Leaderboard

Fish Rose morph Becca Genne Bacon End is Near Brooklyn, NY awesome time with Becca - super cool got in early to Brooklyn so I went to Black Gold Records grabbed a coffee and tshirt chatted with Dan Santoro's wife Summer super nice lady - gotta get myself to Smith St. this fall

Hey :) Well, I have tattoos and I'm also a psychologist. Truth be told, we have an entire chapter to check about how our client looks like, and this of course, includes tattoos. This looks "chapter" is NOT as important as the others, but it is a source of information about our client - and any information we can get is helpful to better understand the client. Some tattoos have meaning, some don't. We are interested in those with a meaning for the client. Imagine a woman coming to your office, and she has a portrait tattoo in memory of her dead son. Maybe that's the reason she's there (the death of her son) and you'll want & need to find out more about it, and even if it's not, nonetheless it was an event that shaped your client one way or another. And what if tattoos could talk? What story would they say? These are very good questions to ask the client once you have established a relation with him. Some people really like to talk about their tattoos! There's also could be the case when a certain tattoo is related to a gang, to a rite of passage or even has a medical purpose (a tattoo which warns others in case of emergency that you have diabetes or certain allergies etc.) and it's important to find out the symbolism of these because it helps us, as I already said, to better understand the client. I could go on and on, but the basic idea is that there's nothing wrong with your psychologist wanting to know more about your tattoos :) P.S. - English is not my native language, so sorry for my mistakes.

Got this from Hector Fong yesterday at Tattoo 13. Always wanted something from him, and walk-in Saturday showed up, when I had some extra cash. I took this photo at BART. Looked like a weirdo, but sunlight makes for easier tattoo photo's, I've found. Rad tattoos, everyone. Keep up the good work.

Getting the back of my thigh by Koeplinger on Saturday. Looking forward a lot!

Full backpiece Shige Sept 5th

I finally got my fans!

sol you're overthinking this - who cares who likes it - if its trendy blah blah you need to like it - thats it get what you get but dont get upset

Bout 5-6 hours. @Dan thanks for your contribution to the tegaderm thread. It really helped me alot on do's and dont's. This stuff is better than a duck shitting golden eggs. It made my flight so easy. Pain was so much worse than i thought. My respect has grown deep for you guys.

Got my wife this tattoo from Thad Ritchey @ California Electric. We just had a baby a month ago and she really wanted this tattoo to symbolize that. Really happy with how it came out.

Final healed pics. Amazed and still hard to believe that I get to wear this art. I now travel with over a dozen of my underwater photographs designed into this awesome scene by Sean Zee Instagram

No idea. Robert Ryan said he was coming to Montreal on his Instagram, it isn't on the convention's website or Instagram yet. I jumped at the chance.

I am going for my first session on my right arm/shoulder with Alycia Harr tomorrow (08/24),excited to see what she has for me.

Guess we're crazy.

Sorry - I gotta double post - this is over in http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/15-latest-tattoo-lowdown-page810.html#post119681 Final healed pics! Finished a photo shoot last month so I FINALLY have great shots. Ready to enter the contest! Many of my underwater photographs designed into this awesome scene by Sean Zee Instagram

Holy shit. That looks so good. And so fast, well it seemed fast, ha. - - - Updated - - - I'm a shitty forum user. I find I only lurk the backpiece thread(s) with any kind of regularity. I should work on that. Anyways, latest sit after 2 months off for traveling and enjoying summer adventures. Started colour! Super pumped about that. Also, any sit above the waist is a good one. Have an appointment every month from now until December. Hoping to have it done then which would mean it took a year for everything shoulders to knees. Fingers crossed. Sorta off topic, but a guy was at the shop near the end of my sit. Heavily covered (only a patch bare on torso) and kinda shooting the shit. He asked if I was going to do my front. I replied with a fuck no (keep in mind, this is at the end of my sit, ha). He said finishing your back is kind of bittersweet and said he'd put money on it I do my front, ha. We shall see. I can't imagine being sad to be done. But I do plan to finish off my arms, legs, and front of thighs eventually.

@taaarro, I didn't hear back in the end from horitoshi 1, but I managed to book in with the equally brilliant Horimitsu. He is my favourite of horitoshi's protégés I think, so I couldn't be more excited! In terms of time I think Horimitsu reckons we should be able to finish the tattoo in 2-3 sessions, because it is only the lower half of my forearm. I'm gonna be there from the 11th-18th November, I don't know where you are located in Tokyo but if you feel like getting a beer or something I would be super keen!

in case you haven't heard... Original works by Ed Hardy presented by Varnish Fine Art at The Midway, 900 Marin Street, San Francisco. "...a large scale exhibition coming up in October of new works from Ed Hardy... The Artist Reception will be Thursday October 29th, which will also be the opening party for the Bay Area Convention of the Tattoo Arts. Doors open at 7:00, and will be open until midnight." anyone going?!

