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Jon just knocked these out on my arms last night. Really stoked. I felt so sick that day, so Im glad I was able to power through it. Just chugged apple juice and soda to keep myself concious through it all. Thankfully arms are easy spots for tattoos, and my arm was asleep for the diamond lady because of the awkward position, so it didnt hurt that much. Getting a Fudo Myo-o cat by Chris Anthon today. Will post photos latter.

Japanese dragon sleeve by Scott Ellis is finished!

Lets get this thread going again! The latest progress on my back from Adam Kitamoto from tenten tattoo in Melbourne Australia.

You may be able to find someone to tattoo one of your smaller designs on you, but a full back piece? No way. And by that I mean they'll take your money, but they aren't going to be very passionate about it. The best tattoo artists in the world don't get their own designs tattooed on them. They seek out the artists who they admire and respect, and let them do their thing. You'd be wise to do the same. You'll get a better tattoo and have a better experience if you approach it this way.

Heather Bailey did this one for me a few months ago. Inside the upper arm is a fun area.

I love how so many of the cool tattoos I see on instagram turn out to be on LST posters! Keep up the collecting.

Not a big fan of the no outline tattoo. Conventional wisdom is that they don't age well. Something to consider. If you tell us where you live maybe we can suggest someone in your area. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My Dad went into the Marines at the end of WWII - this is him in July 1946, just scored as high shooter in his training platoon at Parris Island. His tattoo was a killer skull with a snake intertwined in the eyes and mouth. I wish I could show him mine now - he died in 1997 while I was commanding a battalion in Bosnia - but he was my incentive to finally do it. I'm still looking for that rifle - serial number 2860035. I've come close to it and have several M1 Garands in my collection. I know that he would have never considered putting something on him that reflected an image of Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, North Korea or China. Still, he loved the oriental and German cultures and visited Asia and Europe many times over the years before he died.

Awesome!! I bet you can't wait for the next session!!

I'm saying that the best back pieces – in my opinion, not as a tattoo artist, but an enthusiast – are one bold, cohesive image, whereas your design has a little too much going on for my taste. A great artist can take your basic idea – say, a horned demon with a battleax on a pyramid of skulls – and make it fucking amazing. I think you have to let go of the idea of your art being on your body, and not because I think you're a bad artist, but because tattooing is such a complicated and specialized art form with its own set of rules and techniques that are different from every other art form that you need to find someone who has devoted their life to the craft. I know that involves a lot of trust, but that's my advice. Don't worry about having something "unique." It's a one-of-a-kind, handmade piece of art that exists only on your body so it's going to be unique and it's going to be yours because it's on you. In the meantime, keep working on your own art with pencils, charcoal, paint or whatever and leave the tattooing to the tattooers. P.S.: Just as a starting point: https://www.google.com/search?q=filip+leu+back+piece&num=20&biw=1275&bih=761&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwis15u6s7vPAhVIHGMKHe0UBOoQ_AUICCgB

Nora Townsend

Don't take this wrong, but I think your artwork would make for horrible tattoos. Go into the main forum and read the "What makes a good tattoo" thread and then compare the discussion with your work. I'm not saying you don't have artistic talent, just that nothing you showed us really translates into tattooing.

My grandparents were born towards the end of the second world war, so none of them faught. My dutch grandfather remembers german soldier mowing down their farm with tanks, and allie forces lobbing grenades, tho. My Canadian grandmothers father was a front-line medic during the war. He returned home after the war, but died quickly of sone disease he cought over there. I forget what he died of. On my mother's side, there are 3 generations of nurses, going back to my great grandmother, who died at the age of 98, and who was named after Edeth Cavall. I understand my strong pull towards nurse imagery, hense why my center chest piece is the World War I image of the Rose of No-Mans Land. Could also explain why I want to be a tattooer now, and why I wanted to be a paramedic before that. That same grandfather of mine has a British made Le Enfield MK. III that he bought at a garage sale in the 70s. Cool gun. Im no expert, so I dont know much about it, but it might have been used during the first world war, because I know they used Le Enfields during that time.

Sounds like you're looking for more dark and abstract imagery. Find a really good black and gray (I assume) artist who specializes in this sort of thing and let them go crazy. I'll give some suggestions to give you ideas of what's possible. Don't expect to get in with these guys any time soon, most of them are legends booked years in advance. We can give more specific artists to check out if you tell us roughly where you live. https://www.instagram.com/paulbooth/ https://www.instagram.com/carlostorresart/ https://www.instagram.com/josh_duffy/ https://www.instagram.com/grindesign/ https://www.instagram.com/joeyboontattooartist/

Thank you! I appreciate it!

hey @Kracov welcome to the forum Everybody wants a unique tattoo. But the strongest and most powerful tattoos are ones that takeoff of classic imagery and timeless themes. Tattoo design is more than the drawing/image - placement, scale, composition, simplicity, black and contrast are very important in making not just a good tattoo but a unique tattoo. Your design - it's waaay too busy. A strong tattoo you can tell what it is from across the street. All the smaller items around the perimeter - the spikey eyeball, moon-spider-web, pictographs/icons, latin writing, asian/tribal markings - those all take away from the main idea but could work as one shot tattoos on other parts of the body like the arms. Maybe that would be a good starting point for you to get experience. Then you can go bolder and bigger with your battle-axe-predator-sword-demon-IDK idea. I'm not sure what exactly you're going for. Really a consultation with a tattooer is a first step to making any tattoo a reality. But you need to be able to answer this question: "what exactly do you want on your back" with the simplest, no-bs, get-to-the point answer. Suggest you cruise the LST forum threads, gallery and check out the tattooer interviews to gain some insight into what makes a good tattoo. cheers

The tattoo that I was hoping for in like 99% not going to happen, so I'm bummed about that since I worked on getting it booked for 10 months. BUT the cool thing is that I won an award at work (yea!) and had some extra cash that was going towards the tattoo. Anyway, I saw this cool thing that was being auctioned off for one of the charities that I support. I bid. I won. HENRY ROLLINS is recording my voicemail. I am more than a little excited. *drops mic*

the heart with the key and banner was my first tattoo,I got it in 1985,(I was 26)it was for an ex-wife with her name in the banner.it was flash off the wall,that's the way it was back then. and a couple other stupid choices from a while ago. .but now it's all nicely covered up ! :)