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Okay folks, quick update after yesterday's session. Great experience as usual over at Kings Avenue Manhattan. As I stated in my previous post, I took the summer off from tattooing and just jumped right back into it with a 6+ hour session with Mike Rubendall on my back piece. To get the real effect of this, check out the first two pics. Started off during the day and ended well into the evening. Needless to say I'm very happy with how things are turning out so far. LOVE the colors. Will be seeing Henning at the end of this month for upper back portion of this collaboration. Enjoy the pics and my goofy commentary: The man himself laying it into me...noon time shot Almost end of the session...about 7pm or so You want to talk about a shop with heavy hitters? Rubendall, Grez and way in the back....O'Donnell. And each one of them super down to earth and funny as well. Can't really ask for anything more. Messy and yes...painful Full on progress shot, what we managed to get done Left cheek and right inner thigh Right cheek

I'll be there on Saturday for sure, having the last session done on my back.

Not ours

Dick on my jawline was tattoo number one. The fire-jizz coming out was tattoo number two. No regrets, mofukka! I love it cause it has so much personal meaning to me. I also got it upside down cause it's for me.

This is what happened to me today: Rudy Fritsch, of course. I encourage anyone who as a chance to get something from this man, very inspiring and unique in every way. Well worth the trip to Trieste (nice town!) where his studio is. I think that's it for me, no more tattoos until spring. Ciao! edit: not really necassary to comment on how much I love this tattoo. I do. A lot.

"Why does that heart on your forearm say 'WOW'?" "Because I love my mom!"

Yup. I just was perusing the Full Backpiece Thread and I concur. We all wish we were @ironchef haha

HAHAHA I wish I was @ironchef

Rubendall asked what colors I was thinking of for the dragon. I showed him a piece he had done a few years earlier where I loved the various greens. He suggested a red belly which I was stoked on, so we're pretty much on the same wave-length. I'm scheduled for multiple sessions with Henning. He's got some more outlining to do, that's for sure and I'm sure we'll get everything shaded. If things go fast and I don't pass out from the pain, maybe we can get some color into the phoenix! I got to chat with O'Donnell a little bit. Still kicking around the idea of getting something from him. Have to finish up this back piece first before thinking too far ahead, haha.

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.

Welcome. There was a poster recently who got her wrist tattooed and was concerned about the visibility of it, especially in terms of employment, so think very seriously about what it will mean to have a tattoo that is difficult to conceal. Are you in a line of work that accepts visible tattoos? Are you willing to possibly commit to a life of wearing long sleeves even in the summer if people don't accept your tattoos? I'm not saying don't do it, but just tobe aware of how people might react to it. Some nice script could be nice, but you could also look into images that convey a similar meaning...how about a big Fudo Myoo tattoo?

Black ink.

@ironchef looking strong as hell! 6 hours straight in that location...tough. Going to be hitting my lower half on the 26th. All work being done by Rodrigo Melo at Northstar NYC Mike

These are my two newest. Just got them yesterday. For years I have taken my stress out on myself. The top of my left arm is covered in burn scars. The swallow represents freedom and New beginnings. The cage was where I was trapped. The cage is open. I am free.

Hello world of LST. I found this blog thanks to one of my co-workers who was telling me about it one day and also to Instagram after I saw Nick Colella post a screen shot of the recent Scott Sylvia interview (which by the way if you have yet to see it is absolutely incredible and opens your mind to the way a real professional thinks regarding this industry). I'm from Richmond, VA. and have lived here my entire life. I'm currently a front counter assistant for the shop I work for (Heroes and Ghosts Tattoo - Heroes and Ghosts | Just another WordPress site) and have been here since April of this year. Growing up in this city has thus far been awesome and especially since I have gotten into tattoos/tattooing. There's such a heap of knowledge and talent around this city that it's great to be able to call it my hometown. However there is also a vast majority of turd tattooers and scratchers, but I guess that's life and every place has those so I can't complain about that too much. I'm in a couple of bands (In Courage - incourageva.bandcamp.com : New Solution - newsolution.bandcamp.com/) and have been playing drums since I was in the 6th grade (1999). I love doing so, playing shows, touring, etc. It's just a hobby that I've grown up on that really taught me a ton about life and the world we live in. I recently bought a 1975 Honda CB360 motorcycle and that's becoming a great new-found hobby of mine to work on. Tattooing became an interest of mine when I was probably 16 years old, getting my first tattoo the next year, and the love for the art and industry has blossomed since then. I hope that I can learn and interact as much as possible through this Blog and I am very happy to be here now!

if you're all not already stoked enough... how about some moving pictures?..

The rent is too damn high! - - - Updated - - - Should we just get a headcount and go for Angelina?

I love how you say this like it's possible you just forgot.

I must say that Paul is my favorite Bosch-surnamed tattooer, although he does very different work from what you have. Also, why don't you make a thread in the initiation forum to properly introduce yourself and tell us about your tattoo journey?

Oh and it's confirmed, I'll be at Deno's booth on Friday at 7pm. I'm planning on attending most of the convention, definitely Friday and Saturday at the least. Stoked to meet new faces and see familiar ones!

This is one of my favourite threads. Every few days I get a new account to follow.

Welcome to the forums and good luck with your venture, however I feel that there are already clothing brands doing similar things--Steadfast Brand comes to mind--and I'm not interested in those either. I'll continue wearing shirts from tattoo shops, and supporting tattooers that way even if I'm not necessarily getting tattooed by them, instead.

Like I said, I'm down for wherever. I think I've heard good things about Angelina's. @BrianH I saw you just got tattooed by Rubendall and O'Donnell, are you still in the city this weekend?