@Cork Thanks! I must add to my comment that time is for sure longer with tebori, but you are also certainly aware that what you get there is really unique, for everything, from the trip itself (hey, it's Japan, outside the workshop!), the quality of the design, the intensity of the colors (tebori HIS more vivid and long lasting, this is for sure, I saw 20 years old tattoos done by Horitoshi whith my own eyes and I can tell), the genuiness of everything you will experience... that it is worth it. Really. If you do love irezumi, don't hesitate. Also, you will find that, even if it may take some time before he answers back, Horitoshi sensei is really kind and open minded, so just email him! Good luck!

Greg is taking appointments, not sure about walkups, but he seemed pretty flexible time wise about a week ago. His email is on his instagram post.

Ahhh, SO COOL! I was wondering when you had your session with her. This is very cool - I love that it is a fish. Becca's stuff is so clean and with such character. You've got a really great and unique one there! - - - Updated - - - Thanks, @Cork, it took forever to get some good healed pics. But there is no more LST contest. :( :( :(. No T-shirt for me. Sniff Sniff. - - - Updated - - - Thanks, man. It blows my mind looking at it - it seems fake that this is on my back.

So far I'm resisting the temptation, but there's still a couple weeks to go. Both of those guys are high on my list (and I didn't realize until just now that Robert Ryan was even at the convention!). Either of you know if they're doing appointments only or taking walkups at all?

I mean, my pals @9Years and @hogg have awesome tigers from Tim Lehi. I would get a tiger from Lehi too, just not the exact same tigers. I need a little variance. But let's say someone got a Rose of No Mans Land on their hands, I probably wouldn't get that on my hands anymore. BUT! I would totally get an Eddy Deutsche ROA even though my pal Taro has the same thing. As long as there's variance. I have a lot of weird rules.

Badassness. But seriously, odd that it's on the checklist.

@SeeSea Congrats on getting that wrapped up! It looks great.

Brian Kaneko in less than a month, then in November Yoni Zilber. Husband is starting a chestpiece (his first tattoo) with Roxx this week. Going to be a busy fall getting tattooed, I usually get one a year.

From an artists perspective, i'd say go in at least with an idea of the tattoos the artist youve chosen has done that you like and explain why you like them (colours, layout,subject etc) and at best say youd like something along those lines. dont go in saying 'do what you want', no one ever really means that and if they explain something they'd be stoked to do and you say, yeah but not that. well, then you will have a deflated and slightly annoyed artist in your hands, vague guidance is great. the artist puts out there work theyve enjoyed or that shows their ability, all within the realm of what that customer asked for, however, so just cos you like what you see them posting doesnt mean it's what they want to do, it might be something entirely different that they simply havent gotten a chance to tattoo ever before.

Short and precise. I like that. Ha ha!

@Sick, I think it's okay to ask an artist if there's something they'd like to tattoo. Some will go for it but others will want something more concrete to work from to start with. Ask them and they'll let you know. If an artist agrees to do this though and draws something up but you don't like it at all, then you've wasted his/her time. You may end up with a panther, an exploding feather, or a tanuki w/ giant testicles (minus the tanuki) but you asked for it because they felt like tattooing it. You may get a watercolor artist draw a traditional eagle because you're giving them an opportunity to switch things up. Worse case, you then feel pressured to get a tattoo on you that you dislike and the artist tattoos you none the wiser. Which you shouldn't get obviously. Or everything could turn out absolutely amazing and you get a tattoo that makes you do a happy dance. Personally I have never started completely blank. I have always given an artist something to start with cuz that's just me. It doesn't limit their creativity though. In the case with my back piece Jill Bonny completely changed what we had discussed at my consult. The subject was the same but after some thought she felt the idea we discussed was stronger carried out in a different composition. I was so blown away by the new image, I couldn't even begin to fuck with her head by making some wise ass comment. And I love me my wise ass-isms.

As above: if you're worried about getting something because you think it's trendy, it's probably trendy. But if you really like it, just get it.

Get a skull.

It really depends on the particular tattooer. In my experience, most want some direction, but it comes down to how individual tattooers prefer to work. With that said, I do believe in the idea that people more or less get the tattoos they deserve. Nobody begins knowing anything about tattoos and knowledge is gained through getting tattooed, though spending time learning about tattoos, looking at them and so on. So if you feel that you don't have much of an imagination when it comes to tattoos but aren't actively trying to improve that imagination, then just wanting a cool tattoo probably isn't going to hack it.

