bongsau

smokin frog and a banjo frog love it!

"don't lick the frog" Shawn O'Connor / timbertattoo.ca

Here is a quick pick of the back of my knees...thank god, never again. Hey unless I can get my hands on that removal cream, then let's party all over again... TheGangOfOne rolled in the blackness on the left 5 days ago, it is just continuation of my backpiece. So my whole L backthigh (and buttocks) is all black water waves and rocks. The R side was put in back in 2011 by OllieXXX, the green water connects a sperm whale on the thigh to an octopus on the leg. That lizard on the side needs a touch up yikes That red-yellow rising sun was my bright (?) idea to fill in my lower leg. It kind of looks silly but folks always seem to point it out, and the red and yellow have held really well for 10 years so whatever. I'm almost tempted to black over and continue the black/grey water waves down. The scrappy looking black tattoos on my calves are a palm tree (Island Records) and a Bad Brains bolt that I got in 2003 from this skinhead pal. THe plan all along has been to keep them open and completely fill around. - - - Updated - - - Knee tattoos are painful to get, but manageable if you have a tattooer who can work quickly and efficiently, as the knee will balloon up and once that happens the pain will intensify. The healing I find more difficult and painful than the tattoo, either when moving or at rest. Especially that friggin lizard, he took longer to heal than anything else. Hard to bend the leg when the skin is raw and tight afterwards for a few days so you will have the zombie limp. Don't let that deter you! I went jumping and kung fu kicking 2 days after a knee session, that was dumb but my leg still works and the tattoo is still there. You won't die haha. Within a couple days that swelling and bruising go away, you regain some mobility and it's business as usual, just with more colour to accentuate yourself :) the mortality rate is very low! good luck, you can do it! Also, be aware that knees take a lot of abuse over the years. I've banged up my knee a couple times since I got one tattooed. Took a big chunk out the centre and one off the side. So you have to be prepared for that happen. Just part of living life. - - - Updated - - - i found this pic of my "squid pants" from a few years ago on my computer last nite, enjoy...a colourful dude and his ugly dog. Turtle is 10 years old, from Miles Kanne. Hard to believe the blue is still blue. They do look better as they age :)

I still believe the most effective method of tattoo removal is the belt sander...

Yeah I agree with your comments about laser. Laser demands client commitment to follow through with many sessions, the pain, the healing. Tattooing isn't for everyone, as much as Instagram and internet want you to believe. There are no friggin short cuts in tattooing! - - - Updated - - - ok time to stop my ranting, i'm sounding like a snob ;) i am content with the best and worst of my works so really snake-oil cream doesn't really affect me either. although it will be sweet to be able to rock a mike tyson tattoo at the bar-crawl on the weekend, like pick up all the chicks bro, then cream that shit off on sunday afternoon so I can keep my office job :p

Yeah man It is worrisome what these advances will do...so if tattoos aren't permanent anymore and the tattooer/client has a magic (and cost-effective) "undo" button I wonder how the trendline for workmanship and quality will be affected? Getting a dumb-dumb stick n poke or joke tattoo really isn't that big a deal anymore, in fact it's pretty common at the moment. I guess that's my issue - tattoos, to me, have always been permanent. That is the best part. They are forever. and if we keep making things easier and painless to undo it will really trivialize the whole experience. Kinda like marriage I guess. Just too easy these days to get married and divorce when you find something better or have a change of heart. I dunno. That being said, my tattooer was telling me about one of his pals. Had a bunch of coverage and so-so early work, lasered it off, got a new suit, lasered it off and is getting a new world-class suit from a master. Three bodysuits, insane! I would be interested to see what some of the tattooers around LST think about the development of these products. Maybe it's a good thing and has it's place. Everyone (well almost everyone) deserves an awesome tattoo and something like this may make that more of a reality for people who truly want some real-deal tattooing.