Last night I realized I was following almost 800 people/shops and was spending way too much time with my face buried in my phone. A little overwhelming so I decided to only follow: 1.) LST users 2.) artists I would get work from (or already have work from) 3.) artists that do huge awesome pieces but I most likely won't have a chance to get tattooed by due to financial, space and travel limitations(grime, shige, etc.) 4.) tattoo legends (stell, horiyoshi III, etc.) 5.) My girlfriend and a handful of "real life" people I know..... boring hahaha Now I'm down to a manageable ~170 followings file this under tattoo collector problems

That's jewish law and is one of a long list. Plus the original hebrew makes no reference to a "tattoo". Its carving your flesh for the dead.

I am new here and followed the advice of members here. At first I thought my ideas were better, but when I stepped back I realized they were/are absolutely correct with the advice they gave. Try not taking it personal and step back and think about it a bit. I would not get I facing towards me, just my two pennies. Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 2

I was gonna give some advice but it looks like it will fall on deaf ears no matter who says it or why we do it like that. So be it. Welcome to the spot nevertheless!

So pretty much the whole "Ill take ANY advice you have or suggestions! Lay it on me. Should I get it on my wrist?" was just bs. The advice to not get it facing you is the common wisdom here. If you don't want to take that advice, of course you don't have to, but you're the one who asked.

6000th LST'er. Welcome Nick. Big up yourself everybody, for making this a place people want to hang out at.

Don't get it facing you. Try to get some nice hand drawn script (e.g. BJ Betts) and not something that looks like a fancy computer font

no rules anymore......

So if I'm understanding this correctly you got your first tattoo on your face? Wow.

Booked in with Stewart at Frith Street last week for a Pharaohs Horse tattoo in December. Looking forward to it.

6+ hours yesterday with Mike Rubendall on my back piece. Check out full report with pics in the "Full Back Piece" thread.

@Lance Well, I ended up looking for the copy you were talking about, and now I feel like flying to Korea and punching that guy. He's got a few other Shige copies up there as well. The weird thing is that Korea isn't that far from Japan and Shige almost certainly would have tattooed whoever got that backpiece if they'd been willing to travel. I don't know what the copier charges, but Shige doesn't even really charge outrageous money by cost-of-living-in-Japan standards. The original backpiece is amazing - I think the green foliage is my favourite detail. When I hear people say things like 'Shige's work isn't as good as it used to be' (seriously) I look at his recent pieces like this one and Uncle Allen's and wonder how they can honestly say that. Speaking of backpieces and approaches to handling plagarism: We all know that Smith St. prefers their work not to be posted online, and you can see their reasoning at times like this. When I was getting tattooed there I asked Steve Boltz about the kind of tattooing he did day to day, and I think I thought he was doing all medium and small pieces. Anyway, he was like 'Ah, I'm working on about eight backpieces right now'. Not just traditional, but japanese influenced too. Blew my mind, wasn't what I was expecting at all for some reason.

Hi everyone, my name is Matt. 23 years old, from central Florida. Love my cat, baseball, and of course, good tattoos. Found out about the site a few months ago when I found the interviews on YouTube, and I've finally decided to make an account. I love all the great tattoos everyone posts and learning everything I can from you guys. I've attached pics of my tattoos so far. My cat (healed), done by Chris Buckholts in Ft. Myers, and a mockingbird (fresh), done about 2 weeks ago, by David Bruehl in Tampa. I'll be visiting DC this weekend, and am hoping to get something from Nikki Lugo! Should be cool! Thanks for having me :]

@jimstanley I like you already.

Always nice when someone takes the time to properly introduce themselves :) Welcome to the forum!

I didn't want to start going off topic in the "Latest Tattoo Lowndown", but seriously I love those thick lines. Koji Ichimaru does lines like that too and it looks damn fantastic. Already digging the potential theme of those robes too!

D'oh!! Postponed again!! Gotta wait til Saturday!! That itch is gonna irritate for a few more days!

i'm imagining a funny scene of LSTers just strolling around the convention blurting "SQUIDPANTS" like they got Tourette's or walking up to a group of non-LSTers saying "squidpants" and getting a completely blank and awkward stare.

Here is a picture of a lion tattooed on my friend's father. He got it done in San Francisco in 1975, got the colour redone in out west in Canada in 1985.

Welcome dude, sounds like you've put some thought into your prospective tattoos. Have you started looking into shops yet? If you're not too far from Luxembourg check out Dan Sinnes' place Electric Ave.

no spam posted this in another thread.. gypsy head by Dru Bias at Saints and Sinners. Overall happy with the piece just having a tough time trying to decide what to put around it. Bugging me having a floating head haha.

Update on my 3/4 and chest panel by Martin Lacasse. It seemed like SO much black but now that we're into the color it seems much brighter. Marty only does two hour sessions, which is fine for the wallet and the sessions are a breeze(except collar bone, that was awful). Probably two more sessions of color to go. Crappy pic, kind of difficult to take yourself.

Not to say I refuse to travel. If I ever find an artist that I love and a design I really want that particular person to do, I would go to them as soon as it was feasible. But I'm just not interested in hopping all over the world getting things from different people just to say I got tattooed by so-and-so. Great for people that are into that, but I'm just not.

Those both look cool. I'm not really a fan of the first one just because it seems very heavy on the right side and it sort of looks off balance. He needs a heavy sleeve on the left arm to achieve bodysuit homeostasis.

I don't know maybe its just me being weird but it feels kinda weird to go to the same shop and get tattooed by someone else. Maybe that's just because I pretty much go to the same artist week after week.