Lance

Less than a month away! Who's planning on going? 2 more videos btw. Some really nice work from Brand, Shige, and Miyazo can be seen. Kip Fulbeck: Chris Brand:

@embers, congratulations! Amazing Snake. I've been very tempted time to time by Bryan Burk's work. Especially his tigers and this one particular wolf he once posted on IG. And especially since I live 5 minutes from his shop too :-)

I've re-read this a few times and I can't get it out of my head. Every time I read it, my first thought of "SEA people" are mermaids and crabs with Jamaican accents. ;-) Topic wise, It's funny. I've had people touch my arms, grab me, compliment me, etc but rarely has anyone actually asked me what my tattoos mean or why I chose specific imagery. I guess seeing japanese tattoos on a japanese guy, everyone just assumes its a cultural thang or something.

Brian Kaneko: Chaz Bojorquez:

Chaz Bojorequez lantern!!! The Master! So good. These previews are looking too good. Can't wait to see this! Perseverance Preview: Luke Stewart: Jeff Gogue: - - - Updated - - - Brian Kaneko: Chaz Bojorquez: - - - Updated - - - Brian Kaneko: Chaz Bojorquez: - - - Updated - - - Ergh. I give up posting these last two. Tomorrow perhaps.

Thanks for informing! I didn't realize the set of 10 new prints were on sale already. It's a total cat month for me! Tattooed cat feet and now new prints. State of Grace likes to keep me in the poor house. Love it!

OOF!!! That's the spot! Oh yeah, that's a warm fuzzy feeling right there. No fun.

Yes, bactine. I know Jill's used that stuff on me and I believe Horitomo too. I can't say it worked either cuz it still hurts but maybe it makes it hurt just a little bit less. That said, I was still twitching when Horitomo was tattooing me. At some point your body just kicks in defensively even though your mind is perfectly fine with going on and on and on.

If you do finish it during your next session, with your remaining appointments available are you planning or able or even allowed to start something new? Just thinking. I mean you do have them booked already.

Thank you! @ironchef, you would be absolutely correct. Laying down in his space was a great experience to be had. He's a very nice guy too. I'm not sure if it's been mentioned previously but both Horitomo and Yokohama Horiken have rooms to work in while everyone else at the shop works in an open plan. The rooms are raised platforms and you remove your footwear before entering. You lay out your towel on the floor and he sits to tattoo. Very traditional. Being able to lie there and see him work, see his drawings for ongoing or upcoming tattoos/paintings, seeing his reference materials, and the little sculptures of Fudo Myo-o was a great time and while laying there being poked on the feet may not sound fun, I'm pretty sure I was wearing a goofy smile the whole time. BTW, if anyone was wondering, to me, shading by tebori didn't feel as painful as by machine.

Yeah, I'm not too familiar with white ink but have heard about weird discoloration issues too. Something about tube types or stencil ink getting into the tattoo or some oddity. I hear it, but then I see things like the Horitoshi Family or others using large fields of it in their work. Every flower. Horitomo actually asked if I wanted the white shaded by machine or tebori, so I'm sure it wasn't an issue. I'm guessing it's probably some rumor from LA Ink type media or from people less skilled. Maybe it turns yellow because the person is Asian. I'll let you know when it heals then. Ha ha ;-)

Thanks all. It was a pleasure to be tattooed by him. Also I got to see a large painting he did of a cat with Fudo Myo-o for an art exhibit. He previewed the start of it on IG maybe 3 posts ago. @TaeTae, You know, it really never occurred to me to think about how well it would hold up. Horitomo asked if he could use white ink. What Horitomo wants, Horitomo gets. I'm sure it'll hold well. Tebori really gets the ink in there I've been told.

