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https://www.instagram.com/tpenningtontat2/ https://www.instagram.com/henrigates/ - - - Updated - - - He worked in Philly years ago when he was starting out.I believe he went to art school in Italy,and his paintings are impressive.His Japanese work is really good too.

What time is your tattoo? My job is about 10-15 minutes away, so I could meet you even if I don't get a tattoo!

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

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 :)

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.

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)

If a tattoo needs to be "touched-up" every 5 years it is probably not a good tattoo.

Neat thread to revisit. I haven't really changed my attitude since I first posted on here, though I have a lot more coverage than when I first posted. I'm about 45% covered now so I still have plenty of space, but it's enough that running out of space seems like a distinct possibility especially because I've only been getting tattooed for about five years. I have a young child now so that has forced me to slow down and it may somewhat limit the possibility for traveling for tattoos. I'm also much pickier than I was: when I was first getting tattooed I was overwhelmed by how many people there are making great tattoos and I wanted to get something from all of them. I'm looking for something else now, and the experience of getting the tattoo, of getting tattooed by the right people is almost more important than the tattoo itself. Consequently, my list of "musts" is much shorter than it was. A couple of years of experience has also made getting tattooed into almost a duty. I'm committed to heavy coverage which is going to mean that the spots that are going to totally suck need to be tattooed so I kind of just want to get them over with so I don't have to dread them as much as I do.

This April, Chad Koeplinger is embarking on a road trip to tattoo in every state. Who's excited about this?! Who's trying to get tattooed? I emailed him awhile ago and hope to snag an appointment in Portland. Check out Chad's Instagram for more info.

I'm thinking about it but leaning towards not doing it. I'm like you in that I would love to meet another LST member, though.

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

@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!

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

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.

A bit amusing...I'm reading my lengthy post above from 18 months ago...now I've got tattoos creeping the cuff and onto the hands. Things change, tattooing is fluid! here's my newish dragon fist: and here's a an artsy selfie of my dragon fist - dragon fly and dragon eyes ! for your viewing pleasure see guys! i got lots of space left...maybe squinch in some tudor roses on the hands in the future

@SStu That's a cool one. But DAMN! I love that Robert Ryan piece next to it. Love it

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.

Healed Ryuzu Kannon by Trevor Mcstay at Dynamic Tattoo.

Just wanted to bump this back to the top because Brian David Macneil is impressing me right now and I don't remember seeing his name on here. There are so many lower-profile good tattooers in New England.

by Nathan Kemmerer -

Thanks all! Goldfish was one of my mentions, and Eddy suggested we "crack him open and put something inside". So pumped on how well it's healing. That Tony Blue Arms chest is awesome!

Damn, @Jackrabbitt666! I saw that on his IG and thought, "Cool...I wonder if that was inspired by the Percy Waters design?" I'm so happy that I was able to help a bit. Great start to a killer tattoo!

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

Just set up an appointment for Mike Wilson to start my front in March. Now for the longest 2 months ever... If anyone has any advice for navigating Jacksonville, could you help me out in this thread? http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/2932-inksmith-rogers.html

So I was hanging out at my local shop going through Piotrs new book full of old woodblock prints and I saw in the corner of a Kuniyoshi diptych depicting Taira no Tomomori these little fish samurai dudes, I told him you don't see enough fighting fish, usually just rats and frogs carrying swords, and he sketched/painted this guy up for me. Piotr Kopytek Blue Heron Tattoo Frisco, CO

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.

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!

you can see the back of this arm in some of my backpiece progress pics either here on the backpiece tread or on my blog.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to take advantage of a cancelled appointment and get this butterfly from Matthew Houston at Seven Doors. He's a really nice guy and I love the combination of colours he chose.

Finally I got my first tattoo, (sorry for posting similar content in my initiation thread). The tattoo is a moka Bialetti, a pomegranate and a number one made by Luca Font in Milano. At the beginning I had the idea of putting a skull at the base of the moka too. We discussed with the artist and decided that another element such as as skull which is round would overcharge the image and putting two round element at the base of an object resembling a column would create the form of a penis. So he put a little number 1 at the base of the moka. I like this tattoo because it's simple, clean, well-placed, has the power of an advertisement being well balanced and reminds of Russian poster-avantgarde for the geometric aspect. I also like the fact that is not overcharged with colour but colour is placed only when it's needed, to emphasize the shape of an object: the metal glimpse of the light on the Moka and the shade of the pomegranate.

Not sure how well this will upload from my iPad, but Grez posted this one today. Edit: should be more clear. This is not on me. I wish!!