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Anyone who follows me on Instagram has seen this, but here's a little teaser shot of my arm from Grez. I said from the beginning that I wasn't going to post progress shots much because I love that feeling of just seeing the whole completed piece, and I'm amazed I mostly stuck to that. Haha. Now that next month is likely the last sitting, I can see end in sight and can't wait to share it.

Ok, I'll type up a quick little recap with some pictures of the weekend. I'll be honest: I didn't really take a ton of photos. There were some people there taking pictures of absolutely everything. I felt weird doing that, so I tried to just get a few that were representative of what was there. I'm sure more will surface, but this is everything I took. Also, I didn't go to the lectures, but when I got there on Saturday for my 12:30 appointment, the lecture had just ended. The place was absolutely mobbed when I went up, and Ed was signing books and posters for a long line of people. He ended up leaving fairly soon after that was done, but Trevor stayed there and showed art and chatted with anyone who had questions or wanted to buy stuff. By all accounts, the lectures were incredible. Rubendall said that they'd be up online in the near future, and obviously @Iwar posted that teaser above. First and foremost, I'll start with some of the art. Ed had a few different collections of things. These first ones were my favorite. They were all paintings, with an etching or rubbing over the top, in a way that almost reminded me of some of the Devita stuff they've had there before, but with Ed-styled paintings underneath. Very cool. In that same collection were two incredible tiger paintings. I would've killed to buy these, but they were sold already and I'm poor as fuck. Haha. He also had a lot of crazy morphs. Below are two of them, and the panther/snake morph on silver had about six others that were similar. Grez actually bought the one posted below. There was also this collection with the "pig thing" and a bunch of drippy/bendy/wild panthers. My buddy was about to buy this one, but his wife was NOT having it. I think the real highlight was going through a ton of original stencils and drawings that Trevor had in a binder. He didn't have them out for the longest time, then when I saw him take them out, I bolted over. I only took one pic, but there was some amazing stuff in here. I just pored through a ton of it with a few people and each thing was more amazing than the last. Here's the flash they were tattoing from as well as the Hardy gorilla my buddy got from Grez (bloody eyes and all). Grez was beyond excited to do it, as he'd never done that tattoo in all of his years. He told us stories about getting tattooed by Ed, as well as one about Ed freehanding on Brian Bruno towards the end of his career. Next time I get tattooed by him I'm making him take his pants off to show me. He said he would. I think that's it for now. I'm sure more will come to me, but I wanted to share a bit of what I saw.

From Mike Rubendall's youtube page: This video journal was the introduction from Day 1 of the Ed Hardy Lectures, "Pictures of the Gone World" at Kings Avenue Tattoo. It features Ed Hardy's works throughout his career, some of which have never been made available to the public. It also features never before seen clips of Ed's personal journey.

Tattoo by Eckel - - - Updated - - - Tattoo by Chris ODonnell

Suiren, You have to keep in mind that there is certain things that ether wont look good on the skin or just cant be tattooed for many magical tattoo world reasons... But for the most part when an artist improves a piece they have their reasons... For example body flow, geometry, detail, and the list can go on, and on, and on... So you have to be open-minded and flexible when you walk in with your own drawings. My 2 centavos. @Isotope, Good luck, Have fun, and keep us posted if you get this!!! :)

I don't think I posted the lithograph I bought from Trevor/Ed at last year's London convention. But here it is - Nurse Mercy.

I've been in a situation where I was told beforehand that a shop takes debit cards, and then after the guest artist finished that day's session, he asked if I could pay in cash for xyz reason. I had to run across the street to the atm, which only allowed me to withdraw a fraction of the total. He graciously accepted what I had with the rest debited. Although I usually just carry cash for the tip, this is certainly something to keep in mind. When traveling abroad it is also nice when the shop accepts debit/credit, as you don't have to mess with exchanging for the local currency. Not to mention crossing borders covered in tattoos carrying a fat wad of cash.

I will be getting my first tattoo on Sunday! This is a pic of what I will be getting. I am going to talk to him about changing the antlers but I love the skull!! I apologize for it being side ways by the way

@Suiren - you need to stop controlling the tattoo process down to every last detail. Knowing or not knowing what type of needle you need to make the tattoo you want will make no difference in the end - except to piss off your tattooer for being an overly controlling customer who has no idea what they are talking about. Either go to a tattoo artist you feel comfortable working with, and trusting said artist, or don't get the tattoo. This boils down to 1. going to a good tattoo artist, and 2. trusting that your good tattoo artist will give you a tattoo. Without either of those things in place, the last piece (your tattoo) will fail.

This will be my view of the Monaco Grand Prix tomorrow:

@rufio, Thanks. This is something I had budget it so its not affecting me. The damage to the house was bad but mostly covered by insurance. Roof work starts in about 3 weeks or so. The rest I am doing on my own like fixing the fence and front door, etc...

