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I just spotted this on FYT and thought it was pretty impressive work. The artist is Chris Nieves who is based in Australia I believe.

Thanks Joe, that's helpful info. I'm feeling like I'm close to the point of just going and getting something done. My plans for my arms and the portrait are still being formed, but I might go in at the painful end soon with something on my foot. One thing I'm thinking about, with the plans I'm putting together is how the various styles are going to look placed together. My worry on this was kind of re-enforced by checking out Richard Pinch's site where his showcase gallery shows a guy with a lot of colourful Japanese but with portrait-ish pieces on his chest - I'm not sure if that look appeals to me. See here: Richard's Tattoo Studio - richard gallery So I'm going to need to give placement plenty of thought before committing to anything in the arm/chest region.

Haha! Wow! Thanks for that Stewart - I've driven past Richard's loads of times but honestly never gave a second thought to the possibility there could be a top notch tattoo artist there! Guess I just got sucked into the idea that I'd have to go somewhere a bit more exotic - as with what i was saying in my earlier post. Anyway - I'll check Richard's out and report back!

Hey Stewart, thanks for taking the time to respond to my post, I appreciate it. I don't think I have seen your work before but just googled you and it looks great to me (don't take that the wrong way - I'm brand new to this and appreciate I don't really know what I'm looking at). It's been really cool to learn what talent we have in this country with yourself, Valerie, David Corden (who I just found out about the other day) and many others as it was all the recent Miami/NY Ink programs that got me thinking about tattoos and I guess I had in my head that I'd need to go to the US and hunt down Chris Garver or Tim Hendricks or (insert other US-based artist here) to get the kind of quality that had piqued my interest. I suppose what I was getting at is that for me I am really drawn to the bright colourful Japanese stuff, which you seem to be great at, but I'm just trying to find out if there's a downside to it down the line. Would I be sitting there in 3-5 years thinking "Damn, I remember when that colour was so bright and really popped out, now it's a splodgy mess!". Having seen some of the photos on your site it seems like even the healed/older Japanese stuff still looks pretty great, so hopefully not much to worry about there. I also have a portrait of my grandmother I'd like to get done and was wondering whether to go black and white for that or whether to incorporate colour, but it sounds like colour wouldn't be your recommendation in that case, so I've learned something really useful there. You're right of course, in that I should get more real-life experience of tattoos to help my understanding but I'm up in Aberdeen, so I'm not surrounded by conventions! I'll get to googling and see if I can find any in the UK that I could get to in the next few months.

When looking around a lot of artist's websites you see all these amazing works with bright vibrant colours a blacks that are precise and very dark. However, in most cases it looks like the tattoo is pretty fresh, in some cases indeed it may have just been finished before the pic was taken. So what I'm wondering is if anyone has any comparison shots of how these great tattoos end up looking a little while down the line. I know a lot will be down to the skill of the artist and so on, but I am assuming that even with the best there must be some natural fading/degradation of the finish as new skin grows over and inks change? Any example would be brilliant.:)

Just found this UK artist's website and thought some of his work, particularly his portraits, was brilliant. Not seen any mention of him on here - is he well known? www.davidcordentattoos.com

Saw this one and really liked it. Not Japanese at all, but would tick off my desire to get a rose.

That's all great stuff guys. Thalia that octopus is very cool. I know the foot isn't going to throw up a huge amount of Japanese reference because they then to end mid-calf or at the ankles, but I'm slowly planning the various bits and pieces I fancy getting and the idea of something on the foot really appeals. The obvious downside is the hobbling around and funky footwear for a while thereafter! I might not end up going Japanese for it, but was thinking something to tie-in with what I'm planning for my arm and chest would be cool.

Thanks guys. That Horitoshi site is a bit of a ball-ache to navigate eh? Oh to speak Japanese! Tex those feet are awesome. I guess something similar but full-on Japanese could be a hannya mask or something. Very nice. Out of interest - how long did it take your feet to recover and be reasonably usable?

I'm looking for some inspiration for Japanese-style foot tattoos, ideally with plenty of foot coverage but without being something that really should be bigger, if that makes sense? ie I'm not wanting to squeeze a dragon on there or something. Coverage like this, but other subject ideas and example pics would be appreciated.

