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my 7yo nephew: "Uncle Eric, why do you have a Chinese guy on your back?" "Uncle Eric, do you have a tattoo on your bum?" "Uncle Eric, I'm gonna get a tattoo like you. Like a Metal Mulisha tattoo. Or maybe Fox Racing." ...don't worry kiddo, Uncle Eric will set you straight when you're old enough ;)

btw, my mom got her first tattoo relatively recently. She was 73.

Did you not look at the drawing or stencil before the tattoo? Placement and size are more the responsibility of the the person getting the tattoo. I'm not saying to to beat anyone up, but if you are planning on getting more tattoos, it is vital that you communicate with your artist.

Had dreams all night long about my session in two weeks. Every time I woke up, I'd go back down and have another dream. I'm getting excited - flying out to hang with mom in SF before heading over to SJ. It's getting real!

Many of you may have seen this but here's an update from Needles and Sins.

Already mentioned in the london convention meetups thread but i figured i'd post here, all booked in with Tony Hundahl for Friday the 25th. Not set on the design yet but it's gonna be something hand sized to fill a gap on one of my legs. Probably. Maybe.

Flight booked and all three artists confirmed (Rico Daruma , Mike Rubendall, Horikitsune) Time to buy convention tickets :)

Here's a pic. Left fresh, right healed. [/img]

https://www.change.org/p/andrew-cuomo-david-carlucci-kenneth-zebrowski-new-york-state-department-of-health-change-nys-bill-s1421-2015-to-allow-the-use-of-disposable-ink-caps-in-tattooing?recruiter=368545516&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink There has been a lot of fuss over this on instagram over the last few days and I feel like this is something worth sharing with the broader tattoo community as it can ultimately affect everyone. Whether you live in the state of New York and get tattooed there, whether you are a tattooer working in the state or planning to travel there for work/getting tattooed, or simply concerned that this law may set a beaurocratic precedent for other states, you should sign this petition. In a nutshell, the state passed a bill that requires all artists to use pre-packaged, single-use packets of tattoo pigment for every tattoo. Most of the concerns with this proposition are outlined in the petition, but basically it will make buying pigments very expensive, limit the quality and options of pigment available for the tattooer to buy, and will ultimately make the entire tattoo more expensive for the collector. While I feel that the health department plays an important role in holding artists accountable for safe work practices, I also feel that at the end of the day they usually have no idea what the fuck they're doing without input from the inside and this bill is no exception. Sign please! We got this!

Hi, My name is Ben. I'm 31 years old and am an Australian born and living in Adelaide, South Australia. I'm married with two kids and have 2 dogs. I have travelled through parts of Europe & UK, the USA, Thailand and numerous parts of my own country Australia. I first got tattooed at the age of 19 at 3am in the morning drunk after walking out of a strip club. The end result was terrible. I have since had laser treatment on it and plan to cover it up with a traditional panther head. I love traditional Americana tattoo style. Bright and Bold! On my left forearm I have a traditional women's face in side portrait with a rose at the bottom on my wrist. On my right forearm I have the traditional dagger going through a snakes head also with a flower at the bottom on my wrist. The work on my arms is quality and is done by the same artist here in Adelaide. He will be doing all my future work too. I also have both my kids names proudly on my chest. I'm an enthusiast of style & tradition in a lot of facets of life and along with health feel that balance is of the highest importance. I love music and sports. Glad to be a part of LST to learn and contribute. Cheers, Ben

I tried slowing down when my son was born, but just found myself riding slower bikes too quickly... So I just bought a Ducati Panigale 1299s :D Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's a pic from a few weeks ago... Here are a couple from this last weekend: (Last one is a screen shot from my Instagram account where I reposted the artist's pics of my arm) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When it hurts I like to make faces that make my buddy crack up

confucius says: when you get tattoo pain, relax the feet and the body will follow.

Ugh, the next post is a pic and a request for a cover-up. :-(

Usually i'd be around for the whole weekend but one of my best friends is getting married on the Saturday. How selfish of him!

I'll be there on the Friday. I have a session with Henning J in the late afternoon. It will be my fourth year in a row and I can't wait. So if you happen to come across a pale Scottish guy getting his ribs hammered from 5pm onwards on Friday feel free to say hello to help me take my mind off the pain.

i continued a tattoo on hip. it was hard :/ I waited this session two year and very happy now ) It will be one tattoo in next time we connect these birds =)

I really, really don't enjoy being asked to participate in conversations that begin with "so I just bought a tattoo gun online."

Signed. Seemingly-innocuous laws like this are just part of incremental efforts by legislators and special interests to ban things they don't like. This has happened in many other fields as well.

@heathenist I think "a trippy Jesus head" sounds pretty good as a request. Way better than "I want something to represent my family, my place in the world and how I developed as a person. Please also include a shark"

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.

A crazy old dude came up to me in the street a few weeks ago, he was pointing out his wrist to me. He had a tattoo on the top of his arm and so do I, so I started showing mine thinking he was looking to talk tattoos. Turns out he was just trying to do the universal signifier for 'do you have the time'. I guess Decoratedskins say the darndest things too. Haha.

