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I just got this from my friend Matt Brotka at Salvation Tattoo in Richmond, Virginia. However his full time gig is at Left Hand Black in sunny San Diego. Pic pilfered from his instagram .

Well since a lot of you have seen me on IG and in person, and not only do I look dashing in this picture (RARE!), but my arm and shoulder tattoos are visible... enjoy!

Hawk wrapped around my forearm by Timothy Hoyer

Thomas Hooper does my favourite squidmitts. A couple of examples stolen from his instagram:

Hahaha big pimpin...

me in my big pimpin days.

I got started on this tattoo by Ron Henry Wells last while he was guesting at Tattoomania in Montreal and we'll finish it at a later date. Sorry for the not great photo, it wraps a bit so it's tough to get a good one. As always, it was a real pleasure to be tattooed by Ron, and the Tattoomania crew were very gracious hosts. I love tattoos.

All-time favorite is on a friend of mine, mostly because of how silly it is. What do gorillas think about? Bananas, duh. By Drew Rash. Additionally, here are three I've seen on Instagram recently that I've loved. Another Tim Hendricks. Squeezing a readable ROA on there blows my mind. Grez. Does it get better than classic roses on a hand? Grime. And to totally tweak out the classic rose, a rose skull morph.

I pretty much disagree entirely with this. First, it presumes that you understand the reasons why people get the tattoos they get. I read recently, it was either on here or on IG, a tattooer (I think for some reason that it was David Bruehl, but I'm not certain about that) talking about how there was a point in their career where they were tattooing a lot of yin yangs. The tattooer asked those clients what religion or philosophical belief that the yin and yang belonged to and none of them could give an even close to accurate answer, but that regardless of this, they were seeking to achieve a kind of balance in their lives. Horiyoshi III says in an interview in the book JBxH3 that a lot of people who get tattoos of Buddhist deities don't even know what they mean. They like the appearance or the name of the god, and maybe they learn more about it after. So even within what you describe as a "culture" people are getting tattoos that are outside of their realm of familiarity. Second, it's useless to talk about culture as this monolithic thing. If you want to talk narrowly about western traditional tattoos, a lot of those are sailor tattoos or military tattoos, or are deeply rooted in those cultures and traditions, and if you want to talk about people "staying within their own culture" a lot of us wouldn't have the tattoos we have. Third, at this point in time there are very few tattoo traditions that are "untouched" so to speak and aren't influenced by tattoo traditions from elsewhere, and I don't see this as in any way a bad thing. Shit, this isn't even a new thing. I read or heard somewhere...maybe it was from an interview with Horiyoshi III again?...that Japanese tattooing and this whole body compositions were originally influenced by Polynesian tattoos. You look at classic Western tattoos and you'll see all kinds of Asian influence there with dragons and what not--George Burchett went to Japan and observed the masters at work--not to mention that way that Sailor Jerry took that Japanese influence and brought it into Western tattooing with those incredible backpieces he did which have been so influential on the way we get tattooed now. What about Ed Hardy, who synthesised so many things into his tattooing? What about Thomas Hooper who does very European tattoos but is very open about how much he's influenced by Polynesian tattoos? I'm going to say that most of the exciting things that have happened in tattooing have happened precisely because people didn't "stay within their own culture".

@hogg Oliver Macintosh is too good , this is one of the toughest tattoos ever

By Scott Sylvia last month at Blackheart.

I love flowers on the hands and I also really like this ... Jondix Gerhard Wiesbeck

These are my hands. The bird by Bailey Robinson and the panther by Steve Byrne. The knuckles and little guys were done by Vinse One. Actually Matt Arriola did the anchor.

Update, that story about the cave? I was totally wrong. Like I said, I really wasn't sure about it from memory and completely horrible with the really old stories/myths. I stumbled upon this story though and I think this is the story Shige explained at the convention: "The oldest sources for Susanoo myths are the ca. 680 AD Kojiki and ca. 720 AD Nihon Shoki. They tell of a long-standing rivalry between Susanoo and his sister. When he was to leave Heaven by orders of Izanagi, he went to bid his sister goodbye. Amaterasu was suspicious, but when Susanoo proposed a challenge to prove his sincerity, she accepted. Each of them took an object of the other's and from it birthed gods and goddesses. Amaterasu birthed three women from Susanoo's sword while he birthed five men from her necklace. Claiming the gods were hers because they were born of her necklace, and the goddesses were his, he decided that he had won the challenge, as his item produced women. The two were content for a time, but Susanoo, the Storm God, became restless. In a fit of rage, he destroyed his sister's rice fields, hurled a flayed pony at her loom, and killed one of her attendants. Amaterasu, who was in fury and grief, hid inside the Ama-no-Iwato ("heavenly rock cave"), thus effectively hiding the sun for a long period of time." Just wanted to clear things and not spread BS.

