Leaderboard

Post anything you'd like. We have no problem with you or your non-tattoo photos. As for that other poster, let's just say that sometimes, a hatchet gets the hammer.

Colour! Pic pinched from Clare's instagram as I am sore, having a beer and don't have anyone at home to help me take pics yet. Have another appointment in two weeks to add on. We are doing a peony on inner bicep (couldn't resist with all the peony envy going on right now) which will wrap around and fix up the gap in her arm, mallard duck and fox with fruithat. Unsure if we will add on piece by piece or use the next session to get everything else lined.

As promised I have now managed to get some pictures of my fully outlined back. I never imagined it would be so many lines when I started but after 5 sessions and 15 hours in total we have completed the first stage. Very happy with it and can't find enough mirrors to look at all the detail.

I can only imagine that stuff like this makes moderation duties a bummer, so thanks for taking it on and responding so quickly, @hogg. You are the bee's knees.

The upshot is that we identified the need for a female moderator, and @Pugilist has kindly accepted our offer! ;)

I really appreciate seeing people's tattoos in context and I am sorry that your contribution to a good conversation got derailed like this. It sucks.

Got the ladyhead by Max Kuhn yesterday! Not the best pic. It wraps a bit!

So.... We're putting on a show.... April 24-26, 2015 in Downtown Tulsa, OK.... We are still working on the site, and getting artwork done, but.... oklahomatattooshow We're trying really hard to get a well-rounded line-up together, and put on a nice event for not only the artists and vendors, but more importantly to showcase some amazing tattooing to our new home state.... Feel free to message me or shoot an email directly to the show if you or anyone you know is interested in participating, or just attending the event... Thanks, Jen

When it comes to pain and tolerance I think it's important for you to find your sweet spot. The longest I've ever been tattooed was roughly 5.5 hours and I realized right afterwards that I never wanted to go through that again. It wasn't bad but unless your getting tattooed by an artist that isn't local or traveling great distances there is no need for it. For me I've learned that 3-4 hour sessions are the sweet spot depending on location of the piece. It isn't too short and it isn't too long.

@Cork Back (no longer) pale.

Brewing a Belgian pale. Nothing special with the recipe, but I'm going to be giving a portion of it to Dana Helmuth this Thursday in celebration of completing my back piece. I want to come up with some good labels, but I'm having a hard time coming up with a good pun name. Because that's what all the cool home brewers do. A good pun beer name goes a long way. Back Tattoo Brew Back Piece Pale Yeah, 15 minutes of brainstorming and that's all I have. This is why I don't name any of my beers. This one is a pale, that one is an amber.

I thought this was pretty interesting - its a Hikeshi Hanten, or a fireman's jacket, the inside. October | 2014 | Daily Japanese Textile

Hey dudes, maybe listen to women when they say they find something insulting, instead of telling them how they should take it. It's an infantilizing, objectifying and therefore misogynist thing to say, even if you "mean it" as a compliment. And I agree with @SnowyPlover, it's a nice reminder of why being a woman into tattoos can kind of suck.

Help us welcome @Pugilist as our newest Moderator! She has had a solid presence on LST for the past two years and we look forward to having her on the team!

I love the idea of the No Longer Pale Ale, or otherwise I would do something along the lines of "No More Tears" Ale or something making fun of one's stamina.

Dude...!

I work part time in a gun shop and this old guy walks in sporting, among other things, a Stoney St. Claire pinup. His best recollection was that it was done in the 60's or 70's. Stoney had a shop in Columbus from 1970 to 1980 so this tracks. [/url] The forearm piece was apparently his ex-wife's name "Mildred"? that Stoney had covered up and changed to "Mom & Dad". That rose is all but gone... [/url]

@Mush @DeathB4Decaf We usually have a LST meet up at the Montreal convention, both of you should come and hang out! I will hopefully have my back done by then so we can have a backpiece party! @rozone Why would you get tattooed by anybody other than a wizard?

Consider this a warning, @hatchettjack. LST is not the place to insult other members. If someone tells you that you're being insulting, take the hint.

I'll def be there Saturday. I'm getting tattooed by Darcy Nutt for a nice 5-6 hour session. Then I'm gonna cruise around and check out everyone else's stuff, maybe try to snag a walk up if I can.

It doesn't matter how he meant it - it's a shitty, patronizing, objectifying thing to say and has no place on a board where people are meant to behave respectfully towards each other.

http://instagram.com/p/u1hQUSp4QP/?modal=true Here's a tattoo I did on my last trip to LA from a sheet of my own flash.

