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My frog looks so much better now! I got him originally in 1998 so he was 17...not sure how old that is in frog years but he's way cuter now. He even has freckles!! I let Dominic pick all the colors, and we discussed where we're going next w/the expansion-I told him he has free reign for design and colors and he was pretty stoked about that.

Usually we require two weeks notice in writing as well as a doctor's note.

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

Nearly a year ago I moved away from the City to start a new job in quite a small Town in a fairly rural area, there are a few shops around here but most are pretty poor quality and most of the work you see is black and grey "Footballer Sleeves", Tribal and really tacky "girly" tattoo's with little to no Colourful Traditional or Japanese work on show. Anyway since starting my new job and until last month I've managed to keep my arms covered up by wearing long sleeves, not that I am hiding anything but it's generally how I dress when I work. I also like to keep my private life to myself at work and knuckle down at so getting Tattooed had never really came up in conversation. Recently though the weather has improved a lot so a few weeks ago I went to work with a short sleeve shirt and some of the reactions and questions were priceless. "Do you keep getting them touched up? My cousin got Tattooed a few weeks ago and the colour has already faded and your Tattoo's are older and still so bright!" "Those snakes and wolf are they some sort of Hells Angel thing?" "That Indian Girl on your arm what does she represent?" Then came the awkward moment when one guy showed me his really shitty tattoo on his leg telling me I should go see his Tattooer and that he would do me a good price If I mentioned him, as usual I politely told him I'd check him out and that his Tattoo's were real nice.

Look who I came across in tattoo life magazine

My friend Céline Aieta interviewed me about collecting tattoos and my photography project tied to that, when we both got tattooed by Guy Le Tatooer in Toulouse this March. She is running the new, all year 'round-blog for the Paris convention, Mondial Du Tatouage. Have a look: Joakim Mathiasson – Le tatouage intégral | Le Blog du Mondial du Tatouage It's all in french, but try google translate and it converts it to english pretty well. Was fun to be a part of this!

Did tattoo number 11 last night. It says "Bhakti" in Sanskrit on a dedicated yogini. Tiny tattoos with tiny groupings and tiny stencils are a BIG thing. We were all really happy with the outcome. She has other Sanskrit on other fingers by my teacher, so it was cool to put this next to his work. 3 liners are no joke. Not forgiving at all. We like to joke that you can see your heartbeat in it. Really pleased with how my hand strength and control is coming along. Thanks for looking!

Haha crazy. I get it though. I didn't realize what an investment it was for both student and teacher. I was fortunate enough to randomly ask for an apprenticeship from someone I became great friends with. The amount of time spent with each other is huge; if you don't get along, it will never work. My apprenticeship is 2 years of unpaid dedication. He has been honest with me that his goal is to teach me to become better than him. Like I said, it's the hardest thing I've ever done and I love it. I've learned so much about myself, life, confidence, respect and sacrifice. My teacher says it will take 10,000 hours before I feel comfortable with everything... I've got 25 hours. Haha. Thanks for the support. It truly means a lot.

Congratulations, @beez. That's wonderful news. In other wonderful news, I'm celebrating with millions of others, today's historic USSC ruling granting marriage equity.

This happened yesterday... It wasn't until this morning I figured out I didn't have photo before tegaderm got put on. Outline/black shading done in April and the rest finished yesterday. Artist: Tony Caporusso

here's a healed pic! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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

@Sick, I think you're getting caught up in the whole "I need to know what it's going to look like, I need it to be perfect!" thing a lot of people get stuck in when it comes to tattoos. Getting a good tattoo is probably 75% researching and choosing a good artist, and 25% having a good idea. You can't get a decent tattoo without both of those things present. A bad artist could butcher a great idea, and a great artist might be limited with a bad idea or a client who's too nitpicky. Find someone whose portfolio consistently impresses you in whatever style you like, figure out what emotion you're trying to represent with your tattoo (or just pick an image you like) and I can almost guarantee your artist will draw up something impressive that you'll end up liking more than any image you could find online...because it's yours and yours only. The only thing I can compare it to is this: I have an autograph by one of my favorite musicians. It's something he signed, and although he's made many signatures in his life, this specific one is mine. It's not a print, it's not something his assistant signed, it's something he made just for me. That feeling is similar to when you have an artist draw a custom tattoo, it's just not nearly as special to have someone replicate an already existing one (that's the equivalent of a print of a signature, in my example). Or if you really are obsessed with seeing what something looks like beforehand...pick flash off the wall. Or draw something yourself and insist on it being exactly the way it's drawn (don't expect a decent tattoo out of this strategy). Tattoo artists live and breathe art and can make you something gorgeous and custom if you just relinquish some control.

