Leaderboard

I saw this one in person recently. It's on Christian Cervantes of Spotlight Tattoo, and yes, it's incredible up close:

^ This is the fucking coolest thing. Tim Lehi, of course. As far as I know, just a painting, not yet a tattoo.

I got this done by Jonas Nyberg at the Helsinki ink convention at the end of march and finally got my gf to get a decent photo of it so here it is!

- - - Updated - - - Here's the XXV added to Sylvia - - - Updated - - - And here is what else she had Freddy put on her right ear for our anniversary

Did you inform that you have become pretty anti-conservative and you think negatively for people with preconceived notions?

Finally I have something new to report. Let's see if I remember how to post a pic. I got this little clipper while on a trip to Amsterdam (which was rad, as one might imagine). The shop, Tattoo Peter (named for its founder) is the oldest shop in Amsterdam established in 1955 and in its current location since 1977. Cool little shop with walls lined with amazing old flash. My artist, Bill Loika, is a super cool laid back dude from the US now living in Amsterdam. I had a goal to get tattooed by someone older than I am which is becoming increasingly difficult ;) Mission accomplished ! Bill is still in the game at 66. Awesome! The pic is of the fresh tattoo. Healing this sucker has been a bitch for some reason. I'm kinda bummed that the detail of the Dutch flag has yet to reveal itself. Fingers crossed. The design is from Tattoo Peter flash from the 60's. Also a pic of Bill with old Tattoo Peter flash in the background. Sideways pics dammit ! Apologies...[ATTACH=CONFIG]12615[/ATTACH]

The value of my arguing time is also subjective!! :) But you're probably right.

Heading to Oakland, California to see Freddy Corbin at Temple tattoo to get inked for our 25th wedding anniversary. Appointment is noon, Tuesday. Daniel Higgs did the original wedding tattoos at Realistic Studio in San Francisco and Freddy was in the shop watching and making comments while he was doing us. Daniel doesn't do tattoos any more. So our first choice is Freddy to keep spiritual continuity. The wife and me are getting a "25-XXV added somewhere . I am also getting a "Dragon" mixed into it... I'll keep you up to date. :cool:

The only place I'm familiar w/is Omaha. My husband and I get ours at Big Brain in the Old Market part of Omaha. There's a ton of shops down there to browse thru, art and books and music, lots of places to eat and hang out outside. Henry Doorly Zoo is in Omaha and there are plenty of other things to do as well. I guess it depends on how far you want to travel? Chicago is probably closer to you.

Something a tattooer told me that I wish I'd known from the start: get the big pieces first.

Very awesome Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@PopsBdog loving it :) love the ear tattoo

Stranger in a Strange Land? I grok it. ;)

Since you're using saniderm, you should also consider some kind of gauze tape/wrap. I used it to heal one foot and healed the other without anything. Made a big difference in keeping swelling down. I had saniderm over the tattoo, and then wrapped the gauze around the foot and ankle (almost like an athletic wrap), just tight enough to provide a little support but still fairly loose. Washed the tattoo several times a day and reapplied fresh saniderm and gauze wrap. Healed very well, no pain or swelling.

I get a lot of stares from kids. Sometimes they just look, sometimes they smile.

I posted that one in the hand tattoos thread a while back, and it still blows my mind every time I see it. Edit: I realized I said this a few posts above. I'm an idiot. But it still rules.

My thoughts are that Internet drama is stupid and if there's a problem between them they should deal with it like grown ups.

@NihilNovum love this! I love rooster tattoo!

I hate to be that guy who double posts but I was told that the recent tattoo pics are supposed to go in this thread compared to the upcoming tattoos thread haha. Here is a pic of my tattoo I got on Sunday from Nik Moore at Scarab Body Arts in Syracuse, NY.

The situations when being around kids are the hardest. I was almost always shunned by other parents in every situation involving my kids and social interaction. It always took a while for other parents to get to know me before they stopped rushing in to rescue their kids from the "weird tattooed guy". Although I had tattoos for 10-12 years before my kids were born, it still took me some time to adjust to strong/negative reactions I got from other parents. The strangest thing anyone has ever said to me regarding tattoos was "you must be so sad every day that you ruined your life with all those tattoos"....... my reply was a surly, "yes, I asked our lord and savior to forgive me everyday, please pray for my soul" as she was clearly a religious kook... Even though I'm not from a small town, it was still rough in the late 80's, early 90's having a lot of tattoos. Rough as far as stares/comments and general disdain for "my kind".. I was a delivery driver for a beverage company for many years and my company thought it was a great idea to send the 6'3" long haired tattoo guy to all the worst, inner city stops they had. Their reasoning was "he won't upset the upscale store owners and who will mess with him in the bad areas?" It suited my personality, so it didn't take long to adapt. I think the people in the inner city areas were baffled by my tattoos but pretty quick to accept me as they knew what it was like to be outcast too... At one point, I got so sick of answering the same 3-4 questions I got asked 1000x a day, I had business cards made to give to people instead of having the same exhausting discussion over and over. They said: TATTOOS....YOU BET!!! a: Yes, they're real !!! a:Yes, they're permanent !!! a:Yes, it hurt !!! a: No, I don't regret a single one !!! The back of the card had a rant about "if the card didn't answer all your questions, see a reputable tattoo shop near you" and the quote "the only difference between tattooed people and non- tattooed people is tattooed people don't care if YOU have tattoos or not" Anyway, I don't get as much attention now-a-days now that plenty of younger people have hands/feet/necks/faces tattooed and every pop star and NBA player is fully tattooed!

after almost 7 years of getting tattooed i just finally got my FIRST eagle the other day... thanks to tony sellers while he was guest spotting @ tattoo marks for the week.

I don't notice stares much lately and haven't, to my knowledge, been called a thug before. At least not to my face anyway. I don't really feel self-conscious much, but then there are areas I visit where I put on a jacket by habit. If I get comments, they are usually positive. These days I have more people saying I look like Steve Aoki. I don't really. I'm just Asian with long hair but I do remember a couple of experiences. There was a time once while standing in line at the Market, an elderly woman was staring at my arms. She told me my tattoos were beautiful and they looked like shirt sleeves. I thought that was really cute. Awesome, really. Another time, I was at a close friend's birthday for her 2 year old daughter. I was probably the only single person there, the only visibly tattooed person there and I have long hair and a beard. I definitely stood apart and one of the kids there noticed my tattoos. You could tell she was really curious, staring and smiling, and wanted to look closer. The problem was while I knew 80% of the people there, I hadn't met this particular child's parents so unfortunately my internal alarms went off and I went into self preservation defense mode and had to disengage. The little girl's curiosity was cool but it kind of sucked I felt that way and felt the need to do that. They could have been cool with it, but you never know how parents can be when it comes to their child and they are just trying to look out for their kids. I guess I'm keenly aware these days I'm not as inconspicuous as others and I've never been good with babies and children to begin with. Another experience which was interesting, was a time in London. I was out with someone I was visiting, and met a few of her friends at a bar in the eve. It was winter and cold so I had a coat on. We were all sitting and chatting for a bit. All was good, then I realized I still had my coat on inside. I took it off and didn't think much that my shirt sleeves had been rolled up so everyone saw I had tattoos. Most covered it well or knew I had tattoos but for the rest of the night 2 of her friends kept staring at my arms. It was very obvious and a little uncomfortable. Mostly just weird. Neither of them said anything. I ignored the stares but it would have definitely been better had they just asked me about the tattoos or said something. I mean I won't shank people just for speaking up. Really I won't. Interestingly I've actually felt self-conscious a few times while visiting the UK. I don't know why. Love visiting there though. Oops that was long...

I was on my way to bed tonight and took a couple of mugs into the kitchen so I could put them in the dishwasher and I emerged with a bottle of rosé and a packet of mini-snickers and proceeded to stay up way later than I should and get shitfaced! How awesome is that :D

That is shite :( sorry to hear that. Especially when it's an old friend, but at same time a friend should accept you for who you are. Even though if they don't fully understand why or even what, you get tattooed. And at the end of the day, your body, you're not hurting anyone (well maybe yourself :p lol) but hopefully you get my meaning. Just my 2d's worth. My co-workers (including bosses and big boss of dept), don't understand why am so heavily tattooed, or why I keep going. Same with my friends. But, they all accept me for me. Maybe it's 'cause I really don't give a flying fuck what any of them think about my tattoos, means I get that reaction? *Shrugs* Don't let them drag you down.

interesting one today - took an old friend paddleboarding who i hadnt seen in a long while he was quick to inform me that he had become pretty conservative and felt strongly and negatively about tattoos and people getting tattoos - we've known each other over 20 years so it was just a conversational blip in a great day of SUP and catching up but...it was a bummer in a way - a reminder i guess of how judgemental folks - even good folks - can be - meh

@jnin really? I've had opposite reaction when my legs are on show. I've had parents stop me and, say stuff like "do you mind stopping and showing my daughter/son your tattoos?" Or sometimes esp in places like shopping centres (you call them malls I believe in the states), where children are running around they stop and talk to me or just stare fascinated. Then parents come up and apologise, I just laugh and, say it's cool. Maybe it's because Belfast (where I get tattooed), really doesn't give a fuck about whether your tattooed or not? I've never had a parent move their child like that. Have this lovely sweet story, when was on way to get the Giger portrait done, walked through shopping centre. And this 4yr old was running from parents and just stopped dead in front of me. Started at the Oni Mask, he was properly transfixed. His mother asked if I could follow them around all day, because it was the quietest he's ever been :D That made me smile.

Congratulations on 25 years! It seems that you make good decisions both in tattoos and in life.

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

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.

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.

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 my 2c, I always wait for the question "What is your budget" and my answer is the same "none... I am open to get this piece done" which is 98% of the time followed by the artist hourly rate.. I want the best art been performed with no restriction and definitely I don't want to be the cause of what I want to be restricted by myself... After that I than proceed to budget the hours I can afford at the time. BUT When in doubt, I ask :)

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 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 :)

I picked a buoy, but I like being alone, so it has a sun and tropical island in the background. You could pick a stormy sea and lightning to represent fear. A clipper ship could also represent that.

Great Flying Spaghetti Monster, Jondix's stuff is out of control.

I'm happy to say I just finished my 30+ hours full backpiece. I alway get lost in my tattoos so this time I kept a diary of each visit. As I read through it, I realized most of it is pure whining.

good question! my tattooer designed the layout of my backpiece such that I can take off my shirt, leave the pants on and spectators can still tell what it is going on and then if I really want to give the whoa factor i can drop trou...we need to remember the average person thinks a butt tattoo is a joke, like a tweety bird or 'your name' heart on the cheek, and a lot aren't prepared for what they get when they ask a backpiece wearer "how far down does that go eh?" and then you get the really horrified/intrigued folks who want to know how deep the tattoo went in your ass crack...(?) really, it all depends on the context of the situation and your relationship to the person that is asking to see it. i've probably shown mine off on the phone screen more than in person...because people are dumb and ask to see our tattoos at the most inappropriate times...at a work meeting or at the grocery store...or like i'm having dinner in a restaurant, yeah you want me to stand up and show you my tattooed ass crack? sure, let me finish chewing first! lol in the tattoo shop though...anything goes! drop em and show em what ya got!

@BrianH I'm not one to be afraid of pulling off my shirt and dropping my pants but being self aware, I usually just show a pic from my smartphone first. Some people want to see it in the flesh and I would start with the shirt and depending on where the conversations lead, usually show my ass off too.

@BrianH if they are heavily tattooed and know what a full back piece entails I'll show them all the goods. Otherwise I usually just show the top and listen to all the comments about how they can't believe someone would get their ass tattooed.

I mostly listen to comedy related podcasts with a side of nerdy information, here's what I listen to when I draw and/or lay in bed restlessly (yay insomnia!) The Nerdist: 3 nerdy comedians (Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray and Matt Mira) discuss comedy, pop culture, and all things nerdy. The first 60ish episodes all have special guests, comedians, actors, musicians, etc. after that they started doing an extra episode each week with just the hosts, so they still have guests all the time, but also talk amongst themselves. Very funny, and it can give you a different look at "show business" The Cracked Podcast: List based comedy website, Cracked, in podcast form! These guys are hilarious and very well researched for each weeks subject, they also nerd out about comedy, but they also have discussions on just a whole bunch of cool topics that I enjoy hearing new perspectives on. Scroll through the episode list and see if any topics pique your interest, I'm sure after a couple you'll want to go through and hear them all. Unpopular Opinion: Adam Tod Brown, another Cracked writer has his own podcast, he's a huge dick and all the comments on his articles are pretty much hating on him. I think he's the perfect kind of sarcastic asshole so I like listening once in a while. SMODCAST: Kevin Smith and Scott Mosher chatting it up about making movies together, life, and comics. The Thrilling Adventure Hour! This is a comedy show in LA in the form of an old timey radio show, it's recorded live, they have different comedians and actors on most episodes, and they act out a number of different scenes. Funny stuff. Welcome to Night Vale: This show is fantastic. A radio show played in the form of community updates in a fictional desert town called Night Vale. The dark, twisted, weird, Lovecraftian goings on in this mysterious place will keep you on the edge of your seat. If you ignore all my other suggestions, just listen to this, it's awesome. All hail the glow cloud!

As I said in another thread, I was in the shop today looking at some Lehi flash for a little filler. At one point, I pointed at one of the Lehi tiger heads from his 03 flash set and said, "Fuck it, I should probably just get that on my hand." Without missing a beat, my buddy says, "Everyone should get that on their hand." I didn't (stupid job). But I will get it somewhere.

Don't know if this has been posted yet, but this is probably my favorite version of RoA. I know it doesn't have that "wow factor" that more modern versions of this piece has, but I tend to gravitate more towards the old-school images. William Grimshaw: