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Hi guys, nothing wrong with asking who peoples' favorite artists are. perfectly legit question, and a fine use of LST if you ask me. People are here to learn about good tattoo artists so if someone learns about a good artist through this type of poll, then it's a win.

I saw a 15 yr old zuck tiger and panther that looked sooo good. THe lucky dude said he didnt even use lotion or sunscreen. I was taken aback I always liked most of his stuff, but seeing some large pieces in person helped me appreciate what he does even more

You should probably go down to Olympia and see Marco Hernandez at Lit Fuse. He is mostly known for his Black and Grey work, but he can do pretty much anything. He has been tattooing for a long time, and he is really good at fixing up and adding on to tattoos that people are not happy with. He travels a lot so I recommend calling to see if he is around before you drive down, but he will be worth whatever time it takes to get tattooed by him.

Hi Wes...hate to give you the most obvious answer, but actually finishing the tattoo will make it look better/more finished. Right now it's just an outline. Good luck!

Ha! Thanks dood. I really didn't mind, but thanks. I'm off now to get married by Elvis in Las Vegas to my beautiful fiancée, so I'll see you all soooooon! @exume Yes, you are correct, this is my first tattoo. I seem to have started in 5th gear...

I'm a moron! You are of course right. The winner of Tattoo of the month June 2015 is @Kinglambert with this amazing back piece by Fil Wood. Congrats man!!

Got a namakubi done at a local shop. Sovereign Arms Tattoo in GR, MI. Getting tattooed around the shin hurts a lot more than I thought it would. Got a little shaky..

I think the piece you're missing is that you don't need to find anyone that can draw. You need to find the tattoo artist/shop you want to have do the piece and work with that person to draw it for you and ultimately tattoo it for you. It's what they do... The "someone" you find who can draw, might be great at drawing but will have no clue how to draw it to be tattooed. They wont know how it needs to flow or lend itself to the particular spot you want it tattooed on your body. So first, find the tattoo artist/shop...then go talk to them in person and they'll work it out with you. Do you already have a shop in mind? If not, I'm sure someone can give you a few suggestions if you tell us where you're located. Good luck.

Hello Paul and welcome to LST! I recommend you to not make the design yourself or have anyone draw it for you. Instead, look at a lot of tattoos until you get a sense of what kind of styles you enjoy. I don't know where you are located but chances are there's at least a couple of tattoo shops close by. Go check those out, look at the artists portfolios and hopefully you'll find an artist that inspires you and who's work is good enough so that you will trust her/him to draw a tattoo based on your idea. To get you started you can browse the blog where I post tattoos that inspires me: UGLY FREEDOM I also whole heartedly recommend you to read at leas part of this thread: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/2396-what-makes-good-tattoo.html The info and opinions inside will help you while looking at tattoos, to determine the "quality" for lack of a better word. I always suggest people who are new to tattooing to get their first tattoos on a part of their body that's often covered by clothes. So you can chose when you want to show your tattoo and slowly get used to the thought of permanently changing the look of your body. Also, speaking from personal experience, if you keep getting tattooed your taste and ideas about tattoos will evolve a lot. Even if your first tattoo turns out to be super good, chances are that in a few years you'll be happy that you saved the more visible body parts for better work. Long winded message, anyhow. I wish you good luck and have fun getting your first tattoo(s)!

It's true, I am the grumpiest person here. And of course we all have our favorites--you can tell who mine are because I've been tattooed by many of them--I just really don't like the idea of a top whatever list or ideas about "the best" because that kind of stuff belongs on reality TV or on know-nothing clickbait sites. The best tattoo is the tattoo that is made well, that you like, and that you had a good experience getting. If you like a tattooer, get tattooed by him or her. Everything else is silly.

Thanks a lot for linking this! I found it very interesting and well phrased. I hope people who are new to tattoo culture listens to this early on. Freddy clearly has a really good and humble attitude, and cares a lot about tattooing. Very inspirational, thanks!

