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@petiloi and @beez, such great work on both of you! I love Diamond Club. I was lucky enough to see Bill and Junii yesterday at the Japanese National Museum in Los Angeles. I also got this in LA from Horisuzu: Perfect fit. I'm so happy with it.

http://imgur.com/93pGHLl My new tattoo by Toni Donaire at Blue cat tattoo (barcelona) We did the whole shin in about 7 hours. The pain was completely bearable but man was i tired by the end of the session! We finished at 00:30. The guy is a young promise who has only been tattoing for 5 years. Really nice guy

Soooo, I was trying to take an all-things-tattoo-hiatus until October but the boys were getting tattooed so I thought "Oh, I'll just get a little gap filler from Paul" (like I did the previous day with Bryan Randolph)...and this happened. No really, I can stop whenever I want... Paul Anthony Dobleman - Spider Murphy's Tattoo, San Rafael, CA

Social media being what it is, my mom saw a picture of the outline of my backpiece and while she wasn't as upset as I expected her to be (she doesn't like that I get tattoos, but she seems to respect that I get them because I like them), she wanted to know that this would be my last tattoo...but after a certain point what does it even matter?

Thought I would throw in this little tatty from Kirk Jones.

Thrown me sides & a leg in, not me back yet I think. Anyway, back tattooed by CP, Brisbane Australia. Cheers.

Hi guys!! For those who have not seen on Instagram, I was a dumbass and scheduled three days of getting zapped on my last trip to SF. That shit is hard on the body!!!!! @cltattooing made an awesome stabby skull for me, and then we hung out w @CABS, who is an alright type of guy (understatement of the season!). Junii added color to my froggy, some shading and background and outlined a peony on my thigh. We started the first snake! Matt (dr claw) started on my serene butt snake. Shad will be starting the mean back snake in October, and Junii is doing the thigh snake (I think?!) I was not the only one getting my butt drilled (word choice?) in the shop that day. I had the pleasure of watching Drew Flores begin one of the backpieces that is part of the 108 heroes of LA project. How cool is that?!? Also @petiloi was in the shop getting some work done by Bill Salmon. Hi!!! I did not identify myself bc, you know, tattoos. But it was cool anyway! Pics attached. Warning: Butt ahead!! (Nice asp, I know. Tips hat to @CultExciter for that one).

Crappy photo, but just got this done at Kings Ave. this Sat. - by Phil Slzosek.

@beez I thought Matt Deverson did an incredible job of place my snake skull chrysanthemum on my leg. I really really liked that about him though, it was one of the reasons I chose him to do my more visible part of my leg, He seems to have a natural eye for placement. And yes the Geisha Spider is gonna be dope, Ive given Matt (Dr. Claw full artistic liberty, so I know it'll be bad ass. Your quite the beast getting that much work done in such a short span of time. I don't think I could handle that. After a long sitting I need a week of break to gather myself back up. As goes pain referral leg are very strange. Ive got most of my butt done and god damn it sucked, One of the worst Ive done yet. @Eilin that is a wonderful piece, Not my style but solid work. It always amazes my when somebody can transcend a style with the quality of their work Heres a pic of Matt (Dr Claws) work so far Matt Deverson's piece and my wifes arm with work by Deverson also And finally a little sumthin sumthin by the boss man himself Bill Slamon

So Chad finished my back recently. Here it is.

I started volunteering for a wild bird rescue center. It's literally a crappy job, but I love being around and interacting with the birds. Usually they are baby birds that fall out of nests, or birds that were injured by cats/dogs/cars. I get to clean cages, floors, aviaries as well as prepare food and maintain the facilities. Occasionally they'll have me help with the feeding and care of the birds. So far my favorites have been the hummingbirds. They'll buzz around your head because they're just naturally curious and not too fearful of humans. I also get to work with swallows, ducks, sparrows, finches, pigeons, doves, and quail. I do this for 4 hours per week and it's been very rewarding despite having to constantly clean up bird poop.

I've never heard the term clickbait, but now it all makes sense. I cannot articulate myself nearly as well as you guys, but I agree on the general consensus that this article sucks balls. :D CLICK HERE TO LEARN THAT ONE TRICK THAT WILL TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND

Finally finished this backpiece by Valerie Vargas at FST :)

Remember I know nothing - I'm trying to go through the whole forum to understand the different types of tattoos, especially the traditional. I just saw the Ed Hardy video on black panthers that someone linked to on this forum somewhere - omg I had no idea of the tradition and wonderful simplicity of these panthers - I have so much more appreciation of them, now. I don't think I want one (yet!), but maybe I would like a traditional white tiger in the style of the panther - just black and greys (except for those blue eyes). I never would have thought I'd go for something that traditional - maybe the panther or tiger coming out of the traditional rose. Perhaps to get an appreciation for any art, it's important to see many good examples of it - the gallery is really helping me, and I'm "making" my way through the "What makes a good tattoo" thread. After all, I was attracted to tattoos from the beginning looking at my Uncles WWII Navy ones. Hope this is not out of line here.

