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So my wife got in on the Chad Koeplinger world tour when he was at Aloha Monkey in Minnesota. Obviously I'm happy for her but also I am a little jealous.

Some more work on my arm ...

The Montreal tattoo convention is coming up in September and it's always a fun time and an excellent opportunity to get a great tattoo. The lineup is always incredible: this year's convention is going to feature, among others, Henning, Mike Rubendall, Guy Le Tattooer, Steve Byrne, Paul Dobleman, Bert Krak, Robert Ryan, Mario Desa, Nick Colella, Andre Malcolm, Ron Wells, Chad Koeplinger...and this is only scratching the surface. There are so many good artists working it. And if you needed any other incentive, if you've never been to Montreal, it's a great city to visit. If you have been to Montreal, you're probably looking for a reason to visit again. Lots of things to see and do, great architecture, world-class dining, and for you Americans, the Canadian dollar sucks right now so you can stretch your money. Who is thinking of going? Closer to the date I will plan some kind of LST meetup because it's always fun hanging out with the people from this forum. You're a great bunch of people and it's always nice to meet up and talk tattoos and share our tattoos in real life. http://news.arttattoomontreal.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Montreal-Art-Tattoo-Show-9786505473/ https://www.instagram.com/arttattoomontreal/

Got the pig to go with the chicken from Chris Partain.

Flashback, anyone?

Got a little spider from Dylan Homer at Tattoo Union in Vancouver Also, how do you embed instagram posts? I can't figure that out...

Just got my first tebori from Bunshin Horitoshi. Tosi is a great guy! Highly recommended. I went with something classic and simple for my first japanese tattoo

@AverageJer damn

I'm with @polliwog, you definitely want to remove the 'derm before the tattoo fully dries out (unless you are able to keep it on until it's gone through the whole peeling stage but I have no idea how you'd be able to estimate that). On my first 'derm heal I removed it at 5 days, if I remember correctly, and boy it was dry/flaky/difficult to get off. Also, from the outside it seemed like the tattoo was cracking but I don't think it was done peeling at that stage. Happily the tattoo healed great. With my last piece I removed at 2 days and a half - the tattoo had basically dried up over the course of the last day or so but had not started cracking yet. I had applied at 3 hrs from finishing the tattoo but it weeped much less than the previous one for some reason. I think I hit the sweet spot because it was done oozing, not feeling tender either while removing the 'derm or after, and the skin wasn't overly dry. It started to and peel about 2 days later, and has been presentable (no flakes and was able to shave the leg) since day 10. And guys & gals, do try rounding the corners of your 'derm before applying, it makes a huge difference later on when it tends to roll up and pull off the skin!

My tip for removing Tegaderm which I learned from an ICU nurse: put pressure on the area directly in front of where you will start to remove the bandage then pull directly out (not up). This method seems to work very well so far. I also found that using smaller pieces with overlapping edges works better than large sheets which have lifted or gotten wonky over three days. I tested this out when I had my right ribs done. For the outline I used smaller pieces patched together and it worked very well. After Mike did the color, I used just a few large sheets that lifted a bit. I guess it may have something to do with the movement in the area but thought I'd share my experience.

The only thing I would advise from experience is not to leave it on so long that the tattoo dries out (as if it's approaching the flaky stage) underneath. Makes removal far more painful and tricky. I left Saniderm on my largest thigh tattoo for about 5 days and had to peel it off slowly and painstakingly, and now I like to take it off when there's still some moisture under the bandage, after maybe 48 hours. Weirdly enough, even after it's off, my skin still feels far less tender than with a dry heal. You do you of course, just butting in.

One year @BrianH stayed at a place that had a secret passage. Like you pulled a book on a shelf and the passage opened. I say "had" because the place got rid of it, which is the dumbest business decision I've ever heard of because who doesn't want to stay at a place with a secret passage.

When the soap is cold, it feels amazing...when it's warmish and the towel is rough, arrrrrggghhh. Not to mention that some people are just brutal wipers.

fun spur of the moment tattoo from Jesse Calderon, 2nd year apprentice at Modern Times Tattoo in Spotswood, NJ. Young, talented, determined and super cool tattooer. Was also the first time that I was getting tattooed until 3am. Cross that off the bucket list ;) Fire Ant Attack

Todd Noble did a Percy Waters girl for me and I took a really bad photo of it (sigh). I love it, though.

@sophistre that's rad!! thanks a bunch!

If you enjoy geometry, black and/or dotwork, check out deryntwelvetattoo on instragram. She's done some very interesting pattern work with men's and women's chests and torsos.

That's rough and a lot of solid black. I think with at least a couple sessions of lasering you could get a really nice cover up though. Laser might sound scary but it's come a long way as far as effectiveness and pricing. Alternately, you could just chalk this up as a life experience, and get better tattoos everywhere else to distract from this one. Either way, this time do more research into your artist, maybe we could offer suggestions if you give us an idea where you're based. Cool profile pic.

Damn. James would probably tolerate a weekend of tattoo conventioning if he could stay in a hotel with a secret passage.

I'm planning on going. I couldn't tell from the website (though I didn't do a ton of digging) whether or not there was a hotel associated with the convention that offered a special rate. If not , I'd love to hear about where people have stayed in the past.