I've liked all of that type of tattoos that I've seen (or, do I just like seeing ladies use their hands for a bra?) Don't think the sag is just for the ladies. We guys get pretty baggy there too with age - but in your 60's who cares?

Thanks @SeeSea! Idn't he cute?? It's so hard to look at your back-I noticed this morning he has little highlights in his eyes. I hadn't really noticed that when Dominic had done all the outlining of this part of it last month, he had added leaves to the one that was already there. It's funny the things you don't see when it's just the outline, that you notice once all the color is in. I always feel so pretty when I leave there. Going there makes me wonder how heavily tattooed I will end up being-he does such a fabulous job, I about don't want to finish.

Been reading this over the past couple of weeks: Unruly Places: Lost Spaces, Secret Cities, and Other Inscrutable Geographies, Alastair Bonnett It consists of a lot short chapters about different strange places around the world, grouped in themes. There is one on Pripyat (Chernobyl), one on the Somalian pirate nest of Hobyo town, one of the "independent nation" of Sealand just of the Brittish coast, one of the enclaves within enclaves in India and Bangladesh. Besides info about the actually places the author goes through a lot of world history, sociology, economics, social- and cultural history and colorful anecdotes. I very much recommend this book too anyone, it's truly fascinating and each chapter is more interesting than the one before. Love it

@rufio Finally, my life goal accomplished: pale white ass in print for the public to view ;) Thanks for sharing!

This thread never fails to amaze me. I cannot imagine what it must feel like to have the backside of your body be that intricately covered from neck to thighs. All that color. I think it'll always seem crazy and unreal to me.

lol I secretly want a career change. Most likely it will be from education back to the business world. IF i had balls I would apprentice. I tell you that Rubendall smells it on me; we were talking about life and shooting the shit when out of the blue he stops tattooing me and says I don't do apprenticeships don't ask. It made us both laugh. I legit look at what you're doing as learning to make your first swords from a master smith.

1st session of my 3rd Marvel installment. This was by far my hardest sit yet. The lining was relatively mild until he got the the middle of my chest. Just above the nibble was "okay" and toward the arm pit was rather unpleasant. We moved on to black shading and let me say the pain meter quickly got into the straight-up suckage levels. By that point my chest started looking pretty red and swollen. That being said I am extremely happy with the super tight line work. In 2 weeks we will knock out spiderman and see how far we can get on the background and filler. I also picked up a new tattoo aftercare salve from a recent show called Vitalitree. The texture is similar to Redemption but smells a little bit like lavender and brown. I think it goes on a little smoother and does a great job with the redness. One of the ingredients is from the Tepezcohuite (miracle skin tree). It has analgesic, antibacterial, and promotes cell regeneration and minimize scaring. I'm only 12 hours removed from my session, so I can't give a detailed review, but so far it has helped with the redness and I have minimal discomfort. As for healing methods, I truly feel that the reason there are so many aftercare methods is because for the most part unless you do something stupid you will heal just fine. Anyway, here is the progress.

Isn't there room in your life for pen forums AND tattoo forums?!

Damn right. It's been a very bittersweet week here.

Maybe. Waves with white caps, around a big rock. https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Japanese+Wave+Tattoo&FORM=RESTAB

@beez congrats ! plan the work, work the plan...and get the tatts lol

Both black and colour have their places...but i like the rainbow bright technicolour look, life's too short to live in monochrome ;) - - - Updated - - - real conversation I had with a street homie "YO BRO" "What's up?" "SICK TATTS BRO. YOU GET DAT INK IN THE PEN?" I'm like "do you think you can get colour like this in jail?" Homie like "YEAH MAN, NO DOUBT! TOO NICE FOR JAIL. HEY YOU GOTTA SMOKE? NO? OK PEACE BRO" haha still makes me laugh

Hi ladies! So yesterday for the first time I wore one of those sports-bra tops to my hot yoga class instead of a full tank top... This was helpful in getting a better idea of what my body was doing during postures, and good for the heat. But more importantly, I started wanting a tattoo centered on my sternum... Yoga class always makes me think of what tattoos I need! Good idea though, right?! Not this exactly, but this type of placement:

Says the guy who has cartoon tattoos.

Last season of True Detective set the bar very high but I thought the first episode was excellent. I don't know what people expected. More of the same? I quit OITNB after the first three because it was so boring but maybe I'll give it another chance.

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.

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

I gotta hand it to you, @bongsau. You make me feel not-so-tattooed. Very solid look you got.

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!

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.

I'm stoked as I'll be able to look at it more than she does!

What I struggle with is the person wanting the exact same thing. It's strange to me, looking at someone else's skin and saying: "yeah, give me that". Very Buffalo Bill esque, to my mind. Could it have something to do with how we perceive fashion and mass media consumerism nowadays? Similarity is good and desirable?

Foo dog sleeve progress by Will Lollie. Peonies colored.

If it's a custom tattoo you're referring to, no matter what, you'll be getting an imitation. Probably a shitty one too, as any tattooer with respect for him/herself won't do it. Why not find a tattooer you like, give them an idea of what you want, and get your mind blown when you show up to the appointment and see the linedrawing for the first time? Or just get something off a flash sheet if you wan to see the design beforehand, and don't mind that a lot of other folks wear that same thing.

"Fear of a flash planet" http://tattooartistmagazineblog.com/2012/08/01/jojo-ackermann-fear-of-a-flash-planet/ It's been posted before, but reposting it is easier than rehashing the argument about the role of flash in helping people get good tattoos. And Jo Jo Ackerman makes it better anyway :) Classic or modern flash that is tattooed however many times (that army of crawling panthers) just isn't the same as someone copying what is clearly intended as custom work...

- - - Updated - - - I take terrible photos. She looks much nicer in real life ;)

Well considering that she didn't invent color blobs, I don't see how its copying her style if someone does it. I have no clue who this person is and I imagine that whatever fame is created is based in some type of internet parallel reality. I was prepared to write some profound thoughts regarding ones personal style and influences and the relationship to the ego but I think that its not important what I think. People are more worried about their opinions and seeking clarification or validation in their views. Its been said, their is nothing new. If someone appears to be breaking new ground it is part of a seemless formula of blending their influences and how they build on their inspirations. The only thing that makes someone truly special isn't contained in their renderings but in their willingness to continue to improve their abilities and their interactions with others on this plane of existence. The tattoo experience isn't about just some unique design applied to make you feel special. It was being part of something bigger than yourself and the person giving you this experience having the ability to do more than apply a nice tattoo. My favorite tattoo experiences have been the conversations and the stories exchanged as well as the persons ability to entertain, educate, and share that experience. Those other elements aren't something that show up in pictures on the intervebs. You can't craft personality the same way as your drawing abilities and application of tattoos. The tattoos I have from these folks are a permanent reminder of that interaction and the impact that moment in time had on my life. But now I babbling and rambling. And I said I wasn't going to say a bunch of stuff...so yeah. Haha. Carry on!

I'm going to elaborate on this from the report @Lance gave of Shige's seminar from this year's SFO convention: So based on that I'm going to say that doing straight copies of Shige's tattoos is garbage and that even if the copy is technically well done it's soulless and completely misses the essence of the tattoo.

A number of years ago a tattooer here in Portland did a tattoo on one of the trailblazers. That player had a contract with a local company called Nike. Pretty soon the players tattoo was being used for shirts, and even window decals. Tattooer sued, settled out of court, for years I was behind this guy getting his money for Nike ripping him off. That is until recently when I was shown the design in a Dover Clip art book you can buy at any bookstore for $9. It just showed me that a lot of the times I don't really know the origin of design, and people don't really create everything they tattoo. There are definitely a few examples on this thread of people shamelessly ripping off tattoos, or at least to the best of my knowledge that is what I perceive it to be. I just think iin general I see people getting called out for stuff neither person created and people claiming stuff they didn't do. Do we owe the guy who did the flower exploding birds the first time royalites, what about the first script carpe diem? Even the best shops do dumb stuff that people bring off the internet, I have seen it with my two eyes. I just wonder where we stop giving credit and start. If it's a dumb tattoo or insignificant tattoo is okay? If it's not done by someone with recognition it's okay? If you can do it better it's okay? Is it okay as long as they aren't a tattooer. I don't know? But saying theft is theft is quite an understatement.

This is an interesting topic with a lot of grey area. As a tattooer, it's pretty disheartening and insulting when someone blatantly rips off your work. As a client, well.. I was talking to Mr. Campise about not putting my piece online as to skate around the biters and he laid it out pretty simply. Nobody is ever going to do the original justice, and it's pretty much just free(albeit really obnoxious) advertising. Nothing can ever outshine true authenticity, and whoever ends up with the copy ends up walking around with a permanent bummer. So that's kind of where I sit on that matter... It sucks, it's inevitably going to happen, don't do it if you tattoo, and don't get down on it as a client.