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piss poor excuse for a picture of the actual tattoo, I'll get you guys a better one when it's healed and not completely crusty. Freddy Corbin, Temple Tattoo Oakland

Speaking of Gordon Combs...

Im in total agreement that pretty pictures on a screen can't compare to the real thing (although I sure love to look at those too). Here's my biggest jaw-meet-floor experience so far: My wife and I had the opportunity to go to the opening of the Perserverance show in LA (she requested to go for her birthday. The things I have to put up with...). That was heavy. At the reception before opening day there were a ton of people with insane suits and back pieces just mingling. I saw a few of Chris Brand's 108 Heros of Los Angeles backs and some suits from Shige up-close-and-personal. Holy shit: their work is on a different level!! The next day in the auditorium they presented a seemingly endless parade of people with pieces that were featured in the exhibit. It was nuts. Total sensory overload. Pretty sure I needed a bib. I can say very confidently the experience changed me. Powerful stuff! On the off chance that anyone involved with that production is reading this, THANK YOU!!!

I'm probably biased because he's a friend, but man, damn Dave Regan has been making stuff lately that makes me sit back and smile and then kicks me in the rear very hard because I feel so untalented. Also, Gordon Combs. So good. Showstoppers for sure.

I'm a sucker for a well-executed munewari, and no one does them better than Horitoshi: And my jaw hits the floor pretty much every time Brian Kaneko posts anything. Example: Same goes for Drew Flores. The head he's working on is also a nice reminder that tattoos can still be shocking:

I ran across some of Julian Siebert's work today.

meh ok here is a pic :) from the amazing Steve Boltz totally good time talking mostly golf turns out Steve is an avid golfer and pretty good I'm neither but I love stogies and beer with friends and lets face it - thats more important than a decent backswing ;) anyway - funky fish on my bicep...

I can't explain why this one had such an impact, but it really struck me. By Troy Trujillo

I don't know but kudos to whoever got this one!

First time I realised japanese/oriental doesn't have to be traditional

This O'Donnell back piece is still mind blowing in my eyes

I have got another horror short story accepted in an ezine publication xD

So I went for my appointment with Tomas Tomas today. Trying some different styles :) Had me toes done lol, wasnt a lot we could do really with just toes but I think once it settles down and its the same colour as the snake, should fit in great. He showed me a vid and said this pattern is from some tribe from the Amazon. Now all I need is some animal skin leather pants ;p Hes a fucking awesome crack :)

I have never seen a thread for this anywhere on the forums, but sometimes I see a tattoo somewhere and it makes me go OH MY GOD THAT IS SO AMAZING and I want to share it with you guys, but since it isn't mine, I can't put it in the Lowdown thread. So, I thought I would make a thread for posting pictures of killer tattoos that don't belong to us, just to share them and 'oooooh, ahhhhh' over them. ...As I type this I'm realizing that probably 6 out of 10 rad tattoos I see on instagram turn out to belong to somebody here, so maybe this is redundant, but oh well! If it dies, it dies. :) And I'm going to contribute something, because my regular tattooer just did a thing that made my eyeballs pop out of my head, and inspired me to make the thread in the first place, because I needed people to squee about it with. Picture on greggletron's instagram and, video: And here's a video.

@cltattooing - I've been making a conscious effort to not get tattooed around the time Aunt Flo is due in town to avoid a more painful session, mostly because I get tattooed so rarely that I want to enjoy the experience as much as possible. I'm glad I've been able to avoid it until this past time. Aiyeeeeee, I can't imagine what having my back done at that time would be like.

I would agree except the bickering gets higher ratings. I read the Facebook comments. "I love her work but she's so FAT. I hope she loses soon" "His tattoos may not be good but he's a dreamboat, I'd kill for one of his pieces." And on and on. They're the same crowd who watches Real Housewives of Wherever. I wish I had a dime for every time someone typed the word "jacked", or used a direct judge's quote for criticizing something they truly do not understand. People who may or may not have a single tattoo going on and on like they're real experts. Follow their comment to their own FB page (Stalk) and if they have a tattoo, it's generally something dismal. Nary a one understands the complex simplicity of American Traditional. And Japanese? Forget about it. I have a group of a half dozen close friends who are tattoo artists and they are sick of folks coming in and acting like they're Toothpick Peck or I Hate Everyone Nunez. "Yeah, I want a Block "O" college logo but we need to discuss line weight and negative space." "Do you know Mystical Mike? I heard he was in Columbus once." The episode where the "flash challenge" was nailing drywall finally did it for me. Call Fonzie, this turd has definitely jumped the shark.

@Graeme Thank you! I am trying to make that my modus operandi of getting tattooed. I'm totally obsessed with this one n___n

I also got tattooed whilst in the middle of a visit from Aunt Flo like.. a month ago, and it was a backpiece session, and yeah. It sucked. u____u Dunno how I went so long with that never happening before though -shrug-

Yeah @beez, real shitty! I even got a cold this time around, I never get sick (or even the tattoo flu) when I get tattooed! Totally sucked...

recently found this local artist in my area, his name is Andre i dont know his last name but i will definitely be getting a tattoo off him after seeing these legs he did, Fucking mind blown!! also i believe they are based off a Rob Roskopp pro deck designed by Jim Phillips.

1. Welcome! 2. We like pictures! 3. Lots of great info here, but there is no one more qualified for the final answer than your artist.

Equally stoked for you!! Very glad to see how well the move and shop came together. Congrats and keep up the damn good work! Looking forward to showing off Shad + mystery-to-me-cuz-i-haven't-decided-yet H'ween piece, that's for sure :)))

Everyone already knows this but Marius Meyer seems to melt brains on the daily ( well, mine at least… ):

Gakkin and Guy Le Tatooer...the heavy black bodysuits are blowing my mind. Especially the recent one that Guy Le Tattooer is working on that French gal, with the dots, ornaments and big peonies. The layering is crazy, the results are beautiful.

If you have read this thread, you know that I am very hesitant to display my ink in public for fear of reactions of others. This thread made me more willing to give it a try, so I thought I’d give you an update. A couple of weeks ago I decided to test the waters at the local farm market. Normally in that situation I wear a long or 3/4 length sleeve and push it up just above my elbow. Since my half sleeve tattoos stop slightly above my elbows, nothing shows. But that day I picked out a longish short sleeve tee so about 1/3 of my tattoos showed. Not just peaking out, but about 3” of tattoo showing very clearly. As I was leaving the house I almost grabbed a sweater in case I chickened out, but then I thought “No, I'm going to do this without a safety net." I got to the market and it was pretty crowded. I was a little nervous. I started shopping, talking to vendors, checking out produce and flowers, and started to fall into my usual routine. Since I had tattoos on my mind, I noticed a few other ladies with tattoos, so I felt a little more at ease with my “sisters.” I got more comfortable and at one point I thought a lady next to me at stand was checking me out so I politely said “excuse me” and reached in front of her to pick up an item so my arm was right in front of her to see if she reacted. No reaction! Since she was a perfect stranger, I sort of secretly hoped she was shocked! That is a weird aspect of my reluctance to show pattern - I sort of like to shock strangers, but fear shocking people I know! As I paid one of the vendors for a purchase — a woman I often buy from, and who has a tattoo herself — she said, “I never noticed your tattoos before. Very pretty!” I thanked her and said that I usually don’t let them show. She said “Oh, just let ‘em show!”. That was a good feeling. All in all the whole situation went without incident. I really felt good, felt very free and alive, as if I was letting myself be me. A great first step for me. The big test would be being somewhere where I see people I know. That could have happened at the farm market — I sometimes see friends and colleagues there. I saw a few “familiar” people who I know enough to say “Hi” to, but I don’t know their names, but no one whose judgement I fear. I’m still not sure how I’m going to feel when I see one of my co-workers or bosses.

@polliwog, we got the Derby Girl book in the mail today. She is already nearly halfway through it. She's always been a pretty good reader, but I've never seen her this enthusiastic about a book! :D

started studying History at the University of Leiden, the netherlands, this year. This grands me acces to their library. Just found out they have about 2000 books about tattoos from one quick search. Everything from tribal studies to russian prison tattoo research. My life is now complete, holy shitballsmctitfuck this is awesooome!

@SeeSea - I almost fell asleep getting tattooed by Horizakura a couple years ago. I liked the sound of it, and the quietness. It's made me rethink how I want to continue getting tattooed: more tebori!!!

I got a horror short story published in a collection by female horror writers. Not been around much, as have been concentrating a lot on my writing.

I also have not been here much recently, but decided to cruise on by and say hiiiii guys! I'm super busy and kicking ass at my new gig and stoked to be doing something I enjoy that fits my lifestyle so well. Stoked to be getting tattooed by Shad in two weeks and then who knows what else is going to get done in October! I'll be back in SF for Halloween and Convention fun. :))) Miss you, LST, and think of you often. (I'm on my work computer all the time now and *alarmingly* focused, so I never think to make it over here because who wants to be on another computer AFTER work? but truly.)

Been ages since I posted on this forum, don't really know why since I have been lurking every now and then. Guess i've been more into real life outside world thingies and started university again. Anyway a friend of mine put this on my leg. Just to get some panties in a twist: this was not done in a shop, but in a bedroom. edit: It's about 2 months healed

i swear by this method !Tattooing is very demanding on the body. Not just the needle-to-skin pain but the process is very hard on the muscles and tendons, counteracting whatever contorted position and force your tattooer puts you in. ALWAYS stretch before a tattoo. This is so important. Not just a quickie stretch a minute before you jump on the table but stretch the week leading up to the tattoo, the night before, the morning of...hell, just stretch all the time! It's good for your health :)

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

You were right--this was of interest to me. Beautiful work, but it brought back some painful memories.

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.

Should really have thrown this in over the last couple of months but i'm a lazy fucker, so here it is now. By Marius Meyer, completed in May of this year (started in December of last).

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

Got this from Britney Goodman at Downtown Tattoo in Las Vegas.

Adam hays did this on me.