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I had my second to last back session yesterday. I'm not going to post pictures because it was mostly ass and back of thigh shading, and as a nice bonus we hit my love handles, touched up some of the background and darkened up my ribs a bit. It was all grey wash so it's angry and red at the moment. Like @cltattooing said above, super cool. I go back next month to do the final bells and whistles: the tiger's claws and paws, his eyes, the inside of the snake's mouth, but we're almost done. I'll try to get some good pictures when it's all done and settled in.

Finished all of the linework today. 4 hours on the ass and ribs was super cool. u______u But on the plus side it is the most gorgeous tattoo ever and I could not be more thrilled about having gone through with this. Also I met Ed Hardy today and I was pretty much naked except for a drape sheet and my socks so that was awesome haha :rolleyes:

@Cork I'll have pictures for you guys soon! @Graeme ugh yours looks so good though! Been rad to see it all come together so fast, big ups to everyone in this thread for their dedication.

Second session today...3 hours background shading on one side. Thats 8 hours all up so far. Good times !

That'll make a nice story for the grandchildren one day, haha ;-)

Hey all! I have been a long time lurker here and have enjoyed reading and checking out all the cool tattoos and the stories related to getting them. I currently have my back tattooed along with my lower right leg. I need some advice on getting a new tattoo, since at this point I am contemplating a full body suit old school japanese style. Would this be a proper place to ask a few questions or should I wait until I am able to start new threads?

This weekend's brisket.

Few hours ago, noticed it's now at the "dry, flaky stage" Bepanthen is my best friend. V dry on Vader's body.

Welcome, and ask away!

I personally love the look of big work that has had time to sit in the skin, it is something very intangible that adds heavily to the tattoo itself and the person wearing it. @Dan I'm really not much for flames, but I can contribute maybe. I recently had a fun one with pricing a small one shot tattoo. I even reached out about it on this site for advice. I was quoted almost a grand on a small 2 - 2.5 hour one shot from a newish artist. I was caught off guard by the price, and I found out the artist was basically doing a cash grab to help fund a vacation. I was put off by this a lot, and ended up not going to him. Other than that particular instance I am OK paying for my work. I feel it is what the world of tattooing has become, and since I want to participate in that world I pay the admission. (It's all starbucks fault to me now) It was much like the shock of dropping $85 to see cannibal corpse when I remember seeing them for $5 in the 90s. But Willie Nelson remembers paying a dime for a dime bag so it is what it is. BUT, I completely agree with the walk ins, I have had crazy bad luck getting a walk in over the past few months in several shops. I have made several attempts (EACH) to get a fun old school shark, a knee cap dinosaur head, and a panther. ALL remain not on me. One was met with a "Bro, lets do this now!" I was pumped and said lets go, and it became a time crunch and he wouldn't have enough time to finish it the way he would like. I'm cash in hand shrugging my shoulders. I have a nice break from work til sept 8th, lets see what I can get done. Finally, while I have been greeted by the shop guys, I haven't been turned away from any artists. I believe a lot of that is to filter out the bullshit that walks in everyday that wastes time (dude I totally want a sleeve / back piece / rib piece of something badass, what I'm not leaving a deposit screw that) I have been witness to a lot of this while getting some chair time. EDIT: Sailor Jerry would roll in his grave if he knew his name was repping some garbage rum.

Yeah, I think Marc is relatively young, but I think he has been at it longer than 5 years, maybe more than 10 actually, but I could be wrong.

I just cleaned my ink and it did look smaller this morning from when I saw it first. I'll keep an eye on it, it just looks out of place, but I know the ink is still there. I was very impressed with the work my artist did. :D Edit: Was? I still am!

Last tattoo - 5 days ago. I finally finished my 2nd sleeve. Nothing cures my desire for a tattoo like getting a tattoo. I'm kind of tired of healing them. I've been working on three big projects, going almost monthly for the last several years so I'm really ready for a break.

Hope to see your new tattoo soon on here. I just got one (my first, last year - at 62). That's all that I wanted. Well, maybe one more. And I've always wanted this. I can quit anytime I want, really!

I started Taekwondo a couple weeks ago. I need to get back to doing yoga again. Have gained quite a bit of weight since having the kids and ugh talk about frustration!

this is my life to a T.. i'm off work tomorrow and contemplating going and getting my elbow tattooed even though i JUST got tattooed

Temporarily. I already am considering my next tattoo. Contemplating booking an appointment within the next week or so. - - - Updated - - - Grez is so damn good! Congrats!

Did a couple rotations of Insanity and P90X in undergrad, I enjoyed it and got quite lean, but took a break and stuck to pullups/pushups/dumbbells workouts off and on for a couple years. Finally back into the swing of things with a power lifting routine over the past two months. I really enjoying it and seeing my numbers go up is great motivation! I did a couple sets of 1x340lb on squat @165 body weight today. Getting better!

After getting my shin/lower leg demolished for 3.5-4 hours on Friday, my leg is the size of a tree trunk!!

Not the latest, but I finally got some decent pictures of my wings and eyes from Erik Von Bartholomaus. Wraps almost all the way around, making it pretty tough to take pictures of. Sorry the first picture is sideways.

Ichibay next month at the London tattoo convention, Tim Lehi in November and Chris Trevino in May next year. So stoked! - - - Updated - - - Nice! What are you getting from him? and tebori? And Mike Rubendall too? ..

A little something by Grez on Friday. https://instagram.com/p/6G4fMVHKjZ/?taken-by=gingahninja_

Just got this Jesus Daruma from Walter McDonald. Stoked to get tattoos from two people on my list (Walter and Charlie Roberts) in one summer at my friend's studio right here in Tokyo!

Just got this from Daniel Albrigo at Port City Tattoo in the LBC. https://instagram.com/p/6BfO5NH513/?taken-by=danielalbrigo

got my hand tattooed by mike wilson yesterday @ the pagoda city tattoo convention. soooo stoked on life right now even though my hands the size of a catchers mitt.

Prettyyyyyyyyy pumped about this one, not gonna lie. Yesterday: There's a vid too: https://instagram.com/p/5075TDTBNR/?taken-by=greggletron By Greg Whitehead at Scapegoat in Portland, as usual. My thigh feels like a wobbly hot water bottle today, and I don't even care. :o

Hi all, started my back piece yesterday...roughly 5 hours lining..a few rough spots but otherwise not to bad ! Artist is Dan Andersen from Sacred tattoo in New Zealand..Cheers !

Going to get some professional pictures of my back tomorrow. You know, with drapey fabric and all - the whole statue fine art thing. To capture it before I fry my tattoo in the sun. ;)

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

Tattoos truly look better as they age!