

a buddy of mine shared this short little documentary with me. pretty good stuff.

Guys, this guy isn't worth arguing with.

@BrookR70 - in addition to what @Graeme said... I take Advil PM before bed, get into as comfy a position as possible, then prop pillows around me to try to keep me in place for as long as possible.

I know it's hard to not think like this especially if you are new to getting tattooed or prone to getting star-struck (me), but you shouldn't! Tattooers are just people with a specialized skill set. We owe our lives to the clients and have no valid reason to think that we are better than you. Don't get tattooed by people who think that you owe them something, can't stress that enough. You will find that the more you get tattooed, the experience is just as important as the art. Get tattooed by people who not only do awesome work, but who are friendly and humble people that you will want to spend however many hours in close proximity with. If you aren't comfortable in your tattooer's presence, you probably shouldn't get tattooed by that person. Hope that helps :)

4th session. 9hrs.

I would venture to say this query doesn't fall into what we consider the "DON'T TALK ABOUT MONEY" rule we have here, but falls more into an etiquette category. I love seeing thoughtful conversation round these parts. The advice already given has been sound (including from two tattooers I really really dig). It's ok to ask the hardline questions of "How much should I bring?" because otherwise, you just don't know.

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.

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

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

... why do I feel that it's the most awkward subject to approach when talking tattoos? Surely I can't be the only one? I'm by no means suggesting that tattoos should be cheap, and I'm certainly aware that you pay for what you get. Totally. I'm willing to pay fair-coin for good work. I will never haggle with prices. If I couldn't afford, I'd wait and save until I could. It's just that the topic of how much a tattoo is going to end up costing seems 'taboo'. For my first ever tattoo, a walk in with a specific design, I was quoted one price. After the design was printed on that fancy carbon paper stuff, his colleague told him the price should in fact be X amount. After reviewing the stencil again, my artist then added MORE onto the cost. Doubling my very first quote. Already set up, and it being my first time, I went with it feeling held to ransom. For my other smaller tattoo's, after consultation on design, size, placement I apologetically raised the awkward question of "umm, so how much do you think that will be?" and was met with a vague "well it could be this, could be that. depends on how long... hmm, but then it could well be this". I understand that variables have to be taken into account, but why are we not met with "my hourly rate is XXX, I think it'll probably take around X amount of hours...", so I can get a decent idea of the end cost? When consulting for my bigger piece, I never broached the subject of price seeing as my first few encounters were telling me this is not a topic you bring up. I was going to be tattooed by a well known artist in a well known shop, and in all honesty I felt a tiny bit embarrassed about bringing it up knowing it would be far more expensive than my previous - Almost feeling like I could be met with "well if you have to ask, you can't afford me". I put down a £200 deposit and just guessed the excess amount to bring with me on the day - working off the higher hourly rates I'd seen in comments online for London. Luckily I brought enough, but the final cost was whispered into the ear of the receptionist who then told me the final amount to pay. So forgive me if i've got the etiquette all wrong here. I'm not a frequent flyer. Perhaps it's a bumbling British thing. "sorry how much do y... oh right yes, sorry. vulgar topic... yes... of course yes... i'll just pay all the money... yes, naturally. Silly me." But I'd be really interested to hear some advice on this.

MisterJ It will be more than one line. I was just personally curious, trying to learn more about the tattoos and process. I wasn't planning to go in and ask can you do it with this needle. I was simply wondering about line thickness and if it must be 3 mm or if a thinner line like the ones I have would work.

not a bad point... thanks actually that helps me a bit

Like many have hinted at: Tattooing is a service done by a professional. There are not many other "services" you would have done without getting a price or estimate up front. I can't, personally, think of any other instance where I didn't know the price of something before the service was rendered. That's me though and I've never been bashful about talking $$$ with anyone.... That being said, I've had the whole gamut of experiences dealing with tattoo artists. Early on, I went to a "famous" artist that was very strict about her (high) hourly rate, then would take 6 smoke/joint breaks during the session and add at least an hour on to the total time. When I started travelling to get tattooed, almost everyone that I had work done by let me stay with them, and/or cut me a HUGE break when it came to paying them. I was always willing to pay full price but was usually told "you spent money to travel just to get tattooed by me, so...."). Let's just say i bought a lot of drinks for everyone in those days. I've also had a lot of local artists that were doing several sessions/pieces on me, say about prices "we'll see when the session is finished" then when done- look down, mumble mumble and sheepishly give me a price that always seemed too low. I tried to tip well to compensate as I knew I'd be seeing them again and again. I've also asked for a price on a larger, one shot piece with the retort "how much do you have to spend?" by the artist. Trying to not sound cheap, I answered with my max budget. I was told, that would cover the first session and the second session would probably be as much....I said I would "let the artist know" a promptly walked away and never came back. I thought that $300 + an hour was a bit too much... especially for someone whose last name wasn't spelled H A R D Y.

I was asked to give a budget for my recent chest tattoo (my most expensive to date), and it didn't bother me at all. The way I figure it, if I trust this person to permanently mark my body, I should choose someone I trust enough to be fair with pricing.

I doubt anyone will beat that tiger/cobra but Zuck it.

Mine is also an Ed Hardy story. Moved from Boston to S.F. in 2001. I hadn't been tattooed in a while but was starting to get back into it. Ed was still tattooing, but not as often, and he wasn't cheap. I managed to get on his list and got called a while later, just as I had been laid off. So, I politely declined because I thought rent and food was more important. Ugh.

I think I mentioned this a while back, but the wife gave me permission to put up her "near miss" which was a kind of a swerve on her part. She had set up with Shige to get tattooed in Yokohama. What was originally going to be a rib panel or smaller back piece somehow morphed into the full neck to knees turtle back piece (he kind of talked her into it, but I think maybe they both got a little caught up in it... neither of them like saying "no"). He was planning out this really brutal schedule to happen the following year with 4 full day sessions to be done during a two week visit. I was getting my front by Tomo. Then... during the wait... ...We got engaged, bought a house and decided to try to have a kid (and we did). At a certain point it became clear she was like "how is this multi session multi year monster back piece going to get done now". I said it could still be done (Shige has had other female clients who took breaks for similar reasons) but in the end she decided it would be wrong to start something that she was conflicted about. Shige was like 'if you're harbouring doubts then it's best not to proceed'. He offered to tattoo her later and I think that might still happen - although she was embarrassed about cancelling on him. Right now she has much more coverage and is starting a big rib panel with Calle (King Carlos) in the summer. So although she says she thinks it was the right choice THEN to cancel the whole thing I think now she's like "what if"...

Here is my submission. 2nd session:

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.

Derek Noble t-rex. Dark Age Tattoo. Couple more sessions to go. Neither traditional nor Japanese so nobody is going to like it -apologies.