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Picked up this cool little fella from Tomas Garcia while he was working a guest spot at Acme Tattoo in Staunton, VA. Tomas is a really cool, humble guy. Do yourself a favor and get tattooed by him if you ever get the opportunity.

Third sitting a few days ago with Alex Binnie at Into You in London - http://instagram.com/p/49omsFvqzZ/

This is your first tattoo? Don't sweat it man. Love it for what it is and now you have a story to tell. Things like that put character in to the tattoo.

The 13th Annual Art Tattoo Montreal show is coming up in September. It is moving to a new and larger venue while the normal venue undergoes renovation so this installment is going to be even bigger than previous years, and from the artists who have been announced so far, it's going to be spectacular. The convention always draws so many great artists and many are returning--Henning, Mike Rubendall, Tin Tin, Todd Noble, Nick Colella, Ron Wells, Turk, Guen Douglas, James Tex, Ishmael Johnson (who I got a great tattoo from last year), and really far too many others to name--but this year there are going to be a lot of new attendees too: Steve Byrne, Katja Ramirez, Paul Dobleman, Juan Puente, Shawn Barber, Henry Lewis, Eckel, Wendy Pham, Jim Sylvia, and so many more. I have no idea who I'm going to get tattooed by because there are so many excellent choices. Like last year, the convention is opening with a vernissage at the Yves Laroche gallery, and this year the show is new paintings from Turf One, Shawn Barber, and Mike Davis. And, of course, if you're coming in from out of town, Montreal is a great city to visit and spend a few days in. I've organised LST meetups the past couple of years and I am totally up for organising a meetup again over food, drinks, or whatever, because it's always a lot of fun getting to meet and hang out with you folks in person. Who is in? art tattoo montreal https://www.facebook.com/pages/Montreal-Art-Tattoo-Show/9786505473?fref=ts https://instagram.com/arttattoomontreal/

Woah... I read this before my coffee kicked in and I thought it said they found, "Tobasco causes cancer". I'm kinda surprised at the amount of panic I felt. I love me some Tobasco.

Added some color. Quick session. Background in 2 weeks

@Shaun1105 Haha yeah, I am a little later than usual with the post this year. Though January was probably a bit early. Brunch last year was fun so maybe we'll do it again this year because it seems easiest to coordinate a meetup before the convention starts. @exume It's totally worth the effort to get here, BUT I would say that Montreal poutine is imitation poutine. You have to go off island to get the good stuff. Here is poutine from Chez Ashton in Quebec City. You can't get anything close to this in Montreal.

i can relate i'm a social worker who works in a school but also have done private practice for about 15 years people are assholes is the answer you are looking for ah the stories i could tell and while you do deposits alot changed when i started charging cancelation fees i myself think no call no show is about the rudest thing you can do to a professional but its part of the game i guess anyway good luck with your tattooing career i forget if i follow you on IG?

Got this little one a couple weeks ago from Paul Dobleman at Spider Murphy's:

Already some tough stuff this month, but I'll give it a shot. Here's my arm from Grez at Kings Avenue. All healed up.

I'm a social worker too. Crazy job that requires lots of tattoos to cope. I'm relatively new to getting tattoos so I can still kind of relate to not really getting the full scope of skill and talent it takes to be good at. This is probably true with most (or at least many) professions and most of us humans are more than willing to take others for granted without giving it much thought. Good luck to the OP. For what it's worth, I like new threads and tend not to notice the blogs as readily.

I assume your stomach hurts with hunger? :) @polliwog - I think they add artists 'til pretty close to the convention, since if some people who already said they are already coming cancel, they always have a wait list. But by now I'd assume that the bulk of the announcements are made.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, much appreciated. I'm still in the planning phase, so searching for good artists now. Fingers crossed I'll get at least one fixed by the end of the year!

Gravity is always in effect - for guys, too! But, your skin looks like it is well cared for, and the art so small that you could have any of them covered/fixed up, etc. The heart and flower could be redone in traditional or other forms. Your name could easily be incorporated, BUT, this is from some guy on the internet. Find a great tattooer, check references and portfolio, and ask the artist!

@Scott R, I wish I had that eagle on my chest. He's definitely the man for the job. He did that one on my hamstring in about 90 minutes.

Thanks SeeSea, that's the thread that I've been obsessively reading since I found LST. I love that I'm not alone in my insecurities and that most of my body-related fears about having tattoos are all in my head. See you around!!

@cltattooing thank you so much! i hope our paths cross some day and we can trade tattz. love your work!

Pat Whiting from The Shaman's Den in Binghamton, NY. I've been following him on Instagram since his first tattoo this year and he's doing some great work. Check him out: http://i.instagram.com/patwhiting143/

got this from alex knierer: https://instagram.com/alexknierer/

Wow, what a great thread this turned out to be. I read it all and you've been bringing up some very interesting points and perspectives. I want to thank _everybody_ who contributed so far!

Got confirmation yesterday of my appointment for the London Tattoo Convention on the Saturday, with Beau Brady of Invisible NYC! Stoked.

Not this forum's cup o' tea, but here is my foot tattoo done by Matt Jordan from New Zealand. This tattoo was done while filming for an upcoming episode of SullenTV's "Tattoo Collector" I also got some more work on my back by Jess Yen at Ink n Iron but we didn't get pictures so I'll take some in a few days

Girl head and rose from Paul Dobleman:

Finished up my arm with Grez last month. Here are some healed shots (that I also just put in the contest thread).

Luxury in that I don't need them to live. I can not get tattooed and live a functional life. I won't be nearly so cool looking or feel so pretty w/my many colors..but they're not like water. But they're a need for me in that it's a way of self expression. I have huge issues w/my appearance and feel...not good about myself. But I love my tattoos and like how they make me feel about myself. Money wise...I am on a jewelry forum and some of the people there have crazy insane budgets, and others, like me, need to decide what's important and spend some time socking money away in order to get an heirloom worthy piece. Just like w/tattoos, you get what you pay for, and you need to research where you go. I did my research and got myself an heirloom worthy piece. Sadly I can't pass my tattoos on to my kids haha. I do feel guilty about the money we've put into our tattoos. (and my jewelry) W/that I can tell JD if he divides the cost by the number of years we've been married, he's got me at a bargain. W/tattoos, I figure-what else can you spend that money on and have forever?

Shao Lin Monk backpiece made by Steve Batt in his private studio in Edmonton, Alberta 32 hours, Dec 2014-Jun 2015

This is my latest tattoo. Done by my girlfriend, on me, after I tattooed her. The technical application obviously needs some work, but I think she did ok for the first time running a machine. Haha.

Jeff Rassier flying Cobra. Done at Blackheart in January. Pics taken Yesterday. Tough to photo...wraps around the arm a lot.