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Some of you may have already seen this on Instagram, but I wanted to wait till I had some healed pics before posting here. Seth Wood @ Memoir Tattoo in L.A., Started 1/14, completed 12/15.

In progress with Shige, finishing with Shakamuni to complete my triad ....

Currently on my nyc tat-cation. First up was Eli Quinters. Next is Hillary Fisher White. When I first got to jfk airport, I was charging my phone at an outgoing terminal and the loudspeaker guy at the desk was listing people that needed to come see him and named Richard Stell. Didn't see him though.

Haven't been too active around these parts recently, but I got some more work done on my thigh. We did the black and gray shading a couple days ago, lines are healed. Set to do some (if not all) color March 1st!

I got this from Tony Nilsson at Blue Arms Tattoo in Oslo today. It's based off an old Percy Waters drawing that Tony had wanted to do for a while, and I had no specific requests so we just went for it. I'll admit that I did cheat a bit, after the outline we did use a numbing spray or something like that, which basically made me not feel a thing until we started doing the colors. Happy we did, since then we got to finish it so I don't have to wait until the next time I'm home.

Hi! I decided to bite the bullet and register since I have been lurking for so long! I got my first tattoo when I was 17 (which is covered now, thankfully) but got seriously into getting tattooed and the whole collecting thing over the past few years. Looking forward to filling up my empty spaces and meeting awesome people along the way. I am currently a social worker but have also spent time teaching and doing various other things...hope to further diversify in the future. I am definitely in the long sleeve forever club, which in Southern California can be upsetting but it's also worth every second of enduring the sweltering heat. I have uploaded some of my collection to my gallery...mostly the stuff on my legs or stuff I already had good pictures of. Once I enlist help with photography I will upload the stuff on my arms (or upload them in respective threads). I take pretty bad pictures, so my apologies in advance for that. My most recent addition was by Johan Svahn, and it's still healing...before that I got tattooed by Chris Conn. Both allowed me to cross something off my bucket list! Hope to see you all around, excited to be here!

fun times with Jess Baker @ Freehold Tattoo in NJ

Hey all got this last night from Yomico Moreno, it's not done but it is the beginning of two animal half sleeves. Ps sorry about sideways pic I don't know how to fix it.

got this from lee knight today, first of 2016! planning to tie it together along with some other elements to the walking panther he put on my shin last year. had a shift at work straight after so the top part is looking real angry right now, hope it hasnt goofed with the healing too much think i forgot to post the last few i got, these two are from one of my mentors curtis pettigrove and not a good photo really but i also got these two kissing nuns from rose whittaker. having big legs rule caus ive got tonnes of space still. getting tattooed by joe chatt next week with any luck. years starting off well!

I finished my backpiece on December 30th ! Then I did a victory lap and had my tattooer/life-coach cap my wrist off with a magic dragon. It ended up on my hand with the beard on the knuckle whoops! Turned out awesome !! Healing is a total bitch, haven't bent my wrist since last Wednesday and my hand is really raw. I'll post a less cryptic pic in the future...my arm now is all Steve Batt 2003 / 2007 / 2015 yipee really cool to see a timeline from the same tattooer blended one into the other.

Hey. Figured I might just make an account here after a bit of lurking. I got my first tattoo 13 months ago and got 8 professional tattoos since that time, with more planned. After getting into tattoos, I've really enjoyed reading and learning about the history of tattooing, especially after I found out that my great grandfather got tattooed when he was a ship captain between 1910-1925. So I ended up here after watching a bunch of the LST interviews... I'm born and raised in Norway, but I currently live in Vancouver BC where I work for a major sportswear company.

Yo, I'm just a dude who found this forum cause my boss put me on to this site. My name is Adam, I live in Minneapolis, and I've been tattooing professionaly for a measly 1 year. Recently started at a new shop from leaving the one I apprrenticed at. Still learning a fuck ton. I'll probably lurk pretty hard for a while, and not post too much. Still thought I'd introduce myself. Holler

I am totally necro-ing this but I have noticed that since I started getting more into tattooing I am sometimes the one staring when someone walks by with a great piece...then if I get caught staring I want to clarify and say, "wait, it's just because it's awesome!" and actually talk about it. By then usually the interaction is over and I just feel awkward. I always hope that my looking is not interpreted as being a menacing/disapproving stare. The weirdest thing is when you think you see an artist's work that you know. I have yet to approach someone and say "hey, is that so-and-so's work?" because I feel like that would even more so freak people out, especially if I am right. I have excellent resting bitch face and live in a pretty accepting city so thank goodness no one has touched me yet, knock on wood. I think if they did I would almost certainly snap at them. I have definitely endured staring (though as I believe someone else said most of the time I don't notice and other people point it out to me), strange reactions, and creepy comments along the lines of "but you seem like such a good girl" *shudders*. Most of the time when people ask nicely and respectfully I will indulge them...maybe that's due to social expectations. It often leads to good conversations, so there's that. I think in general people feel entitled to women's time, space, and bodies...as a tattooed woman you are visibly deviating from social norms and are thus singled out for attention. Often times I think people just inquire about them in order to shame you for getting tattooed, particularly with questions about price.