Okay, per request, one Monmon Cat by Horitomo. HORITOMO (@horitomo_stateofgrace) | Just finished | Intagme - The Best Instagram Widget

And this happened yesterday! I love Caturdays. By Horitomo at State of Grace (duh!). The outline and black shading are by machine. The white shading is by tebori. My first tattoo that uses color ;-) http://www.intagme.com/horitomo_stateofgrace/625645608470926116_177828155/ I swear I have the fugliest feet in all of Hobbiton. Ha! Well, before the tattoo that is.

Congratulations @Reyeslv!

Hell yes, with my fundoshi on of course! Um, no. Noooo fundoshi. No blinding. But a huge yes to going.

Happy to be able to help @Jaycel Adkins

Woah!!! That ROA! How did he fit that and make it look so good? True talent.

What @9Years and @hogg said. I fully agree with checking out the local shops too. There's amazing artists in the city, but I'm a good example where it's not that the artist's in LA didn't do it for me, rather I just saw tattoos by someone in SJ who's work was exactly what I was interested in. 5 years ago I just wanted a tattoo on my arm and thought I'd move to someone else more local for other work. 2 sleeves, a piece on my leg, and a backpiece later, I still find it absolutely worth it to fly up to the same shop because it's exactly what I want. I'd just rather spend more for traveling and getting what syncs with my sense of aesthetics. Bonus points if your chosen tattooer and Shop Crew are cool. Check out shops around LA. Not every shop tries to advertise and post their work or their latest work on the Internet. If you are in absolute awe of the shop in SF, go there. It's just money. Skip drinking out a couple nights or brown bag lunch for a bit. That travel fund will accumulate little by little.

As @MadeIndelible says there are a few posts already that mention some interesting stories. I've mentioned these before in a couple of other posts but I've rarely seen tattoos of the story depicting Akugenta Yoshihira, or Uesugi Kenshin vs. Takeda Shingen. I'd love to see more. With the latter I've only seen 2 done. One, a body suit by Horiyasu, and the second is in progress by Gasen. Probably not all that rare, the image of Benkei vs. Ushiwakamaru at Gojo Bridge is one I never get tired of either. The story of famed archer, Minamoto no Tametomo's suicide is cool. Speaking of archers, so is the tale of Minamoto no Yorimasa shooting the nue with an arrow. I can go on and on but I'll stop there. Lately I feel like an amateur historian on this site. Ha ha, I'm sure it's getting tiring to hear me. There are hundreds of years worth of myths, legends, historical figures, etc that would make amazing tattoos. Oh, I on the other hand am perfectly happy if no one EVER decided to get a tattoo of Oda Nobunaga ;-)

Update, that story about the cave? I was totally wrong. Like I said, I really wasn't sure about it from memory and completely horrible with the really old stories/myths. I stumbled upon this story though and I think this is the story Shige explained at the convention: "The oldest sources for Susanoo myths are the ca. 680 AD Kojiki and ca. 720 AD Nihon Shoki. They tell of a long-standing rivalry between Susanoo and his sister. When he was to leave Heaven by orders of Izanagi, he went to bid his sister goodbye. Amaterasu was suspicious, but when Susanoo proposed a challenge to prove his sincerity, she accepted. Each of them took an object of the other's and from it birthed gods and goddesses. Amaterasu birthed three women from Susanoo's sword while he birthed five men from her necklace. Claiming the gods were hers because they were born of her necklace, and the goddesses were his, he decided that he had won the challenge, as his item produced women. The two were content for a time, but Susanoo, the Storm God, became restless. In a fit of rage, he destroyed his sister's rice fields, hurled a flayed pony at her loom, and killed one of her attendants. Amaterasu, who was in fury and grief, hid inside the Ama-no-Iwato ("heavenly rock cave"), thus effectively hiding the sun for a long period of time." Just wanted to clear things and not spread BS.

Off the top of my head the story of Taira no Koremochi involves maple leaves.