As I mentioned in my earlier posts I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I'd like to get tattoo-wise in future (I currently have none) and am really the kind of guy who plans all his moves out in advance. I love japanese-style tattoos and have thought about a Japanese chest plate and half-3/4 sleeve. This would have no real meaning for me, I just love the art. I've also been thinking about stuff that would have more meaning for me and been thinking about maybe a portrait of my Grandmother, a rose for my Mum, and maybe other bits a pieces for other people etc. Being a bit of a symmetry freak I'd want the same coverage on the other arm. So... what I'm wondering is if the two different styles are going to look ok together, or if they'll clash really badly and just look wrong? Does anyone have any photo examples of where this kind of mix has worked successfully? Thanks!:)

I'm a long way from an expert but I suspect the "right" answer is that the "right" way is the way you like it/wanted it. So tell her to GFH'rself! :D

Thanks Lochlan, those threads are great. Sounds like Horiyoshi is passing the mantle to his son. I suspect coming from a position of having no tattoos and currently knowing sweet FA about Japanese tattoo culture would not make me well placed to tempt him back for a blast on me! :D Oh well - I'll keep reading! The tiger/cherry blossom tree combo on that link Cork supplied is absolutely amazing.

Wow!! Just read through that Horiyoshi III page. That is amazing. It's probably a bit early for me to be considering a full body suit but if anything ever made me want to get one...;) How many hours would that take total? I assume people get them built up over many years rather than getting it blasted out in a month or whatever? I googled Horiyoshi III and see that he does some "hand poking". That must be brutally sore compared to getting done with a machine? Then number of "pokes" just to colour a square inch... :eek: Does anyone have an idea of (A) How difficult it is to get tattooed by Horiyoshi III and (B) how much it costs? He seems like something of a legend so both are probably not good news... Artistically I'm sure there are plenty that are his equal or better but there's a certain appeal/mystique to being done by a Japanese master. :cool:

That's awesome Cork, thanks for all that. Plenty of research to get me started! :)

A couple of questions too - how does one go about finding out about things like Oni's and Diakoku's lucky mallet? Is there some Japanese Tattoo meanings/backstories reference book or something? I find it all so interesting but it would be cool if he info was gathered in one place. I did find a site that discussed the meanings of different coloured dragons, but I've no idea if it was correct or not, so a recommended resource would be awesome. Also, would be keen to hear about your multiple meanings for your tattoo. :)

Welcome from another newbie! This... ...is exactly me too. I was in NYC recently and had thought about going into Wooster St and getting something done, but after walking past about 4 times I decided much more research was needed before I made such a permanent decision! Other might say I chickened out! :D

Yeah, I wondered if my "route of entry" might be frowned upon by some. I guess it would be cool to have always been "into" tattoos, but I must admit I don't really recall ever seeing an awesome one in real life so I genuinely had no idea just how amazing they could be. Main exposure has been to ropey tribal bands etc my mates got in Magaluf when we were 18! I did manage to talk one of them out of a Taz holding a pint though. Either way, I find the whole thing fascinating now and my opinion has been very much altered, so hopefully that's the good side of those programs. I must admit I don't watch too much of them, just fast forward the "drama" and get to the results! :D Oh, and thanks for the welcome!

I think this rose tattoo looks amazing. I'm not keen on the diamond and crown - they wouldn't have any meaning for me - but the roses look stunning. http://fashstyles.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Rose-Tattoos-for-Men-e1304073534340.jpg Otherwise more traditional roses perhaps with a dagger might look cool. I dunno - plenty of time to work out what's going to be best.

Hey guys, I've been lurking for a while now, just reading loads of threads and trying to do some learning. I don't have any tattoos but over the last year or so I've been becoming really obsessed with the idea, having had the idea planted in my head by watching Miami Ink, LA Ink etc. I'd never really wanted a tattoo before but was blown away by the beautiful artwork those guys create and it just totally changed my perception of what tattoos could look like. I guess I'm most keen on the Japanese style, dragons, tigers, koi etc, and with lots of colour, but am also starting to appreciate what I think is the more "traditional" style of skulls and daggers etc. I'd been thinking about some sort of Japanese half sleeve and chest but I'd also love to get some roses in tribute to my Mum (she's not dead or anything, she's just brilliant, no sob story to get me on TV;)) but I'm thinking roses and Japanese ain't going to gel too well, so probably need to be separate. Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll see you around.