ironchef

You never know where tattoo articles will crop up! Read, discuss, and enjoy! Tattoos No Longer A Kiss Of Death In The Workplace - Forbes Tattoos and Travel - Forbes

I don't know him personally but I've been an admirer of his work since I started getting tattooed. Beautiful backpieces with amazing detail.

Andre Malcolm has been doing some amazing snakes. These are from his blog:

Awesome! I thought as much but wasn't sure! I'll have to stop in one day and see if I can arrange something! Thank you!

Yes, I was going to ask Mike when I see him in March again. Hell, I might just ask him to do it. But O'Donnell happens to be there, I might hit him up too and he's really good friends with Denning.

Hey Folks, I'm looking for recommendations on a good artist for bonji characters. These are Japanese sanskrit characters from esoteric Buddhism. Troy Denning from Invisible NYC has a great set of bonji around his neck. I'm trying to find out who did them; hopefully someone from within his shop as I'm local to NYC. I have great work from Henning and Rubendall, but just looking to branch out my collection. I was hoping to get Thomas Hooper but he couldn't squeeze me in his schedule due to him moving in June. He would have been the best choice in my mind as he is highly knowledgeable in esoteric Buddhism. I was considering Chris O'Donnell as well. Like to hear everyone's thoughts. Thanks!

Without threadjacking...I miss the wings and beef on weck. Plus back in my college days, the exchange rate in Canada was amazing. I worked at Wegman's for a few years and all my family in Syracuse all work at Wegman's, hahaha

I miss Wegman's!!! Went to school in Buffalo and have family in Syracuse :D

Yeah dude, that's definitely something you need to take into account. I'm Asian, so squatting is in my blood, hahaha (yeah, I said it!). You'll also need to mind your reach around to wipe and which direction so as not to wipe into your tattoo. Don't make too big a deal out of it, but all those little habits and normal processes we take for granted everyday come into play when you're literally a walking wounded tattoo warrior, haha.

Happy to help. You don't need me to tell you how great of an artist Henning is. The biggest personal bonus is that Henning has become a really good friend. We communicate regularly via email. Honestly one of the nicest people I've ever met through tattooing and just in general. Rubendall is right up there with Henning, that's why they are such good friends. Made sense for me to ask them both to collaborate on my back.

@RScott I uploaded a couple of pics into my gallery of when I got the half sleeve. There's a stencil pic and then the finished product. Hope that helps brother.

@Cork I've been lucky in the fact that I live really close to the Kings Avenue NYC shop. I'm literally a 15-20 minute walk away. At the end of my last session last Tuesday 2/12 my butt/lower back was pretty tender from Rubendall shading for over 4+ hours. Including the tattoo session, I took a couple of days extra off to recoup. Slept on my stomach and spent of the time either lying on the couch or in bed with my iPhone and iPad. I went back to the office a couple of days later but again, lucky in the fact that my commute to work is about 30 minute walk. In NYC, everyone walks around or gets on the subway or buses since locations since most things are right at your doorstep. My personal suggestion is to get a soft pillow or cushion to help with your tattoo commute. I cannot imagine sitting for three hours on a car ride back home after getting inked.

Thank you for all the kind words everyone. Getting tattooed has been a great experience thus far and I've met some really fantastic people. I'm very happy with how this back piece is turning out so far. I'm posted pics of my arms and thighs in my gallery and also an intro in the Initiation section. I'll be seeing Rubendall again mid March. I believe we're going to outline the back of the left thigh and shade that as well.

Hey All, New to the forum. Great place you have here and very cool thread. Here's my in progress back piece. Collaboration between Henning Jorgensen (phoenix) and Mike Rubendall (dragon). Have about 19 hours in so far. Enjoy!

So I posted some pics, but apparently it needs to be approved by a mod. I uploaded them afterwards and they are in my gallery. Enjoy and again, thanks to all for the warm welcome and it's nice to be among kindred spirits.

Okay as promised, here are some pictures with commentary: First is my left arm. It was my first tattoo ever and started originally as a half sleeve which eventually I had Henning extend his work to 3/4. Koi with splashing waves and cherry blossoms. Purple peony on the inner part of the forearm: My right arm is a 3/4 dragon. This piece has a lot of significance to me as I was born in the year of the dragon. At the same time, this piece in my perception sort of book ended the koi piece I had on my left arm. Don't want to get all overly philosophical so enjoy the pic. Henning actually compiled this photo together: So after my two 3/4 sleeves, I knew I was a big fan of Henning's koi, so I had him start a thigh piece with two koi on my left thigh. We were supposed to finish this piece on 10/31/2012...but that was the day after Super Storm Sandy hit. Needless to say, Henning's flight was cancelled and he ended up coming into NYC 3 days later and we decided to start the back piece. FYI, these pics were taken right after we put in some color in May 2012. To be continued Now, here's where things get a little crazy. As some of you may know, all of lower Manhattan was completely blacked out from Sandy for almost 2 weeks, me included. There was no subway or rail service and only some bus service. Kings Avenue NYC was affected as well and closed. Henning had hunkered down with Rubendall in the Long Island shop. They were within a four block radius that actually had power in Massapequa. Once the Long Island Rail Road was up and running, I made a run out there, even though I knew most likely I would be coming back to darkness with no running water for at least another day. Thus we started this collaboration back piece. Henning lined the phoenix (about a 6 hour sitting). A week later, I see Rubendall to start the dragon. I saw Mike again last week and we hammered out the back of my right thigh. I will be seeing Mike again in March.