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This was last Saturday's progress on my back. We're getting close. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got this about a month ago from Jeff Zuck of Name Brand in Ann Arbor. Definitely going back!

Lucky Strike Tattoo in Edmonton, AB hosted their annual summer slam party this weekend !! It was a super fun time. Lots of tattoo show n tell, good tattoo talks with fellow collectors, jello shooters, moonshine, parking lot burnouts, picture machine flash jokes and got drunk with some new buds. I hadn't even cracked my first beer (4pm) and Scotty's like "it's a friggin tattoo shop take your shirts off". Got to check out some wicked tattoos in the flesh...Lucas Ford fudo backpiece, Steve Moore backpiece, a bunch of Steve Batt tattoos, a Steve Byrne ROA in progress backpiece (!), Bailey Robinson, Koeplinger, OllieXXX, Smilin' Dave and of course lots of fresh and aged tattoos from the Lucky Strike cats of new and old (Sam Sheinin, Bobby Tripp, Miles Kanne, Scott Rusnak, Brent Smith, Chris Iwaniuk, Myke, Julie). Anyway, got this super dope photo of Scott Rusnak and some fellow clients in the bodysuit club. from L-R ... Steve(?), Scott Rusnak, Derek, myself. Too bad we didn't get a backside shot... IG @ scottrusnak one of the most underrated young tattooers in Western Canada...he does really bright and vivid Trevino-esque Japanese style tattoos with attention to the details. Highly recommend him. IG @ lucky_strike_tattoo great local shop, quality artists and a really fun place to hang. some bongsau facts...30% of my tattoos have been completed at Lucky Strike, 40% if you include the Electric Tattoo days from 10 years ago!

jesus bud ! ribs, kidney and lower back session...you are the dragon warrior ! the lower back still blows my mind how bad it was...like one of THE worst spots...how did that spot ever become popular ? it gave me a new found respect for the shy ladies with hidden rebellion, women with questionable morals and men with really sexy tastes alike!

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.

Upcoming tattoo will be on my left rib cage. This will be my first torso tattoo and I am expecting it to be a memorable experience.

Started some dot shading last weekend. Quick 2-hour session with Thomas Hooper until next time, which will be in August. I need to take a month or so off so I can swim with the kids over their summer break. Once we're done with shading this section, we're gonna hammer out whats going on in the lower belly area and right ribs. crap...sorry the pic is loading horizontally. I'll see if I can fix that.

@Graeme, if jealous was a picture it would be your back. That is truly a thing of beauty, I love the look in the tigers eyes. Like he's been in one hell of a fight but has finally got the better of that snake. @MrToby, your back is by Ian Flower right? Absolutely amazing composition, he's got to be one of the very best Japanese tattooers in Europe. Doesn't get the credit he deserves I think because his shop is in a bit of an unfashionable outskirts of London. He seems like a really nice bloke though?

Got a consult booked with Theo Mindell for demon head+girl head rib panel in July and just booked in with Steve Byrne for the SFO Hyatt Convention in October. The coming months are going to be fun.

yea... no. I'd rather spend that money on better things. Like tattoos :P

Please don't take this the wrong way--or take it the wrong way, if you'd like--but you are barking up the wrong tree here. No one is going to fund you, and my reply will likely be the most polite you'll receive. And if you have to ask why, well....

Excellent advice regarding this tattoo and so much more.

