MrToby

Oh nice! Yeah it's a cool combination of images and I'm really happy with mine. It took ages to get the positioning of the Kirin's head right so that it didn't look like it was staring at my croch. Thankfully we managed to achieve.

The Horitoshi documentary is fantastic. I got it a few years ago on DVD. You can get it here: LA VOIE DE L'ENCRE Lardux Boutique In terms of which Traditional Japanese artists I like the most it's kind of like trying to pick your favorite sweet in a candy store. Obviously Horiyoshi III is very high but I feel that kind of goes without saying. Beyond him I love the work of Horiyasu. The black that he gets is so dark and smooth and the colors are incredibly vibrant to go with it. Horitoshi is obviously very good as well. I would also mention Horimasa from Isesaki. He did a phoenix on my lower right leg a couple of years ago at the Brighton Tattoo Convention. He worked incredibly quickly and produced an amazing piece. I am thinking about getting something else big from him in the future but that depends on time and money. This is the phoenix I got though.

I got both my thighs tattooed this year by Ade Stacey at Nine Tattoo in Brighton. Awesome guy and I love the pieces that he did for me. Baku on one side and Kirin on the other. Something a bit different. The picture of the Baku has come from Ade's own website as you might have guessed from the water mark. In terms of the twitching I got a bit of that towards the bottom of the muscle near the knee but otherwise it wasn't too bad for 5hours+ of tattooing each time.

The only time I ever actually see people wearing these things is as some sort of fancy dress. If it is someone that knows I have tattoos then this often results in them asking, tongue in cheek, "Do you like my tattoos?" What do you want me to say to that... I mean really? It's a stretchy bit of fabric with poorly drawn designs on... It's about the same as asking if your fake water transfer tattoos are cool... I can only shake my head and chuckle at it.

I am up to about 13 tattoos now and I still get the brilliant comment from un-tattooed people of "I didn't expect you to have tattoos" or "You don't look like a tattooed person." Which makes me beg the question is there a specific combination of piercings, ripped jeans, and t-shirt from an obscure 80's rock band that I need so that people aren't surprised I have tattoos. It just baffles me as a comment. Also I work with kids and quite often have entertaining conversations that simply start with them stating "You have a tattoo." This opens up a world of fun and mildly sarcastic responses from shock that I have two half sleeves and pretending I didn't know they were there to convincing them that I wake up early every morning and draw them on with Sharpies. I probably shouldn't, it's a bit cheeky of me, but it is great fun. Another thing that confuses me though is when people seem to think that they can demand to see my tattoos in full. This has on occassion resulted in some un-tattooed people requesting, quite politely, that I take various items of clothing off. Most recently this happened at a wedding when the mother of the groom demanded I take off my shirt so she could see my half sleeves. Very awkward in the middle of the reception and it was probably a good thing I hadn't had more to drink at that point or who knows what would have happened. There are always the normal questions though of "Did it hurt?", "How much did it cost?", "Don't you think you will regret it?" etc. They are always fun to answer sarcastically as well otherwise it just gets repetative.

I have been using Faber Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour Pencils for a long time and recently started using Winsor & Newton Inks as well. With both I have found that having the colour concentrated at one point initially and drawing it out works quite effectively to get a nice graded look. Certainly with the inks I have also found that not having a lot of ink on the brush gives me a lot more control. I am a long way from being an expert on this though so it is definitely worth just trying things out and seeing what works.

I keep having the same debate with myself, and am often asked by people whether I would extend my two half sleeves. I have two half sleeves at the moment and can't decide whether to extend them into three quarter or full sleeves if at all. Then on top of that question there is always the problem of final choice of subject matter as well as whether I really have the money.

I was in a studio over last winter and got talking with the artist about who had done my other pieces and he commented "So you're a bit of a collector then?" This was the first time I had considered this but I have work by eight different artists so I guess that is the start of a collection right there. I definitely don't think it's a negative thing, it's just the way you choose to show your passion for tattooing. Being a "collector" does cause me a little bit of a problem though as I definitely do not have enough skin for all the pieces I want to get done, and as is ever the case the list never seems to get shorter. The available space definitely gets smaller though.

I was in a relationship for just over a year with a girl who didn't have any tattoos and definitely disapproved of me getting more. She wasn't vocal about it most of the time but would get upset whenever I said I was going to get a new one which was only twice while we were dating and after the appointments wouldn't even ask how it went or whether I liked how the piece turned out. She barely even looked at the new pieces in fact. She did come to a convention with me once but after about an hour of walking round on the first day she just sat down somewhere and did some sudoku. Needless to say she didn't come back on the second day of the show. Once she even came out and said that I loved tattoos more than her. Turns out she was right in the end. I don't mind whether a girl has tattoos or not. In my opinion an attractive woman is attractive with or without them. I think what is important though is that either they have an interest themselves or at least can appreciate why I enjoy them so much and understand that I will keep getting more. Getting my thigh done in two weeks time in fact!!! Woo hoo!!!

Hello all, My name is Toby. Obviously I am new to Last Sparrow but it really is a fantastic website. I am a collector with work from about seven different artists from a wide variety of places. Some have been collected on travels around the world, some at conventions and some the good old fashioned way by going to an artist's studio. I love every piece I've got even the one on my side that needs touching up as the quality of it is letting the side down dramatically. But that's enough about me for the moment. It's nice to meet you all. Toby