This is why we can't have nice things.

first session - tiger on ribs... finished 2nd session with Scott Sylvia tying in new & old...super happy!!! :)

On Saturday I was back in Kincardine to finish up the lines. Starting background Dec 12 I'm booked for the whole day so hopefully get a lot done

I think the pain in a tattoo session is not always easy to predict. Got my hip smashed by El Monga a few weeks ago and it was after a night of 5 hours of (bad) sleep, weed and wine and also I barely had breakfast. And this guy is relentless, no pauses and went hard. And it was totally fine, considering. Other times I've bed the best preparations possible and the spot was easier, still it was twice as hard for me to sit through. The mind works in mysterious ways, and I think so much is in the mind and mindset. When I got the back of my right knee redone (didn't heal black, too gray) I knew what to expect and it was a walk in the park compared to the first session. Even got two more tattoos (done at the same time) that day, to top it off. All in the mind. I tried some kind of painkiller once, because I really wanted to sit for the last of 6 or 7 hours with Peter Lagergren on my thigh and I was a bit interested to see if it worked. It was interesting and helped us finish but I wouldn't do it again if not cause of trying to finish a tattoo I travelled for in one sitting and the tattooer urged me to. I think it has a lot to do with what people have brought up all ready. For me it's a sort of pride to know that even the 2 horrible hours of two machines lining my whole back was something I didn't cheat. And it is an experience on it's own, and interesting to live through the sensations and mind games. As @Pugilist was saying, it's really not that horrible if you compare it to other types of sickness and injuries that people suffer through. Embrace it and if you can't take it, don't do it. (Small "but": BUT people have been telling me it gets much worse once your body is older than 30 years old, for some reason. So maybe 2 years from now I will have a different opinion. Hope to be done with feet, armpits and ribs by then haha..)

Even though that post is 4 years old... im glad you posted that cause I hadn't seen those pictures!

I love that. Thanks for sharing, @SnowyPlover!

@Cork. Not too bad a job swapping out bars, but ya gotta get the right length cables to swap out also so a little fiddly there running the lines, then controls & riding position. No, the arms don't get tired, if anything with the slammed rear, a little more compromising on the lower back, but not that much to worry about. High bars look more awkward than what they actually are. Like, the drag bars or Weston bars have nice handling, but the Apes seem to track the bike better without having to concentrate as much on the counter steer when riding the twisties. That's what I reckon anyway. Long gone are the days where I'd compromise comfort for kool, so it's a bonus having this motorcycle set up pretty good that captures both. I know...sports bike riders don't understand it :). That's cool. - - - Updated - - - @Breakme. Go the Triple! ;)

@hogg Can I propose that LST has a female moderator?

I don't think this is the place for you @hatchettjack. Please leave.

QFT.

That wasn't meant to be a compliment and he knows it. This guy has been an ignorant, disrespectful jerk since he signed up for this board, he gets no benefit of the doubt.

Gosh...Barbie...!?! I will give you the benefit of doubt and assume this was meant to be a compliment... but just so you know, most women have no interest whatsoever in looking even remotely like a stupid doll.

So......who is def going??? Okay.....Hotel booked in VaBch for Thursday night! Getting tattooed by Scott Sterling Friday morning in VaBch...... Then.....heading to Paul rogers grave site at the mention of his grand-daughter......going to do a few rubbings of his grave marker! Then.....heading to Richmond to the hotel & convention.....getting tattooed by Chad K. sometime that afternoon/evening I've also talked to David Bruehl.....Mario Desa.....and.......Kate Hellenbrand hit me up to let me know that she would be there so I don't know if that means I am getting tattooed or she was just saying hi....LOL.....I guess I'll find out when I get there! One other tattoo I don't want to leave Richmond without......I'll let you all know who if I end up getting it! ;)

Yes. It's people's personal choice what they do, who are we to judge right? But, let's say not too long ago, when I started getting tattooed in the 80's, ya never heard of anyone seeking anything to manage the pain of getting tattooed. It would never have been a deciding factor. Times were so much more simpler...one either got tattooed, or one didn't, and if one didn't it was because of one of two reasons. They didn't like tattoos or they were too scared of the pain. Simple. My personal belief is, seeking to mask the pain is kinda cheating. It's like the phrase, no pain no gain. It's like going on a diet of ice cream and cookies, it's like becoming fit by going for a stroll. We all do it at some level, seek the easy way out...every single one of us in some kind of format, it seems to be human nature. There's too many options out there. Slowly wins the race. Take the time, tough it out, the hard experiences in life earns us insight and adds to our knowledge. Yeah, I've used opiates in the past while under the machine, but not to try mask the pain...a lot more simpler than that, just because I liked to get loaded on drugs and alcohol. That's it. On top of that, I can assure you, it does nothing for pain management. All it does is fucks you up and the local pain is the same...at times even worse because of how fucked up you are, ya can't shift the pain. By far, I find the best way to pain manage is focus, straight with the good prep we talk about.