Looks fine as is. Let the artist, who seems pretty competent, take care of it.

so here is my contribution to this old thread. Done by Amy Kinsell from Modern Body Art UK. Done at the Cardiff Tattoo and Toy convention, the theme was Star Wars (at the con) so naturally I had to go with the same theme for my tattoo... :)

Wow @beez! You are a trooper! Can't say I've ever tried or wanted to try 3 days of consecutive tattooing. I bow to your stamina. It's all looking fantastic. I like how your tattoo has organically turned into a quasi-3-way collaboration piece. I knew you were going to get Shad to work on a snake but not Dr. Claw too (Or perhaps I forgot?). Was this part of your plan? Or did it just pop into your head one day? I dig his work. Really nice guy too from what I could tell, chatting briefly with him, when I picked up the Horitoshi book from there last year. Drew's work is crazy good! Lucky you, getting to see him work on a Suikoden piece. He and Chris Brand are blowing my mind with their interpretations. That skull is awesome too! Some good stuff there @cltattooing. Really good. Stabby indeed.

@petiloi Bill and Junii tattooed my feet about 4 years ago. I love them! My wife also has some beautiful flowers by Junii!

I'll throw my hat in the ring. Kevin Marr owner of Godspeed tattoo in San Mateo ca. We are getting close

I didn't find my shin to be that bad, actually it was my calf that was much more painful. I found the vibration a bit wierd but not much pain. My sitting was about 7 hours. My leg swelled up real bad though. I had a kancle for about two weeks

Yeah they are! I'm super excited Kyle and Mike opened up shop here in Hamilton. I think I'll make it there for 1045 then, just to be on the safe side. Yep, saw the IG post about their move - hopefully I can find cheap parking close by.

I think I'll be heading down to The Okey Doke in Toronto next Sunday to get a snake n dagger walk-in with Franz. Just gotta figure out how early I should get there to make sure I get in with him.

"Rutting unicorns and a lunar landscape" is a killer tattoo idea.

Why do we really write articles? A postulation. (How common are opinion pieces? Exasperatingly common!) ;)

@KBeee. Of course we can stop, sort of. We just choose not to eh ? ?

Shit got real

@beez Speaking as somebody who recently acquired a butt snake of my own, BUTT SNAKES FOREVER! Also, you're completely nuts for getting tattooed three days on a single trip. @Eilin That is superb! I love it!

No shit @beez it's a small world. Butt snake all the way, I also really enjoyed watching Junii work on your leg. My wife has a big peony piece on her side by Junii and if all goes well might be her apprentice soon. I consider myself very lucky to be getting a sleeve from a living legend like Bill Salmon. And Bill and have built a friendship over the last few years so it makes it that much more meaningful. Matt aka Dr claw will be finishing my thighs piece and start into my inner leg with I think a big geisha spider. Its goona be rad. Looking forward to see in ya at the convention @beez. I'll be doing another few sessions on my leg woth Matt Deverson, if you haven't seen his work check it out and hopefully I'll be getting my chest done by Myazo. What's your plans

Here's a healed picture of my back piece by Valerie Vargas at Frithstreet tattoo :)

I'm gonna submit the smallest tattoo to win the monthly contest (ok, not really, that back, gahhhh)! RAT HEADS GET NOTHIN' BUT CHEESE Y'ALL, done by Cody Miller at Blackheart. Photo pilfered from his Instagram.

SMART MAN - - - Updated - - - I'm successfully down from over 1000 to about 750. And I kept all of you LST folks. The things I do for internet friends...:D

Shameless bump for good buddy Dan Nelson @ Greenpoint Tattoo in Brooklyn

Hi everyone, So this is kinda awkward, introducing myself. I am not a big computer person and don't spend alot of time online. I have 2 beautiful children with my husband of 7 years. I am 25, and a diagnostic medical sonography student. I love tattoos, and have one on each forearm, and my thigh piece. I am looking forward to talking with you all. Take care, CharmChore

Hey everyone, new to this site obviously haha. I'm getting my first tattoo in about three weeks and none of my friends or family have tattoos, so I thought it'd be cool to be in an environment where I can have thoughtful and helpful discussions with people who understand! Looking forward to chatting with all of you. -lindsay

Well, I started the thread a while back b/c I was uncertain exactly what I wanted, and even tho I thought I'd made a mistake w/it, it's turning out perfectly in the end. So much so in fact, that I'm going to extend the work I'm having done to incorporate an existing tattoo-tho that tattoo will have to be reworked. And it will all then blend in with work I had done a couple years ago. So, it's worked out pretty good! The artists have been receptive to "Um...i dunno..I like flowers, will flowers work? Whatever you think, go ahead and do it"

looks good. sit back and let the artist do his thing.

This particular shit is ALWAYS real! :cool:

Yes, so this happened! LST meet-up!!! Unfortunately Lance went back to JANM before Stella took our picture. I don't want to ruin @hogg's tough guy ban hammer reputation or anything, but what a great guy! Lance, too--but we already knew that. Great to see those tattoos in person, too.

@SeeSea thanks so much! Sleeping was difficult, I was under attack from Mosquitos most nights, super unpleasant combined w tattoos and that I was sleeping on a couch! Sooo apparently I'm just a masochist. @petiloi that's incredible for your wife; congratulations and good luck to her! I have really enjoyed my time with Bill and Junii at Diamond Club as well, they are such pleasant and welcoming people. I am so stoked that Matt is in on the project now, too!!! A GEISHA SPIDER WOULD BE SO COOL BTW! I was looking at the Matt Deverson piece on the back of your calf while at the shop, truly beautiful! Very graceful in it's placement, I thought. Did you get that at the last convention? Junii, Shad, and Matt are doing my back and left leg, and I believe I'll be talking to Junii about my right arm. My right leg and front I am reserving for pieces from sooo many different artists I don't even know where to begin :p. lemme think on that and put a list together :) :) :) Definitely see you at the convention!!

By Jason McAfee at Temple Tattoo. Oakland, CA. B&G arm is almost done. Got a couple more gaps to fill. So stoked.

Is he only doing the chest, or is going down your arm? Hey if you happen to get the inside scoop if Horitoshi 1 is coming to the Us East Coast, I know a guy with 2 thumbs who would like that info.

When I started dating my current partner, he was actually against tattoos, and it became the cause of a lot of friction between us. I think his perception of tattoo shops and tattooed people in general was very stereotypical. The whole dirty trashy tattoo shop, drugs, alcohol, crazy, out of control thing. As I began to collect more tattoos he was actually pretty ticked off about it. I finally convinced him to come with me to get the shading finished on one of mine. He was surprised how clean and professional the environment was, and how talented my artist and other artists were. He has one of his own now, and thinking about a second! I think the main problem is the negative perception by others most times.

I really don't tell anyone what they cost that I don't want to. Plainskins... never. Anyone who hadn't gotten a tattoo in 30 years... never. Everyone makes their own deal with the shop so what I pay doesn't mean that's what anyone else will pay for something comparable. People who aren't into the art, they just have no understanding. Explaining my position is like mooning a blind person, the translation is lost.

...and there you go. It had better be a very nice blue bird, and you're golden.

Finally got around to getting some pictures of my completed Nue half sleeve and chest plate. This was completed back in March by Brian Bruno at Absolute Art Tattoo and I can't recommend him enough. It's a really good shop full of great people.

Now that this is (mostly) healed up, here is my latest from Grez. What do you do when you love Catholic imagery but haven't gone to church since you were a kid? You throw the best mascot in sports in a virgin Mary shroud. Grez is a big baseball fan, so he took the idea and ran with it, including adding the Liberty Bell in place of the sacred heart. Edit: he also did those cats last fall. They've settled in nicely.

It is great to hear that I am not the only one who questions WTF did I start a backpiece. Only today I have finished a 3 hour background shading session on my left ass cheek and upper thigh. I now can look forward to 4-5 days of hovering over toilets when needing to take a sh*t and general discomfort of sitting anywhere. :) Doing a backpiece at the start seems such a great idea at the time but it can be a long hard slog. I am now into mine for about 40 hours and we haven't even started colour. For me it has been a great eye opener for people that are heavily tattooed. I used to always see large scale work in pictures and loved the look of it etc, but it is only now that I can appreciate the long hours of not only tattooing but the healing and day to day discomfort that the healing brings. I always thought the actual tattooing sessions were the worst but I am now appreciating that the week after each session can suck just as much. Not trying to put anyone off a backpiece as once done the results can be spectacular, I am just saying it can be a long road. :)

Thanks to this thread for making me aware of Aaron Coleman, who does indeed do amazing panthers! Healed shots: edit: I don't know why I can't get the closeup to be the right way up.

Saw this guy on reddit...pretty funny

Couple of sheets from the shop painted by Derek Ward. People have actually gotten quite a few off these sheets. I think he sells prints of these but it's a five sheet set combined with two halloween and one christmas sheet.