Tattoos are permanent. That's the whole point. If you can't handle the commitment, the no-turning-back, maybe you should reassess why the hell you are getting tattoos. They aren't for everybody. While I applaud the scientific development of no-laser-pain-free removal, I worry about how a low cost easy-removal-remedy will trivialize and water down the tattoo culture and make tattoo even more accessible than I believe it should be. Kitchen tattoo party mistake? Sexy 90s lower back tattoo got you down? Tribal armband not so cool anymore? No worries! Rub the snake oil on and goodbye bad decision! Maybe this product will be a good thing though. Allow serious tattoo folks to delete some of those not-so-awesome tattoos and upgrade with nicer work. And then we can all have the perfect "collection" :/ I say learn from your mistakes, blast over and get more. I don't think I will be re-writing pages in my colouring book anytime soon. Even my scrappiest of tattoos I still love and actually love them more for the imperfections as they/I age. On the other hand, this PhDude is about to patent a goldmine. So go and get your tattooed lumberjack look and tea-cup tattoos, the future is now!

@pidjones i'm not sure how well being DEMANDING in the tattoo shop will go over. Actually I do know, it won't get a very positive response. Being caught up in your own tattoo-euphoria and not checking the stencil thoroughly enough, well, you get to shoulder that responsibility. My unsolicited advice is to relax and discuss it in a calm and reasonable manner and you will be more likely to find a solution with the tattooer. There is no such thing as a perfect tattoo, it is very common that we get fixated on the new tattoo and can see every imperfection. However we're hoping your tattooer can make things right for you. What is the tattoo that you are referring to? I've only had a sketch emailed to me once in the last 12 years. It hit my inbox 2 days beforehand. It looked great and got the just of what bud was going to tattoo, but it was just that. A sketch. And the end-product goes way beyond what the sketch could convey. Most tattooers I know don't sketch it up until the night before (keep the drawing fresh on the mind) and only make the stencil when you show up and are ready to rock n roll. I've got some cranes on my arm. The crane had 2 legs on the sketch. 2 legs on the stencil. But only 1 leg at the end of the line session. I freaked a bit. My tattooer just said relax, the missing leg is just behind some clouds. Things fit flow and look a different way when they finally go in the skin. And I love this tattoo even more for that mild imperfection. /offtopic...back to text tattoos. Here's some more unsolicited advice for everyone. A picture is worth a thousand words. But if you really need words to get your meaning across...keep it simple and choose your words wisely. You can say A LOT with only a few words...and it will reduce the probability of a spelling or grammatical error ;) - - - Updated - - - edit/ for spelling and grammar haha

sneaky peak of the 'black'ground progress. lower back rocks and butt waves next week. yikes!

Good ol Feiyue's ! Air Jordans for the kung fu world haha

yes, obviously ;)

My bud has a kick ass script tattoo that reads "Pobody's Nerfect" - - - Updated - - - I also saw a chinese gal in a market once that had script on her arm that read "Perfuct"

Good God Do not get the back of your knee tattooed! The tattoo stings...but just awful the day after. Also got tattooed on the armpit border. So I've got a hunched shoulder and a zombie leg for a few days until this skin loosens up YEEOUCH ! - - - Updated - - - Looking forward to next week where I can actually take a care-free shower. Oh wait I'm getting tattooed again next week.

Participated in the Chinese New Year celebrations this past weekend in Edmonton. My buddy and I did a quick feature and demo on the local breakfast news TV broadcast. And then our school did a demo at the big ol West Edmonton Mall. Here are some action shots, En joy! Gung hay fat choy Our Shaolin kung fu demo team Here's an action shot of me doing a flying jump kick and shooting out a chain whip: The pride of our school, the kung fu DRAGON ! with a sneak peak of my backpiece progress thanks for looking, hope the lunar new year is good and full of colour for all the tattooed pals out there :cool:

1 hot stuff 2 dragons 3 snakes 4 roses 5 sea creatures 6 winged creatures

Just got home from a relaxing and respectful 3.5 hours on the Shaolin back w/ TheGangOfOne Finished all the black clouds on the mid-back, did some borders around the ribs on both sides and the R armpit (oof), hit a grapefruit sized chunk across the mid-spine and over the kidneys. The solid blackness of the background is really helping the monk pop forward. Also got the back of my knee filled (praise be to the Buddha, never again!) and shaded the waves and rocks on the back of thigh. We figure another 2 solid sits to get the waves and waterfall across the lower back and fill up the bum. Back on the table next week. So far 3 sessions, 12 hrs total. Today I hit 190hrs total over my 12 years in this silly tattoo thing...gotta keep going ;)

I too had a tattoo nightmare...last night in fact. Myself and a crew of tattooed motherfuckers from LST were chopping heads off zombies (we've been watching a lot of Walking Dead lately...). I haven't met any of you in person so I only recognized your tattoos. @Graeme and @Pugilist had this particularly deadly tag team strategy with battle axes lol

DAMN @Pleadco Really dig the antlers the wicked wolf is popping out through, cool idea. Rob Noseworthy is at Black n Blue ? Was a cat named Bobby Tripp there? I was tattooed by Bobby 5 years ago, he's got a great work flow. @BrianH Wow, I really love the head and expression of that lucky dragon! You're a lucky guy, that is going to be a powerful backpiece. Nice starts, respectively, gentleman I'm in for round 3 on monday, round 4 the week after, wish me luck :cool:

Too fast? ...tattooing isn't a race Going too fast is when you have a bunch of tattoos lined but none are actually finish. I'm surprised how many people I see and know that don't finish what they start (and not just in tattoos, but in the ins and outs of life). If your arm is only lined in, why are you getting hand and neck tattoos? The ADD generation of tattooing. Focus, commit and get the project done. Take your time to enjoy the experiences and the tattoos. Enjoy watching the tattoos heal and age. But most importantly take the time to enjoy the other things in life aside from tattooing. Balance. I'll pass on the 'too fast' and stick with the tried and true method of the tortoise, 'slow n steady'. That's how I achieved my coverage over a dozen years thus far, the way I've made my pictures and my stories. I like what was said before about "the journey" and about "the larger experience". cheers :)

tattooing ... no regrets !

I would nix the tear drop and spiderweb...IMO it makes the design look goofy and will date the tattoo...non-sensical with theme of Victorian-JC...my opinion though. I echo @Graeme's sentiments about a strong traditional looking JC design...but it's your body, so if you like the design, you like the blue spiderweb, go for it. It can mean whatever you want and that meaning can change over time. It's your tattoo, so you own the meaning :) Ice cream cone...the only design that gets a pass for tattoo on the face.

I think it looks grrreat ! Really nice sculpted lines and nice finger waves, nice background. The 'unseen' tentacles would be hiding behind the waves and rocks. I think it would look unnatural if you have all 8 arms clearly visible. You could have one added reaching up behind into the arm ditch...but honestly it looks awesome as is, less is more, don't overthink. Going to look awesome when you colour in. With the background water/waves/rocks black the octopus will pop with some colour. Will really come alive when you get the suction cups filled :)

Really depends on the part of the body for me (note, I'm a tattoo-receiver not maker) I think it is better if the tattooer does the shaving as part of the area prep. I've found that it causes less overall irritation to the skin that is about to undergo trauma if it gets a fresh shave. Or I'll shave myself the morning of if I'm getting tattooed in an 'intimate' area below the belt line. That being said, if you look like teen wolf, do your tattooer a courtesy and buzz down your fur with clippers so buddy doesn't need to go through a box of disposables. (Funny aside, I didn't have time to buzz down my belly before getting tattooed. Ollie just shrugged his shoulders and handed me the razor. He sprayed, I shaved. We laughed. Then I cried once the tattooing started haha.)

simple solution...get both!