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Yeah... "accidentally munewari soshinbori" may end up being my future. If only I could do that without the pain.

So, I recall being asked if I was going to do the other side after I posted my left side's tattoo here some months ago... yes, yes yes, fine, you win; you were right. I couldn't leave it unbalanced. Discussed it with Horifuji after my last appointment for the left side and I asked him what he would suggest. He suggested Sojobo on the right shoulder to keep the theme consistent. The karasu tengu on the left shoulder would need to be supervised, anyway. Horifuji at State of Grace in San Jose USA. Outline and details machine, almost all colour tebori. Great shop, great people, great experience, great artist. Links to his Instagram posts as the photos are much clearer than what I can do. And both sides from the front...

Called an artist who had been on my bucket list for a while and left multiple voicemails to no reply, so putting a pin in that one for a while. Shot an email to Scott hoping to get my stomach started/done at Pagoda City now that I was able to free that weekend up. Didn't realize the BlackHeart crew was in Hawaii until after I sent it though, so waiting on a reply. Fingers crossed. Been too long since he's tattooed me!

@cibo their loss is your gain! @piccalilli that crushes. So awesome.

From what I've seen, more people cause problems by too much care than by too little care.

time for the backpiece....

Yep. Now you just need to continue on down the torso . . . both sides! ;)

Getting started on a fun piece before my back project. Artist changed the classic photo to match the color of my dog. So this is tattoo number five and I am still learning. Yes your biceps are free. Back is not too bad. Thigh is a little more sensitive until you start rounding the corners. Got the line work this session. Going to be a fun summer

nice!!! gotta complete the piece!!!

Yeah it’s definitely a possibility! Will wait for my artist to get back to me to see if she has any other ideas. I’m all booked in for the 9th June so not long now [emoji5] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

it looks normal,but it does have blowout,there is nothing you can do about that. blowout is going to happen a lot on that part of your finger.

have been away for a bit, just realized i didn't post up the finished work from Scott Sylvia...the guy who bailed on this drawing totally lost out! :)

<10 days until I finally get back to Horitomo! Happy but nervous about pain tolerance, hopefully we'll make some good progress!

Pretty good day for my wife and I at Smith Street. Angel Fish for her by Frank William and a koi for me by Eli Quinters.

https://m.imgur.com/a/y19vdiz Got the one arm done now (pictures won't attach for some reason)

Ass shot? Check Lower back painful? Check Omg, the flames and scales on the claw directly above the ass crack... But we're getting there! Probably one more session to finish the back... and then start on my right cheek/leg

My tiger half sleeve was finished on Tuesday. Super happy with it and how well it's healing. Work by Kevin Stress at Enso Tattoo in Columbus, OH. Great artist and shop, would recommend to anyone. Let me know what you think! An action shot with me on the near table. <<<Photos borrowed from the artist's IG>>>

Progress......

I wanted to share this sad but informative long-form piece from Jezebel called "The Tattoo Industry Is Having Its Own Wrenching, Revelatory 'Me Too' Moment." Personally, I (a woman) have been tattooed by three different men, and all of them were nothing but professional. I cannot imagine the horror and helplessness I would feel if a tattooer decided to sexually assault me while I was being tattooed! Talk about a vulnerable position! On the other side of the coin, it is disgusting to think that some female tattooers have had to put up with sexually suggestive comments/actions/pictures/etc. from clients while attempting to provide them with professional service. I hope no one here has a story like that. It is mentioned in the article as "an old cliché," but I think one of the more dangerous and harmful myths out there about women with tattoos is that we are "sexually available, and that [our] tattoos are there for men's pleasure." I am ready for that twisted belief to die a cold, hard death. Forever.

Getting there on the color

@Valrie11 I realy like the progress on your piece. Very nice. @Dominiccjs 5 days in a row? Omg, thats tough. Congrats, very impressive. Had another session on saturday myself. But as I'm not as bad ass as some other people her, I only managed to get about 3h done

5 days straight about 40 hours give or take, this is as far as we got, about 1.5 - 2 sessions left. done by dan molloy. these 5 days on my back was easier than my 3 days b2b on my arm. kinda regretting not booking 6 or 7 sessions instead to get it done.

