Leaderboard

Second session with Kelly:

One more session on this Martin Hildebrandt tribute, by Rich Hardy. Damn did that lower torso session suck.

Had this done today, red raw, should look great healed once the different tones can be seen Tha finishes that leg off now apart from the foot :)

Thought this might be of interest to some of you. All tattoo work by Diego Azaldegui.

Went to the Montreal convention looking to get a walk-up. Jebb Riley was available, and he put this candle in a long space on my right bicep.

little sum sum from Sheila Marcello @ Electric Tattoo in Asbury Park NJ

Booked in with Alix Ge to get a shishi lion and peonies on my thigh at the London Convention. Getting quite excited now but also a bit anxious. In a way not too keen to get this done at a convention but it does make things easier (and cheaper) as it saves me a trip to France.

I use nothing...Just shower twice a day and wash it with anti-bacterial soap, nothing more nothing less :) The wrap is gone as soon as I get home.

Tomo's new studio, Silk Needle, continues the Yellow Blaze tradition of being somewhat hard to find without GPS / phone map. The sign is 'blink and you'll miss it'. Nagaoka is a morning shinkansen's ride from Tokyo... 1.5 hours. The new studio is super comfy and Tomo seems to be planning a lot of conventions in Europe and Canada soon, he's energised. We did 5 hours, which finished off my front after (I think) 4 years and about six sessions? All in Japan bar one. My bank account is glad that's done. Drank some awesome Echigo beer on the way home and zoned out till I ate a restorative giant ramen. I lived on ramen this trip: All kinds! Soya base, extra fatty pork base, fish base... Cheap, tasty and hydrating. Flying home tomorrow but this morning I had a consult with Shige and, all going well, getting a small piece from him at a convention in Europe in next while.

Ok. I will go first. "When the inside of the arm isn't tattooed." Sorry, it's just a pet-peeve of mine -- people calling something a 'half-sleeve' when the inside of the bicep area isn't done. I've even heard people refer to a "Quarter sleeve" when someone just had a tattoo on his shoulder. In my way of thinking there isn't such a thing as a 'quarter sleeve'. You don't even start measuring til you got a real 'half-sleeve'. Then you can have a "three -quarter" or in Japanese vernacular a "7/10s". Then a full sleeve. Or "10/10s" Please, weigh in.

looks most excellent - you've been on quite the splurge lately

When is a "half sleeve" not a half sleeve? Pffffttttt... when it's a full sleeve. Quit being a sissy and get to work ;)

I will never smell Dial soap again and not think of healing a tattoo. Especially the joy of that first wash.

Blowouts are the hazy ink that show around line work, from my understanding. There are images of blowouts here: https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+a+blowout+in+a+tattoo&sa=G&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ved=0CCsQsARqFQoTCNOHvZ24-scCFUYoHgodrA4GBQ

A name that a Senior Chief called me back when I was a youngster in the Navy...due to my uncanny mutant like ability to evaporate into thin air when working parties we're in progress! Lol

That's my method of choice as well. Or a beanie pulled over my face. Or just dying. - - - Updated - - - Looking awesome! So jealous!

+1,000,000 for Atlas. My wife and I managed to snag some small walk-ins from Cheyenne Sawyer in March. Everyone there was really great: a super accommodating, friendly, no BS shop full of heavy hitters. Worth the trip just to gawk at the all the flash (among 100s of others they had some super cool Scott Harrison stuffs)... 10/10 would get tattooed again - - - Updated - - - Mods: let me know if you think the pic of all that flash is not appropriate. Happy to take it down if needed.

Thanks everyone. I don't mind. I said I'd like to get something I could see and enjoy from him. I've always loved his stuff so I didn't want to get something really tucked away. The plan at the moment is to fit something in at the top of my chest panels and going around the back of my neck. The neckline on my chest panels is pretty low so there is a decent enough space. Probably ojuzu or a small wrapping dragon or both. But we'll see, I could see that he measured up and was already thinking a lot about it. He was keen on the ojuzu because I think he really likes doing the buddhist imagery.

that is great. thanks for sharing, can't wait to watch some of that footage!:D

I saw you but I was physically and mentally incapable of saying hi or waving while Henning was tattooing my ribs.