Idk what most artists think about home sketched tattoo designs, but I got 4 of my hand drawn designs tattooed and the artist improved it a bit while tattooing. I am continuing to draw my own stuff because the ancient tattoo designs I like can't be found online to be printed. I like what you drew up, it looks great imo. I think a good artists should also understand that sometimes customers just want exactly what they want and no improvements to the design. It is most important that it is perfect to you isn't it?

Next appointment, June 12th at the Alamao City Tattoo Convention with Jon West. Getting my foot blasted and possibly knee.

look forward to seeing the finished product when you get it done :) @Isotope

Got my "MOM" tattoo yesterday.

I hadn't meant that passive-aggressively. More that there's a lot a person could say about the tattoo you were referring to, but that I didn't have the energy to try to say it and it might've been sorta navel-gazey anyway.

i know this story all too well! i was able to convince my wife that Ed is one of the rare artists of this day and age whose work will appreciate over time. luckily she's a fan of antique road show! "imagine our great great grand kids bringing this to some art historian someday in a couple hundred years and blowing them away! 'this is an original Hardy lithograph from the 20th century!'" currently hurts the wallet but strengthens the soul.

What a cool site! I love sleeveless, but have to avoid that at work now. Adding little cap sleeves is a wonderful option! Thank you!!!

I honestly don't think you'll get grief from any tattooist when you bring in your own sketch. It's better to give them an idea of what is in your head and, let them play about with the design to improve it. My own has said several times, if I want to bring him a rough sketch even if it is shite, just to give him an idea of what is in my head, then to go for it. Personally I think as long as it's not on a phone the day you go in, then it's all good. That's my 2d's worth anyway.

tattoo update: slept like dead last night, angry red gone though still a bit red. My ankle is swollen to fuck. Though it is easier to walk on today and it looks fucking amazing :D

I can't speak on my experiences much, as I've been getting tattooed by the same artist for the past five years. I know my first tattoo I asked about how much he thought it would be; I was met with the now familiar response of "hmmm, really just depends" and thought, well, I can do this! Five years later and I feel like he almost always cuts me a good deal. He's just a straight up good guy who want gouge you over the price. This last session I was in shop for about four hours, but he only charged me for about three since we took smoke and coffee drink breaks. Naturally left a good tip, and am hoping some of that goodwill comes back on my next session, as I am struggling to get my funds back in shape. The shop I go to is predominantly cash, but my artist has square so I've been using debit lately - much more convenient and I don't have to try and hunt down an atm!

I forget what happened to inspire the remark, but at some point I cracked a joke about my arms being ripped off, and my friend said 'hopefully not the expensive one.' It was the first time I realized that one of my arms is actually worth more than the other one. What a strange thought.

A couple times now I've flown with (what seems to me) a largeish amount of cash, and it's made me nervous. I also have a pretty low maximum amount of cash I can withdraw from an ATM, so I need to plan ahead for a trip to the bank. I like having the option to pay with a debit card. I would feel weird buying tattoos on credit, though. @Graeme, I've also struggled with the question of tattoos as status symbol. I work in a part of the state that's very much defined by status symbols, and while my tattoos aren't the "right" ones for this area, they definitely signal that I have disposable income. (On the other hand, my laptop is 7 years old and my car looks like shit, so: tradeoffs.)

I think being able to pay by credit card makes a lot of sense and I can think of more good reasons for that as a form of payment than cash-only, but I am somewhat attached to the idea of paying cash for tattoos. I guess it's mainly for symbolic reasons that I like cash: I am paying for this tattoo with money that I have worked for and saved. It's not on credit or on a payment plan. I guess a logical extension of this is that tattoos are a status symbol, and I'm not sure how comfortable I am with that idea personally, but it's a thought to add to the discussion.

My preference, when it's an option, is to pay with a card, then tip with cash. It seems to work out best for everyone.

I agree with everything @Avery Taylor said above. I often remark that tattooing is the only service where it's (sometimes) awkward for the customer to ask what it will cost.* It's not as much of an issue if an artist accepts credit cards, but the majority I've been to only accept cash. If I'm traveling to a cash-only artist, that means I have to bring a grip of money, just in case. *To clarify: I'm not talking about dudes on Instagram asking "How much for a sleeve?"

@xcom I think it's highly individual when it comes to the feet. For me, the feet were the most painful by far. I didn't think ribs were that bad, or the underpart of the arm all the way up to the armpit, but the feet - oh man. I've had a lot of people say that it was no big deal for them. I've got about 2 hours on each foot, not completely covered but a single large image that takes up the whole foot. And those hours were white knuckled gripping intense. Every part of the foot has a very distinct and different feeling and a long line will go through 2 or 3 of those different parts. I never did get comfortable no matter how hard I tried cause every time the needle hit skin, I was holding my breath. Near the end when I was tired and the pain was starting to get to me, the twitching started. Not too bad, but there were those nerves that it just hits and my foot would jump involuntarily. Good thing the artist was prepared and already had my foot well pinned down. That was my experience at least, and I'm glad that it's over with. Your's might be different. To you guys who can sit for 6-8 hours on a foot - y'all are tough SOBs, I salute you. Don't let the pain dissuade you though, I love my tattoos. And, I think the aesthetic of a pair of tattooed feet are among my favorites.

