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Thank you so much Tron!!!

If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?

Nathan Kostechko tomorrow (hand and arm), Seth wood in a week after (alligator continued), Yutaro sakai late march in scotland (dragon through the traps)

As I am want to do on my days off, I found myself outside The Pearl. Today Tim Pausinger did a couple pieces of Higgs flash for me. He did a druid and this creepy clown.

not even if ever! thats whats gonna bring ragnarök upon us!

Girl head from Valerie in just over a week!

Dan santoro did this for me as a walk in a couple of days ago! Waited 7 years so feels good to have waited and finally got it done. - - - Updated - - - Also I finished my torso very recently so here's a photo of it

I'm a web designer, this same shit has been going on in our industry for awhile now. Logo Contests, Website Design Contests, etc. The only designers who are willing to enter these kinds of contests are people who can't get a job as a designer or make it as a freelancer, so you are always going to get bad work. Always. No one with actual experience and skill is going to do work that they "might" get paid for, when they could be doing work they'll definitely get paid (a lot more) for. And then when they "win" the contest they're rewarded with a cheapskate client who doesn't respect the profession enough to pay for a site well-built & well-designed by professionals... assuming the client doesn't just take their free designs and disappear. Anyway, my point is, if this custom tattoo design thing turns out anything like what I've seen in my own industry, it's only going to result in poorly designed or blatantly ripped off designs being taken to unskilled, cheap artists and producing an awful result. "You get the tattoo you deserve." quick edit: Not to disrespect any artist that's participating, just wanted to say what I think will happen to this idea based on what I've seen of a similar idea executed in my own profession.

Tattoo of the year.

Little Oni I picked up from Chad Koeplinger today. Super stoked on it. Done in one hour flat. Such a beassssst.

Got this from Scott Sylvia over the weekend, very happy with it (stole the pic from blackhearts IG). Gonna go back to Blackheart for their walk in day in a couple weeks too.

I couldn't find many examples either for kitsune ideas when I was looking around, but I just asked Seth Wood if he wanted to draw one for my back - fortunately he was interested. I think you just have to find someone you trust and go for it!

Ron Wells finished this one on me yesterday. It's so beautiful and I couldn't be happier with it:

I am a coward. I would do anything to get out of having to make a phone call. (Did you know there's an actual human being on the other end of the line?! You can't see their eyes!) Given that, this website still gets a "hell no" from me. I can see how it appeals. To people who want a tattoo because David Beckham/Cheryl Cole/the one with the silly hair from One Direction have one, who know nothing about how to choose a shop or an artist, who think that a tattoo is a tattoo is a tattoo (or a "tatoo" in many cases)... I hope you can see what I'm getting at. Even if they get a decent design from the website, they won't know how to pick an artist who can do a decent job with it. Many of the comments mention cost. I can imagine people thinking that, if they've got a decent design, then any geezer with a "tat gun" can just trace it and blast it, right. I'd like to give this man a pat on the head. Bless his cotton socks. Bruce Cramblett: "I really like this, I had sent a message to Kat Von D asking if she would consider doing this and she never responded."

No. Most definitely, no.

No. No need to buy a (shitty) pre drawn design if you choose a competent tattoo artist.

forever no, times infinity

No. No. And no.

That's a problem I'm having. I contacted an artist who is known to have a 8 - 10mo wait list for new clients. He responded to my email, seemed like he was interested in my idea, but then communication stopped and I didn't know if I was on the wait list or not. Tried calling the shop a few times, no luck. Decided to give it a rest before I got annoying. Seven months later I tried to follow up again (I live across the country for this shop so I wanted to be prepared to make travel arrangements), no response. Not sure if he just wasn't into my idea or if my emails just got lost in the pile. Can't tell how to walk the line between showing how committed I am and not being irritating. In the meantime I'm just going to keep getting tattooed by other people and hope the opportunity to get tattooed by this artist comes up in the future.

well I have.. Price is something that you shouldn't go by. Not knowing Dan so i can't judge his work and speed but. Form what I know some of the higher priced tattooers are super fast and efficient. While the price maybe less with another artist they might take longer and at the end the price will be the same. Example say an artist takes 40hrs to complete a full sleeve and charges less. Another artist take only 30 and charges more. Listen RG his tattoos are amazing! No one on this site will say anything but good things about him and his tattoos. Call the shop and set up a consolation and voice your concerns about your budget and check out in person the tattooers work. Do that with a couple artist .

