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Foo dog sleeve progress by Will Lollie. Peonies colored.

Got this finished this up a couple of weeks ago, is by @willem666 from one of his paintings. (Skin is somewhat fucked from my pregnancies)

Hello all, So I haven't put up any progress shots on my back for a couple of months. In all honesty it was a lot of cherry blossoms. Anyway after the weekends session at the Bristol Tattoo Show I thought I better put up a full progress shot. Apologies for the slightly blurry pictures these were taken with my slightly rubbish little compact digital camera. I'm stoked with how it is coming along though now and am super excited to see it coming together with the colour in the dragon over the next few months.

@PackMan - looks awesome! We must have been in there around the same time, cause Will finished this one off over the weekend. Back of calf Kyosai/monmon frog mashup: edit: apologies for pics being rotated all funny, no idea how to change it

Just had a great weekend at the Bristol Tattoo Convention. Thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested in quality tattoos next year. Awesome list of great artists, well organised and everything focused on tattooing without the extra stuff that comes along with some conventions these days. The result of the weekend for me was not only did Ian Flower do another few hours on my back piece, but I also got a cool little gap filler from Duncan X on my shin. Gotta love an Ichthyosaur. We will finish the colour in the Tibetan skull during my next session in July. It's exciting to see more and more colour going in.

Desert rose on my U2 arm. William Kasper @ Iron Tiger Tattoo

i tell ya - even though your leg work isnt necessarily my style i think it is top notch - very dope

Latest and last session on my sock. Better pics later. I also got another tattoo I collected this week end... Will post when I get better pics of it.

A reminder, every backpiece is different. Design, subject matter, linework, colours, details, finer details, ink saturation...your stamina, that tattooers stamina, your height/weigh, your skin and health, the tattooers' experience, work flow, skill and speed, the needle clusters used, how many smoke breaks you take, the frequency of sessions...a lot of variables at play.

Long time lurker just decided to get involved :) Think I'm up to about just over 80 hours coverage or thereabouts now, full back piece, both arms half sleeved and some wrist and rib work. Everything done in traditional Japanese style. Looking forward to chatting to some people C

I got to use tegaderm for the first time to heal the harpy on my thigh. I told @cltattooing I would let her know what I thought, so I might as well put my experience in here. I think having it on for the first few days was amazingly convenient. I slept better, I showered/dressed more easily...it just made everything easier, really, and I felt that it was more protected than it would have been the usual way I do things (wrap/nostick pads on overnight, hot shower and thorough rinse in the morning, then just dry healing with occasional washes every day over the next several days). I think there was a tipping point in there somewhere for me, though, where it didn't actually offer any more benefits to keep on, and may have contributed to everything feeling a bit weird after I took it off on day 5 -- probably around the time the skin started to reabsorb the small amount of inky liquid in there. Next time, I'd probably want to take it off around that point, since I think it might be the sweet spot to hit. I have a feeling the tattoo was past the point where it would scab by then, and it might have felt better/less 'suffocated' with the tegaderm off at that point. I didn't have any trouble taking the film off in the shower (just very very slooooowly), but the tattoo just felt weird for a few days. A little swollen and, I dunno, sticky? Tacky? With a weird haze over it. (Mind you, this is my only all-black tattoo, so I guess that could be part of it). Still, it was undeniably great not to have to worry about getting ink on hotel sheets/my own clothes or spend a night feeling uncomfortable with saran wrap and bandaging on. Definitely made the drive back home easier, too.

@sophistre - youre sleeve looks awesome! It is one of my favorite sleeves. I love how well all the individual tattoos are balanced with the negative space.

Not sure about this. Without context it just looks like someone is taking a shit haha

Mike keeps posting cool stuff from the Hardy event. I wonder if there's any LSTers in this video.

Thank you!! @xcom @Scott R Also @Iwar I have an LST shirt so where does that leave us? Haha

@Tesseracts - I checked out the author's twitter account, and a few other women are enraged by the same things as the author. What a double standard... "don't you dare tell me what to do with my body, I will tell you what to do with my body." I'm not even capable of stringing words together with this ridiculousness. Dan's response has been fantastic.

There is some really nice work in this thread. I've been meaning to put some of my paintings and drawings up. So here is a small selection of what I do. Enjoy and if you want to see a bit more of what I do then go to my instagram @mr_toby_s

Shaolin Session #9 - 3 hrs (32 hrs total, wtf?) This was actually a very difficult session. It began with some drawing on the detail patterns in the monk's robe trim. Tattooing started with a 7 liner. Followed by a really tight shader for all the edging. The trim ended up being these lil singular flames going from a rich green to black to a rich blue, light blue flames. Very tight details. Then white in the sleeve cuffs. And finish it off with skin tones, the shaved head and the expression in the eyes! It was a very sharp session. Steve had to jump all around a lot and he is quite heavy and his machines hit hard maan (I like it !). These remaining spots were direct spine hits and bbq back ribs. Felt like he was tattooing my lung at one point. Brutal, but hey, keep your feet relaxed and the body will follow, find the clarity. Yeah man, this tattoo shit friggin hurts now, I've used up a most of my 'tattoo credits' over the years. So...my back tattoo is substantially complete. A bittersweet feeling, however I'm so pumped at how it all turned out. Size of the image, the blackground, the fine details, the colour palette, the butt waves. Nailed the expression, especially the Shaolin eyes. Most excellent. Steve Batt is the god damn guru. Full donburi bro !!! Pictures will come once the bruising and redness in the skin tones and white come down. Now time to relax, heal, enjoy the summer sunshine and lakes. I'll be back on the table in September for Session #10 to re-hit all the black and saturate the shit out of it and clean up the transitions into the other tattoos in my suit. Then the mini-banger and tattoos over tattoos begins. Booya!

She's just gorgeous! Many thanks to Will Murray. 614-457-3689

@ironchef - Hard to say. Outlining had some brutal spots for sure. Tebori doesn't hurt anymore in my mind, but it can be mentally trying when you lay there for 2 hours and then look in the mirror and think to yourself "that's all we got done today!" One thing I will mention is that I highly recommend wearing headphones when getting tebori done. I found the squishing sound to be unbearable after while.

Chippin' away at the ol' front. https://instagram.com/p/3pzXp1MVGD/

I'm getting tattooed by Eddy Deutsche on Saturday. I can't wait!

A heavy Chad Koeplinger cover-up/blastover from two weeks ago, photo from today: Tony Hundahl eye/flames filler on my elbow. Works great together with the Lehi tattoo I think. Never too much flames, hehe.. Tattoo from Saturday last week, photo from today:

Healed tattoos from earlier this year - Rose on shoulder by Chris Garver, Dagger by Oliver Macintosh Both artists were awesome, can't wait to get more.

Round 1 by Chris Garver Invisible NYC

Here is a photo of the latest updates on my front. The owl/roses/skull have been healed are almost three years old. The goat on my stomach was lined about a year ago with the shading being freshly done (other parts in various stages of healing). The rose/flames/bones on my right side are fresh also in this photo. I'll work on the other side later in the year but, in the meantime, I will be picking up a little banger from Tomas Garcia in July.

My just completed full back piece based on the tale of Mimi Nashi Hoichi by Fil Wood at Black Crown Tattoo in Leeds For those who would like to know more of the tale please look here The Story Of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi And you can check out Fil Wood's work here https://instagram.com/fil_wood/

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

...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!

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

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:

2 and a half more hours. Still didn't do the black in the tail lol. been FOR EHHH VEEERRR since being under the needle. Glad to get the time in. EDIT: sorry about my sideways pics

Why American Traditional tattoos are so liked here and mostly everywhere. I had a long conversation with my tattoo artist while I was getting some work done. He is a collector himself and we talked about different artist that we both would like to collect from. Than we started talking about the different styles and preferences... Holly crap I had no clue a traditional tattoo was so complicated in sense of boldness, expression, and technic. There is allot more to it than I thought. While still not my style I have learned to appreciate them even more.

I went to Tokyo Disney and was wearing shorts and a t-shirt... [emoji14] When I went through the ticket area I was getting some pained looks but I (honestly) didn't realise until later in the day, when I saw a sign, that tattoos were to be covered. I guess they were irritated but for some reason said nothing (I think even Japanese employees look the other way if it's too much hassle / embarrassment sometimes). Had I known I would have covered up, if it's the rules then it's the rules...

