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My son's first tattoo for his 18th b-day by Ezra Haidet- Triple Crown Tattoo, ATX

Came to Chicago this weekend and got this one from Nick Colella.

I have 9 tattoos from Phil I got in the 80s. I lived around the corner from his studio in Hayward California. Actually he did my first one, and I had to go back for more! he colored my left arm and chest, but my favorites are the blackwork on my right arm. Hes a master of blackwork. I also have work from several of his protégés.

What an inspirational thread! Picked this one up today. Tony Nilsson Blue Arms Tattoo Oslo, Norway

will upload my new tattoo once i take the bandage off... saran wrap rather. Im bleeding like a mother fucker though

Some really great work this month! I thought I'd throw mine in as well. Tony Nilsson Blue Arms Tattoo Oslo Norway Tony did a great job! I couldn't be happier!!! Here's a link to Tony's work via.... Instagram

My latest, finished a few months ago by Matt Brotka at Salvation Gallery in Richmond. (he didn't do the pumpkin on my ass haha)

@Kev is the best dad!

Two weeks!

It could be because I'm a long-haired and bearded burly dude with skulls tattooed on my arms, living in a place where I feel I see more tattooed people than non-tattooed people, but I don't really experience people asking me about what my tattoos mean. I think that women on the whole get this a lot more than men. People mostly leave me alone. I was a little bit concerned about getting "what does it mean" questions about my (in-progress) sleeve because there's a specific visual reference there that I don't really want to explain, but thankfully the raven's head there is hidden by a t-shirt so hopefully I'll mostly avoid that question while I figure out a stock bullshit answer. I have nothing against tattoos with meaning (for that matter, I have nothing against tattoos without meaning either) I just think that the way most people go about getting a "meaningful" tattoo is all wrong. From what I've seen on the internet, the "meaning" takes priority over the strength of the image, and that's all backwards. You're going to associate your tattoos with whatever meaning you choose to give them anyway, there's no need to have hidden initials or a representative number of flower petals or whatever there. I spend too much time looking at pictures of tattoos on the internet.

Nice job of parenting, Kev. Leading by example is the best way.

Same here, stoked! Now the trick will be finding someone to cover my shift the following day so I'm not shambling around like an old man behind the bar..

Just booked with Scott Sylvia for his guest spot in NYC :)

Alright, here's the hammerhead shark I got from Deno on Sunday:

Maybe the thread title could use a better name but I'll leave it at that for the moment. While I know there is a good tribal tattoo thread, I wanted to open one for more general blackwork and dotwork. Here's what I'm talking about: Thomas Hooper Jondix Michael E. Bennett Daniel Abrigio

If you really don't want to talk to them, you could always respond to their questions with a series of clicks and chirps.

How about just say, "It's open to interpretation. It means whatever you want." I think I'll go with that next time and leave it at that. That's art. What they mean or don't mean to you can be personal--you don't have to explain yourself to anyone. The last person who asked me why I got a tiger I just said, "I liked it." There are things that I associate it with but I just didn't feel like saying any more. Isn't that enough? That we get images that we like. Yeah. I think so.

grow thick skin........figuratively.....

Ha, yeah... we totally can... Photo by stelltattooart • Instagram What's up?

I'll tell ya, Daryl Rodriguez from Hold It Down just did an awesome Dumb and Dumber parakeet tattoo.. :D

..you always look at a person's tattoo before you look at their face.

Iron Heart Tattoo Sacred Diamond Tattoos O'Tool Custom Tattoo Electric Heart https://www.facebook.com/carrie.black.tattoo

Some killer stuff in here! for perspective: Done by Greg Christian while he was in NYC at Wooster St Social Club I had made this appt a while ago and was really looking forward to it. Thought for sure it would get canceled after the Hurricane happened and flooded the city, leaving downtown Manhattan without power all week. Luckily, Greg made it to NYC last minute and I got this tattoo from him a day after the power came back on. It was a really cool ending to a very shitty week. Very fortunate.

Caught this one from Greg Christian while he was in NYC last weekend!

...when you see somebody dressed up as Luke Wilson's character in The Royal Tenenbaums for Halloween and you think that it's weird that they're wearing a Stewart Robson costume.

I had always been interested in tattoos. My grandfather had tattoos from the time he spent in the navy. They were old and most of them had fallen apart but they really grabbed my attention. I held off getting tattooed when I was younger because my dad had insisted that I waited until I was certain that I wanted to get tattooed (I wasn't going to argue with him). I got my first tattoo when I was 25. A sailor jerry swallow by Stewart Robson. Since then I haven't looked back.

I was recently appointed to my cities ADA Advisory Board. As a disabled man, that is a privilege, as I will have a chance to help my people. On the fun side, I leave for Palm Springs next month to spend a few weeks with my parents, and celebrate Christmas.

it was on Mission Shannon. About a quarter mile North of downtown Hayward. - - - Updated - - - This is a recent picture of Phil. He is working in Tucson.