Further on this girl. Today was pretty rough for me. Shading is harder than the outline. More tomorrow.

Hey Folks- I am a filmmaker and tattoo enthusiast. I've been going to the Greenpoint Tattoo Company in Brooklyn, New York for five years now and the owner (John Reardon) and I have always joked about Parks and Rec set in a tattoo shop. Well, we made it- albeit in web series form. It can be seen here for free: Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 There is a bit more information and a binge watch version on www.inkincshow.com. It stars a few other tattooers and plenty of weird clients. We really wanted to stay true to tattooing and expose some of the more annoying things artists deal with on a day to day basis. I hope you enjoy it.

@scottyg Thanks man! I've been really enjoying Horimomo's work recently! But you also reminded me that I still haven't posted a healed photo. This one was taken about a month after finishing it, and some of the blue still needs a bit of settling time to get uniform. Maybe not a readable as some other backpieces, but I love how dynamic the huge wave over my shoulder is and the lighting. It moves very well on my body. I'm very glad we decided to go to the knee with this one, Scott's reasoning being "you're so damn skinny it's like trying to paint a skateboard."

Well, Takashi beat the shit out of me for 3 hours yesterday; was able to do the mikiri/background shading on my left shoulder. But this was with tebori, for the first time on my backpiece, and although I have another tebori piece this was on a whole other level of pain. Especially behind the armpits... and the back ribs. Everyone says how your ribs kill, but no one talks about how your ribs extend to your back! But it's weird because I totally could have taken a nap were it not for the pain... by which I mean, there really is a rhythm to tebori that's different than machine, and while it's a different kind of pain altogether, that rhythm is relaxing. Anyway, Takashi rules, and persistence is the name of the game!

Progress report

@Matej Haviar Completely. F***ing. Amazing. Look at those eyes! The lightening! Congrats!!!!

Wow....just....Wow. Incredible piece of work.

Session # who knows now, but coming to the end. 36 hours to get here. One more sit to finish a tiny bit of colouring we haven't done and to hit a bunch of the background to smooth things out. Scott wanted to darken the big wave over my ribs to something a little closer to the lower one. It's gonna be weird not having this to work on anymore, but at the same time I'm so effing relieved. Gonna be healed for summer and for the crazy shop party--boo yeah!

My backpiece by Chris Crooks is finished for now. Will be extending down to the knees this summer. Two full consecutive days to get it finished, forgive the redness and bloodinfused colors.

Session number seven rolled around this Saturday. @bongsau You were definitely right, "in for a whooping" to say the least. Only made it through 2 and a half hours, but still managed to tear up an insane amount of skin. It's sessions like this that definitely teach you about your body and ability to tolerate pain. Felt pretty discouraged immediately after the session, but I'm still stoked on the level of progress. Can't wait to see the patterning brighten up as the blue settles over top. 28.5 hours here.

I had another 2 days with Chris Crooks. We finished coloring the tiger and he started on the cover up which he handled amazingly. So honored to be able to get work done by such an exceptional artist.

So on Friday I went down to Denver to see my man Walter McDonald at Lifetime tattoo, got a pretty good start on my back. We left some details out of the initial outline (tiger stripes, radiating beams of light..) and plan to add some background and extend downward in future sessions. Super excited to finally start this and see where we go from here, also my back feels like I've been utilizing less than proper lifting techniques.

Thank you!! We actually just finished an unplanned second day of color. I would've posted something yesterday, but I figured I'd wait for today. Suppose I oughta crosspost it to the Lowdown, but here you go: To be honest, the pictures just don't do the actual colors any justice at all...they get yellowed out. The blue with the red/orange is so amazingly vibrant. Personally, even though I'm totally wrecked right now, I'm so glad that we powered through it, because the absolute worst spots for me have been the upper back between my shoulderblades, and also just below the nape of my neck. And now they're done! Probably worth the shocky-tattoo-flu feeling I'll have for a few hours tonight. I'll be right as rain again tomorrow, though. :)

Henning requested pics of my healed back with a black background. Believe it or not, it was tough finding large enough black material like a curtain or spool of cloth but luckily my local dry cleaner had something I could borrow. I had to email him LARGE files because he may publish the photos in something. Fun looking at all the details. Maximize your browser!