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Finished today the skull and some minor details. I love it, it really makes the Tofi eye part that was bland and I didnt like pop more now :) He also gave me an original painting of his which is sick (pic below) The Japanese artist at the shop was doing a sleeve, super clean work and he ended giving me an original of one of his paintings(pic below), so had a great day :) Sorry for the glare from my phone. Video of completed leg by Mrdist! The original picture Henry gave me :) The original picture Enzo gave me :)

Quick one from Nate Hudak while he was visiting my friends shop down the road.

I've got a couple that I'm excited about in the next couple months, scored appointments for upcoming guest spots in Denver with Eddy Deutsche, and I'll see Chad down there just before he starts his 50 state tour.

30 days of healing. This thing was full thick scabs, cracking and bleeding for 2 weeks. I can't wrap my head around how nothing fell out. The tattoo gods have watched over me and blessed me with the masterful tattooing of Steve Batt. (lo fi filter on instagram)

I've thought about this too @pidjones but moreso at the 10 year mark. Then I hit the 10 year mark and my tattoos look better now that they have aged (and been lived in) than fresh! I asked my tattooer about recolouring parts of my sleeve eventually. He said, well yeah but then parts will look fresh and the rest old, so where do you draw the line and just rework the whole thing? The body can only hold so much ink before it over saturates and turns to mush. Part of what makes a good tattoo is design, placement and execution to age gracefully. There are some cats that are starting to laser off 10 year old sleeves just to get new sleeves made. That being said in the coming years I will probably be going for 2nd layer pile ons with parts of my bodysuit. I have no regrets. People always comment I have no space left but I keep finding little nooks and crannies to insert fun little momentos ;) Enjoy your pieces for now, new ideas and placement will keep coming to ya!

I didn't get in for Washington state. :( But, he emailed back to say that he'll keep my number in case there's a cancellation, and he's going to be back later in this year and we can definitely do something then, soooo, ultimately a win. :)

interesting point i have felt conflicted at times about this type of thing too i feel luckyin that i have really enjoyed the people i get tattooed by everyone of them and so sometimes its the battle of wanting to collect from from new people at new shops versus wanting to go back to get tattooed again from a previous tattooer the problem is further compounded as you continue to collect from more tattooers anyway its not a problem in any real sense. of the word just something i think about

"running out of space but mi ave plenty more to go" i think at this point my love for tattoo gives me so much joy and excitement that i can't ever see myself being done. There will always be a crack in the body canvas to fill! I can see myself getting tattoos piled on tattoos piled on tattoos until I die !

It's been almost three years since I started this thread so I think I'm allowed to post an update :) Thank you @marley mission for breathing new life into it When I wrote the OP I was really happy to finally be able to get tattooed a lot. Money was not an obstacle for the first time since ever. I think I probably got 10+ palm sized tattoos in 2013. Since then I slowed down significantly. Except for two tattooers that I'm interested in I'm done "collecting" from artists in Sweden. Now I'm waiting for guests artists to come by, for the yearly London Convention or I plan trips abroad to get tattooed. Having to plan a trip and spend more in order to get work from the tattooers that I love is the best way to slow down. I still keep a list with 10+ ideas with placement and artists names of the tattoos I plan to get but since time passes, my taste slightly shifts and new names pop up. I keep revising the list every now and then. Right now I'm contemplating who I want to get a japanese dragon from and also planning a US trip for the fall when I hope to squeeze in maybe five tattoos that I've been waiting for a long time. Really happy with the slowed down pace as I can see how my taste in tattoos continue to change and mature, even looking back 12 months I can see a huge difference. I'm focusing on getting the worst spots done. Not that it really matters or make me any better of a human being but for my own sense of pride I'd like to get as far into full body coverage as possible before resorting to using numbing creams. Right now I try to make plans to finish the ribs, stomach, second armpit and feet. After that I should have no problem even after the pain tolerance drops. I wrote in my OP that I wanted to save my back until I turned thirty. People who follow my posts here and on instagram all ready know it turned out differently. I finished my back last year at 28 years of age, in five sessions spaced out over 9 months. I'm trying not to rush my ideas, instead I save some skin for future tattooers. Having a growing list of 10-15 ideas of things I know I want to get makes it easy to focus on making those ideas reality. The areas who are still unplanned can remain blank for many years ahead before I catch up with the list. I've got the inside of my underarms empty still and also some sizeable areas here and there on the legs and torso. I only recently started to appriciate bigger coherent pieces with background and large readable motifs. But since I started getting palm sized tattoos spaced out all over my body I don't have any larger areas left to cover. A bit of a bummer but nothing I lose sleep over.

Love all the pieces here!! Finished this up back in 2012 while I was living in Beijing... Done by Tang Ping (ziyou tattoos). The top right part is a cover-up. He also did a monkey king on my front but i guess that belongs on a front piece thread :D. www.instagram.com/ziyoutattoo He also did this tibetan skull (it won 1st at the london tat convention in 2010)... which was the piece that sold me on getting mine from him.

by Nathan Kemmerer -

My childhood friend Sigbjørn/Siggy, tattoos at Miks Tattoo in Copenhagen. https://www.instagram.com/siggystarfishtattoo/

be prepared for casual nudity at the convention. it's a tattoo convention...so there will be all sorts of disrobing and dropping trough going down - from people receiving tattoos or just showing them off. talk to the kids and be prepared to explain the context, "like mom and dad why is the checker man in a thong?" (ps don't let the kids see matt gones armpit tattoo)

Thanks to everyone for their replies! I emailed the original artist, and told him the shop had informed me he was no longer working with them. I asked him about setting up an appointment to finish up the peacock feather that he started, and thanked him again for his work on the stunning Bowie tattoo. (Photo coming next.) Will explore another option with the shop if I don't hear back from him in a week or so. But, that's where I'm at right now. Cheers! - - - Updated - - - The Bowie tattoo I mentioned. I adore it.

@pidjones cmon man you're not stopping how about some good old american traditional on the topic in general i dont see myself ever seeking out the touchups each tattoo special time special place the aged lived in look marks that does the touch up take away that magic its up to the individual of course but i wonder about that i kinda dig blastover a bit but i kinda would expect to be completely covered to consider that just get more cool tatts @pidjones!

Never mind touch-ups. You'll get the itch again, soon enough. :rolleyes:

I'm sure a bunch of you guys follow Curly in various places, but I love seeing him often add new black work on top of old. It looks fantastic and makes me smile.

welcome to LST! if you like the original artist's work on your bowie and what he's done with your feather so far, i'd seek him out. easy as that. as you mentioned, the shop already suggested that as an option and they should completely understand. as far as loyalty goes.. the owner originally sketched the feather, but did the tattooer use that exact sketch or did he do his own thing? i feel like that's the only value added step in the process you've mentioned. even still, the owner passed you to the other tattooer, so loyalty doesn't seem to be an issue from that standpoint. what's up with some pictures?! :)

Re changes in attitude. I'm way more inclined now to want to stick with a tattooer who I have a good rapport with than to worry about who I won't get to see.

hey there @thesinki93 i'd agree with the above comments, leave it as-is (for now). Focus on getting your chest coloured in and starting your sleeve. Your tattooer could likely tile the background from the top part of the arm sleeve in behind the chest piece to connect. I have a big bird across my chest. Roses filling out the pecs tiled underneath, and the sky/clouds from the tops of my sleeves extended into the sides of the chest to connect everything.

I got a spot 29 April in Little Rock (only about a 3 hour drive)! All I know is I'm getting a tiger :) Wildcat

and SNAKES!!

I am booked for June 2nd in Eagle River, Alaska! Will fly from Juneau, then drive from Anchorage to Eagle River to get this piece from him, I am so honored!!

Rad, I got in for Portland 5/30. Gonna pick something out of the book as well, looking forward to getting there early and flipping through designs!

posted this in the 'upcoming' thread but worth posting twice :) i am in for 4/13 @ tattoo paradise in marlyand gonna pick from his flash basically so not sure where or what but it makes it that much more fun imo

So had my first session today with Mrdist today in Sweden. What a gentleman! Lots more to come tomorrow. Yes I know its another womans face and skull lol much more to come tomorrow but who doesn't like a woman and skulls ;) lol Sorry for the shit pics from my phone :)

Healed Ryuzu Kannon by Trevor Mcstay at Dynamic Tattoo.

I had my consultation today... Jim Sylvia 2/19!

Had another great adventure in Chicago this weekend including a very successful trip to Great Lakes Tattoo. My wife had an appointment with Mario Desa for one of his very cool folk birds and I was lucky enough to to find Nick Colella available for me to get a walk in dragon. I can't recommend this shop (and Chicago in general) enough.

SO Many Fantastic pieces being posted!! Here is my latest (and second, lol) tattoo. It was done by Christian Buckingham at Revolt in Las Vegas last week. It's on the right side of my chest and took about 4hr. The idea was basically a war style triceratops and I asked for it to be tough looking.....the rest was left up to the artist and I couldn't be more stoked with the results! This picture is a quick cell phone pic from the day the piece was completed, maybe will upload another of the healed result in several weeks.

Just had a weekend in Oslo with the missus topped off with the first session on my chest by Tony at Blue Arms.. Super stoked with it Pic stolen from his Insta. Cheers to @hogg for Percy Waters reference

Damn, nobody is disappointing! Got this little one from Andy Perez at the new shop Allied in Bushwick when I was back a couple months ago visiting. Bad cell phone picture, but you get the idea. First one above the collar, d'oh!

Started my sleeve w/ Jason Brooks last Saturday... First new project in over 5 years... and first visible ink :)

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.

Deno from circus tattoo madrid/Spain does some sick stuff.. Deno CIrcus tattoo (DENO CIRCUS TATTOO MADRID!) on Myspace

i have a feeling i am really behind the ball on this one, but i'm still schooling myself on european tattooers and i just discovered Stizzo, an italian artist. it looks as though he owns and works out of his own shop called Best of Times, in milan. i'm sure anyone who works the milan convention is probably familiar with him. i really enjoy his use of black, it's beautiful and it really gets me. you can check his stuff out on facebook under Stizzo Tattoo. seeing that he has over 4,000 friends on facebook, i assume his work is no secret. but i had never heard his name or seen his work in books, magazines or on the web before. here some samples...