I was being sarcastic because @Iwar travels like crazy to get tattooed and has some fucking amazing work! :) - - - Updated - - - BTW, really nice Indian girl head you got! Sweeet!

patience...lots and lots of it :) http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2e7_1352556229 more here

Can we talk about the ZZ Top riding an alligator gar for a minute? Ultimate Texas tattoo and then some.

AND you can have all the visible tattoos you want (hands, neck and face excluded).

I actually am a non-standard forum goer here as well. My bag of potato chips is Japanese traditional and black and grey.

WHO: Gunnar (Gaylord) WHAT: A caricature of me listening to heavy metal music that comes to life WHEN: Oct 22 2012 WHERE: RedTree Tattoo Gallery in Columbus OH WHY: I drew pictures on the sides of cassette cases 30 years ago while I would listen to a late night heavy metal radio show. For a long time (in recent memory) I wanted a tattoo that was conceptually what I was drawing. Finally took the time to get it done.

I too like the "inside out" approach as well but different strokes

This is my newest tattoo Work is by Capilli Topoou. He usually works at Sacred in Auckland, New Zealand but I got it while he was guesting at Hunter and Fox in Sydney.

stuart cripwell spider murphys sfo

Valerie Vargas frith st tattoo done at SFO super happy!

When I saw Freddy Corbin in the line-up it did perk up my interest. In general though, I suspect the likes of us are not the target market for this venture...? A celebrity tattoo studio opening in Notting Hill sounds like a potential plot for a new Hugh Grant rom-com vehicle. I can see it now: "Floppy-haired repressed English gentleman (Hugh Grant) falls in love with unsuitable, free-spirited American tattooer (Reese Witherspoon or someone) who teaches him about being himself and ... blah blah etc etc.". Ker-ching....

I'll try to put together a good photo with the newest additions, it's hard to take a decent looking picture of it because it wraps around my arm, though here's a picture of it from Seth's blog from when it was first finished about a year ago: Seth Wood Tattoo - - - Updated - - - I have a couple of tattoos from Ron and, yes, his tattoos are amazing...like "holy fuck, I can't believe he did that" amazing, especially with some of the negative space tattoos, and he's all around a really awesome dude to get tattooed by. I highly recommend the experience.

My back is going to be one huge Tibetan skull. Start with Mr. Flatmo in January.

Had such a great day today in Brighton. Got tattooed by Adam Sage at Into You. Adam tattoos without electricity with a hand tool. Amazing experience,

...aaaaand @Pugilist is quite possibly going to a conference next year in Oklahoma. Guess I need to figure out what I want from Richard Stell.

In the languages section you tick bilingual cause you know some Japanese (tebori), Mexican (santa muerte ),Maori (ta moko) and of course Spanish (Jondix ) .

When you erase your internet activity because of the amount of forum post so your spouse doesn't know you wasted the whole day on the internet. When you have line drawings of filler tattoos in your wallet just in case you find yourself in a situation to get tattooed.

When I potentially have appointments with 2 awesome tattoo artists travelling to Australia and don't want to say who or when, to many people look at this site don't want to ruin my chances. Is it wrong to be so selfish?

As Mark Twain said, "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."

Before I say anything, I know this isn't a history lesson but I think any modern tribal discussion should start with Leo Zulueta- http://www.myspace.com/spiraltattoo Mundurucu Books does a few great but small books on tribal tattoos. http://www.mundurucu.com/books I don't have photos of 'good' tribal but places to look (in my opinion) are: Thomas Hooper - I love his heavy black Micronesian/Marquesan tattoos. - http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashooper/sets/72157623072881930/show/ Curly from oxford, UK - http://www.tattoocurly.com/tattoos.htm Jondix, Mike from Athens, Tomas Tomas and Xed le Head have added different influences and taken tribal style tattoos somewhere new and often exciting. Rory Keating does great stuff - RoryTattoo.com Jun Matsui - http://www.lost.art.br/juntattoo.htm There are a few Japanese guys doing amazing tribal style tattoos but I can't remember their names right now. I see tribal tattoos as much the same as any other style, in that of you see it executed badly enough, often enough, you'll learn to dislike it. Unlike other styles of tattooing, I think it's very difficult to find good reference for tribal tattoos as most of the history is verbal. If you need reference for Japanese tattoos, American Naval tattoos, Californian or Russian prison/gang tattoos etc, it's relatively easy to find helpful reference these days. Most of the visual tribal reference we have is recorded by western explorers. In the next couple of months I'm due to start some Marquesan style shorts on a customer of mine. I'm really looking forward to it because a) I don't do that style every day so it's a refreshing change of pace and b) His reference wasn't the same gym flyer every else brings (the one with a muscular guy stroking his abs with swirly spikes across his chest and arm).