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Got this awesome piece this week on the spur of the moment/walk-in from Tommy Stegall at Baldy's Tattoo in Radcliff, KY (near Fort Knox). It's my first American Traditional tattoo and I am in love :) Wildcat

Old Guy At Home Depot: Hey, those tattoos look expensive. How much you pay for those? Me: Well, you know what they say, "Good tattoos aren't cheap and cheap tattoos aren't good." Old Guy's Wife: His were cheap.

My mother taught me: if you don't have something nice to say don't say it at all. On the other hand if you post your tattoo on a public forum it's fair game. For me it's a toss up between tough love and it's not my problem. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I noticed that you removed the picture of the tattoo. The comments in this thread weren't hateful toward the tattoo, but were making suggestions for different outcomes in the future. The purpose of the forum overall is to be educational. I'm interested in thoughts on this tattoo that can be informative to us. The design that you posted in another thread looks a bit different from the final result. I'm curious as to what happened between the original design (which didn't include the coloration at the bottom) and the final tattoo. I agree with picking a different artist for future tattoos.

Traditional woman-head in a spider web - by Dane Soos

Deleting comment to stay out of this.

Update: I found a picture elsewhere on the internet. I won't post it out of respect for OP, but it's out there if you browse other forums. I am seriously confused how this person frequents (or should I say "frequented," since both forums are full of haters) two tattoo forums with people with hundreds of hours of tattooing, asked so many questions on both forums, and still came out with this. Also, bizarrely enough, OP's skin doesn't seem as dark as her other thread indicated it was. I think this picture is through a filter...or OP is completely delusional.

@DJDeepFried yeah i know - i debated posting anything actually - though i dont think i was harsh - just sharing an opinion - if she threw up the pic in the lowdown - which is what most people do with their new tattoos - it would have come and gone end of story - but when you start a whole thread to discuss your new tattoo!!! - well - i think you invite discussion - good, bad and ugly to me - the idea of a phoenix is cool one - but the artist didnt do it justice imo - and that started with a weak design - but like i said in my inital post - its not the end of the world - especially when its on your thigh - which led to my advice of continuing to seek advice and info regarding future tattoos on the forums then she went in a different direction - refusing to give the artist name for fear we would find her whereabouts - i think that puts a wrap on her participation here cause thats not really very social behavior - but we'll see but i'll be honest - i would hate to see her continue to be tattooed by that artist - a couple weak tattoos are one thing - but no one needs a whole bunch of them

Finishing up my knee with Grez on Friday.

I got my second tattoo yesterday on my inner bicep. It's a realistic (black & gray) hourglass with the words "Memento Mori" written in the upper part of the hourglass board. All in all it was a great experience, though it was a little more painful than my first tattoo. It is also a little swollen but the skin on the inner bicep is tender, so that's should be expected. Thanks to Eric Rignall from Inkstop Tattoo in NYC! [emoji1319] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, @Gingerninja and @Devious6. I am over the moon about how it turned out! Got a tweet from Amy Winehouse's mum, and she called it "superb." I am chuffed to bits by that! :-) @jadore Nice one!

Charming.

I missed the pic, but for real...if you're going to create a whole new thread about your tattoo (when most people just post in the latest tattoo thread), then what did you expect? You're literally asking people for their opinions, and then getting mad when not everyone says something you want to hear. I assume the tattoo was rough (for the record, I predicted this being a disaster back when you said you wanted it to be like 4 x 4 inches) so I guess we're "haters" for encouraging you to get better tattoos.

you're weird

@lildropofsunshine so awesome you cant give him credit? uh not sure I understand that part of your processing

Me too. My 6.5 hour session required someone bring me a sip of sumpthin, but otherwise there is chat and mental relaxation techniques, and time is up before you know it. I discovered early on that when I tried to look at my phone or listen to music I had a harder time than just laying back and zoning out/accepting the sensation.

i usually just bring the body part thats getting tattooed

Thank you for your great responses, At the end I got this woman by Dane Soos, I took the hanging spider off in order to have more space for a future tattoo:

Got this collab from Timmy B and Andres Acosta at the stacked Lake Tahoe convention. Took about 7 hours

by Chris Smith - Neptune Tattoo in Neptune NJ

BTW, Fred Perry has some of the Amy Winehouse Foundation shirts on sale. @oboogie I'm an enabler. :)

Coming through airport security yesterday one of the security guards had a long (favourable) chat about my tattoos. He said he had a couple but was too afraid of the pain to get more. Then he explained that he got the tattoos after he got paralysed in a car accident and then beat the doctor's diagnosis that he probably would never walk again (!!!). I was like "dude, I think you could handle it" (He laughed). Sent from my G7-L01 using Tapatalk

What Dan said. ^^^

Sorry there were not any replies, but just wanted to say that you nailed it with the tiger!

please don't get anymore tattoos from that guy.

Went to CatConLA last weekend with my daughter!!! We had so much fun. Saw Horitomo, Molly, and Taki from State of Grace. We bought a ton of cat related stuff, two of my favorites being prints featuring David Bowie and Robert Smith w/cats! We bought @DJDeepFried a monmon cat baseball cap. I'm still wanting another monmon cat tattoo... someday...

@lildropofsunshine well good luck then...wherever you are

You should do it! I feel so happy with this one. I love all my work, but I love honoring Amy's talent and legacy with this one.

@lildropofsunshine hey thats cool - many things factor into choosing an artist - including the personality and friendliness of the artist - among many other things - anyway - who is the artist you chose? like i said - you shouldnt worry what I think of your tattoo anyway - you're diggin it

@lildropofsunshine well I definetly dont love this tattoo - however - I'm not wearing it - and what's most important is that it met your expectations - so enjoy it - my critique would be in the design elements - but like I said - you dig it so rock on - I hope you continue to get tattooed and continue to use this site as a resource for future tattoos and to identify talented tattooers for future work

yes,sadly that's true,yes,a true loss. I am madly in love with her and her music.she was a very unique artist,she had a true gift. that "27" club is eery. nice tattoo on you. I have been thinking for a while of a horseshoe tattoo like hers for me.

my appointment essentials are this: 1)sleep good the night before 2)pre-hydrate the day & night before 3)eat good full healthy meal before tattoo (day of) *bring with to shop* 1)small ice chest with at least 3 cold water bottles 2)ziplock baggie with skittles & M&M mix(keep sugars up) 3)nice ripe banana(instant potassium*keeps those electrolytes up*) 4) turn off ringer on phone 5)relax and enjoy the experience 6)*and most important*have close bar or at least cold beers waiting for me when finished ( I always get tattooed 100% sober),(but after tattoo,3 or 4 cold ones takes the edge off) LOL

that's pretty cool hun,I am a huge AW fan,and that tattoo is rockin'

Fire started next door as an accident and spread through a few buildings. It was a four alarm fire. Someone lost their kitty but no one else was hurt - from what I've ready their machines and some of the art survived. No news on where everyone is setting up in the meantime. ____ Added on to say we talked to Franz today and most of the machines, books and art were salvageable and they've found a new location and will be re-opening in a few weeks - all around good news.

I think it should come back when this place is a tattoo forum again and not a tattoo advice forum.

I had this one done by Tammy Kim at the Okey Doke in Toronto -- Terrible news about the fire that closed their shop this week.

My thigh pieces (more side of thigh for them both). first one by Sam Smith when she was visiting the UK. I think about 5.5hrs one hit. Healed perfectly in 3 days despite being in a car crash where I rolled my car 3x and wrote it off on my way home from the shop. Second one, my beautiful big red kitty from Stu Pagdin. One hit - 6hrs. I took the train. This one was more of a tricky heal, got some lovely scabs but I think he's got a heavier hand. I love to collect but I'd be covered in Stu's work if he lived in the UK. I just love it!

Hey guys, Sad news out of Toronto, the Okey Doke was hit by a fire last night, according to India's Instagram, they'll be closed until further notice - if you have an upcoming tattoo with any of the excellent artists there contact them ASAP. I know the shop owners here in TO are close so I imagine you'll see the Okey Doke crew guesting around the city.

The classic girl head / web images were surely inspired by the circus sideshow spider ladies? Here. I don't know who drew the first flash though, or when. It's often not possible to track these things right back. But, you can see ladies / cherubs (not sure which) on web, although not enclosed by it, on the feet and ankles of Stella Grassman. All her work was done by her husband Deafy. Photo is from the 1920s. If you're after something a little less 'dark' than variations on the classic design often are, and are wanting to add flowers too, you might want to consider something along the lines of this lovely by Virginia Elwood. Ladyroses are a classic in themselves, of course, the combination of the two works really well, I think. That said. I prefer to hand over a bit of reference and let my tattooer get on with the drawing, rather than give too much specific direction about composition though. Am not a fan of giving other tattooers work as reference, but I can see why you want to. Have you had your consultation yet? Never had drawings in advance of the day myself either, BTW. He'd be happy to make changes if it wasn't 'right', for sure. Hasn't be necessary yet mind. In other news, this, is image absolutely dying to be turned into a tattoo. (from either Punch, or the London Charivari, November 1867) Edit - Agree that it's not a stupid question, @jadore. Not at all.

Some of you saw this on Instagram already, but my stoke cannot be contained. Fudō crab from Eddy done today at Lifetime in Denver. Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Hey all, Today I started my back piece with Scott Rusnak out of Lucky Strike Tattoo in Edmonton, Alberta. We are doing something a little out of the traditional notion of Japanese tattooing--a large octopus with some of his rad lightning laid over top. This is only my third tattoo (the other's being only palm sized jammers) and after my four-hour linework sit today, I am humbled. All of the spots feel like bad spots, but now a couple hours after things are feeling good and I'm looking forward to the next sit where we will finish the linework and start some shading, hopefully. We're planning on bringing it down to the knees with some rocks and heikegani crabs. The bare patch near my left shoulder will also probably be filled with some more water and another crab. Ultimately, this first experience was intense but totally manageable and very rewarding.

that's cool and so is he,really down to earth dude,we spent about 5 hours with him ,my wife and myself drove 3 hours to convention in Fresno a couple months ago and both got work from him at that show,it was a great time,and great tattoos,it was super fun for my wife and me to get tattooed by the same guy at the same show.He is a real kick to talk to. I am trying to nail down 2 more appointments with him for us at SF in october.

Thought I'd posted these the other morning - probably forgot to hit the submit button. This is the time of the year that I love our place the most - affectionately referred to as Mighty Mortgage Manor. We spend a lot of time working on fences, the garden, Lynn's plot of fresh flowers, cutting grass...and even find some time to spend in our pool (we filled in an old one and built a new one last year). But, the mornings are so peaceful - sitting on the back porch with a cup of coffee is so tranquil. Here's my view from the back porch, looking over our small lake. Sunrise from the front porch: The pool from the back porch (still growing some grass to cover where they dug up the yard for the water and electrical lines): The front of the house: And the back of the house: All four seasons are wonderful here in the Northeast, but I just thrive in the Spring and Summer months.

so these are some cool salt & pepper shakers my wife bought for me when we were on Maui. We travel a lot and always stop by the tattoo shops and check them out,one in Lahaina had these for sale. http://midpacifictattoo.com/

update...from my Sunday Takeover

Vic Ruggiero (from the Slackers NYC) played a solo show last nite in a living room in east Edmonton. It was super dope, we love Vic here. That's me on the left playing the red wurlitzer, the show turned into an amazing ska/rocksteady jam sesh with some cool cats (and close friends) from the Canadian ska scene. Pretty awesome to get to play alongside one of your musical icons. Pretty jazzed. Life is full circle.

We buy pre sale Riot Fext tix around Thanksgiving and they just announced today that the original Misfits lineup will be reuniting after 33 years to play this year. The rest of the lineup should be out soon but that was a nice icebreaker of a release. Gonna see how long the line is for the Elm Street Tattoo Friday the 13th thing tonight. and then I have an appointment with Marina Inoue at the Elm Street Tattoo Festival next week. All in all, a good day.

I lost my black lab to a stroke a couple of months ago. I finally felt up to adopting a new rescue. Meet Brontë. She's a St. Bernard/possible Blue Tuck Coon Hound mix. She's going to be a big girl!

I came from a rough background, drinking & drugs (don't ask what I did for a living between 1977 and 1981), fixing cars for a living, motorcycles, street racing and ultimately stock cars. So a lot of people I knew had tattoos and it was totally accepted. I was the first with big pieces done. With all I went through with some really close calls, I still give my wife (RIP) credit for saving my life. Now I'm 61, 6' tall, 255 lbs and am in the gym 3 days most weeks, I'm kind of hard to miss. As I said earlier, people now look the other way and give me lots of room. Partly which is fine since I pretty much keep to myself when I'm out and about. It does bug me how quickly others judge, I'm actually pretty nice most of the time.

I love a good pair of raw denim when they're stiff and new, but I like 'em even more once they're broken in and faded. There is beauty in change. Nothing gold can stay. Stay gold, Ponyboy.