Graeme

Go to Nick Wasko.

Anyway, most of you have probably already seen this, but for those who haven't, here's the picture from Thomas Hooper's instagram of my raven shaded. I'll probably hold off on posting pictures of the tattoo until it's finished but this gives you a taste of it. To give you an idea of size, the raven's head is around my upper bicep to shoulder and the bottom of its tailfeathers are about half way down my forearm. It is a bit of a mental adjustment getting used to seeing that much black on my arm, but I love it and find it to be so beautiful and powerful.

Thomas Hooper/Chris O'Donnell collaborative tattoo on a big belly: residual self image, Got to start this today. Collaboration with... Your size should never prevent you from getting the tattoos you want to get.

@Guen Douglas has a blog on the TAM blog that covers a lot of this as well and it's well worth reading: Guen Douglas: Flash or Not to Flash? « TAM Blog What I found especially interesting is this bit: "What both Angelique and I were shocked to see is that a great number of tattooers thought it bad practice to copy flash as is! Another tattooer wrote to me to tell of an experience seeing an older tattooer tattoo a piece of flash as is, that left them with less respect for this tattooer. I wonder whether the rise of the custom shop, the idea of unique tattoos for all, and that many new tattooers are being taught in custom shops has warped the idea of flash?" I've mentioned this on the board before but one of the things that drives me nuts is seeing badly-drawn traditional. My pet peeve is ships without masts because that shit makes no sense because sails do not hang in the air as if by magic and it makes me mad because there is no reason why a tattooer has to draw a half-assed couldn't-exist-in-the-real-world ship when guys like Sailor Jerry already did perfect ships. I think the point there that some of these young bucks think it's bad practice to copy flash as is goes a long way in explaining why we're seeing some really weak drawings and tattoos. I think the customers bear some responsibility here too because I've seen a lot of shit on the internet about how you should never get flash because you're a unique special snowflake and you don't want a design that somebody else has blah blah blah and I hope this helps educate people about how flash is not bad.

Hey Kody, no need to rush into covering yourself but the really great thing about old school tattoos is that you can put a bodysuit together piece by piece when you have the cash for a tattoo, and there are a bunch of people in Ontario doing really great traditional. Take a look into the Pearl Harbour Gift Shop because the tattooers there are putting on really great classic designs (I especially like Tim Pausinger and Glenny's tattoos) and they have super good guest artists, and also look into Franz Stefanik and Mike Bialek because they're great as well. Welcome to the forum.

So Dio over Ozzy, huh? I can hang with that. Welcome to the forum.

That is a great link, thank you for posting it. And welcome to LST!

@Brock Varty looks like a great start and I am happy that the experience is what you hoped it would be. @ian The Internet isn't owed pictures of your back but I am stoked for you that you are so excited for it.

There was initially a spammer above that post, but he got deleted.

Thank you! How was your appointment with Chris? I am going to miss not getting to see him tattoo when I'm getting tattooed because I have seen him put on some great tattoos.

Thank you! We never anticipated travelling like we are for major work but I am so glad that we do. I love visiting New York and the tattoos we are getting are amazing and not what we could get at home.

Actually Thomas just instagrammed a close up of the raven's head.

I got about four hours shading done by Thomas Hooper on my raven. More linework next session but I am very excited about how this tattoo is coming together. Sorry, I don't have any pictures of it right now but I will try to get some soon.

I don't have the book with me right now but it's the one with tomatoes and chipotle? That recipe is so good.

Thanks for doing this, it's appreciated.

True, and apps like instagram where you not only can't properly appreciate the tattoo, but you also look at that amazing tattoo for three seconds, "like" it and then scroll through to the next one don't help much. I use the technology but I also think it's stupid. Nice David Lynch video.

Not sure about PHickey needing to win a shirt though...seems almost insulting giving him something cover that up with.

Welcome! There are a few people here with a good amount of knowledge about and experience with laser removal here, and hopefully you'll be able to get the advice you need. We would love to see your tattoos!

What he says is true.

And unless his work environment is completely different than mine the reaction he will get from his colleagues isn't going to be admiration for his dedication in seeking out and getting a body suit from one of the greatest tattooers to have ever lived, it will, at best, be some variation on "cool tattoo, you don't even know how many times I've almost gotten a Celtic armband. Do you know how much one of those would cost?"

Does the Coleman torso have more likes than any other tattoo ever on this board? It's very well deserved if so.

I have been doing this thing lately where I have been doing paintings for friends' kids for their first birthdays. It's fun because it gives me motivation to actually finish paintings because lord knows I love to start them and then give up on them once I realise that I have no idea at all what I'm doing, and I just like spending my free time painting. Anyway, here's a bad photo of a cat portrait I just finished, of our friends' cat Dali:

He "liked" one of my posts a couple of hours ago, so I guess he's lurking?

I'm not a tattoo artist either, but I really don't understand why you would express your love for tattoos through writing and drawing a comic book instead of, you know, actually getting tattooed. I hate to come across as a dick here, but that doesn't make any sense to me and I don't have much patience for it.