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started today...finish next month... can't go wrong w/snake and rose right? didn't have either...ScottSylvia's the best :)

I felt like this has to be posted somewhere on this board, since I can't be the only one who nerds out over stuff like this: BBC One - Life Story, Courtship, Pufferfish 'crop circles' Pufferfish mandala. Animals are amazing.

So... not been on to post anything in a little while. I had to miss a session last month for medical reasons. I would absolutely have preferred being tattooed for 3 hours compared to going to the doctors. Anyway I made up for the missed session yesterday. We did the blue on the back of the left leg and then started to put some green in the leaves around the blossoms. I have another session in a couple of weeks time which will complete the scales. We talked about maybe slowly fading the blue towards the tail so that it ends up super pale, almost white, which I think could look amazing. We are then definitely going to be on the home stretch. After 45 hours it is really coming to life and I am incredibly happy with it.

For me when i was first getting into this industry it was Dave Fox who always made me drool, everything he did just had this perfect layer of TOUGH over it, with just the right amount of exagerration

#Eevee - good luck with your decision. I certainly understand. The tattoo I got last month was the same deal - waited over a year and was told from the outset that what he designs is what I get. That made me pretty nervous, but I like his art and I shared a LOT about what I was looking for, and then I just took the leap of faith. I didn't know what to expect and what he came up with is probably not what I would have drawn. But I am not an artist, and what he did was amazing. I'm pretty type a on some things, so it was a big leap for me to relinquish this control. But I liked putting that control on someone else because I wanted HIS interpretation. I suppose if I hated it then we would have to have a conversation, but luckily that did not happen. It's also on my thigh, so it is easy to cover. That probably made it a lot easier, too. Fox - that is cool. I like foxes. Sometimes they run in the backyard but screech like banshees when the boys start territory battles.

I thought a lot about if or how to respond to this comment. At first I drafted a nasty, sarcastic response, but I thought better of it and decided to be more charitable. I can say with absolute certainty that I did not make the wrong decision to get tattooed. I got tattooed because I wanted to, for my own reasons. I happen to absolutely love my tattoos. The only regret that I have is that I’m not totally covered. When I first got tattooed, I had no idea what was ahead. I was going to get one tattoo, hidden, even when wearing a bathing suit, and that would be the end. It was to be a private thing. That was the way I wanted it, and I was happy with that. I never imagined that I would get more than one tattoo, much less several. And even as I got more tattoos, I intended to keep them private. The were to be for me and my husband. Even when I completed my half-sleeves, they were calculated to be coverable. But I never imagined how much I would like being a tattooed person, I never anticipated how much I would come to love the way I looked with my tattoos. I never imagined how happy they would make me. And I never thought that I would love my tattoos so much that I would sometimes like to share them with the world. This whole discussion would never have happened if I had decided to keep them private, so to suggest that I made the wrong decision simply because of my concern about what people would think is rather unfair and uninformed. I’m not a person that is saying “Hey, I’m thinking about getting my first tattoo. I will cover my whole forearm and back of my hand. But I’m worried about the reaction of others.” in that case it might be appropriate to ask if the person if they are sure that they are making the right decision. But I am a person already happily tattooed and am now simply trying to become comfortable with letting them show in public. I like LST because most people here are understanding and helpful. They are (usually) not judgmental of the tattoo decisions that others make. If a woman posts that she is getting a backpiece and want to wears something that will not be too revealing while the work is being done, you get dozens of helpful suggestions from women who have already dealt with the issue. No one says “If you are afraid of showing you body in the tattoo studio, then perhaps you shouldn’t get a tattoo.” Quite honestly, the comment is exactly the kind that I might expect to hear from a rude person who is a tattoo hater.

thanks @Iwar, @zetroc, @exume, i'm super happy...and am always amazed at what @Scott Sylvia can do in one sitting...can't wait to finish it :)

I sometimes watch that shit, and I'm ashamed of it. Here are some of the things from Ink Master that make me cringe: "human canvas", "the judges have decided", "...but that's not it" (in the voice of Dave Navarro), "human canvas jury", Dave Navarro, NFL stars with no knowledge of tattoo culture, random morons with no knowledge of tattoo culture, the fact that there are two people judging that actually has vast knowledge of tattoo culture and yet choose to participate in the freak show known as ink master, etc etc. I know, I shouldn't be watching it if I loathe it so much, but I can't help myself... I just hope mr Kruseman, who seems to be a real person, gets to walk home with the 100.00 dollars ("a feature in inked magazine, and the title of ink master" aaargh, I can't stand Dave Navarro!)

In unrelated news, it's coming up to our first wedding anniversary and I've been looking at the photos again- I love the glimpses of ink I've got in some of them. For example, this one! Hope no one minds me posting it.

If you don't have anything nice to say…

I and my husband have a one cat :) big fluffy cat which name is Belfegor (abbreviated - Belfik). Animal was take from street and brought to home where we fed and treated cat. And if Belfik like that: Now like this:

I found this today. Does anyone know about it or have you ever seen it? I want to take it to my artist and have him do his own thing with it. Any thoughts?

