Charles.M

State of the last sparrow tattoo Forum union! I think there are some great people on here who selflessly plug great info into this forum, constantly. Some have been around for years, through various fazes and transitions, some are new. I takes something from you to give to everyone else, so thank you. I am honored to now participate, while and when I have time and hope to be an asset to the group. My 4 part question to all Forum users, veterans, and others...is: (1) What is your perception of what last sparrow tattoo Forum is today? (2) why do you participate? (3) what have you gained from it? (4) what do you think will make it better?

Both Japanese traditional and American traditional are line based illustration drawings, so they blend well together, just keep it Black and gray, continue the background and they will work well off each other.

Japan is pretty big, so exactly where in Japan would help with recommendations....

So a guy walks into a tattoo shop and says "I want the tattoo diet", the tattooer says "what is that", the guy says "I want a full body photorealistic tattoo of me only 50 pounds lighter and maybe this time it will last...."

Got work from Todd Noble, same time I picked up his skull reference book, the tattoo rocks, the books rocks and so does Todd Noble.... he is awesome! Recommend him plus 1! There is a video interview with him also on this site.

Dragon sleeve I am working on (someone else's arm), almost done. Need to tighten up background...

My chest Tattoo art, as it stands falls shy of my nips, but as I button up my body suit it will be full coverage, and that means nipple obliteration downstream. I expect to wear two tough faces for that session, but bring it!

I have been hitting the repeat button on skulls and snakes myself,.. I would like more of the same theme. It is kind of like that lady with all the cats, she starts with one, likes it and they multiply lol. Then she is called the cat lady! FYI Guy Aitchison did a pair of biomech blade sleeves on a dud a few years ago, total mirror image one sleeve to the next (shoulder to wrist), so that was an extreme example of mirroring I think.

thanks suburbanxcore and Synesthesia I respect other's choices, whatever they are. If more SXE actually respected others personal choices not to be Edge, then, the back and forth would be better for all. A few bad apples reflect on us all, my choices are for me, it's my own and I do not need or look for endorsement, from others for that experience, though I like to associate with other SXE, because, that commonality connects us in a primal way I think. Simply put, if I was the last man on Earth I would still be Edge. Being edge means more money for tattoos though, lol. Less beer = more tattoo budget ... seems the hardcore scene has picked up where the Edge scene left off...same energy, but booze in the mix. Funny thing is that I chose to be sober before I knew that Straight Edge was a thing. When I decided to take Art seriously, I realized two simple things, that the shakes is not value added for tattooing and memory is not improved by partying.

Happy Edge Day 2016

I have a XXX in my wrist, done 10 years ago, I am still Straight Edge, so I think my next tattoo will be a SXE theme design. Large, where I can fit it between the other stuff.

Sincere questions are an opportunity for everyone to learn and hopefully grow from the experience. The problem comes, when insincere people waste other people's time with pointless questions, and sincere people spend the time to provide answers at length, to help those who appear to be in need. Your motivation has been called into question (I think you expressed regret for the perception of your conduct) and now, how you respond, from now on, will be the measure of your sincerity. This forum has a lot of great people with loads of insight, so you have an extended tattoo group outside your geography to draw from, just make sure to give back, if you see an opportunity and we all grow together. I think the caution flag was politely thrown in, I hope you appreciate it and act accordingly. Cheers.

Limiting the size will vastly limit your options. The bigger the cover up, the better the hide of the old tattoo art. If she likes the blue circle, get a new blue circle somewhere else and just bury the old completely. The directions you can go are infinite, so the real question is WHO do you want to do the tattoo, then work it out with that artist, his council on the matter will be unique to him. Cover-ups are special kind of art and skill set in Tattooing, so make sure your choice of artist does it. Why waste time planning out your dream tattoo, to only find out your dream tattooer or standby tattooer does not do that stuff...either (1) cover-ups or (2) your choice of art for the project?

