Leaderboard

D'aww. Come on over and get some tattoos! :) Edit: Oh hey, @cltattooing put up a picture of what we got up to today.

Had my final session with Fil Wood @ Black Crown Tattoo in Leeds and I'm totally drained. Check him out at https://instagram.com/fil_wood/ I'll post more pics in the future once it's healed and touch up have been done, but for now I'm done and ready to jump in a bathtub full of bep

I agree with @DavidR this guy sounds like he was more interested in being demeaning towards woman in whatever way possible than he was in your tattoo. What a sad scary person.

https://instagram.com/p/3P_YuSTBGZ/ All done. :o We stuck with flowers for fillers in the end, even though we did talk about a frog. He took some shots from other angles, but didn't put them up. Maybe he will later. I'm a little sad about it being finished, so I can't imagine how you backpiece people felt when it was over! ...but I might get to find out, because we may have chatted about it a bit today. We'll seeeeeeeeee. :cool: I get a day to bang around Powell's Books tomorrow and cap off the night with Mad Max, and then I get to be tattooed by @cltattooing the day after that! Definitely a great mini-vacation.

got my neck done by chris conn - - - Updated - - - also started my back with bryan burk

I was at a wedding too last week, and a grown man, who managed to reach 35 years of age, with a family, asked me if I was working on my backpiece myself. From neck to knees. Full backpiece. Was I tattooing it on myself. I just told him I wasn't flexible enough to do that and left forever.

...I can't believe this thread has been dormant for 6 months. Last night we went to a wedding. I wore a little black dress with thin straps so the top third of my backpiece showed. I had my hair up. Overall, I got positive reviews or no comments - it was very cool. However, "Jackass" (as he was come to be called), came up to me at the bar. Picture 60 y/o paunch, light pink button-down, partially untucked - all the guys were all still wearing suit jackets. Partially in the bottle. So he is chatting me up and then sees my tattoo. Him: Wow, I just saw your art. It seems like the entire back is a "new thing." The first time I saw one was when we took our son to a dude ranch in Texas and a girl had one. It was quite alluring. Me: ::eesh:: Him: So this was probably more than one session? Me: Yes, it was two. (Actually, it was 20). Him: So, how is your Hepatitis C? Is it under control? Me: Excuse me? Him: You know, your Hep C. And your Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B? Me (deadpanned): Everything is under control. Him: You know, I ask, because you had more than one session, so there was more than one needle. So you have to keep it under control. Me, (skeeved out and walking away): It's fine. So I tell my friends, and we all get weirded out. Shudders. So anyway, later in the night, I want to go back to the bar and get a drink for me and the Hubs. But Jackass is there talking with another guy I don't know. But I go up anyway and talk straight to the bartender and order. Him to buddy: There are a lot of women in those same little black dresses. They must all shop at the same store. Me: ::Stars straight ahead:: Him (announcing into the air): Well, I guess no one heard that. Me (walking away with my drinks): I'm sorry, it must be my Hepatitis C showing. Him: Excuse me? Me: IT MUST BE MY HEP C SHOWING. Him (huffed up and offended): I was just being concerned. ?!? Super shudders. Eeeeesh. One of my girlfriends said I should have rubbed my arm over his and "gotten my Hep C all over him." But I was too skeeved out to even consider touching him. I hate people who play these little word power games. I have to come up with a few more standard answers to assholes. Happily, I did get the chance to smack him back down.

Almost done!!! 1 more session needed for grey wash background. By Mark Duhan, Skin Deep Ink in New Milford, CT (hummingbird was already there) Back of the arm is swelled up pretty good. This is all about my boys. The flowers are for their birth month. Artist did an awesome job of rolling with my idea for a watercolor/ feminine polka trash colorful mish mash!

He would probably have been just as creepy whether you were tattooed or not. Creeps gonna creep.

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!

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

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

So I added this hand and flower while the brilliant and hilarious Nikki Balls was guesting in Toronto at the Pearl. Next to a butterfly lady head by Glennie Whittal

Surfing Mahakala (WIP–lines and shading done) on rib by the inimitable Eddy Deutsche

I'm new here and figured I'd post some of my favorite pieces I've gotten over the last ~year or so: Aaron Hodges at Spider Murphy's did both my thighs: George Hernandez at Sacred Tiger did my forearms and bicep: http://i.imgur.com/aksalIN.jpg Jay Watkins (frog) and Laurent Trelaun (ship) at Spider Murphys: And then a couple fun ones from Jeff Rassier and Alex Petty: Hopefully this wasn't too big of a photo dump for everyone! Looking forward to upcoming consults/pieces with Paul Dobleman and Theo Mindell at Spider Murphys as well.

By Nikki Balls. Done at the Pearl Harbor Gift Shop, Toronto, Ontario. Apologies for the crappy pic.

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

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.

more work done tonight. next appt is the end of June. The frog is getting redone in this go 'round-he's kinda old (15 years or so I think) so he would look out of place I thought.

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.

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

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

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

Got a small filler from Grez yesterday.

@Dan, Thanks for the instructions on removal. Going to try a small piece today on my skin to see if I am allergic to the adhesive.

No, not plastic wrap. I don't ever use that. The first couple of days when it's weeping more I use the large gauze pads with the plastic backing that are kind of like doggie pee pads except for humans. LOL! Not sure exactly what they're called. After that I just use regular gauze pads and I wrap over that with coban self adhesive wrap. I change it twice a day and wash with soap and water between changes. Plastic wrap I think would make me insane, holding in the heat and all that I had to look up Saniderm but it seems like it's the same principal as Tatu Derm. I have heard of people healing the tattoo using it for more than just the first day. I am allergic to Tatu Derm and the adhesive rips my skin off so I can't use products like it. You are VERY lucky you don't get swelling and pain!! OMG I have been through some of the WORST with my calf pieces.

Just an update. At the end of 7 days when the wrap came off I had a beautifully healed tattoo. Over the next 2 or 3 days the rest of the dead skin flaked off and I had not a single scab. Not one. I never had any swelling or pain at all. So this will be the healing method for me from here on out. Just thought I'd post again about how it turned out. :)

@Kinglambert love it! Congrats!

Also just to clarify, I have every intention of asking the artist do whatever is necessary to make the idea a good tattoo. I don't have so much hubris that I think that I knew how to drew something that would make a strong tattoo as-is.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 :)

Went in yesterday, drove down to 39th St in KC. Hit Starbucks across the street since I'm about half an hour early. I'm sittin there, listening to some blues while I smoke and overcaffeinate, and Nathan walks up to the shop. "Boo!" he looks over, sees me and invites me in. After he gets a breakfast burrito and we both chew some gum, we get to work. Great dude, really - if any of you are ever in KC hit him up. We had to take a few breaks, including one where he accidentally knocked over his drink (another artist shouted "Your passion tea was too passionate!!"). We've probably got one more appointment left, and I can't wait!!

Was wandering around Bath today and got a walk in with Jimmie Tatts, filled in an awkward gap on the inside of my elbow. The shop is a 20 minute drive from my house but i've never been there before today. Makes a change from all the travelling i've been doing for tattoos!

Oh man. As a bookstore worker I hear "you must sit around and read" at least once a week. It is a nice job, but...nope. Seems like a lot of these envious comments are directed towards people who essentially work manual or retail jobs. Re: loving your work, that's only ever made it harder, in my experience. The expectations you set for yourself tend to be higher.

The girlfriend or the tattoos?

With a process as important as getting a piece of artwork permanently drilled into your skin, how could you NOT use a professional tattoo designer?? Online of course. Face to face interaction is so last generation

I'll take one. Also- my wife's mom, upon hearing we planned to get some new tattoos, commented that she would regret it when she was 80. Hell, if I make it to 80 I will be pretty damn happy. People need some new material.

I think every tattoo collector needs to ask themselves this after every new tattoo.

Heh, I love the "take off your shirt" requests. Not gonna happen. In a restaurant, on the street, at a reception - what is going through their heads? It's like they can't see the absurdity (or the rudeness) of their demands. If I were alone (or with my wife) and a friend asked to see, I might comply, but probably not. However, if a tattooed friend asked I'd probably whip the shirt off in a second and start talking tattoos. I guess I've got my own double standard about it.

You paid how much????? I had my baby in a friend's kitchen for $20!

When I was a "plainskin" (no offence) people seemed to be generally surprised that I had no body art. I Guess my personality screamed tattoo. Now that I have them those same people are the ones asking "why did you get that?" "You know you're stuck with that for ever!?" Dammed if you do dammed if you don't....haha

pretty much... gross. Like unless that opening is followed by "I buy a lot of paint"

Please dare me. Please. I dare you to dare me.

Can't make this shit up. Two recent conversations from the bar. Number One! Me: What're you up to tonight? Girl: Well I supposed to get tattooed but my tattoo artists rejected me! Me: What?! What happened? Girl: (Pulls out a piece of paper with a crazy long math/physics equation and begins to unfold to show me.) Well, I was supposed to get this on my finger, but-- Me: (Bursts out laughing) Yeah, that ain't going on your finger... Girl: He laughed at me, too! Me: Yeah. Sorry to laugh, it's just so long you won't be able to get it that small and still see what it is. What about on your arm, or wrapping around your wrist? Girl: Yeah, that's what he suggested, too. Especially because it's my only tattoo or whatever. But I'm a programmer and I want to look at it while I'm working at the keyboard. He also suggested that I shouldn't get it in white. Me: White.. ink? Girl: Yeah. Because it's for me. And I don't want anyone else to just be able to see it like that. Me: Sounds like maybe you should think about it some more.. After that initial talk we had a pretty cool conversation about the equation and the dual reality somethingorother it pertains to. She was a super smart person in that realm for sure. I left her with the suggestion of getting a cat in a box as a much cooler design (part of this theory about a cat being in a box with the lid closed and there being two realities..) but she was pretty set on the equation. Number Two! The set up here.. it was late, this chick was at the bar for a while so obviously a little drunk. Girl: Hey, you get your tattoos here? Me: Yeah, mostly, at this point kind of all over. Girl: Where should I go? Me: Hard to go wrong in this neighborhood, Three kings, Eight of Swords, Adorned, Saved... Girl: Are they open? Me: When...? Girl: Now. Me: It's almost two in the morning -- no shops are open right now. Girl: Really? None?? Me: You could go into the city and check out West 4th St. but I really encourage you to not do that. Girl: So.. there are no tattoo shops open in Brooklyn right now is what you're telling me. Me: That's what I'm telling you. Girl: (Takes her drinks that I made her and begins to walk away.) Fuck this borough. And I thought that would be the end of it! She came back and wanted to talk some more. Girl: So, it says XXSHOPXX is right off of XXSTREETXX -- is that close by? Me: It's not far but I'm telling you it's not open. Why don't you just wait? Girl: YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. My friend over there is only in town tonight and we won't be in the same city again for like maybe a couple years. Me: Well that might work better, you can both get great tattoos in your respective cities and they'll probably be way better than trying to get it in at like 2 AM. You could get something awesome! Girl: Nope, you don't get what I'm saying. Me: (Past the point of patience and I can't walk away because I'm making them another round of drinks.) It sounds like you probably shouldn't get tattooed. It sounds like a bad idea is what I think you're saying. Girl: Well aren't they all? Me: I'm sorry..? Girl: All of this (pointing to my arms) -- you can't tell me any of this is actually a good idea. Me: Did you really just say that? Girl: Well, I mean, come on.. when you're 90. They're going to look like shit. Me: No, they're going to look awesome and I'm going to be an awesome 90 yr old with tattoos that I didn't get at fucking two in the morning. This is going to be your last round, I'll have the server bring your check over and you can still make it over to West 4th, the cab ride shouldn't be much more than $20! Girl: Whatever. Me: Have a good night! Good luck! Hope I'm not sounding like too much of an asshole.. My bar persona is always ten thousand times nicer than my real life demeanor but this second girl really pushed it. I'll put up with a lot of idiots and I know how to handle plenty of bullshit but when you outright insult me in my own bar..? You're done. I hope she went and got tattooed.. everyone gets the tattoo they deserve!

I think the "meaning" issue is a real barrier for people when it comes to getting tattoos. At least it was for me. Before I had any tattoos I kind of didn't bother because I didn't know what I would get that would have enough meaning to have it written into my skin. My first tattoo was about my family a couple of years after the birth of my daughter. With my next few tattoos I was still kind of over thinking it and coming up with wild stories to tell myself about why what I wanted was a good idea. Now that I am more comfortable with tattoos in general (I've realized that nothing horrible has happened) I am more able to find enough meaning in just thinking it's cool.