Hello Everyone, My Name is Marc Taylor, I am the owner/operator of Gold Mine Tattoo in historic Jamestown Ca. looking forward to all the good to come put of this board

Dave Navarro is the ugliest woman I've ever met.

Cheers dude

^ and I love your tattoo, I saw it on the other thread! I think I too am quite type a so this is a challenge for me. But I'm going to think it over a bit more and see what instinct says.

i hid my tattoos from my dad for 10 years. Cuz after he found out my sister had tattoos he did not talk to her for 4 years. On the way to my sister's funeral I turned to my further and said, "dad I have a lot of tattoos, and I don't want to die hiding anything from you. Or hide who I really am" he said "ok, I'm not a dipshit David, your a tattoo artists I assumed you have been tattooed for years. The end.

Branding is imprecise and gives unpredictable results. Scarification by cutting is a little less so, but still dicey...no pun intended. You can also have permanent discomfort as with any significant scar.

That's on Travis who used to work at KA, and at Ed Hardy weekend, him, Chuck, Frankie, and one guy who is a regular client/friend there took a pic with their backs from O'Donnell, Boltz, Roper, and Rubendall, respectively. The pic is floating around out on the internet, and it's insane. Found it: https://instagram.com/p/2xAecHsNc9/?taken-by=chuckdtattoos

Turns out that the only photo I can find of my back is stolen from my Facebook where I was making a silly collage to show someone the progression. Ah well, better than nothing! Will have to make the husband take a better one some time.

don't sweat it too much. You've been to some great artists, and gotten some great tattoos. At your next appointment with Dobleman, bounce your ideas off him. Any artist of his caliber can do a lot with all the space you have, or any other weird space for that matter. Also, welcome.

Maybe you'll feel better with a nice big tattoo on that empty inner bicep? :) I'm not a tattooer and am no expert at placement, but it jumped out to me; there's so much you could do with a space that size. Alternately: I had an awkward spot on the back of my arm, so I got tattooed elsewhere, stopped thinking about that spot, and came back to it later. It helped.

hey guys, first post and this one is important to me! i was hoping to grab some advice. started my sleeve out a few years back with the intention of only having one half sleeve.... yea fucking right: now obviously i want to sleeve up on both arms. but i feel like i have concentrated way too much on that one area, i am bare everywhere else on that arm and totally naked on my right arm. i also feel like i've sort of closed up the left sleeve with those smaller tattoos towards the bottom. do ya'll have any advice for my next piece to make everything breath better? do ya think that arm too cramped or that i can still make it work? i don't wanna be screwed over by poor early tattoo decisions. in terms of the work i still love them all: been tattooed by dobleman, josh stephens and ivan antonyshev. i actually have an apt w paul nobleman in november so id love to get some ideas for an area to balance things out. thanks a ton! :cool: :cool: :cool: @dirbab --- love your arms. would love some words of wisdom.

Speaking of Gordon Combs...

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.

Jun Cha's work is usually a feast for the eyes. Glenn Cuzen's back piece has gotten plenty of attention lately, and for a good reason.

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.

Yeah, I see what you mean about the streaks in the orange. But I don't see what is missing or needs to be finished. I think it looks great. Not much you can do about the areas in orange unless you wanted to make some big changes, or get in there with some accents in a darker color to distract from them. Although that could make the overall tattoo design look worse. It doesn't sound like you've had it for very long - I'd suggest giving it some time to heal and see how it turns out. It could settle in better, who knows. But I do like it!

Well, I took it to my artist and he did his thing. Here is a photo of the outline. I'm pretty much in love with it. - - - Updated - - - Here is the photo.

Some of you have already seen this, but we finished my back yesterday. Some of it is still fresh and angry, so I'll get better pictures when it's healed and settled in. Dave Cummings at PSC Tattoo in Montreal did this. Dave is the man, get tattooed by him.

When I was planning my left arm I had a lot of reservations about going down to my wrist so I was thinking 3/4s, but I was also thinking of what I could do later to extend that down to my wrist. I ended up going down to my wrist and I'm happy that I did because I ended up with a stronger tattoo than I would have if I'd gone for less coverage initially and then later extended it. I don't have a job where I need to cover my tattoos, and in situations where I do need to cover them, short sleeves still don't work with half sleeves. I know it's slightly different with women's fashion because there are more options, but if you're already tattooed near your elbow, chances are you've already limited yourself in terms of clothing if you need to cover them. How much a tattoo is going to hurt should never be a consideration.

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.

