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Finished up my sleeve this past weekend at Pagoda by Grez. Here's a little peek...

It's been a good while since I posted on here so here are a few bits I've had over the last year or two, there are more but these are the only ones that I have pics to hand. A couple from Steve Byrne My leg as been in progress for about two years now, one session to go, by Damien Rodriguez Oliver Macintosh

Shoulder part is complete

On Friday, Rubendall is going to finish the background on my right leg sleeve. Lots of swirly bits. We will still have to finish up the crane but I'll get that done next year. On Sunday, in with Valerie for a geisha!

Little outline Chad carved into me yesterday morning.

Here’s my progress so far on my sleeve from Bobby Cupparo @ LOVEMACHINE N.Y.C. We’re about 25 hours in so far - I think we’ve roughly got about that left before the project is finished. I had (and have) ink fallout from black inks so my blacks usually need some touching up. The lionness was the first piece of the sleeve to be worked on, and was recently worked on this past Saturday. The mandrill is a few months finished at this point. Everything usually gets touched up a slight bit going into each session to address problem areas.

this is what I came up with being a marley fan,and some traditional designs too

A lot of my experiences have been with people who are heads down and quiet. I can take the lacking conversation in exchange for wearing a better piece of art for the rest of my life time. Kiku is the only person I had a good time with and got a good tattoo from, we took a lot longer to do the tattoo but came away having much more fun. I always book with the end product in mind, I can't form an interesting conversation during the experience anyways, I'm concentrating on not dying.

1. Someone makes a comment to me about how dumb tattoos are while staring at my tattoos 2. I tell them they are memorial tattoos for all the family I have lost 3. Person looks horrified, tries to think of something to say 4. I drop the mic and walk away

Sorry, but that's mainly just poor application.

Hi All, Just joined here. I have admired tattoos for most of my life. I have some old stuff from over 25 years ago and have decided to take the plunge and get some more. I will looking at getting some full multisession pieces done. One here in Florida and One in Europe as I fly to Germany to visit my wifes family usually twice a year. Hope I can get some great advice help on the European work and artists and make some new friends. Hopefully I will be talking to all of you really soon!!

We're heading over next month for the show. Does anyone have some pro tips for the event? I know it's massive and all the videos that I have seen show really long lines to even get into the event. I'm wondering what time to line up to get in...I'd hate be be late for an appointment!

I think if you are going to get a backpiece tattoo you should have a clear idea of what exactly you want...my $0.02.

Another way to look at it: shit happens.

1. it takes 4 - 6 weeks to heal, so you won't know what it's going to look like until then 2. it likely is an easy touch-up 3. you should listen to you tattoo artist

Maybe the newbies should remember the stated purpose of this website. "The mission of this website is to help preserve the craft of GOOD tattooing and to serve as an educational resource for those who want to learn the difference between good and bad tattoos." In some cases that means telling people what they DON'T want to hear.

I don't really care, I like my tattoos ! Every single one of them. And that is all that matters. At this point in my life, if someone doesn't like me simply because I am a tattooed person they can go f*ck themselves and frankly I don't have time or want to know them (family included). I choose to express myself the way I have - take it or leave it... Now if someone wants to get up in my face and insult me about my tattoos (or be rude in general), well you can guess what kind of response they would receive from me... ----really, the majority of people - friends and strangers - have been incredibly positive towards my tattoo expression. I have the odd conservative person look a bit queasy because of the pain you would assume from some of the nastier spots, but I just smile and laugh. The dumbest comments I have received are along the lines of money ie "how much did that cost" (which I will never answer, I just respond by telling them that is rude) or "that is a waste of money" which I just roll my eyes and end the conversation. It's my money to spend freely and my body my choice...I can guarantee my awesome bodysuit collection did not cost as much as their ugly truck/SUV or cocaine habit haha 😉

Update - awesome time in Belgium and France ! Got to meet my LST penpal danceswithferrets in-person. Him and his wife showed me a wonderful time in Leuven and we had a really awesome tattoo exchange, including this photo op: I enjoyed Belgian sites and people (and beer!) so much that I headed back to Bruxelles after the Southern France wedding for my remaining days. Met some cool people by chance (one of which was a tattooist) within 5 minutes of leaving my airbnb...got this gothic skull blastover made by my new pal Taul Tattoo at his Atome22 Studio: And spent my last day in Bruxelles at the world class Purple Sun Tattoo: Hand poked finger dangler by Indy Voet and this incredibly powerful tattoo from Jean-Philippe Burton As an added bonus I got to see the Wim Delvoye exhibit at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium and see Jamie the tattooed pig from Art Farm and the Cloaca shit machine ! Very grateful for the experiences the universe and tattoo-karma provided me throughout this trip. It was a spiritual awakening of sorts. Highly recommend Bruxelles and Belgium, I can't wait to go back 🙂

I'm actually born and raised in Cincinnati! My dad is from near Pittsburgh, and I still have a lot of family there but was raised as a fan from the beginning. My artist was a Bengals fan and grumbled throughout but did a great job!