@Devious6 That's tough news...I am thinking about you and your mom. Sending you positive vibes. @Dan Welcome to #teamcolonoscopy! My hubby is an absolute trip when gets out of the procedure (and yes, I laugh at him). I was sleepy but he's a wide awake, silly drunk.

http://instagram.com/chrisadamek

I know this is older but I was just going back through. Sorry for the off centered "selfie" pic with hubby but I wanted to show off my 2 day old chest piece. We didn't go up terribly high on to the shoulders to leave room for more projects. Slight bruising around collar bone.

I've got a few new ones over the last 2 months... Very stoked. Have a cool Japanese yokai tattoo booked for Saturday...

Not at all! Go for it. :) I love it, too! (Of my tattoos, one of my cousins likes it the most.)

tattoos are forever,(holidays)vacations can wait. just pass on the swimming,no big deal. so go sit and relax under an umbrella and a cold one and watch your friends from there. *me on vacation(holiday) shade and a cold one work great for me ! LOL

@The Tig ah you're making me wanna ride nice bike you got there I have some old Kleins (Quantum and Rascal) finally clipped in last year fun fun got get out of my lazy funk thanks for the motivation

Tattoos like to ride, too.

@irtattoos a book? headphones? nah

UPDATE: Well, today was the day! What a long, but great day! It began a little before 11:00am. I was the first one in the shop with Scott (most of the day, there were 10-15 people there, and at one point six artists were tattooing simultaneously). He had been working on a few designs based on the sleeve length I wanted. Over the week between today and our consultation, I had decided to ask him to put the dragon's head somewhere on my arm instead of with the head in the more traditional chest area. I was a little worried to be asking for this, as Scott has a relatively new sleeve with the head in the center, and the last thing I wanted was for him to think I was trying to copy his own tattoo. Luckily, when I got there, he informed me that the last several dragons he had done had the head on the chest, and he was dying to do something new. Perfect! His sketches had just what I wanted. It was a really good sign. However, getting it right took some time. Using thin paint brushes, he created the design over four separate layers. The dragon's head had to be moved several times, and the unique swirl of the dragon we decided on what difficult to get right without looking like the head was plopped onto the center of the body... but Scott is a perfectionist, and after a lot of erasing and revising, and then relining, and revising, etc... we were finally done with a design ready to be inked at 2:40. With only a few short breaks, it took a lot longer than I expected. But the result is something that works specifically with my body as opposed to just slapping a template onto my arm. I love it. Here is a quick snap of Scott somewhere between layer 2 and 3 of sketching on me: I haven't had a tattoo in nearly 20 years, so I had no idea what to expect from the pain, especially over so many areas. Tattooing in the ditch was no treat, but not as bad as I had come to expect from reading. The outside of the elbow lived up to expectations. But the worst was around my collarbone, where any wincing or tightening of my face would risk pulling the skin under his needle. And there was one spot on my chest where I could clearly feel the vibration on my pec, but the pain was in my neck. I could have sworn at the time he was tattooing my upper-middle neck. Long story short (yeah, right), we finished up the linework a little after 5:00pm. I am absolutely thrilled with the result... and was getting tons of compliments on it by the many artists and clients in the shop throughout the day. Here is a front shot: It is a little difficult to see from this angle and with only linework, but the dragon's body actually goes out the back of the head and swirls up and around the shoulders through the clouds and comes out belly showing under his head before turning again towards the end of the sleeve. It makes a little more sense visually if you can see the back. I also have the dragon clutching a pearl with his talons on the back on the sleeve and will actually be filling the pearl with a significant flower logo in the next session. Overall, a fantastic day. I couldn't be happier that Scott got all the elements I wanted into the design, was able to keep it very traditional, but also with a great deal of uniqueness built just for me. If any readers are in Austin, Triple Crown Tattoo on Chicon Street (right around the corner from Franklin's BBQ!) is a must-visit.

both sides of the saniderm have a sanitary peel off sheet,one side peels off and is sticky to apply to the skin,and once it's applied then you peel off the outer sanitary backing sheet. and then you barely know it's there, How to care for a new Tattoo using Saniderm - YouTube ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, . How To Use Saniderm | | SanidermSaniderm this is my right knee, F.A.Q. | | SanidermSaniderm "How does Saniderm work? In layman’s terms, Saniderm locks in the body’s natural moisture and healing enzymes, allowing the body to heal itself in the most efficient manner possible. After tissue has been injured the body goes through autolytic debridement – a big word for the body’s natural process of removing dead and dying tissue. During this process moisture and enzymes are produced to help break down dead tissue and, in normal circumstances, they dry up and evaporative which reduces their effectiveness. When this happens, longer healing times are required and scabbing and scarring may occur. Saniderm locks in these healing enzymes, called autolysins, and allows the skin to continue to function as normal because the bandage is permeable to oxygen and water vapor (breathable). In addition, Saniderm protects against dirt and germs while eliminating friction and other irritations that might further interfere with the healing process. How will it affect my ink? Saniderm’s adhesive will not attach to the weeping area of a tattoo, therefore it can never damage or pull out ink. In fact, customers report that the colors of their tattoo remain more vibrant after using Saniderm, compared to tattoos that have healed by other aftercare products." and it was used on both my knee pieces and they healed perfectly,and even on a tough to heal body joint like the knee. I also used it on this large piece . and it was so easy and healed so well and so fast I couldn't believe it,non of these 3 ever scabbed at all !