With respect to cohesiveness and advance planning, I did a reverse approach to my tattoo suit. I didn't get my first couple tattoos with the intent to do a bodysuit, I just got some tattoos and then continued to balance side-to-side to maintain my symmetry. I had arms, legs, ribs, stomach, chest, neck/shoulders and thighs completed before I started my back, which is an opposite approach. That's just the way it worked out for me as my interest and excitement for tattooing grew. I got tattooed by 14 different guys over the years. I had one session in particular in 2009 (my chest, during my 100th hour) that the shop had a full house of heavyweights. Me working on full size chest piece and 3 other cats working on backs (waist up). Everyone hit the day rate, after 5 hours was no charge, and there was some magic in the shop that day. From that moment seeing backpieces in the flesh in progress, I knew that's where I was headed tattoo-wise but wasn't in a place in my life to commit to the time/money nor had I an idea for a subject I felt strongly enough that I could carry the weight of on my back. I was headed there all along in hindsight, just sometimes in life that direction you're headed does not reveal itself fully to you until you are ready to become aware of it. I've been to China to further my kung fu training 3 times since 2008, the last 2 times (2011 and 2014) to train at Shaolin. The first trip is when I finally knew I wanted a monk on my back, similar to the murals etched in the walls of the temple and the design on the back of the training vest the monks wear. I connected with the tattooer and the correspondence for the back began in 2012. In the meantime I worked on some other spots like the tiger in my belly, some thigh tattoos, collar/neck while I patiently waited for the green-go-light. Because of my existing tattoos though, there were certain spots I wanted to complete first in sequence to frame and layer my works the way I desired. There was some other life-shit that went down in the meantime, namely my Sifu - my kung fu master - passing away suddenly and one of his dying wishes was that we take the students again to Shaolin and continue our relationship with the temple. That's an intense story on it's own and it just heightened the desire, cemented the idea for my Shaolin tribute. It wasn't something I picked out of a comic book and was like yeah that's cool -there's nothing wrong with that!-but I wanted something ~heavy~, you know what I'm sayin? I know what I'm sayin! So ffwd to my first back session. Seeing all the crazy stuff and bright colours I have going on all down the front and arms/legs, my tattooer designed my backpiece to be simple, bold and black (as fuck) to balance it out, align the horizon lines and gravity of the water in my tattoos, really attract the focus, make the tattoo powerful and tie everything together. Because I had my ribs done prior, it made my back canvas a bit narrower to work with, which is why I ended up with 1 monk in a kung fu pose instead of the original idea of 2 monks in combat. It all ties together, maybe not as clean as a bodysuit from japan, but nevertheless ties together my stories and experiences, 14 tattooers and 69(?) sessions. And whether you are tie-ing pieces from one artist or many, a full body tattoo has people mesmerized and going "what in the fuck" because it is not a common sight to see in public. It's going to look cohesive because it's YOU! And I am very happy I waited. It has made the experience more exciting, I'm more tuned into what's going with the tattoo-process and most important of all it has made it all more meaningful to me. so @knucklehead211 to answer your inquiries and add some other points: 1. how to prepare? MANIFEST the idea of tattooing your back. the subject/theme/motif will come to you in time. 2. acne? i can't comment on that, see a dermatologist and deal with your issue now in preparation. 3. Do from shoulders to at least below the belt and onto the bum. No biker backpieces (jokes)! You don't need to do your front either. 4. Don't sweat the cohesiveness, as I wrote about above. 5. Let the tattooer make it fit your body, an experienced tattooer will. 6. Don't rush! See #5, I know a lot of dumb-dumb friends who I pointed in the right direction and vouched for to get proper tattoo, but people these days get very impulsive and gratified, so they rush out and get some half-baked poor tattoo because they can't wait a month or a year. 7. Know what you want and be able to articulate it. Keep it simple. Manifest the idea until the idea is solid enough and you are 101% behind it. 8. Start saving now so when it's go time, you've got money in the bank to keep up with the progress i.e. weeks between sessions not months. 9. Get inspired! And I don't mean scrolling instagram every hour or even LST. I mean get inspired by the real world. Go to the library, research old wood block prints and illustrations, go to the museum when the samurai armour exhibit is in town. Spend time in the mountains and rivers, go to the gardens in your city. Travel. Go to the art gallery. 10. Try and get the piece started in the fall so it will be worked on/healing in the winter, done by summer. 11. Plan long-term, plan in advance and be patient. 12. Have fun and enjoy the whole process. There is a reason why not everybody wears a backpiece and even fewer have finished backpieces. It is a big commitment. It took 2 full years of correspondence to make mine happen. The most rewarding things in life are the things you work for and wait for. cheers

Those following on instagram already know about Chuck and her recent diagnosis (osteosarcoma :/) and amputation! But for all youse other guys: I have posted pics of my sweet, adorable, wonderful, loving, [cascade of adjectives here] in the forum before, and here is her debut as a tripawd!

I got a GoPro to take with me on my mountaineering adventure, so of course the first thing I did is attach it to the dog...

Adam hays did this on me.

We have two cats - an 8 year old orange cat named Calvin, and a 2.5 year old orange cat named Darwin. It was hard not to post all 5784 pics of the boys, so I held myself to just three. Darwin is the one perched on top of the screen door.

I like this by Ian Parkin