Long time no talk but here's what I ended up with to finish my arm. I'm still looking to add some color in the upper half in the future to balance it out a little. - - - Updated - - - Here's the progress on my leg. Knee rose and tribute guitar to a friend I lost to cancer done by Omar at Trader Bob's in St. Louis, Dagger done by Mike Woods at Trader Bob's, and arrow head done by Mike Fite in Nashville. - - - Updated - - - Pics

Thanks for the kind welcome! This is an interesting thing - particularly for women. Unless I'm at a funeral, I don't worry about covering my tattoos for the most part. I recently attended a very formal fundraising event in conjunction with my work, and I wore a sleeveless gown. I had positive feedback from a few people that made a point to comment at the event. At the after-event get together that was a group primarily of uppity, uber-rich corporate types, I think I was viewed as sort of exotic (?). It was strange. I had a pleasant conversation with one woman who showed me her tiny "secret" thigh tattoo. But then, of course, there was a big wig who walked up to me, uninvited, pointed to my tiny paw print wrist tattoo out of all my visible tattoos, and said "that's the only good one." :rolleyes: I've had a conversation with my boss about visible tattoos at work-related social events, and to his credit, he has no qualms with it. I really like that tattoo! Interesting that you perceive the shoulder to elbow as more of a commitment than the forearm. I've decided that my forearms are no longer off limits. That didn't take long. LOL. This! Seems like a very slippery slope LOL! Five years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of having full sleeves because of my job, but now I find myself thinking about whether I could ever get away with tattooed hands in my line of work. Haha! And last but not least, here's what I found at the Minneapolis Tattoo Convention yesterday. By Ryan Thomas of Black13.

just got this from mark cross at rose. honestly best experience I've ever had. great shop. coolest people. mark was so nice. this family came in because their little kid wanted to see a tattoo shop and mark stopped zapping me for a few minutes to hang with them and put a temporary tattoo on the hand of the little kid. so sick. backtard

Was supposed to have my next session on Christmas Eve-we got halfway down there and had to turn back around, the snow and ice were just too much. I'd felt like such a wuss, but they ended up w/a bad storm so I guess I was glad we went back home. But on the way home I called and called and the line was busy--so when I finally got thru to cancel, I said I understood how hard it is to get in to see my artist, and I would just take whatever I could. The guy says "Well, I actually just got off the phone w/someone cancelling for next Sunday-you want it?" Uh-YES! So, we trekked back down yesterday. He ended up adding some stuff to the right side top and bottom, where I thought we were done, more waves and such, added some wind to that side too, and whatever, I'll deal w/it if it means it will be an even better piece. Hurt like a bitch this time. Not sure if it's b/c it was such a big area this time, or b/c of what time of the month it is..guys you don't care but girls you understand.

I lucked out in that my mom didn't react, other than to ask "Is that real?" when she saw my first visible one. She did buy me a long sleeved shirt for Christmas, but I don't think it's related.

Since we are posting Hardy backs, this one is from the panther tattoo thread:

When I was working service industry jobs, I would frequently be stopped by customers who wanted me to stand still (while holding hot food en route to a table!) so they could inspect my tattoos, people would grab me and try to touch my tattoos constantly. Almost always older men, but sometimes women! My husband is heavily tattooed and other than the occasional "sick ink, bro!" he has never been accosted the way that i have. The worst thing about something like that happening at work is that you are trapped and you have to be nice, even if people are being totally inappropriate. I used to complain that if i were a stripper, at least i'd have a bouncer who'd boot the jerks trying to grab me. working in service jobs in a more affluent neighborhood also brought to my attention the fact that a lot of square, office-type dudes definitely have a sense of exoticism about tattoos, like "ooh you look just like a suicide girl!" like i'm supposed to be this available babe who loves taking her clothes off because i have a lot of highly visible tattoos. nope, sorry bro. i'm a married mom, just like your wife. calm down.

I don't even notice the stares anymore! I always tell people that you made a conscious decision to be "different" than the rest of society so you have no reason to complain! It's how I have felt since my first tattoo....so I don't complain or generally be ignorant back! Someone touches me....whole new game plan! Men I tell them to get the fuck off of me very loudly........women I just grab there boob! ;)

I just want to say god bless sluts in tank tops