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After 7 years of hustling, freelancing, not having my shit together, and then getting my shit together - I GOT A FUCKING JOB YO!!! AND A REALLY COOL GOOD ONE!! AND I'M A GOOD GUY/ WHITE HAT!! Because it's for a large corporation I don't think I should say much more here in a public forum, but guys: I work remotely, full time, full benefits, and a 401fuckingk. I have not had these in my adult life!!! I AM STOKED!!!! You know what this means, right? More money for more tattoos. :D

Healed photo of my back that was finished last year in September, and a fresh one to the left. Both by Marius Meyer

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

@Cork I sit all day at work. and i sit for fun after work. then i lay down to sleep. pretty much a professional sitter.

I'm very surprised at how easy and fast the healing has been with my back overall and especially with this most recent session. I was worried that the area closest to my armpit would have some trouble healing because it twists and stretches a lot with almost ever movement. 4 days after the session that section has been the first to fully flake/peal. Still red and sore but overall a pretty comfortable healing experience.

@jimmyirish There's not really any getting around how daunting a full back is. I knew that getting one would be a huge commitment but I don't think I actually understood how much of a commitment that was until I started it. I think without that dedication it would be as easy to abandon a back done locally as it would one you travel for because it still takes a lot of time, pain, healing, money, and so on. It is nice though that I don't have travel costs, paying for hotels, having to take time off work in addition to the tattoo. I don't have to worry about the exchange rate. There have been sessions where I haven't been able to take the whole day off because my workload can be super heavy but I start work early so I can work a half day and then go to my appointment. I don't especially miss driving home eight hours with a fresh tattoo, and I think that would be especially uncomfortable with a back session. If I had to travel to get the tattoo I wanted I wouldn't hesitate to do that, though I would get tattooed at a slower pace and would probably sit longer sessions than I'd like to, so it is great to have Dave in the same city.

It's been said on here before but I'll say it again: BLACK. MIRROR. I'm four episodes inn and it's just soul-shattering. Best thing I've seen on tv in ages. (Avail on Netflix streaming BTW)

I survived a week long fishing vacation w/my husband, both kids, and my parents-and didn't fight w/my dad. That's some big shit.

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!

I'm just at the end of four days in Stockholm. My wife did two days getting her side panel started by Calle Corson at King Carlos. A really giant peony (picture on his IG if anyone is interested). I've been here before for work but this time I was just minding my son- so we were in every park and playground I could find. Cool city. Expensive but that's a bit like complaining Dublin is wet. Of course it is.

Heads up... I'm Selling a couple sets of flash on Ebay. 1) Dan Higgs/Eddy Deutsche collaboration from 1992/93 Vintage Dan Higgs Eddy Deutsche Tattoo Flash Set Ed Hardy Tattoo City s F | eBay 2) Eddy Deutsche/ the Pizz collaboration from 1992 Vintage Eddy Deutsche Pizz Tattoo Flash Set Higgs Ed Hardy Tattoo City s F | eBay I purchased doubles of each set directly from Eddy Deutsche when they were released and looking to sell off the duplicates. My apologies for the obnoxious watermark placed over the images but there are so many people out there looking for free Higgs/Deutsche flash, I didn't want just anyone to download and copy them (hence "weasels")

I've already gushed enough about the benefits of the -derm. I recently traveled and had my chest tattooed. 12 hours after the tattoo,removed the bandage, washed, air dried and applied the -derm. I was slightly concerned about putting on such a large amount across a huge area, as I'd never used that much before. I applied it excessively, meaning a lot farther from the edges of the tattoo, more than I'd done previously. My thought was- I tend to sweat on and around my chest and I didn't want to keep applying small patches on the edges to keep it on. 2 full days of walking around sightseeing etc in kinda warm, sunny weather (around 80 degrees) and the stuff worked perfectly. Drove home for 5 hours with a seat belt across my chest with little to no discomfort..... Depending on how big/packed with color the work you get is, there will always be some fluid build up under the -derm. I've mostly found this is just your bodies "healing juices" and is pretty normal. I've had some work not have any pooling fluid at all though. Here are a couple shots of my latest work after 4 days with the -derm on. I feel like my chest had slightly more fluid as some of it may have been sweat, but I'm not sure. Those images are about 6 hours before I removed the -derm. Once remove, both looked great and felt the same. On my chest, the skin high up on my shoulders (away from the tattoo) was kinda red and tender for 3-4 hours after, but no other problems. Both of the tattoos had a few smaller, thinner scabs, but nothing like if I didn't use the -derm. This stuff is game changing for me, as my skin certainly doesn't heal like It did 25 years ago. Every tattoo artist I've talked to, especially the "older" guys, say this stuff is great!

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

yes, i have one! Alex mcwatt from three kings tattoo. do you have any recommended artists that i should do some research on? i think i'm going to go with a japanese style on my cover up.

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

Forget indiegogo, get a WorkHarder:

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....

my personal favorite Fireup The Weed

@MMtexas ... find a new symbol. also, the tattooer will probably re-draw your image and it will likely exceed your friend's expectations. everyone else... be nice!

I don't see why not @TrixieFaux. From what I understand this is pre-preliminary research/thinking...

@BrianH just wait for more spine seshes hehe ... i found the spots that run the spine to be challenging to heal because of the daily movement and difficult to apply ointment without someone to help. So maybe my challenges were actually from the dry healing ! Will be interesting to hear your perspective...

Haha, dammit. Lucky bastard.

Since Oliver M. is out of town when I'm in London I think I might try to get a walkin at Modern Classic Tattoo in Fullham tomorrow. Will see how things proceed!

The fist bump has really taken over these days it seems. Sometimes I opt for the low two...

congrats @beez! I try to find any reason to get a celebratory tattoo. ;) we're trained to high five since we're toddlers so it's almost built into our systems! if you put up a hand for a high five, i think 95% of the people in this world will give it to you without even realizing what they're doing. it's awesome!! i'd still like to bring back the high ten... but if you approach someone with a high ten, you often get confused reactions until you actually say the words "high ten!" how can we improve this high ten stigma?! i think the % might be a bit higher with volleyball players. maybe i'll just start with my dog and see where it goes from there.

@beez - SWEET!!!!! Congratulations....

@beez - Awesome! Wishing you great managers and a happy career! @iowagirl - it makes it a true vacation when there is no drama, doesn't it? Congrats to both! Sent from my LePanII using Tapatalk 2

Congratulations @beez!! That's great :) ---- I'm feeling more content, calm and happy in my life than I remember ever doing.

I may or may not have been powerwatching Buffy the Vampire slayer while drawing at home. God, I love Netflix :D

The artist knows what to do.

I too, would like someone to pay for my tattoos. Any takers? Big fan of Workharder by the way. Kickstarter is internet hobo'ing at it's finest.

I have encountered this attitude about lasering. My friends asked what I will do if I don't want my tattoos anymore and before I could answer they said "Oh I forgot they can can be lasered off much better these days."...To which I responded I would never ever let a laser near my tattoos...(OR take out piercings). Is it so weird wanting to look this way as a senior too? People think that with (more) age I must automatically not want it anymore :P.

Yay @beez. First stop...celebratory tattoo! Can't wait to see it. Congrats! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm speculating here, but I don't think that the sweat gland damage is significant. Here is my train of thought... The main function of the sweat gland is to keep you cool. According to the Wiki, the sweat glands in your armpits don't have that function. So if anything, people should be more concerned about sweat gland damage on every other portion of your body. Speaking from experience, I still sweat all over. And I know that my tattooed skin sweat glands still work, because during healing, if I were to break out in a sweat, the fresh tattoo would burn with the sweat. @mmikaoj any pics of your pit? Also I may say that it's a great spot for shunga, but I don't think I have the balls for it. Ironically I was considering a tanuki.

@Lance Pain wise it's on par with feet maybe. But since the skin is so difficult it takes significantly longer, maybe twice or even three times as long to cover an area. Also as you try to stretch out the spot as flat and firm as possible you'll find yourself in strange postures that end up hurting really bad after a while. Anyhow, you've got my support of course! :)

It's in the skin now, too late to second guess the placement! But you've expressed you are more or less happy with it so don't overthink it (which is totally natural, but stop yourself). There is no such thing as a perfect tattoo... Don't cover it, get tattoos around the fox and adjacent area on the forearm.

solid choice! sounds like all you have to do now is stop by his shop to see what he thinks will work best as a cover up.

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

mulling over a chest eagle, actually I am going to get a chest eagle just mulling over who I am going to ask to do it...

Sorry I didn't take pictures but I just got home from my town's annual BBQ challenge. They shut down main street and bbqers from all over the country compete to feed everyone the best smoked meats. We had a wild boar gyro and some phenomenal shrimp and sausage kebabs.

Woo I can contribute to this one! I too want a baphomet devil goat tattoo at some point... Meet my Bicep Devil, done by Gre Hale, Rain City, Manchester, UK:

Done by Greg Woodrow, Taunton Tattoos - Oshawa ON Canada

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.

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

my grandfather had this strange dagger on his forearm, and old blue ink hand poked tattoo: he told me he got it when he was around maybe around 12 or 13 years old (it was around 1915). All he had to show this tattoo in any harbour to have to eat and a roof if he was in need. It was really later, when I was about 14 years old, and he was really old, I discovered he was tattooed from head to toe visiting him at the hospital: ladies head, town's name, girl's name, ships, and others I can't remember... all hand poke tattoos... everywhere! I guess I know where my love to tattoos comes from!

just got back from turks and caicos I have a few pictures on my instagram panthersandeagles. I had a great time and on a bike ride met some cool belongers and actually bought a painting from a fellow named Alexis st John. Such a nice humble guy trying to provide for his family but also has dreams of teaching others

@Wilhell Nothing is booked yet, but I've talked with Marius Meyer!

That big torso devil from Theo Mindell is on me! We have finished everything now except the last bit of fire/flames. Next/Last appt coming up in April to kill the beast.

@L2DB go to TattooFaction and you won't have anything to be worry about.