I have never even thought of armpit tattoos! :eek: That really does sound difficult.

Considering the relatively small size, I will have to say the armpit is my least favorite spot so far. Worse than back of the heel, back of the knee, ribs, lower belly, top of the foot and on par with the worst parts of a back piece painwise. The thing that really does it is how the skin is not really meant for tattooing (as opposed to the skin on the rest of the human body that evolved over millenia with the specific goal of getting tattooed...) All the hair follicles, how spongy the skin gets there, and the fact that the artist has to work in a hole that you are trying to strech flat to the best of your ability , makes the process take so much more time than you would have thought. The guy who did the tattoo said he could have made something three times as big in any other spot during the same amount of time. You get _really_ sore while the machine just keeps grinding the same spots. On top of that you are bending and lying in the most uncomfortable position for extended periods of time. Don't do it unless you are stupid. Now I will have to get my other pit done too... (Bonus: I didn't consider it at the time but when talking to my "regular artist" he told me that the armpit is one of those scary places to get tattooed where you have a lot of nerve endings and pretty sensitive biomechanisms lying right under the skin. Basically, if you are not careful, you are jacking ink straight into that and it could cause some problems. The guy who did his foot way back messed up and now he still gets small electric sensations whenever he puts on his socks.)

I'm glad to see a thread about money come up on here, and stay on track with reasonable questions and reasonable answers. We have always avoided the topic, but it is a big part of getting tattooed, and new people come here to educate themselves on all aspects of tattooing. I think we have avoided it for so long because we didn't want it to turn into a big gossip thread about what specific tattooers charge. I personally have never asked ahead of time about the price, but I do think it is a good idea. Especially if you are new to getting tattooed. The ones of us that have been getting tattooed for a decade or more usually have some idea of what we might get charged. Even though we don't talk about it on open public forums we do share this type of information privately. When you are travelling across the country or across the world to get tattooed by someone you have never met before it is a huge help to have friends that have been tattooed by them. They let you know what to expect when you get there. Where to get a good pre-tattoo meal and post-tattoo drink, where the closest ATM is, how fast or slow the tattooer is, and what to expect on the money side. If you don't have friends like that as a resource then you need to talk about the price beforehand no matter how uncomfortable it makes you. I honestly believe that most really good tattooers are very fair with their pricing. That has been my experience over the last twelve years, but I also know that there are a few famous tattooers out there that charge ridiculous prices, and a couple of my friends found out the hard way. It sucks when that happens because it can really sour a person on getting tattooed.

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

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

Edited post. New tattoo done today, Samurai by H R Giger. This is also The Hermit in the Giger tarot. Back of lower right leg, that's the lower right leg complete. 4&1/2 hrs and, yes I did sleep through most of it. Done by Tommygunn, Belfast City Skinworks, Belfast. Reference pic... Fresh tattoo pic and, you can see how he merged it with the other tattoos...

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:

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!

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.

What an interesting read this thread is. Another issue if you travel internationally for tattoos is exchange rates and different local costs of things. I had a relatively young, but very popular European tattooer visiting Japan quote me a price that was twice the cost of equivalently sized tattoos I'd gotten from older, 'legendary' tattooers in the US. I felt sort of offended and decided I didn't really want a tattoo from the person, but it did occur to me that it has to do with the cost of living in Europe.

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

Some very interesting tips in this thread. Thanks for sharing! The ones in English that I listen to regularly: - Entheogen: three guys talking about subjects such as psychoactive drugs, spirituality, meditation, philosophy, mental health. Sometimes with guests, most often themed episodes around differenct concepts. - The Joe Rogan Experience: first I was allergic to him and his voice but now I can't stop listening. He gets some really cool guests and makes long episodes discussing different subjects. - Dan Carlins Hardcore History: Long episodes about historical events or periods of history. Brings a lot of sociology and politics into it too. Sometimes he makes multi episode stories. 12 hours about Djingis Khan or the Luteran reformation, great stuff. - Why are poeple into that?: podcast on sexuality in all it's different forms. Interesting discussions with guests. The host Tina Horn is an actor and producer of queer erotica.

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

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

Just a head's up, there are a bunch of work-appropriate (unless your workplace is very formal) cap-sleeve dresses at Uniqlo right now. (No white leggings, though...guess everyone else had the same summer leg-covering idea.) As for the Megan Jean Morris tattoo above, not my style at all but who really cares. It seems to imply rape to me, though the other one with the air vent reminds me of tentacle hentai. Insert long and tedious conversation about fantasy and BDSM and feminism here.

In all fairness, dude probably isn't in to tattoos just wanted that one for his wife. It's not like he was going to cover it with a dragon or a panther. Even considering that the tattoo couldn't get any worse, I think the outcome was pretty good for the guy. To paraphrase Joe Dirt, It's not about you, it's about the consumer.