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@Lance's request and I know @Pugilist is a sucker for her face and eyes...haha

visited belgium on friday and got this little birdy from guy rubicon

Hey guys, This is my peacock 3/4 quarter sleeve, taken straight after yesterdays session so still pretty muddy and raw. It was done by Mie at Nine Tails Tattoo in East London, a small shop that specializes in Japanese tattooing which I cannot recommend enough. Started this tattoo as a cover up in november last year and will be getting the final touches on it in a couple of weeks, I'm excited to see how all the colors will come together when it is finished. I initially had all sorts of ideas about what colors I wanted for the peacock but in the end, the near finished piece is a testimony to the wisdom of trusting in your artist! So pleased with how its turned out. So many beautiful tattoos on this thread...

I forgot to post this awesome little tattoo I got over the weekend. It's from an old piece of Ralph Johnson flash that I found in the amazing book Flash from the Past. It was tattooed by the lovely and talented Cat Bijou at Tattoomania in Montreal (photo stolen from her instagram). Not only do I love it, but by some strange miracle, it is healing amazingly and didn't swell at all, despite being on the back of my goddamn thigh.

I graduated today with my Bachelor of Nursing :o

You know, he's doing much better now. He was just hungry all the time and they could not figure it out. Here's a pic.

How could anyone NOT be a sucker for those pleading eyes???

Got my shoulder capped by Aaron Coleman tonight. Really pleased with it, finally feels like my arm is coming along.

I'm fortunate to only have one bad tattoo to share—a tiny stick and poke I did on my foot. I was 19, had just read Modern Primitives and was enamored with the idea of "reclaiming" the swastika. It's slightly stylized, and completely shitty, but still pretty recognizable as a swastika. Inevitably I took a bunch of flak from friends when I first did it, but I still spent a while trying to own it, even showing it off at parties if the topic came up and I was sufficiently inebriated. Then I spent a while being absolutely mortified of it and hiding it at all costs, for reasons I probably don't need to explain. Now that I have other, good tattoos around it, however, I've actually started to like the way it looks. That and, since I've gotten into good tattoos, I've seen so many amazing tattoos incorporating the swastika that I've started loving the symbol again and feel much less prickly about it. That being said, almost no one I'm friends with now knows about it, since it usually goes unnoticed even if I'm in bare feet, and I don't have any desire to bring it up. My girlfriend hasn't even noticed it yet.

I did the proctor exam over the weekend and found out today I was awarded the CDA, Child Development Associate. I need it to continue working at the preschool. Now I will go on to my 2 year degree. Also had the first all cast meeting for Les Mis Sunday....wow talk about feeling completely out of my element hahahaha! Well, maybe I'll find out that being on stage is something I really enjoy!

I entered this into the contest a few months back, but that was when it was a half sleeve. The top half is done by Lillian Chen in Yorktown VA at Ancient Art and the bottom part is done by Stacy Mcleaf of Chrome Gardens in Gettysburg PA.

Hey guys. Well, it's about time. I'm coming out to San Francisco this summer. I just booked my flight. Flying out on Monday, June 30th and leaving the 5th of July. So far, I'm planning on going to Blackheart, FTW in Oakland, and hopefully others. I'll be traveling with my friends and acquaintances. My pal Chris, Dustin Golden (Deluxe Tattoo), and Bunny (Rising Tide Tattoo). I know they already have appointments lined up at Blackheart. Needless to say it's a motley crew. But, that said, a lot of you fine folks live out there, and I sure would like to meet those of you that are so inclined. We can discuss all that radness here I suppose.

Hey, My name is Jimmy and I'm from East London, I started getting very small tattoos about 5 years ago, then about 3 years ago I went and got a big black and grey piece on my upper arm that didn't turn out as I'd hoped. It was completely on me though, I think I had watched too many TV shows and got it in my head that all tattoos had to be original or reflect my appreciation for poetry or some rubbish- when really I should have got a panther or an eagle. I spent the next two years getting it intermittently lasered before It was finally ready to be covered with a traditional Japanese peacock 3/4 sleeve this winter. I'm now one session away from completion and very happy with how its turned out, if anyone is looking to get Japanese work in London I highly Recommend considering Nine Tails Tattoo in Shoreditch. I'm now looking to build on my collection over the next year with the advantage of living in a city with so many great tattooers and shops. I have been a lurker on this site for a long time and I love how committed everyone here is to educating eachother about good tattoos- helping clueless kids like me learn that 'you can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit'. And that every idea has to begin with a solid tattoo. Thanks LST Jimmy

@Lance she's mostly fur, seriously really tiny old lady. Will be 15 this year...

um, not just @Pugilist, @ironchef! You have one of the most amazing little creatures on the planet.

Important news via Instagram: Richard Stell cut off his beard braid.

You have just about the cutest cat ever.

Color added. Robert Ryan, Electric Tattoo, Bradley Beach NJ

Nice little piece from Rev. J.R. out of Vicious Ink in Rochester Hills Michigan.

Also, hot guy, amazing tattoos, adorable cat. Just sayin.'

Pcew! That was my girl sound effects for my head that just exploded from the cute of this kitty. O. M. G. Is she as soft as she looks? I'm dying. I love kitties.

I would love a Monmon tattoo thread! Man, @Graeme and I like to plan a mythical trip to California which I am sure will happen someday, but I don't know how we will fit in all of the tattoos that we will just neeeeeeed to get.

Gotta love how many snotty comments about tattoos come from people who easily spend as much time/effort/money on other forms of "body modification."

Thanks for the nice comments. Now lessee if I can post some pic's!

Oh I've got a few, some laughable some not, but I'm definitely not ashamed of this one First tattoo I ever did, at Tux's studio in '99. I was so nervous telling him & his wife the night before; I asked them to meet me for coffee and got it off my chest that I was ready to do this. He tried to talk me out of it by mentioning no heath benefits, no retirement pay, high-risk occupation, "why don't you be a vet or something, much easier. That's what Alex Herman did after quitting the biz". I could not be swayed. So he said"OK, show up at the shop tmrw and you can tattoo yourself". That really surprised me, I was not expecting that. I was prepared for "what the fuck, you shouldn't be doing this get the hell outta my sight". He had a legit rep for being rather brash and didn't pull punches. Chased a few people out of the shop looking for apprenticeships. When I got there I realized I had no idea what to put on myself. That part had not even crossed my mind, just "Holy shit Tux is gonna let me tattoo myself". So I said, "what should I pick?" He handed me this one and said "That's the first one I did on myself" which may or may not be true (once upon a long time ago he did the borneo scorpion on Higgs and told him he drew it himself hahaha what a classic fibber) but I didn't ask twice. He set up 2 Percy Waters, loud as hell, told me they were worth more than my life, showed me some basic info and turned me loose. That was one of the most exciting moments ever up to that point in my tattoo experiences. Best design ever? no. Best job ever? No. Some good blowouts? Yup. Something I'm proud of? Most definitely.

I do not know the source, but I thought this was awesome.

My names Eric. I am 55 years old and just got my first significant (at least to me) tattoo. I spent years softening up my conservative wife to get tattooed. I could have just gone ahead and done it but she's suppose to be a life partner right? I got the kids names done on the sly figuring how mad could she get? Turns out pretty mad :mad: Threatened to walk out before even seeing or knowing what it was. Once she saw it she calmed right down and even confessed she wanted one of the Russian doll things on her hip. I spent a long time looking and trying to learn about tattoos. Searched on-line in the Seattle area for a style that I really wanted for my first big one. It was when I went to the Seattle Expo (felt like a outsider being naked as I was) that I realized "hmm,, there are artist's from all over the west coast and beyond. Maybe I need to look outside of Seattle for what I want. When I stumbled upon the Dot work / pointillism I had found what I wanted. Anyway I ended up booking about five months in advance to go to San Fransisco to have Dillon Forte (Guesting at Analog) do my Mandalas in Dot work and negative space style/technique. Five and half hours for first mandala and four the next day for the rest.They are two weeks old, scabs off and still itchy.

This past sunday two of my very best friends moved into my house. Love my life right now!

Add some tigers in the basement & it sounds like Roy Boy's shop hah

@Fala, it's funny how it works out that way. I "only" added background to my left sleeve, added a second sleeve, and had my backpiece done because my Office temporarily sent me to work in SF. I sometimes wonder what tattoos I'd have or even how many tattoos I'd have if I hadn't been able to continue going to SOG. Sometimes I look back and think about and wonder, "Who got the better deal? My Office's SF branch office or myself?". Hmmmm...Suckers! Ha ha!

Yeah, she's gorgeous alright! She seems so small.

^^ Awwww! ::swoons::

@Lance haha! Aww thank you for that! I have some really bad tattoos too, I just don't post them on here :P hahah ...Or actually I have posted the Drunken Clam in this thread I will definitely post my Monmon cat here when I get it, and I expect the same from you @KBeee @Fala @TrixieFaux !!

Well... I just cancelled my appointment with Kim Anh Nguyen. I've been going back and forth for some time since I had some financial troubles... but I have more solid ideas for finishing my arm with Grez, so I decided to just focus on that for now. Originally I was going to cancel with Grez and just get something small from Kim. Super bummed that I'm going to miss out on getting tattooed by Kim, but now I'm super excited to start chipping away at my arm (literally and figuratively)!

9 tailed fox by Horimitsu at NYC tattoo convention.

Just finished my second tattoo! Dutch Cooke, Immortal Ink in Clinton, NJ. I'm a beer brewer, and grew up fishing with my grandfather, so this is a little tribute to both. As for the octopus, why not?

I think it's pretty simple, an asshole is an asshole no matter the setting. Glad it's getting you business though @smiling.politely! It pays to be cool.

People politely disagreeing and expressing mutual respect for one another... Is this really the internet?

on my Uncle-in-Law. artist unknown but done on Market St in 1955:

not exactly ours, but one of our Grand-dogs:

Got this sweet tengu mask done by Stewart Robson at the Scottish Tattoo convention last weekend. Sorry for the crappy phone picture. I am well chuffed with it. Edit: the picture quality is worse than I thought. I will switch it when I get a sharper one. This doesn't do it justice at all. Sorry.

Good mail day... finally got my copy of TattooTime, Perseverance catalog, Shige and Chris Brand Tengui and "What We Do Is Magic" poster from Brent Vann with paintings from 30 different tattooers

Healed whispering devil and fresh heel tattoos (and dirty feet). All by my pal Iain Mullen, Imperial Tattoo Stockholm. I am happy I finally decided to get this devil done, had been looking at the sketch in Iains box for a year all ready. It's actually facing inwards, against common tattoo-logic. If you follow around the leg you can see that it's point towards another tattoo of a sleeping lady head, by Jaclyn Réhe. edit: about the heels, the mouth with yin yang was my idea but made to fit by Iain. The other thing, whatever, was drawn on by him. We think it might be a satellite and/or one of those things alchemist brew their stuff in. Either way I think it's just right.

I mean, if you wanna just rock one Lehi tiger, then sure.

Cool but not cool! Haha I've been working on my "personal statement" for the past... million weeks. Ugh, I hate trying to talk myself up/writing personal essays. I'm hoping whoever reads it has a sense of humor or I'm fucked lol As for me, my now husband has passed the 90 days sober mark (longest stretch of time to date) and it's amazing how much my life has changed as a result of his sobriety. We've been going out more, spending our (his) money on mutual activities and just soaking up (real) life. He's also agreed for us to adopt a dog this summer (the last one didn't work out for a bunch of reasons) so I'm sooo excited for that because I haven't had a dog in years.

Papa. I am not stupid. 2 small boxes placed next to each other is not the same thing as 1 bigger box. DUH !

Will do! He is planning on recording it some time this summer. If you follow him on Facebook (new band name is Moon Sugar), I think he posted some live recordings of a few new tunes that will be on the next album. He is also going to re-record Tarantula Dance for sure and maybe Skyward since the new keyboard player uses different synth sounds, which match how he originally intend the songs to sound. And I believe the live tracks have the new keyboard player on it. Really cool stuff! Thanks for your support!

Let us discuss UGK in person. Are you booked in anywhere?

Off color jokes and discussions are one thing, harassment is another. Personally, I've finished a girl's half sleeve that was started by another guy in town, because he kept making very obvious references to trading his services for intimacy, while trying to pass it off as a joke. And I've heard a lot of people say they quit going various places for similar reasons.

Hyottoko from Civ at the West Texas Tattoo Convention...