Calle Corson from King Carlos. One of his recent ones and one of his best, I think!

A friend of mine got a huge Koi back piece and arowana calf sleeve from Dan at Inkman. Both solid pieces with great colors. And yes, someone here already mentioned that Dan was part of the original Invisible crew and went on to have his own shop that's much more low key. As members with some experience, we can only lay out the information in front of you. Whatever your circumstances may be, the decision is ultimately yours on which artist you go with. With all the big names mentioned in NYC, don't forget that there are also many fantastic guest artists that come in and visit. The NYC Tattoo Convention is coming up in March and there are going to be a nice selection of guest artists in town for the con and doing guest spots at a bunch of the local shops.

Might just leave this here ;) Alex “Kofuu” Reinke Horikitsune | heartbeatink.gr

Just an update, I am joining the noob laser people lol I hate this tattoo, looks like a blob of shit so its going :) I guess I have to experience all aspects of the tattoo world :)

Drew Flores from State of Grace just posted these (added to a Paco Excel sleeve): To me, they're perfect. Very simple, but just right.

just scored another original, maybe some of you will recognize it?

This is where I'm up to with my back piece so far. Got a few more months to wait before I can get some more done.

not the best photo but i got this from j adams today

@mtlsam He is in Toronto at my local shop right now! Lol. I am trying to get in - we shall see...

I kind of feel like I ruined this month by posting my back piece, no one else wants to enter so I'll post some more :) - - - Updated - - - Done By Tim Hendricks at Frith Street Tattoo

The elbow area of my right arm by Chris O'Donnell, the skull and peony were done a few months ago and the leaves and background were added about 2 weeks ago:

Only minutes into the competition and there is already tough competition, Nice tattoos guys. Im entering my chest piece, it took 12 hours and was done by Luke Kehoe in Kalispell, Mt at The Temple Decor.

Man, everybody already used my smart-ass answers but the Greg Irons quip was funnier than I could have come up with. But back to the original question. This is one of the newer approaches to tattooing that makes me slightly uncomfortable to be honest. Myself and a few tattooers I know and work with have noticed the trend of customers finding a sense of pride in how long they had to wait for their tattoo. As if that makes the tattoo more worthwhile. With some of the currently living/working tattooers mentioned in this thread, I personally know people (not even on the internet) that have tattoos from all of them. Filip, Horiyoshi III, Shige and Mike Rubendall. Yeah, they had to wait a little while for some of them but not as long as you'd think for others. Mike Roper is a different situation because he makes it deliberately difficult to get in touch with him, which answers the question posed above. But that wasn't really the question that was asked and it's rarely the question that gets asked. The question, or at least the implication, is "who has the longest waiting list' or "who has appointments booked furthest into the future". If I were to be snarky "who gives me the most bragging rights". For me the hardest people to get a tattoo from are the tattooers who are located furthest away from me. The ones where I have to get off my ass and do something about it. Time is easier to overcome than distance although patience is a different matter. It astonishes me that people call our shop from the outskirts of the city expecting us to change the way we work because they are catching a train to get here. On the other hand, we are humbled and honoured by the people who cross seas and continents to get tattooed regularly with us. But that's aside from the issue. Why is it a trend that makes me uncomfortable? Because I've heard people brag about how long they had to wait for 'x' artist and wear that information like a badge of honour. It feels almost as distasteful as bragging about who charges the most. Yeah, tattoos are for tough guys and tough buys like to brag and maybe that seems harmless, but it makes me uncomfortable and I have trouble clearly explaining why. Maybe it's because it's a phenomenon spurred on by the internet and the gossipy world of hearsay. Nobody calls and checks with the artists or shops they want to get tattooed at. Nobody travels down to the shop to ask the question. They just ask random strangers on the internet who have a lot of time on their hands and like to talk about something they know nothing about. Then the reality gets lost or twisted and in the end the real information is lost. I see this a lot with regards to the shop I work at. Forums are (or certainly used to be) bursting with 'facts' about how much we charge, how long we take, how far 'x' and 'y' are booked or how long their waiting lists are. Nobody calls the shop to ask and nobody suggests that the person calls to ask. I know that happens with a lot of things but it seems like this is starting to have a real-world effect, however small. People who wanted tattoos that we would love to do heard that we wouldn't tattoo them at our shop because we were so cool and busy and booked up for decades and rolling around in money 'n' bitches or something. We've heard of this a few times and it seems to be happening more. Yeah, we're busy, you may have to wait a little, maybe not. If someone has contact information, especially a phone number on their website it means that they want you to call. I'm not really going to touch on the tone of the "are they a fad or are they really worth it?" comment, except to say that if you have to ask, the answer is "no". Sorry to jump on this fun thread with a rant. I look forward to more witty quips.

All pieces i drool over on instagram happen to be on people who are on LST. Congrats on that piece, its awesome!

I only pop on here now and then but fuck @Russ I had to just log in and say awesome tattoos man....

Otro Mundo tattoos ,Instagram

Dude regino is too good. Maybe back piece in my future from him. I suggest a fly out for you. Legit do it.

I can finally contribute to this dang thread!!!! First of 2014 with Hector Fong! Stolen from his Instagram account.

Dan does some amazing dragons like this : https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash2/t1/37935_415221504300_4348124_n.jpg?lvh=1 I'm considering having him design a dragon for me instead of the koi.

Let's not forget Rodrigo Melo. Dana Helmuth frequently tattoos in NYC with Rodrigo Melo as well, I believe. Brian Kaneko is a frequent guest at Adorned and his Japanese is about as good as it gets in my opinion. At Three Kings, Adam Machin, Jeremy Sutton, and Josh Egnew do nice Japanese. There are so many good tattooers in NYC it's ridiculous.

THIS @dooktruck. Absolutely call both shops. You might be pleasantly surprised. - - - Updated - - - Damn, @Russ, those are incredible tattoos. And you are one tough son of a bitch.

Drove down to Denver today for a consult with Mr. Andy Canino, hopefully the next couple weeks go by quick.

Can't hurt to get on the phone and call Black Heart or Spider Murphy's.

Thanks @Iwar I also got this Panther off Matt Arriola at Frith Street the day after

Well holy shit, guys! Party on!

Ok I'll go First done by the totally awesome Valerie Vargas at Frith Street Tattoo, around 40 hours work, finished a couple of weeks ago.

The thing about a tattoo like the one above (and the millions of them you see in spaces like Pinterest) is that they may look cool in well-lit close-up photos, but you have to think about what that will translate to in real life. Like @hogg said I would put money on that looking like a rash or disease or something-like weird blotchy skin. I know tattooers tend to have a million other reasons as to why white ink tattoos don't work, but as a non-expert all I can say is that definitely looks like it will end up looking like a rash.

22 with a face tattoo. Sounds like an X or Violent Femmes song. There are few things more annoying to me than models of any type. Standing around looking sexy or sad while people take your photo is not my idea of a career. No matter how much it pays.

Thanks for the kind words, here's an updated pic, finished it off yesterday. It was an absolute pleasure to be tattooed by Claudia, and Jolie Rouge is a great shop full of the most awesome people. Hope to return for some more work from her at some point in the future. Photo by claudiadesabe • Instagram

3 year wait list is just a filter. I actually need to wait between appointments otherwise I cant afford it because I travel. Traveling to NYC is like having every dollar extracted out of your bank account.