I love a good back piece or a solid sleeve, but my obsession is hand tattoos. Here are a few of my favorites from the collection I have saved on my computer. Tim Hendricks Seth Wood Ron Wells Ashley Love Annie Frenzel Peter Lagergren Peter Lagergren again I'd love to see some other favorites, or hand tattoos that LST members have!

I saw Blood Ceremony opening for Pagan Altar about three years ago and I really wasn't into them, but I always hear people who I trust about music talking about them. I should give them another listen. This thread made me listen to Red House Painters. I forget that I really like them.

Somebody should correct me if I'm wrong, but it's a Jerry design that he took from an advertisement for ammunition. If you want the flash, don't ask for it here, go to a shop and ask because if they can't find that particular piece of flash they shouldn't be doing the tattoo anyway.

Tattooed byTONY DE RIGO Chronic Tattoo Elyria Ohio shes about 12 hours old sitting in ditch of my arm. Morph skull and roses to be added along with an exact copy of her but with flames coming out of eyes wild hair placed on outside of foream.

Tim Pausinger did my entire outer bicep in 2 hours flat.

this is my favorite hand tattoo ever. Love how the sleeve transitions flawlessly onto the top of the hand. This is just a random picture I saw from reddit that I saved on my computer. I don't know who did this or where it was done.

I waited a long time to have my hands done. I guess it helps that my municipal job is outdoors and 90% of the time I have to wear gloves due to safety rules.

Here's a good one of me before the epic back piece progress. Nothing better than canoeing and camping. Bonus points to anyone who can point out why the canoe looks "off". You guys look like a good crowd.

Cold beers on a hot evening in Manilla, Philippines. At a Crocodile Restaurant. Good times.

I think Kim-Anh Nguyen (aka @bleakandblue) has only been tattooing for 2 years, which seems impossible. But in this interview from March 2012, she says she's only been tattooing 6-7 months.

If I was to get hand tattoos Alex Binnie would be my go to guy .

My 3 year old niece wants to grow up to be a badass. Tattoos by Pixar, I believe.

Just dropping in for a quick moan about my elbow. Had the upper 2/3 done yesterday which hurt a bit, obviously. But fuuuuuuk is it sore today. Not to mention hot and swollen. Oww. Am well chuffed with it though :o - - - Updated - - - here, just after clean up with quite a bit of warping from the swelling and the position it was taken from. The one above it its not quite settled in yet.

Horitomo cat from a few months ago ... sorry for the dark picture

i entered the top part last month now i am entering the bottom part. done by jeff gogue. sorry for the blurry pic and this pic was taken the day after so it wasnt "fresh"

I got this from Chad Koeplinger earlier this year. I love it, and I want to share it with you:

Taken last year. No peeking!

Well here's what I'll say about blood ceremony, the flute can be off-putting to lots of folks. The second album I like even a bit more than the first one. I was listening to a lot of real retro sounding stuff like orchid, witchcraft and the early pentagram stuff so it fit real nice into a set with those. I'd say yo check out jex thoth also.

Great thread Carolyn! I wanted to throw Renan Cavalcante's name into this thread too. Tattoos out of Port City Tattoo in Long Beach, CA. Instagram And Dustin Wengreen out of Temple Tattoo, Oakland CA.

Nice. I feel like I would have to be a part of this being a Vermonter and all, ha!

Yep, and thanks! @Graeme @Johannes I posted pics on the full back piece experience thread right after I got it. It's also on Eddy's instagram account. I feel embarrassed to post it again.

Eddy Deutsche did my full back piece in 12 hours!!

Pretty sure Hiroshi Hirakawa has only been tattooing for a couple of years . Instagram

I had no idea Mina Aoki has only been tattooing for a couple of years. Jesus. I assumed from her tattoos she'd been at it a lot longer than that.

I started following Bradley Tompkins' work when he was an apprentice. He has quickly gotten to the upper echelons of tattooing.

Here is my latest. Done on Tuesday by Aaron Coleman (Immaculate Tattoo, Mesa AZ). I asked for a crawling panther plus "whatever, as long as it's fairly traditional". Got a sword and some roses and I am extremely pleased of course. Done in only 2.25 hours as I mentioned in the 'fastest tattooers' thread.

Concurred. Phil Szlosek is putting out some great work and learning from the awesome Kings Ave crew: Tattoos by Philip Szlosek Instagram

i had a show open recently here are a few pieces that were in it... hope you enjoy

My wife got a bit more work done on her back. Started some shading and coloring. A bit dark up there because she is covering up a righteous old piece! - - - Updated - - - I got a bit more work done too. Getting close.

Sorry for the very late response. Holiday, sickness, work, laziness. You name it, it all applies. So to answer your question about resource material, unfortunately Shige did not give any books which have been translated into English that anyone can make use of. Obviously he doesn't need the translated versions. That said, personally, I've noticed, once you find the name of figures in a woodblock, it's fairly easy to find a description of the stories on the Internet. But of course, NEVER trust the Internet for all facts. It's crap. Full of BS by people who know nothing or romanticize to the extreme. It can be useful to determine the bare bone basics after reading multiple descriptions and discerning the relevant information but it's up to each person to dive further. After all once you know the name of the subject you can also search for potential books which can contain more reputable sources. One example is the samurai "Taira no Kiyomori". There's information on the Internet. Being wary of red herrings there's enough for you to learn his general history and background. Enough breadcrumbs to then be able to search for translated books on him as well. By the way, Kiyomori was an uber badass back in the day. In regards to prints/stories he talked about, there were a few interesting ones. One was in regards to I believe it was the Goddess Izanami-no-Mokoto who helped create the Japanese islands, I'm really not too sure. He showed an image where she was in a cave and thus in darkness so it alluded to Japan being in darkness. There was a whole story to it but that's an extremely abridged description. Kind of cool. Sorry to be vague but I'm not too good with stories that far back. A second print was related to Taira no Tomomori. Everyone typically knows his story with regards to the battle of Dan no Ura where in defeat he jumps off his ship with an anchor tied around him or afterwards depicted as a ghost. Shige lamented no one ever gets another image he is depicted in. One where just prior to jumping off the ship he is depicted with broom in hand sweeping the deck of the ship cleaning it. There's a Yoshitoshi print of this. Anyway, many people might think this is a weird image but it's very Japanese with regard to pride and maintaining an appearance. By cleaning the ship and having his enemies seeing it's pristine cleanliness in the midst of a raging battle he is showing them his pride and honor as a samurai even when all is lost. It's a very cool story just as interesting, possibly more so if you think about the meaning behind it, than other depictions of him. Shige also mentioned Tomomori's father who is vastly of more historical importance than his son. Taira no Kiyomori. Most people know about the shogun in regards to Japan and samurai power. Kiyomori, however was the precursor. He was the first samurai to gain power over the nobles and seize power in Kyoto the seat of the central government. Without him who knows if the Minamoto would have been able to take over after and become the first shogun. Anyway being such a powerful figure there is a story (and print) where he instructs a large if not impossibly long spanning bridge (for the time) to be built. He was so powerful a figure he is depicted as preventing the sun from setting till the bridge was completed. Like I said earlier, Kiyomori really is a badass for his day. If you've seen prints of him they will likely be ones showing him on his death bed hallucinating with scenes of hell or where the background garden is depicted as skulls. At the time he died he supposedly had a fever so high it burned people to touch him so the stories go. The last story was related through another one of his back pieces. It depicted a Uesugi Clan Princess ( I forget her name) taking a magical protective helmet across Lake Biwa to her lover a Takeda Prince (I think it was Takeda Katsuyori). There's more to that story but the point was to bring up the Takeda of Kai and Uesugi of Echigo. Both were powerful clans during the 1500s with legendary leaders who actually once met eachother and dueled during a battle (the 4th battle at Kawakajima, a really popular print subject). Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. The Dragon of Echigo and the Tiger of Kai. Dragon vs Tiger. Heaven vs. Earth. (Sidenote: I almost chose them dueling as my backpiece had I gotten my sleeves paired as dragon and tiger rather than phoenix and dragon). Shige basically described how they were historical badasses that really existed even if the story about the helmet may be mythical. Well that's all I have. This was a very quick and extremely abridged, possibly slightly inaccurate description of some of the things that were talked about with a bit of my own bits of knowledge thrown in. Not to be taken as gospel. Always dig deep and do your own research for peace of mind and even then go to someone who knows better and has the knowledge. BTW, check out this link: Kuniyoshi Project

I'd like to see every tattooer that has ever worked in a street shop pay Evil Don and Crowe $.25 for each one of their flash they've done.

If your artist doesn't know who Higgs is or doesn't have any of his/her own reference for it, and it's probably not the right artist to get the piece of Higgs flash from. The right vibe just won't be there.

That's a really cool take on Fudo, @MoistTowelette. At first, I thought the sword extended up and off your back, then I realized that it was a support beam. That's what I get for looking at LST without my contacts or coffee in.

@hogg @Graeme Amazing. I've never envisioned it like that before. Rings incredibly true and makes sense for the diversity of tattoos we have.

Richard Smith: