Hospitelli

Some of my favorites are the Nue, Yurei, Kappa, and the Tsuchigumo spider. I also love the story of Watanabe no Tsuna, a japanese samurai who fought the demon oni Ibaraki and cut off his arm.

What it comes down to is having complete trust/faith in the artist that is going to be doing the work. If you don't have that then in my opinion you shouldn't be getting tattooed by them. I'll be starting on my full back piece this January and the artist has complete freedom over it. I gave him a motif to go by and he knows what I'm interested in but I will not know exactly what is going on my back till I get tattooed. Some of the best tattoos you'll ever see are the ones in which artists have had the freedom to do what they want to do.

Those eyes are awesome!

Great progress @ironchef! Love that claw of the dragon emerging from those epic waves.

Welcome! Make yourself at home and please post pictures of your tattoos. We would all love to see them.

I should have mentioned that the movie doesn't do the book any justice what so ever. A lot of stuff got cut out in order to make the movie the length it was and they also couldn't film some of the stuff that was in the book to keep it an R rating.

Haven't finished a book in quite some time now but the last one I read was John Dies at the End by David Wong. It's a horror/comedy that's way out there but friggin awesome. I don't think I've ever laughed out loud so much from just reading a book.

Seen the outline drawn on n finished and wow! 4.5 HRS to completely outline an entire back is disgustingly fast. Kudos to you for getting that done in one session. Going to be incredible when it's finished.

I wouldn't want to get an original Higgs design from a tattoo artist unless they owned that particular flash. There is a diffence between getting a direct copy of it line for line color for color or getting something that is inspired by it where the artist can use that for reference and come up with his own design.

Stolen from Brian's instagram; about 5 and a half hours in.

I started out only wanting the work done on me to be strictly Japanese. The beautiful, big, intricate sleeves and suits really appealed to me and at first I didn't understand why people would get multiple small pieces in different styles that really didn't go together and too me looked odd. Over time though I really started to like traditional tattoos and after getting my first two traditional ones on the top of my feet I digress. It was a really great feeling to get something completed in one session and I really could care less that it was different then my other tattoos. I have some open space on my lower right leg that is reserved for some more traditional pieces. Do I care that it is going to be right next to an Oni? Nope, not in the least bit not anymore. Get what you want, where you want.

Absolutely incredible backpiece @Reyeslv, so much detail. @ironchef, Awesome post and excellent/brutal progress in such a short time. Seeing the background come together and be completed makes it all worth while I bet.

I'd be too! Kudos to you for getting that done in the amount of time you had. Gogue's and Shige's work compliment each other so well it's ridiculous. Truly beautiful work man, congrats. Seeing all these awesome tattoos from the convention has been inspiring.

I'll be going for my longest session to date on Nov. 7th with Brian Bruno. Pretty much spending the whole day with him which is either 7 or 8 hours. Wish me luck.

So @ironchef the backpiece is really starting to come along! Those finger waves healed beautifully and I absolutely love the color of the scales on the dragon. Was that your choice or Mikes? I can't wait to see the update on this after Henning gets some more time on it. You going for multiple sessions while he is here or just another 6 hrs? @MikeL, that back piece is looking good and I love the thick line work. When it gets colored in it's really going to pop. I will be starting on mine with Chris January 23 2014 at Kings Ave NYC. Pushed the start date ahead a year because I've been working like a dog doing a ton of OT at work. Social life has taken a hit but it will be well worth it. I'm all kinds of giddy and nervous at the same time.

Seeing the movie Gravity in IMAX 3D is an absolute must. Not only is it a great film but it is visually stunning and the soundtrack is great to boot.

Sounds like you owe someone a bottle of fine Scotch!

You lucky dog as that is awesome for you! Sadly, I'm still waiting to hear back from him about doing a tiger on the ribs. Originally, I had wanted him to do my arm but switched ideas and location cause I wouldn't mind having my ribs in progress for an extended period of time. I don't know if the change up in ideas turned him off or he is just really busy (most likely) but it sucks waiting to hear back from him. How did you go about contacting him via e-mail or Kings Ave? I'm hoping to hear back from him but I'm not sure how much longer I will hold out for.

Won't be able to make it out to this but would anyone be willing to pick me up a copy of Horitomo's Cat Book and then ship it out to me? He will be selling copies there and I'd would like to avoid purchasing online when they become available for the fear of it selling out too quickly. I could send money via pay pal; enough to cover the book, shipping, and if you'd like a copy of it as well for your troubles.

I'd imagine that if people decided to leave an artist simply because after care instructions were not given that a lot of prominent and well respected artists would be out a ton of customers. I know I've only been verbally told about how to care for a tattoo once and that was when I got my first one. Also, if an artist sees that you are heavily tattooed I doubt your going to get the spiel about how to care for it seeing how you have done this before. With that being said if you are worried about how to heal or the current state of your new tattoo is it that hard to contact the shop and or artist about your situation? I'm sure if you did that they wouldn't hesitate to give you further instruction and or even tell you to come down so that they can take a look at it. In all honesty, that is the best thing you could of and should of done.

Grez is da man! That is all.

I just had my foot done in July and was initially worried going in because I had read and was told by a friend that it was extremely painful. After it was completed though I didn't think it was nearly all that bad that my friend and people make it out to be. What sucked more then anything though was the healing process for sure. I got it done on a Wednesday and started my work week that Saturday. It was still swollen a decent amount and because I never really stayed off my feet the swelling didn't subside for about 2 weeks I'd say. The tattoo itself scabbed up more then any other tattoo I've received and in general was just a pain in the a$$ to heal but in my opinion totally worth it. In fact; I'm getting my other foot done on the 25th. The only thing I'm going to do differently though is that I will be popping aspirin like skittles to aleviate the swelling and more importantly be a complete couch potato for the two days before I have to go back to work.

Had some really odd ball comments when I went to the Electric Zoo festival. Favorite one was...... "Bro, seriously sick friggin tatt dude. Like I just want to drop acid and stare at it all day. By the way ya got any?"

If you're going to a reputable shop and experienced tattoo artist that you trust I see no reason why you'd have to be a witness to them opening up sterile packages. If they happen to set up in front of me that's cool but if they are already setup and ready to go it's no bid deal for me. I'd like to think that these guys are professionals and will do everything in their power to give you the best tattoo possible which includes making sure that there is a clean work environment and that the equipment being used has been sterilized. Bottom line though if you don't trust the artist and have to question whether or not if everything has been sterilized then maybe you shouldn't be getting tattooed by them to begin with.