"I've been kind of interested in a foo dog.". Stewart Robson. Done! "Maybe a really excellent lady head?". Valerie Vargas. Done! the one-two punch! Aside from the convention they've both guested at Blackheart while in town the last couple years. You never know, you could win the golden ticket. Ha ha! But yes, you're right there's always an amazing roster of artists at this convention @sophistre. And any number of these people can and would do an excellent job. I am always happy to play the devil on someone's shoulder if they're debating a tattoo, so please don't mind me. Then, with this list of attendees I don't really need too. You'll just find yourself in a chair in a happy tattoo overloaded daze.Ha!

@Cork I will once I figure out how to upload a photo! http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/gallery/uncategorized/18703-almost-finished-back.html - - - Updated - - -

@hellamuch Yeah, keep it to yourself. I think it's clear that no one would be interested in an freaking back piece by Freddy Corbin are you crazy post pictures now!

Hi everyone I started here my reseaches for a tebori artist to get serious irezumi done on me, and tanks to this thread and you guys, I'm getting tattoed by Horitoshi 1 sensei since two years now I had left this forum after the beginning of my japanese journey and went back few days ago, and saw that a lot of you may have some questions about the Horitoshi familly, how to get in touch, how is it like and so on. I feel I may be helpfull to some of you, and repay a bit of the help I found here, and the nice time I'm having now so... anyone, feel free to ask, if I can help, my pleasure. Mata ne!

@cltattooing It's wizard stuff for sure. There are a lot of great things about tattoos and social media, but one of the bad things is that it's so easy to be overexposed to them. Being able to open Instagram and flick through literally hundreds of great tattoos means that most tattoos become more or less forgettable. Yours is exceptional though. I can't think of seeing anything quite like it, and that is so rare. I guess one of the nice things too is that it takes such a high skill level to pull that off that you're unlikely to see many imitators anytime soon.

Just got this badboy on my shin from Daryl Hart. Super stoked on it! https://instagram.com/dhart_fbc/

@idyllsend WOW! that is really beautiful. I can't wait to see that finished. Here are a few pics from my last session with Chad K. We are essentially finished but he does want to do one more session in November for some touch ups and stuff. For all intensive purposes though, here is my finished back! I am so stoked!!! It is so vibrant and bold and I think you can read the image from a few miles away :) Chad put in some really neat little details in this last session. Not sure they will be visible in these "just finished" pics, but I will try to remember to post a healed pic. He did some really cool things with the tongue and the teeth that I am pretty pumped with.. LOVE the eyes as well. I am super grateful. rob attaching pics from gallery as that seems to be the only way for me to edit them from being sideways. If they look sideways at first, just click the pic and it should right itself.

I'm getting married May 21st next year (and you bet my dress will be showing off my back piece!). I'm also moving into an amazing apartment in The Beach area of Toronto come September 1st. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pictures from my second and third sittings. My tattooist thinks we'll have it done in 7. Thank dog. The itchiness is killing me! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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.

i'd love to see it keep going - i think when you enter your tattoo - it shouldnt be to win really but more a celebration of the good times we are all having with getting tattooed

I think it's more like a medical procedure -- particularly cosmetic surgery, which is why I quoted both of you. Cosmetic surgery isn't often viewed as 'necessary' (though in some heinous cases of disfigurement, that point is certainly arguable), but it has the potential to add immeasurable quality of life to someone's existence. Sure, there are cosmetic procedures that the majority of the population would consider 'frivolous,' but at the end of the day, the only person who can put a value on it is the person wearing the results. People spend GOBS of money of veneers, facelifts, breast implants, etc., but those also have no exchange rate (and few people these days consider that outré, barring extreme examples). Both cosmetic procedures and tattoos are tied to our self-ideation heavily. Tattoos differ -- quite possibly from any other comparable material purchase -- because there's a whole amazing culture, with a history that feels rich, full of fascinating characters, and the time we spend actually being tattooed is as much a part of the process as anything. I know fuck-all about the history of plastic surgery, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't consider any pre-op time with the doc to be an integral and cherished part of the experience, lol. In that sense, there's probably just no comparison!

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?

sorry, couldnt resist :p

I put both my sleeves on my arms! My artist said that was the best place for them. :-)

Placement is, in my opinion, the hardest thing about tattoos to understand, and it is also often the factor that distinguishes good tattoos from great tattoos. This probably isn't the most satisfying answer, but I think to really understand placement you need to look at real tattoos on people because pictures, especially the tightly cropped Instagram photos that make up most of what we look at these days, really give no sense of placement. Half the time you can't even tell what body part they're on.

If you do the exact dietzel design, you'll have a connection to it. Especially if you are really into traditional designs.