Well, it's been almost a year so now I'm excited to have booked my next piece while on vacation in Austin a month from now! I'm in with Jon Sproul at Moon Tattoo and he's going to be filling in the last remaining spot on my leg, so (once reasonably healed) I'll be posting in both the Latest Tattoo Lowdown and the Squidpants threads.

I guess a photo of said tattoo does make sense doesn't it? 😂

I really don’t think 2 tattoos justifies you saying “most tattoo artists” I have a lot more than 2 tattoos and have been around multiple shops and artists and my experiences have been the complete opposite. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

this example (in a real tattoo) would not wear well,it will be a muddled black blob in 2 years, "bold will hold" like this on my thigh and on the back of my neck, bold well saturated colors and blacks,and solid well defined bold outlines, that's what has longevity.

You don't need to worry once it's mostly healed.

Everything @Dan said, plus it will NEVER look the same as it did when you walked out the shop doors.

looks like normal healing to me, the milkiness will go away, it's basically an injury to your skin and so it needs time to heal, a week is very fresh,it will look better in 4 to 6 weeks, tattoos take months to heal 100%, keep a very light coat of Aveeno on a couple times a day.

BTW, Zanctuary is a site of temporary tattoos. Most cost $14.00. My advice - research real tattoos and plan to spend a lot more than $14.00.

That design is awful to begin with. There are plenty of amazing b/g Japanese style artists and tattoos that will age beautifully.

That "Japanese style" looks very unreadable and I don't think would age well, but I think that'd be more down to the specific style and artist than traditional Japanese tattooing generally. But, yeah, what @JAC1961 said.

It's very unlikely that you will develop enough muscle in your forearm to affect the tattoo. Maybe if you get as big as Arnold, but not many people have the discipline, or more importantly, the genetics, to get that big.

There is nothing so innocuous that it can't be deemed offensive by someone.

That's not true of "most" tattoo artists. I'm sorry you had a bad experience or two, but that's not remotely true. To the OP, that is shitty and uncool. I'd be so effing pissed.

It looks fine to me. You can't be sure of anything for 4 weeks. Don't sweat it.

That guy has a set of balls alright. I’m not a billboard. I’d be really pissed.

Was it on the stencil? If an artist did it to me without asking my permission first I'd raise a holy f'ing stink. That being said, if I ever get tattooed by a really top notch artist I plan to ask them to them to sign their work.

A new Jeff Gogue film showed up in my Youtube feed. It's a little longish, but still interesting. No doubt that the guy does amazing work. Jeff Gogue - Tattoo as I see it

Yeah, that’s what I thought I’d do. Have a pretty classic central image, then have a couple of cherrubs, hearts, hand shake etc... Maybe a mermaid for the Mrs! Eagle could be cool too... he does mostly traditional stuff. He’s quite local to me and his stuff looks very solid... https://instagram.com/joegareyot?igshid=1ngvz0bmsgo8k

it was probably my reply,it was maybe too extreme, after a few beers I tend to be a little hard on the newbies.

1) there is no way in hell to get a "sleeve" of any quality for 900-$1500, maybe a 1/4 sleeve ? 2) and just because a shop is " most popular tattoo shop in Vegas" doesn't mean it has the best artists, probably has fast street tattooers,and popular vegas shops IMO are probably overpriced. 3) lastly but most important,is >>>>>>>

I wouldn't feel guilty about having that tattoo placement. Just have your expectations in the right place . . . 😉

it means that palm skin(which is half that tattoo) does not hold ink very well, fall out means it will fade away, I have that opinion because, I know from personal experience, many years of being tattooed, like 35+ years, seeing other peoples hand tattoos over the years, reading and viewing online tattoo forums like these, and just generally being involved with tattooed people, the tattoo life style, attending many tattoo conventions, talking to other tattooed people, LOL

You're getting serious thoughts and advice, you just don't like what you are hearing.

4 th session done Some lines dont look straight its because of the muscle underneath

Tattoos take 4 - 6 weeks to heal, sometimes longer.

absolutely just let your artist shave you

When it comes down to it, plenty of people are going to love your tattoos and plenty of people are going to hate your tattoos. Some hate just because they are tattoos and some hate because of personal opinion. Always remember you got the tattoo bc YOU like it that’s all that matters.

Hey guys small update Think we re about halfway done !

You've got this, piece of cake. I was taught several years ago the technique of "belly breathing". On the inhale you push your stomach outward fully. The idea being that your diaphragm drops further, pulling air more deeply into your lungs. It seems odd at first, but is easy to get the hang of. It really helps relieve stress. Do it slowly, concentrating on each breathe. Good luck! 👍

Just figured out how to get to images again. There are several I haven't posted, including everything from Chad.