From Saturday... Bottom of shin/top of foot Jeff Zuck @ Name Brand Saturday night, went to see Motorhead for probably the last time. Fun and sad at the same time as Lem seems every bit of his hard lived 69 years of age. I've seen them almost 20 times and this was kind of a teary goodbye for me.......

Many years ago I think I may have been particular, but in the end...man, it was just all about the coverage. Power lines, bold, slam the fucker in. A crocodile over the ribs you say? Sounds good to me. A pipe smokin' wizard smacked on the side of the neck? Fuck yeah. But in saying that, after years of being tattooed by the one person, he just knew what suited me as much as I did.

I tend to bring (or send) very detailed ideas - then tell my artist that I'm NOT an artist, and let them worry about the art part. Worked well on all but one, and I really got the impression that he didn't really care. I'm working toward a 1/2-3/4 sleeve, and plan to ask my artist to do green bean vines and leaves for the filler, and let her go from there. I still have two more medium sized pieces to get on that arm/shoulder and two small pieces then she can work on the filler.

HERE IT IS I briefly saw this in the post-PAX haze, and then I couldn't find it again. I am such a huge fan of the way that tiger was done. It's fierce but has a different face than I've usually seen, and those PAWS.

I don't think I ever posted a photo of my back in here. Its not entirely finished but we don't get to work on it too much. Done by my boss Jedidia Reid here in San Antonio Texas. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@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"

@CABS Make a thread about personal tattoo rules plzzzz I have some too

Hey guys, third session down, now sitting at 11 hours...second pics a bit blurry sorry...

@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.

hogg's guest on livedintattoos had me realize yesterday that I had not been following Matt on Instagram. I fixed that.

I know Jason Kundell at Artwork Rebels has already been mentioned, but everyone else at the shop is fantastic as well. Josiah Laughlin, Gordon Combs, Jeff P, and Ross Carlson are all completely epic tattooers.

Last night I was on the phone with my mother and I told her that I had started on my left arm sleeve. I only have one other tattoo and that's at least 10 years old. She sighed, then asked, "do you feel like you're getting older?". I laughed, thinking she meant mid-life crisis (I'm 48), but after reading this thread, maybe she also meant that she thought tattoos were for the young and trendy, something she thought I'd grown out of since I went so long before adding another.

Same here, but what I intended to ask was what others say too ;) I find it interesting how they view it.

It's not that bad. The inside of mine took 2.5 hours, but I never felt like I needed a break. As for the thread: I've seen people debate whether a sleeve is truly a sleeve (regardless of length). What I mean is, a sleeve isn't a sleeve unless every inch of skin is covered in ink. So having a ton of tattoos on your arms that have space in between, is still not a sleeve, just a bunch of tattoos. To me, if you're covered your covered and "sleeves" don't need to be cohesive or have a central theme as long as the tattoos are done well.

True statements, especially this one. Like dudes who get chest to chest like they're gonna fight, talking about how they're gonna fuck each other up. But if they were actually hard, they'da just laid the other guy out. If you're tough, there's no need to talk about how tough you are.

as an observation to slang and/or jargon, it used to be a way of communication that allowed you to identify "like minded" individuals and had a relevance to creating something outside of the mainstream. now as mass culture becomes a giant homogenized cluster of what people think is cool and rebellious is just the newest marketing trend. everyone has t-shirts with swirly designs and crosses that are purposely mis-printed and faded to imply that its somehow unique and different. i swear i've seen dudes who are old enough to have grand kids wearing these things. too many people are trying to invent cool new phrases to try and push out beyond this influx of mass coolness. its just a matter of time before people start adding "zilla" or "shiz" to things and saying phrases like "that dude is an inkzilla" or mashing together other overused catchy sounding words. so just remember, all the cool folks are the ones that aren't trying to be anything other than themselves.