Sorry for the very late response. Holiday, sickness, work, laziness. You name it, it all applies. So to answer your question about resource material, unfortunately Shige did not give any books which have been translated into English that anyone can make use of. Obviously he doesn't need the translated versions. That said, personally, I've noticed, once you find the name of figures in a woodblock, it's fairly easy to find a description of the stories on the Internet. But of course, NEVER trust the Internet for all facts. It's crap. Full of BS by people who know nothing or romanticize to the extreme. It can be useful to determine the bare bone basics after reading multiple descriptions and discerning the relevant information but it's up to each person to dive further. After all once you know the name of the subject you can also search for potential books which can contain more reputable sources. One example is the samurai "Taira no Kiyomori". There's information on the Internet. Being wary of red herrings there's enough for you to learn his general history and background. Enough breadcrumbs to then be able to search for translated books on him as well. By the way, Kiyomori was an uber badass back in the day. In regards to prints/stories he talked about, there were a few interesting ones. One was in regards to I believe it was the Goddess Izanami-no-Mokoto who helped create the Japanese islands, I'm really not too sure. He showed an image where she was in a cave and thus in darkness so it alluded to Japan being in darkness. There was a whole story to it but that's an extremely abridged description. Kind of cool. Sorry to be vague but I'm not too good with stories that far back. A second print was related to Taira no Tomomori. Everyone typically knows his story with regards to the battle of Dan no Ura where in defeat he jumps off his ship with an anchor tied around him or afterwards depicted as a ghost. Shige lamented no one ever gets another image he is depicted in. One where just prior to jumping off the ship he is depicted with broom in hand sweeping the deck of the ship cleaning it. There's a Yoshitoshi print of this. Anyway, many people might think this is a weird image but it's very Japanese with regard to pride and maintaining an appearance. By cleaning the ship and having his enemies seeing it's pristine cleanliness in the midst of a raging battle he is showing them his pride and honor as a samurai even when all is lost. It's a very cool story just as interesting, possibly more so if you think about the meaning behind it, than other depictions of him. Shige also mentioned Tomomori's father who is vastly of more historical importance than his son. Taira no Kiyomori. Most people know about the shogun in regards to Japan and samurai power. Kiyomori, however was the precursor. He was the first samurai to gain power over the nobles and seize power in Kyoto the seat of the central government. Without him who knows if the Minamoto would have been able to take over after and become the first shogun. Anyway being such a powerful figure there is a story (and print) where he instructs a large if not impossibly long spanning bridge (for the time) to be built. He was so powerful a figure he is depicted as preventing the sun from setting till the bridge was completed. Like I said earlier, Kiyomori really is a badass for his day. If you've seen prints of him they will likely be ones showing him on his death bed hallucinating with scenes of hell or where the background garden is depicted as skulls. At the time he died he supposedly had a fever so high it burned people to touch him so the stories go. The last story was related through another one of his back pieces. It depicted a Uesugi Clan Princess ( I forget her name) taking a magical protective helmet across Lake Biwa to her lover a Takeda Prince (I think it was Takeda Katsuyori). There's more to that story but the point was to bring up the Takeda of Kai and Uesugi of Echigo. Both were powerful clans during the 1500s with legendary leaders who actually once met eachother and dueled during a battle (the 4th battle at Kawakajima, a really popular print subject). Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. The Dragon of Echigo and the Tiger of Kai. Dragon vs Tiger. Heaven vs. Earth. (Sidenote: I almost chose them dueling as my backpiece had I gotten my sleeves paired as dragon and tiger rather than phoenix and dragon). Shige basically described how they were historical badasses that really existed even if the story about the helmet may be mythical. Well that's all I have. This was a very quick and extremely abridged, possibly slightly inaccurate description of some of the things that were talked about with a bit of my own bits of knowledge thrown in. Not to be taken as gospel. Always dig deep and do your own research for peace of mind and even then go to someone who knows better and has the knowledge. BTW, check out this link: Kuniyoshi Project

Nice! Is Stewart visiting for the Perseverance show?