Teenager conversation at the grocery store... Teenage Girl Cashier: "Like OMG this lady I know, like, she got a tattoo of a cobra snake ON HER CLEAVAGE. Like, OMG, you could see EVERYTHING. I mean, like, she was wearing clothes but OMG, like you could see her tattoo. Why would you get a tattoo so everyone could see it?" Teenage Bag Boy/Bro: "Yeah, well I heard you can get a tattoo for $100." Me: "Try double per hour" TGC: "Well, like, how long did your tattoo take to finish?" Me: "12 years so far" TGC: "Like, OMG that is sooo expensive." Me: "Would you rather be covered in cheap tattoos or nice tattoos?" TBBB: "Yeah bro, when I'm gonna get my tattoo, like, it's going to be the most expensive tattoo possible."

This is why I have tattoos I can cover. Once I got over my need to please everyone at the ripe age of 30, I realize I dislike probably 2/3rds of people I meet.

Disgusting, I hate religious zealots! I Had an older man approach me the other day and asked WHY I did that to my beautiful skin. I told him I had waited my whole life for a beautiful piece and I love it. He then asked about when I get older like 40 and changed my mind.......I answered that I'm 43 and I'm quite able to make permanent life changing decisions. BUT Thanks anyways. It's funny though, that he would feel so uppity about my work since he had been panhandling before I walked up. I also had another man ask me what my tramp stamp said. I said excuse me...1 I'm not a tramp and 2 I don't have any tramp stamps. He answered It might help you get pregnant. :( WTF? Oh then last night, Hubby and I were getting a beer at a local pub when some skezie guy started talking to me about my work then started stripping to show me all his....He then asked about hourly wages. It didn't bother me since he didn't ask how much it cost. I told him....He said HOLY SHIT! I NEVER pay more than 40 an hour and my guy even does it in my kitchen....I smiled and walked away quickly.

This! I've also had more than a handful of weirdos say "I'll pray for you" or something similar. This always makes me glad I have several devil tattoos and the wanting for several more.

I agree with @DavidR this guy sounds like he was more interested in being demeaning towards woman in whatever way possible than he was in your tattoo. What a sad scary person.

...I can't believe this thread has been dormant for 6 months. Last night we went to a wedding. I wore a little black dress with thin straps so the top third of my backpiece showed. I had my hair up. Overall, I got positive reviews or no comments - it was very cool. However, "Jackass" (as he was come to be called), came up to me at the bar. Picture 60 y/o paunch, light pink button-down, partially untucked - all the guys were all still wearing suit jackets. Partially in the bottle. So he is chatting me up and then sees my tattoo. Him: Wow, I just saw your art. It seems like the entire back is a "new thing." The first time I saw one was when we took our son to a dude ranch in Texas and a girl had one. It was quite alluring. Me: ::eesh:: Him: So this was probably more than one session? Me: Yes, it was two. (Actually, it was 20). Him: So, how is your Hepatitis C? Is it under control? Me: Excuse me? Him: You know, your Hep C. And your Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B? Me (deadpanned): Everything is under control. Him: You know, I ask, because you had more than one session, so there was more than one needle. So you have to keep it under control. Me, (skeeved out and walking away): It's fine. So I tell my friends, and we all get weirded out. Shudders. So anyway, later in the night, I want to go back to the bar and get a drink for me and the Hubs. But Jackass is there talking with another guy I don't know. But I go up anyway and talk straight to the bartender and order. Him to buddy: There are a lot of women in those same little black dresses. They must all shop at the same store. Me: ::Stars straight ahead:: Him (announcing into the air): Well, I guess no one heard that. Me (walking away with my drinks): I'm sorry, it must be my Hepatitis C showing. Him: Excuse me? Me: IT MUST BE MY HEP C SHOWING. Him (huffed up and offended): I was just being concerned. ?!? Super shudders. Eeeeesh. One of my girlfriends said I should have rubbed my arm over his and "gotten my Hep C all over him." But I was too skeeved out to even consider touching him. I hate people who play these little word power games. I have to come up with a few more standard answers to assholes. Happily, I did get the chance to smack him back down.

This is fantastic advice. My thighs swelled, but nothing remotely close to how swollen my lower leg tattoos were. I think you'll be fine. And have a blast at SOG (one of my favorite shops) and SF (my city)!

@SeeSea, I remember during one past session, the Shop mentioned that people were no longer allowed to go into the work space unless they were being tattooed. It was a City ordenance rather than a shop rule. That said they may be cool if your mom popped her head in for a couple minutes. As for me? Yeah Monmon cats or cat heads in the arm pits. Actually it's the only space left. My torso down to my thighs is reserved. That leaves only my hands, neck, arm pits, and my lower left leg open. I'm kind of keen on leaving my neck and hands un-tattooed, and for whatever oddness, kind of like wanting to leave my lower leg open too. Hmm, I suppose I could get the lower part of my front done "gobu" style where inner thighs are open. I could then get him to do my inner thighs perhaps. But hey, if Beaux Brady can get his arm pit done by Horitomo and survive, I can hope to do so too! Ha ha!