As a strategy to keep the wall at bay for as long as possible, I have found that getting a good nights sleep (the night before), eat a solid grounding meal (slow burn) before the session starts and of course bring some sugary snacks when you need a quick bump somewhere near the end helps (sugar immediately gets me back up for a short stint under the needle)- and of course bring your phycological tough face, grrrr... lol. (basically the opposite of a torture session) Sleeping the night before a mega-session is difficult sometimes, so I take good old valerian root to knock me out. When you align your stars it amazing what we can endure. I have seen a lot over the years, but they are not my stories, so I will leave it to them to tell. I think the wall stories are a personal share on the receiving end. Thank you to all who have shared so far and I look forward to more. You are not alone... lol.

Sounds cool, but can you define "fillers" please....

Greens will last longer and be more readable, because they contrast your skin tone (base tone color). Tattooing is like painting on a colored canvas, using washes, no matter how opaque the saturation seems, your skin has to hold it together, so some of your base color will alway effect the colors overtop an around it. Oranges fade rather quickly compared to other colors, and yellow will perceptually disappear with a slight tan. A Tattoo Artist with some wisdom will design the art to have enough contrast to even lose some ink and still look good overtime. FYI Albino is the best skin tone to tattoo but that is not an option to choose. Just get the colors that make you happy and wear them out at your own pace. You are here for a good time, not a long time and all that!

Thank you Devious6. From your post, my mind goes to florals, blackwork and maybe big classic oldschool chest tattoo imagery. Things that may be beyond someone's comfort zone to get as a tattoo at this time (or the space is already occupied), but is up the alley and playing with the art. Maybe a series of Asian flowers, dragons, oni, animals etc and a series on classic Americana clipper ships, chest eagles, and a series in blackwork patterns, geometric etc... Interesting. Secondly, it is hard to get away from the universal, matches everything black T-shirt, but I am open to suggestions. Here are some of my first draft flower and blackwork images as well as new geometric one for consideration...

Picked up the new Chris Garver coloring book (for my reference library) at the book store. Titled: FLASH coloring in the Tattoo style. "Cool tattoo art to color from an in-demand tattoo celebrity! Flash, a follow-up to the wildly successful Color Odyssey, presents even more of Chris Garver’s gorgeous designs. As a sought-after figure in the tattoo world, Chris is a perfect choice to bring together tattoo art and adult coloring—and this book perfectly showcases his distinct and detailed style. With images printed on single-sided pages, this book will attract both traditional coloring fans and tattoo devotees looking for ideas for their next inking." FYI About the Author Chris Garver is a professional tattoo artist at the world-renowned Invisible NYC on New York City’s Lower East Side. He is also a former star of TLC’s popular reality show Miami Ink. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, Chris began experimenting with tattooing at the age of 17 before attending Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts. He has been a full-time professional tattoo artist since moving to New York in his early 20s I think this a great introduction to the art, for the plain skins. Though I take issue with the term "Tattoo Style" I can understand why he put that on the cover. It is a coloring book, with Tattoo related and familiar imagery contained within, so I get it. When flipping through the book, I found myself thinking, dagn, I would wear that...and that! Congratulations to Chris Garver on his second book. 100 pages with perforated pages so you can tear a page out and color it. I recommend picking up a copy. So LSTF Did you get one and what do you think about it?

Just saw a dolphin that had a tattoo of a jumping white girl on its rear fin, I would guess it was the dolphin's first tattoo...

She’s a classy girl! you see..., at least all her tattoos are spelt right.

Make it big and spiral the arm, this could be made sleeve(ish) big and be the tattoo that defines you apart from all others, (if you have the stones for it, lol). Also orange fades faster than any other color in my experience, so keep that in mind in your choice.

Just started collecting and reading the new Lone Wolf and Cub series by Kazuo Koike and Hideki Mori. Collected and read the first series (Lone Wolf and Cub) and it was awesome, the first series was awarded lots of honors for historical accuracy in depicting life in Edo period japan. Original had lots of tattoos. Very worth a read

Congratulations!, they are both accomplished artists if they are taking you under wing that means something about you...best of luck in the journey