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Having started 21 months ago I am unbelievably happy to say that my back is done. It took 59 hours, at least a dozen tubes of bepanthen, lots of cups of coffee and bacon sandwiches, and at least one ruined set of bed sheets. Thank you very much Mr Ian Flower.

I think i'm moving into that a phase where i think 3-4 pieces a year would work maybe do that for a while and go from there i'm not sure if i need to be completely covered either havent had to seriosuly think about it as i'm not that close to that kind of coverage even though i have about 30 pieces - most of which are decent size i'm no fan of summertime heals like a fall, winter, spring maybe a 4th thrown in somwhere? sounds cool

I'm 45yo and got my first tattoo in November, my second in January and my third a week ago. They are all fairly large.....the one last week was 10+hr over 2 days. I'm scheduled again on the 20th of this month, the 2nd of June and the 16th of June. May end up getting some work on June 15th because that piece may end up being the continuation of a collaboration piece. I'm sure I will slow down a little bit but not getting any younger and have really fallen in love with the whole process and have been able to get great art so far. I would say that if the budget allows and you are confident in what you want, then get the pieces you can when you can.......allowing some time to heal between each one.

Started the line work on my lower sleeve today with a Jizu - will be adding a Kannon on a dragon line work on the other side of the arm in a couple of weeks. Than moving on to filling in the gaps and colour. so it begins. Arm by Dan Innes at Pearl Harbor

I would actually like one every 2 months or so, mostly because I don't like getting new tattoos while others are healing (but I will if the artist's open dates work out that way). And since summertime tattoos are a terrible idea, I'd ideally only get tattooed late September to early May.

You really shouldn't ever take this "coloring book" approach to any tattoo. If you are willing to travel to get tattooed by someone whose work you really love, why have someone else complete the work? It makes no sense and is a disservice to everyone, including yourself. I'm currently getting a sleeve from an artist I've admired for a long, long time. I tried for 3 years just to get an appointment, which wasn't until the end of 2014. I can't go often or for more than one session at a time, but I've had 4 sessions, and there's still work to be done. It's been a long process, but I wouldn't trade any aspect of it because the end result is so, so worth it. If you're gonna commit to traveling for a long-term project, then fucking commit.

I've been gone for a while. I'm stoked to see so many great tattoos being done. Started my back with Horitomo in December.

Session 2 with Steve Moore. Another 3 hours into the back. He wasn't lying that the lining was more painful than shading. But the shading is still pretty bad haha

I went about every 4-6 weeks for 3 1/2 years and finished two sleeves and a back piece. I'm taking some time off. I finished up in September, but am starting to get the itch again. My artist has a three month wait so I'll probably start up again in June. I'm looking at getting tigers on my ribs. OUCH!

2 or 3 a year sounds fine for me. Of course it dépends of my savings too

@tc3500 agreed for sure - 45 this month myself i've disclosed on here before i have a degenerative eye disease that may or may not leave me blind or near it as i hit the golden years no time like the fucking present man! lets enjoy this shit

@gedo the tattoo looks fine - leave it alone go get another tattoo just keep repeating this schedule basically - - - Updated - - - @gedo the tattoo looks fine - leave it alone go get another tattoo just keep repeating this schedule basically

Aerosol Sunscreen is my life - starting very soon I will be making my annual investment in bulk cans of SPF 60.

this is not acceptable.

Got this panther/rose from Juan Puente a few weeks ago. photo by Juan that day.

https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t31.0-8/fr/cp0/e15/q65/12823389_10206758820987493_1781662114968890668_o.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9 Newest piece done today. Pretty stoked about it!

made a trip to michigan over the weekend jeff zuck @ name brand tattoo. not sure why the picture looks weird at the top of the flames alex boyko @ sunhouse then today on my way home i swung by old soul and got this from john hill

All depends I guess, on how long the distance is and if the artist is likely to be guesting in other places closer to your location from time to time. Also it depends on how much of a hurry you are in to get it done and how much difficulty you have finding time to travell. But I think often when you book in something like that you can sit down with the artist and really plan out at least 5 sessions and book them all so it doesn't have to be such a hassle every time to match your schedules. I travelled to Italy and Scottland for my backpiece and that gave me reasons to do those trips that provided me with really cool experiences, meeting new friends and so on. I was lucky to be able to take time off from work and travell for extended periods surrounding those dates. Pretty sure I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much if I just had to fly there, get tattooed, fly back. If you plan to do it, try to get in with the artist while he/she is guesting some place too so you can see some other places during the progress, and make the most of the trips so it doesn't start feeling like a job. That worked for me and the 9 months that we worked on my back was really beautiful, considering all other things in my life too.

A little twist on a classic. Picked from the incredibly twisted, but amazing, sketch book of Matt Kerley.

Greggles and I did a thing today. Haven't been in a tattoo shop since last summer. I dunno if that was the reason, or if this spot was just really tender, but holy crap, I feel like I just got hit by a truck! Poor Greg. I was unusually squirmy. Worth it though, as always. https://www.instagram.com/p/BCmDYNNzBHG/ We set the appointment to line my back for April 9th. I am legit scared of a day that consists entirely of lining! Haha. Especially since we're aiming to line the whole freakin' thing in one shot. Excited, though.

Just got this and prisoner of love by Tyson Arndt at Stockholm Classic. It was cool to hang out and talk to Tyson. Super happy! https://instagram.com/p/BCYCSHiR5PP/ - - - Updated - - - Just got this and prisoner of love by Tyson Arndt at Stockholm Classic. It was cool to hang out and talk to Tyson. Super happy!

so we went to the Fresno,CA tattoo expo yesterday and had all saturday afternoon with Oliver Peck. Central Valley Tattoo . I got these two, . . . . and this one on my left lower thigh,it's a little bruised now. and Saniderm on it. . . . and my wife got this . . . . we had a really great day getting tattooed together at a convention,it was awesome.

Got this great rose from anvil tattoo in Altus Oklahoma done by brad . BradAnvil on the gram

Just got this from David Parker at Black Heart Tattoo in San Francisco. Do I really need to say how I feel about this tattoo?

Skull and dagger, by Franz Stefanik of the Okey Doke, Toronto. https://www.instagram.com/p/BCQzxvNHLWd/

Unfortunately after I finished my back the itch didn't stay scratched for too long. Started this piece on Thursday. I have been shitting myself about starting the front and I wasn't disappointed, there were some seriously ouch spots. Have to keep telling myself the end result is worth it. :)

I got this skull tattooed on my foot yesterday by my good friend Sándor Jordan. Lines done with a machine and everything else he did tebori. Super fun and relaxing way to get tattooed. https://www.instagram.com/p/BCLLOuZjAtJ/?taken-by=jordanist https://www.instagram.com/p/BCLDBjMkGEY/?taken-by=havetsherre - - - Updated - - - I got this skull tattooed on my foot yesterday by my good friend Sándor Jordan. Lines done with a machine and everything else he did tebori. Super fun and relaxing way to get tattooed.

deified my shin a bit with Eddy Deutsche on friday, been waiting for this one a while, stoked! What a great dude Eddy is, and totally mesmerizing to watch him work.

Finally finished my 2/3rd sleeve by Sarah Hurst @ Vivid Tattoo Knoxville. If you have me on Instagram, there is a crappy phone photo there. I don't know if my tablet can post them in the browser, and Tapatalk is still broke for posting here.

Robert Ryan Asbury Park NJ - on the knee good times as usual

From yesterday by the the all mighty Marius Meyer. Super rad guy with a burning passion for tattooing. Everybody should get something from him. As for me, this means I'll be going to job interviews in turtleneck sweaters for the rest of my life.

Bear head done by Jack Allender out of Worcester a few days ago, photo stolen from his Instagram as I didn't grab one before it scabbed up. My first piece of trad, super happy with it. Bear head done today @fourleaf_tattoo thanks for coming down Tsam

Alix Ge finished my pharaoh's horses yesterday https://www.instagram.com/p/BBnT4LcQCmd/?taken-by=alixge

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.

I had my first session with Steve Moore yesterday and we finished up the outline for my Monkey King. I have about 48 hours of tattooing under my belt so far and this outline session was only 3 hours, but the most uncomfortable and painful 3 hours yet! I've read a lot on full backs and apparently they can be quite sharp, but I had a hard time in quite a few spots. For example, often I can keep my breathing and just flow through the pain, but this session had me clenching my jaw, face and just suffering. Steven started chatting with me and it really helped distract me. Steve Moore is absolutely a professional. He researched tons for this piece. He looked at photographs of monkeys, martial artists, and other reference pictures. He mentioned that he debated about how to put the orientation of the Monkey King's foot and used a martial artist's monkey style to duplicate it. I think it looks amazing and the details on it just blew me away. I love how Steve put our collaboration ideas together. Anyways, here's the drawing After three hours of outlining Got my next session in February. Dreading it a bit, but also very excited haha

started this end of '13 with rich hardy in krakow,poland. then i travelled to london, paris and london again to finish it few weeks ago. so relieved that i finally don't have to get through that pain again. although the shading during the last 3 sessions was so easy in comparison to the lines. anyways i can only repeat that rich is the nicest guy. everyone should get tattooed by him if he is around. merry christmas everyone!

...so my Mom decides to clean my room one day when I was living at home. She was flipping all the mattresses in the house. And she finds this ziplock back of epsom salts. So when I get home I find Mom sitting quietly and anxiously tells me to sit down we need to talk. She says she found something under my bed ... I'm like oh shit mom just found my best porno mag. Then she asks me if I was on drugs. I'm like Mom!?! WTF!?! Well I guess dear old Mom was really upset and concerned all afternoon, thinking i had started a cocaine habit !! So I had to come clean and tell her they were epsom salts for soaking my fresh nipple piercings LOL. That ended the conversation right there, she didn't want to hear about lol. She didn't find the dirty magazine stash...yet...that's a different story and my younger brothers fault. ok not about my first tattoo, but about my first piercings RIP Mom <3