That's exactly what I told him then. Grandma didn't have a problem with it, so he left it. He isn't taking the wedding photos and Sister is immensely proud of her tattoos, so she's planning to leave them in the photos. She figures that our body art is part of us - why hide or erase it, when everyone knows it's there?

So I have been away for over a week on vacation, no internet. Logged on today, saw that there was a bunch of posts in this thread, and started to catch up. Got halfway through @mmikaoj 's post and decided to leave it until tonight after my son's soccer practice. While there I was talking to my buddy's wife, who apparently hasn't seen me in shorts since December. So I proceeded to answer just about every single question on here - pain, cost, meaning, where, why, etc., etc. Started out like this: Her- "Whoa, when did you get that?!? Me - "December" Her- "What's the meaning??" Me - "It means I have an awesome panther on my leg. With a sword. And some roses." Her - "Oh, three roses! For your wife and two kids. Me - "Uh....OK" I felt like the conversation was happening because of this thread.

Re: cost. Almost everyone has asked me this question and very few people know I am working on a full back. It makes me uncomfortable, even from friends, and I don't have a pat answer yet. But the other day, without even thinking, I replied, "Yeah, it's more expensive than going to the movies." For some reason, that shut down the question with a little laugh from both of us, but in a way that it was clear I wasn't going to share, conversation was over, without being rude or making them feel like a jerk for asking (my friends, after all). Not sure I can explain that, but it was a positive thing and I think I'll try that one again.

Getting a big tattoo has really changed my view of my skin health. I've got several bottles of good quality SPF 50 everywhere and several UV 50 shirts, 2 UV hoodies and coverup. And now that I am thinking thigh, I've found myself slathering lotion over other parts of my body in preparation for possible new tattoos! (You know, because it's an addiction and all...) No, I'm excited to wear my tattoos! - - - Updated - - - I get the standard "does it hurt" and "how much is it costing" and I have no idea why people think it wouldn't hurt. Are they assessing your degree of masochism? Secretly thinking you deserve it? (Rhetorical...) I was on a diving vacation a couple weeks ago and there were three distinct responses. We were diving with the same group of 13 on the same small boat. I wore a rash guard all the time and no one saw the tattoo until the 2nd or 3rd day, so people got to know me as a person. A nice couple our age who'd traveled the world teaching English were so interested and curious (we were diving, my back is an in-progress montage of underwater photographs I've taken) and we talked about the different critters and how a tattoo like this progress. Very nice and completely accepting. They have no tattoos. There was another group, three of whom had small tattoos, and they either didn't say anything and treated me the same - one told me a guy she knew was getting a full suit and was to be featured in a book. She was cool and open. The other group was a family who initially was friendly to me. The dad and I are in the same profession and somewhat muckity-mucks. I could possibly have been a useful contact to him. Then when I showed up at the (inside) tiki bar wearing only a bikini and showing my tattoo off the first (and only) time, the father came around the back of me to look at the chalkboard menu above the bar where I was sitting. My husband told me he stood there for a good 5 minutes staring at my back while pretending to read the menu. After that, they didn't talk to me for a couple days, but a couple of them (including the dad) warmed up to me somewhat after being stuck on a small boat together and having to realize I was a real person. Interesting to see the reactions.

"Tattoos are not an addiction; they are a collection. A tattoo collector is just like a conventional art collector who buys a painting, hangs it on the wall, and then moves on to acquire the next, unique piece. Tattoo collecting is a spiritual pursuit, while addiction is a physiological need. Addicts repeatedly take the same drug over and over without limit. A tattoo collection has variety, and it has an end. Once you collect the whole set, you're done." -Horiyoshi III Side note: I also have a Hello Kitty. It was done by my fiancée, is about an inch and a half wide, and took her about an hour. It's just lines, aside from color in the bow and nose. She was really trying.

I really don't like the term "plain skin".....seems derogatory in a way..... Like we are really that much different.....just because we chose to alter our appearance or something! Anyway..... I don't even realize I am tattooed anymore.....I always think maybe there is a stain on my shirt or food in my teeth.....LOL! Stares or comments don't bother me much anymore......and yeah you do hear some really strange things come out of peoples mouths BUT I have also heard some of the same things come out of people who are less tattooed than others are too! - - - Updated - - - Okay....funny story....maybe a little off topic though.... I had a girl I was dating come to visit me several years ago.....she was moderately tattooed! She told me at the airport she was sitting there and everyone seemed to be staring in her direction.....in fact so much so that she was seriously thinking about asking why everyone was staring at her so much....."Haven't you seen a tattooed woman before???"....is what she was thinking! Then she realized........she was sitting under the Television......LMFAO!

I tell the straights nothing. Even genuine interest, it's not for them to understand in my book. I keep my answers aloof, don't tell them where I go, don't even try to educate a clean skin as to why. I consider it prying into my business. I don't pry into theirs. Keeps a bit of the mystery alive too.

Heres Josh Arments backpiece referred to by Scott elsewhere on here and rendered by Bob Roberts -crazy cool!!