Session #7 down with another 4 hours (25 total). First colour session! Did the details in the boots and pants on the monk. The sash is now a vibrant purple which I'm particularly stoked about - my claim to fame is that I was the first purple belt at our kung fu school. The boots just run over a tattoo Steve did on me 10 years ago lol. Damn A LOT of white ink went in the pants, with some dark and mint greens in the pattern. Going to look mighty against the saturation of the heavy black once the tattoo settles in. It was a very difficult session pain wise. Lots of motion over the kidneys, spine, and bbq ribs. The session started with 30 minutes of re-lining and stylizing the lines in the clothes. zOuch! And once again, the session finishes with a Ramones song :cool: Back in 2 weeks for another big colour sesh...the monk's robe and pattern. And then 1 or 2 sessions after that to go over the blackground again, tighten up the seams. Also throw in a mini banger (hehe) in this 2"x2" spot under my butt I requested to leave open for the victory lap. So yeah, the plan is to wrap my Shaolin backpiece up in June so I can enjoy the rest of my summer. WICKED

I've been experimenting with making hot sauce. Here's the first batch.... hoping for a bumper crop of habanero's this summer in my garden so I can produce enough to give to friends! @CultExciter @gougetheeyes @polliwog this stuff is a sizzling alternative to drinking :)

Traditional and Japanese are hands down my favorite styles of tattooing. A really interesting thing is happening in the development of traditional tattoos right now, where artists are keeping in tradition with the technique and tools of prior generations but really branching out in subject matter, concept, and style. For instance, look at the work of James McKenna, Aidan Monahan, or Slawomir Nietschke. All of whom keep with the bold line, heavy black, saturated color, negative space ratios, and dynamic designs, while exploring very interesting and wacky themes. Or even the less weird but still very advanced and finessed work of artists like Herb Aeurbach, Paul Dobleman, or Gordon Combs. It's a super cool and exciting thing to be happening within a particular school of thought and is what makes the style most interesting to me. It seems to me that the general populace prefers realism or new school tattoos, or even the more painterly stuff. If that's your preference, I don't really care, but I do attribute it largely to ignorance and a magpie effect.

I don't think traditional tattoos necessarily inspire a 'fuck yeah, that's awesome' reaction in most people straight off the bat. A segment immediately - absolutely - and maybe more since they really came to fore as a genre in the past few years, but I think it's fair to say that most people (and a lot of collectors) are more readily able to recognise good tattooing when it comes in the form of accomplished japanese style, black and grey etc. It probably took me at least five years of collecting and looking at tattoos a lot before I started to "get" traditional (maybe I was a slow learner). Even then, it was even longer before I understood what was going on with some of the more folksy approaches to it. To me the thing about traditional tattoos is that although you could say that there is a flash lexicon there ready to use, the devil is in the subtle details. A Bert Krak crawling panther will be a very different beast, excuse the pun, to an Uncle Allen take on the same starting point. I love that aspect of it. Looking at stuff from particular artists and seeing where they've gone with it. You get the really whimsical and fun, like Jesse Gordon Jnr, you get the real traditionalists, like Tommy T. here in Dublin and people who are doing a really distinct personal folk style like Mario Desa (or at least, that's what I see there, apologies if I'm wrong :P ).

on my Uncle-in-Law. artist unknown but done on Market St in 1955:

"Nattpatruljen", Norways answer to "COPS". This is how Norwegian police handles a drunk, angry man. We of course have police officers that are total dicks over here too, but fortunately, some of them are quite alright.

I don't condone copying people's tattoos, but I am not really digging this thread. One it's not really any of my business to call out people for this kind of thing. Second, I would be hesistant to do so, because there is so much reference material outside of tattoo realm, that I couldn't be sure that two people weren't copying a piece of art from another genre as a tattoo. Third I have never gotten a tattoo that I expected to be or thought in any shape or form would be custom. I like running into people that have the same tattoos I do, I like the look of traditional tattoos and I am under no delusion that I am somehow "special" despite what my mother told me. I don't worry when someone tells me they are going to draw something for me, and they really just go trace it from the Ed hardy flash book and pass it off as their own, because I know most people aren't familiar with the design. Even is someone does copy the tattoo you have, it doesn't change the fact that you have a badass tattoo that most people would be jealous of and want to wear and you will get no sympathy from me, in fact i might make fun of you for complaining about it.

im also gonna add tiny ass upside down lettering on the wrist......in white

Trees. In the last two years I've done about 100 of them. Trees with hidden words or initials anywhere in the design (in the trunk, branches, or roots) Hidden words or initials. If you've got something to say, SAY IT! Arm bands. They break up the arm in such weird spots it makes it difficult "add to" or expand on with future tattoos. Cherubs. Naked babies?! For reals?! Art. You really need V. Van Gogh's "Starry Night" on your arm? Go buy a t shirt!! Superman logos. You are from right here. Not Krypton This list can go on forever. Sometimes it's not the what that you are tattooing but the who. Arrive on time, be respectful and don't figit around. Bring a good story to tell. Tattooers love em! Most of all, leave your tuff guy attitude at home. You ain't as tuff as us.