With summer here, thoughts turn to tattoo care and summer activities. Here is a collection of threads that came up in my search. I didn't actually read all these threads, so I can't vouch for their usefulness, but here ya go! It would probably be a good idea not to resurrect a bunch of really old threads on the same topic by commenting on them, but these are for reference. http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/4121-another-swimming-question.html http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/2723-non-whitening-sun-protection.html http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/1428-sun-tan-question.html http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/1203-oops-waht-do-you-do-if-your-tattoo-gets-sunburned.html http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/1076-swimming-new-tattoo-how-long-do-you-wait.html http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/834-sunscreen-fresh-piece.html http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/357-how-soon-too-soon-go-hawaii-post-tattoo.html http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/5423-diving-island-vacation-while-tattoo-progress.html http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-advice/3931-sunblock-after-new-tattoo.html http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-advice/2678-going-hawaii-right-before-tattoo-concerns.html I also found it easier to find threads by title by looking at the LST sitemap rather than the regular interface. You can see one thread per line. http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/sitemap/

Hello LST forums, my name is roy and i've just recently registered on this forum! This is my story.. I would like to hear your opinions. So i got my first tattoo when i was only 15, HUGE mistake! I got a tribal tatt on my forearm that looks exactly like this. http://tribaltattooist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Tribal%20Tattoo%20Forearm%2002.jpg Couple months later, i get a few laser tattoo treatments. The tattoo is still slightly dark but I'm sure it can be covered up by almost anything.(I will upload a picture of it upon request) anyways, this situation has changed me in many ways. I made me very self aware and insecure, as well as depressed sometimes. I've been hiding my tattoo with long sleeves for 3 years now. Only a couple people even know i have it.. It's totally fucked up my social life. I know it's stupid but at the time, i believed that my tattoo would be removed so i thought i was just covering it until it completely dissapeared. But tattoo removal didn't work so great for me and now I'm seeking a cover up tattoo. Summer is here and i DO NOT want to stay home or make excuses to go outside anymore. I want to be able to wear short sleeves without feeling embarassed and ashamed. So since i've given up on laser removal, I've been looking into a cover up. The problem is, I can't decide on what style I want to start my sleeve(yes, although my first tattoo scarred me a bit, I'm still really into tattoos and do plan on getting several more!). I want to get a cover up of a japanese style tiger, and eventually work my way up the sleeve with a koi fish on my shoulder and then potentially a large dragon on my back. However, i also have another idea of having smaller tattoos to create a sleeve (wolf in sheep's skin, lion with crown, skulls and roses, etc). i feel like you can't really go wrong with a high quality japanese sleeve and i'm also a bit scared that i'll regret my cover up. what are your thoughts on my story and opinions? Thank you all for taking your time to read this! feel free to ask any questions

I've thought about getting my pits done. It's just such a damn good spot to hide a namakubi or some shunga. I've never heard about the damage of the sweat glands so I actually looked it up. From wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_gland#Eccrine First, this is why you should keep your pits trimmed; that bacteria just sits in there and stinks up the place. Second, I'm not an anatomy scholar, but from the sounds of it, if tattooing did indeed damage the apocrine sweat glands, I'd be okay with the loss. I'm pretty sure that the strip up the middle of a Japanese bodysuit is just superstition and not grounded in reality.

I had my right armpit tattooed about 6 weeks ago. Not to post-whine in excess but let me tell you it was one hell of an experience. I wrote a pretty detailed post about it here, so I'm not going to repeat myself The healing process was actually not that bad. The first 3-4 days was a bit hard, difficult with finding a good sleeping posture and so on, but then it was not harder than your average tattoo. The scar tissue does not look worse than my other tattoos but I do think that it's probably a very scary spot to work on as a tattooer, knowing how sensitive the glands are underneath. There were some blow outs but they are slowly fading away it seems. The result was way beyond what I expected, considering how strange the spot is. I think Jonas Nyberg did a great job with the tattoo, but he told me that he's going to say no the next time anyone asks for an armpit tattoo. Haven't noticed any problem with my sweating, smell or otherwise, since. It was interesting to read your original post @bongsau, I will try to be more observant of my sweating and see there's some truth to what you heard. I plan to get my other armpit done before the end of the year. As far as tattoo experiences go I think that if you are going to do it, you better be prepared that it's going to be a rough ride. For people who have studied and practiced the art of taking a pounding from the machines, it is possible to do. But you are going to hate yourself for getting the idea haha :) Good luck!