I felt the need for a solar plexus tattoo too, but I do hope to be skipping about naked at 80, well, if I fancy it. The standard underboob placement was never going to be optimal on me, I've never had the right sort of breasts. So, my tattoo comes up and onto to solar plexus, rather than being placed around it, if you see what I mean. It ends just, just under the band of my bra/bikini. But, I'd say, with breasts like you describe @TrixieFaux, it's not boob saggage that's a potential issue with this placement, that's never going to mess things up too much. Rather, it's the way the underboob placement tends increases the visibility of the natural asymmetry of the breasts (that all women have). That asymmetry does become more apparent as the breast softens with age and reproduction even if there isn't significant sagging. Even on the very young, pert, instagram chests I've more than often seen the placement emphasise the asymmetry, making the tattoo look slightly wonky even though, technically speaking it is perfectly centered etc. which is a shame. With mine being designed and placed as it is my breasts (when roaming free) actually look more symetrical than they did before, rather than less. Which is nice. I've posted it on latest tattoo lowdown already but here it is again. - - - Updated - - - With asymetry, I mean the often subtle differences in roots of the breasts, rather than the slight differences in size and shape between the breasts (which we are usually aware of). The differences in height of the base of the breast and the precise distance from the from the center of the breast bone to the root of the breast can be pretty much imperceptible on a lot of women, until you place something that is utterly symmetrical in between and under them...

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.

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.

Congrats @Kinglambert! Fantastic backpiece, do I remember reading that this was your first tattoo? What a way to start.

That's a bummer because each of those tattoos was great. People need to get more great tattoos and post them!

I feel like this part needs an explanation. Did you accidentally get tattooed by him somehow? Was it such a small tattoo that you aren't counting it? Or are you saying you want to get tattooed by him again? :)

Yeah,it's a good thing to share info about a tattooer who's work you like even though you may personally never get tattooed by that artist.I know a lot of artists in UK travel to the States to work,and maybe I will get a chance to be tattooed by a few of them.I did come across an artist in the UK who I wasn't aware of,and really like his chrysanthemums a lot.So another artist on the list. https://instagram.com/elliottwells666 https://instagram.com/akumashugi This guy does beautiful animals like the Monmon cats

well - first tattoo on the lower arm - to me - means that you plan on more tattoos...correct? so leave this one be and go get some more tattoos and do a little more research - in todays world with so many artists posting their work steadyon the IG there is no excuse also - you dont always have to listen to your spouse buddy you didnt like how it looked - unfinished - so lesson learned - listen to your gut

Awwww bebeh tummeh! Soooo sweet!

https://instagram.com/rodrigosoutobueno https://instagram.com/billyhay https://instagram.com/steve_h_morante https://instagram.com/claudiadesabe https://instagram.com/ellierichmond

@hogg Oh his tiny hands. He's beautiful. Congratulations.

Stacie opened a shop in Olympia,and does very nice work. https://instagram.com/staciejascott

Can it get more American? :p

Anyone can be your favourite! And you can have any list or ranking that you want! I don't think anyone was/is offended or upset at all. You just have to realize that sometimes @Graeme doesn't like things. And that's ok too.

OMG. too cute. @hogg CONGRATS!!!

Congrats, @beez. That is truly awesome. Here's an awesome thing I did last week: held this guy for the first time. He's pretty chill, and his big sister is already infatuated with him--for now. :)

The only one i know off the top of my head is Liberty Tattoo, which is very highly regarded. There are a few locals to that area on here though that can chime in maybe. @beez is from the PNW i think? (Might be totally wrong there.) If you're willing to make the trip to Portland i know of some great shops personally, but i know you have some world class artists in your area!

My UK artist list: Joe Ellis because I was tattooed by him and is a really nice guy. Soap because he tattooed my friend and is a really nice guy.

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!

I thought of this thread while I was getting worked on yesterday. All I'd've been able to post tho would be a bunch of fuck fuck fuckity fucks. ooo some of those spots *stung*! Sometimes it sucks to be a big girl and not make faces and just sit there and smile!

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.

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

@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.

@Rob I Thanks! We're going to have to get a group LST backpiece photo at the Montreal convention this year. - - - Updated - - - @jimmyirish Thanks! I am so stoked with how it's coming together and I'm lucky to have such a good tattooer working locally.

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.

My sister snapped this photo of me today at the beach. So weird. Now I think I finally understand the whole never feeling naked thing, hah. And yes, all the sunblock reapplied non-stop, and I was only on my front for like 5mins while texting, hah. I feel like I need to justify the bare back in sun to you fine ladies. And no, it's obviously not done. Not even close. :'(

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.