You must be joking, right? ... right? Seriously, not that I'm even close to being a scientist, but having all those chemicals on you every day will probably be a bigger danger to your skin and your health than getting a bit of unfiltered sun. I used to be really paranoid with the sun and my tattoos, and get stressed if I had to be waiting for the bus for 20 minutes in t-shirt and no sunscreen on. It's not worth it, all that stress. Now I cream up when I know that I will be in the sun a lot. Normally I don't bother. It's easier to just move to the shade after a while if there is no 50+ around. Perhaps I tend to wear long sleeve shirts a bit more. I think it's a shame if you let some over-protectiveness around keeping your tattoos pristine stand in the way of having fun and enjoying life. You are going to age, your tattoos are going to age, and you will die eventually. (Could be that I have this attitude because I never cared about being a lot in the sun, getting a tan or hanging out at the beach anyway. It's not a part of my life, so when I do spend time in the sun I can allow myself without feeling some "guilt" around it. My favorite weather is when it's cold enough for normal length jeans, but you can walk around in a t-shirt if you want to. Oh, and also I live in Sweden so that helps, we only got 6 weeks of summer most years haha..)

Hello all, I very recently (Thursday, actually) got my first tattoo. I am quite pleased with it, an arrangement of an owl and flowers. It is a scar coverup, with the intention of making my arm something I'm proud of in stead of something to hide away. I've been hiding it for over 8 years, by the way, these are the first pictures featuring my left arm since then :) Added bonus? You can't see the scars at all. They're just gone. La, the tattoo artist, in fact used the deepest and whitest of them as highlights on the feathers and the beak, and many others are now bits of flower. It's amazing, how it feels to take something that you have been hiding for so very long, and to in one day, turn it into something you just want to show everyone. The idea is long in coming, with the owl being a reference to Minerva's little owl (and my love of nature). Sunflowers are my favourite flowers, and cosmos link to traveling along my country's roads. Mostly, though, it's because I find it beautiful. Fine line black and grey, with lots of grey wash that right now just looks dark, but that should lighten with healing (she said two weeks, maybe a bit more, to see the effect). This was taken the next day, so it's very fresh here. Done by the lovely La at Fallen Heroes Tattoo in Johannesburg.

I high-fived Jason McAfee at the bar that I frequent. High-fives rule!

Welcome! If you are in New York you have tons of great options for artists. Do you have any artists in mind yet?

Latest

Welcome! No, I don't think it was you. It was the guy. I'm glad you're going elsewhere - I hope the tattoo turns out awesome!

Welcome! It's wonderful that you were able to turn something negative and upsetting into something that reminds you of nature and things you love. I, too, love sunflowers - beautiful big things!

Welcome! It will be probably a challenge to change your tattoos because they are pretty dark and as you said, not very readable, so making changes probably won't make it more readable unless you went pretty big. Maybe think about a new tattoo and find an artist who does things that don't look as boring to you?

Here are a few pics. Thanks for welcome, SeeSea! - - - Updated - - -

Maybe you should move it about half a centimeter to the left? :)

@hogg The Thick of It is pretty great too...though Veep has the Julia Louis-Dreyfus edge for me. OK, and lots of other people I like... You've probably seen this, but:

My reading of the story is that the judge made the order on the basis that she could contract HIV or Hepatitis or similar as a result of getting tattooed. There's also mention of her having been tested, window periods etc. To me, if that is the primary concern of the court, it seems like the judge shouldn't stop there ... Why not ban her from drinking alcohol in excess, having unprotected sex etc. also? The odds of her getting HIV from a tattoo are vanishingly small in comparison with other risky life activities. I think that's the main silliness of the story. For what it's worth my wife is still breastfeeding our son and just started a big side piece. He's over a year old and there have been no bumps in the road so far. I think where any kind of illness could pose a problem is in the early stages of nursing, the first few weeks or months, moreso than down the road when the baby is eating solids and whatnot as well. Maybe we're cavalier about these things in our house but we haven't worried about it overly. Breastfeeding seems to result in such positive health outcomes for babies (and arguably mothers too) that I would venture to say a judge should have no business making this kind of order without pretty pressing grounds for doing so, in my opinion, not just because of the effect it will have on the family in question but for the broader signal it sends out potentially. It's kind of depressing here in Ireland to see how many mothers who might want to try breastfeeding have formula pushed upon them almost immediately, even though ostensibly we're supposed to be trying to improve the rate at which women breastfeed. The main reason I posted the story, though, is that it illustrates a judge with a pretty skewed perception of the health risks associated with getting tattooed are. We'd have more than a few HIV cases on this board at the rate we get tattooed here, if his fears were well-founded. I suspect he's not the only one out there of that generation in positions like that who holds those sorts of ideas.

Also, don't people take out regular loans for things anymore?

Update: The Back Piece: An Uncomfortable Journey: More background shading.

Only wear watches from chief keefs jeweler

I have a weird rule imposed on myself. I won't get anything that a friend has, design and/or placement wise. Unless it's a common theme. Or if I have work in progress already started on. For example, if I were to ever get my hands tattooed, and I see that my friend just got a pair of hannyas on his hands, then I couldn't get hannyas on my hands. So it's kind of a race for me to get the tattoo designs I want before all my friends get them. Also, I used to want a praying hands tattoo, but Drake ruined that for me.

We keep going back and forth on it. We've talked about blue, green and golden but it changes every time we talk about it. Basically I think we'll end up making it up. Whatever we choose it isn't going to be your classic black and grey with red and yellow. Honestly I'm quite excited that we're improvising as we go along.

Just wanted to report that I use the saniderm method with no issues. Some what still swollen but healing ok.

I always walk around stark naked, as to not obscure any of my tattoos No but seriously... For me, part of the tattoo magic is that whole tattoos seldom gets seen in the best angle and the best light for a long period of time when you view them on other people. It's part of the charm I think, that they are a bit secret in that way. I love seeing just glimpses of well made tattoos pass by on the street or half a tattoo peek out under somebodys sleeve. Sometime the mood is right to ask them to show the whole tattoo, sometimes that's not the case. In my opinion, my tattoos are for my enjoyment first and foremost anyway. I don't think about how other people will or won't get a good view of them (except for job interviews or formal settings when they could be distracting) Talk to me in a tattoo shop or convention setting and I'd be happy to drop my pants most of the time. Not to be too much of a elitist snob but I think tattoos are for the initiated, who love and respect the art. I don't bother a lot with how my tattoos are viewed by "plainskins" when I'm out and about in every day life. Wear the watch or don't wear it, whatever you feel like that day. And enjoy your tattoos. There enough is time to get naked in front of mirrors in your privacy or with whoever you want to share it with. Just my 2 cents

From last Saturday at Great Lakes Tattoo in Chicago Nick Colella -big-ass eagle (chest) Mario Desa - rose of no mans..tribute (ankle) Frank Willian - pocket knife filler (inner arm ditch) It was a good day.... besides getting 3 killer tattoos, I got to hang out and bullshit with Chad Koeplinger and Robert Ryan and the rest of the GLT crew plus it was Robert Ryan's "The Radiant Name" art opening downstairs. GLT is probably the nicest shop I've ever been in and everybody was super nice and fun.....

Oh what the hell. Might as well post my finished back piece. A year long process has come to an end and I can't wait to start another piece! Done by Stacey Martin-Smith at Golden Age in Austin, TX.

For me, different experiences at each shop, and also this has been spread out over about 15 years. The older ones were pretty straightforward and I wasn't particularly worried about the cost, and I honestly can't remember if I tipped or not! I didn't know any better back then, that's for sure. I didn't even know that I ought to research artists before scheduling. More recently my artist liked to handle everything by email initially, with a plan about what I wanted, size, etc., with me sending him pics of the body part I wanted tattooed, and a lot of back and forth in an email consultation. I scheduled an appointment in person, and he had the sketch ready, and I went for it. We had already worked out the cost by email ahead of time - he seemed very interested in settling that ahead of time. He's been at it about 20 years. My upcoming work will be done by an artist that does not want to do anything over email but wants to meet you and have a consult in person to discuss what you want, and she gave me a rough idea of how long it will take, plus how much per hour she charges, so I can have a rough idea. We then went to her calendar and I couldn't get on the schedule for 3 months. I was a little surprised at that kind of delay but I don't know what is going on in her life, since she travels and she may be away for the summer. I don't mind - I really want HER to do this tattoo, and compared to having this on my skin the rest of my life, 3 months is nothing. I also tried to get some work done by another artist I admire but she won't do any work that she herself doesn't like and wouldn't enjoy seeing in her personal portfolio, so she refused to tattoo me. She considers her clients to be her own canvas, like if she went down to the craft store and purchased it, and hung it on her own wall, so she has to like the tattoo she's doing. I find it interesting how different artists have wildly different approaches to how they deal with their clients. Artists are entitled to this, and it is the nature of the gift!

I'm really sorry to hear that (especially since I never got to see the photos), but those things will happen. Good for your artist for turning them down. Any respectable artist would do the same.

There's always http://hanzismatter.blogspot.com to ask as well... And for a good laugh too :)

Selfishly, I wish tattoos didn't hurt because I am not into the pain aspect of it all. :D But if I really think about it, I agree that I'm glad they do hurt. It helps weed out "undesirables." If you're not willing to handle even a few minutes of pain to get your upside down wrist script, then you clearly aren't invested in it. Tattoos should be seen as a commitment...that's the part of it I'm addicted to. You do your research on artists, styles, subject matter...you sit through the pain and pay hard earned money for it...and you live with the consequences of your action as you're now "a tattooed person" or a more "heavily tattooed person." If you're not really committed to every aspect of that process, you're not ready to be tattooed. It's just another test to prove how much you want it. And honestly, you feel so much more accomplished and proud of yourself when you make it through a tough session, it makes the experience more fond and meaningful.

:) made a trip to belgium last weekend and got this funny thing from https://instagram.com/burtonursaeminoris/ (stole the picture).

frog got his color on just a few days old with regard to the color crappy pic but you get the idea by Sheila Marcello @ Electric in Asbury NJ awesome shop - and Sheila does amazing stuff going back in Sept for more :)

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.

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/

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

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

done by tony hundahl at the oklahoma tattoo convention one shot drawn on

Finished the outline yesterday and posted some pictures to my blog thing

I'd say it's more "normal" to tattoo armpits than Nipples. I've tattooed maybe 10-15 pairs of armpits. from palm-sized to full coverage. Your question @peterpoose is similar to asking "Will the hair grow back on my arm?" your skin and it's function will not change. It may be a little more sensitive for a while but armpits heal fairly quickly. Nipples are less common. I prefer the look of a tattoo that goes around the nipples if it's designed correctly. I've yet to notice anyone have loss of 'function' with tattooed nipples. They don't hold pigment quite as well as other areas, much like an elbow or knuckle. you can get the pigment to stay but you're not going to be able to have a mini portrait there. One thing to bear in mind: You can tattoo anything. yes, ANYTHING. Yep, even that bit you're thinking of. Yup, even that other bit. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lucky+diamond+rich&aq=f&oq=lucky+diamond+rich or Shannon Larratt is Zentastic › The Sleeper Has Awakened Now the question is, will it look good? The answer, as ever, is to go to someone who has healed examples of the type of thing you're looking for but some areas of skin won't ever hold finely detailed tattoo designs.