Like I said, do what you will do, but pain that you choose willingly, and that no matter how much we complain, we still GET THROUGH and then CHOOSE AGAIN, is not the same thing as pain that comes from something being wrong with our bodies. Like these conversations need a little goddamn perspective. If you want to dope yourself up, feel free, but don't pretend it's a necessity.

I mean, I know that tattoos hurt, sometimes a lot, but I had some medical shit happen to me in the past year that was among the worst pain I have ever experienced, like pain that makes you vomit uncontrollably (for which I was prescribed far LESS in terms of painkillers than what some people are describing in this thread), and it's made me have a low, low tolerance for otherwise healthy people (i.e. without chronic problems that exacerbate what it means to sit for a tattoo!) not being able to grin and bare it through a tattoo. It really sucks sometimes, I am not disputing that, but we all deal with it. And we are doing this voluntarily. We are feeling the pain because of something we want, not because our body is telling us that we are ill. The pain also stops as soon as the needle does. If folks want to use painkillers or muscle relaxants to make the process easier, that's up to them and their tattooers--I have never found it worth the side effects, and I really resist the notion that it is ever "necessary". Like do whatever you want, but let's remember that just because something is really painful, doesn't mean that we can't just... deal with it. We all like to complain about how much tattoos hurt as some kind of bonding exercise, but we wouldn't still be getting tattooed if it really required sedation to survive!

My wife was way more than irritated when I told her I was planning on a back tattoo in January. I'm still going on the consult to discuss colors and design, but will not book anything. Have to pick my battles. Ironchef, custom pool cues ? What do you have ? Where do you play ? I mainly play at Amsterdam in Manhattan.

When people get tattooed it is usually an outward reflection of their internal climate, and what with damn near every person on the planet being obsessed with their death, skulls tend to be a popular motif.

Finishing my thigh with Seth Wood on December 1st! Looking forward to it.

If you think it may get in the way of your professional attire, I'd generally avoid it. Or make sure it's easily covered up (leaving people to believe you are a prude- not a bad thing, ha). Button ups can be your friend. I have my collarbone done and can manage to cover when needed. Typically I just pretend it's not there and dress as I choose, occasionally tossing a chunky necklace on it. Example-

Got this from Greg whitehead in Portland. Instagram

Got this from Timothy Hoyer last month. Really stoked about getting a tattoo from one of my absolute favorite tattooers.

Getting tattooed this afternoon by Murray Sell in CT, he's doing an original design of a traditional wolf head wearing an authentic German military helmet.

This!! Seth Wood.

UPDATE: Two days of brutality on my back with Henning. This go around we started coloring in the phoenix at Kings Avenue Tattoo. 7 hours on Friday in Long Island, then 6 more hours on Saturday in Manhattan. Henning thinks we need one more full session to complete everything. I think probably 2 more including any touch ups. By the way...I really really hate ribs...and spine....THE WORST. Enjoy the pics.

Was wondering, on the off chance, if anyone had had their stomach tattooed after having children (or, indeed, has tattooed post-pregnancy skin)? The stretch marks I had are all faded out but the skin is still somewhat fucked, particularly jsut above the navel. It's nasty if I'm very slim and toned, so I choose not to be and stick at about a US size 8-10. At this weight the visible 'damage' is moderate, probably mid to lower on the scale of pregnancy driven destruction. Youngest kid is 5. What I'm a little concerned about is if the skin damage is going to be massively limiting to what I can have put on there or not. I've been lucky enough to grab this drawing my tattooist made and am booked in for the end of November. I really, really fancy it from mid-lower stomach straight up to the sternum - would presumably need the navel filling, which is fine (because I've no idea what I'd be letting myself in for). So, with the hope of putting myself off, I did a rough scribble of the general shapes of the thing on my stomach but it's just made The Need worse. I know I should just ask my tattooist but I'll not see him before the appointment and anyway, I'd rather not embarrass either of us by exposing my post-pregnancy self without a good chance it'd be workable for the piece in hand. Anyone got an opinion on if should I just give up the idea and have put on my thigh or arm?

I gotta rethink that chair-time thing... If I go all the way back to the first pieces by Dale Grande, I probably have more on the order of 50-60 hours on me. One of the shots was a graze, side of the head, (might account for a lot of things!) one was a .25 zip-gun in the lower leg, no major, and one was a .30 carbine round in the hip. That stung. The eye was the best, 8 surgeries, all before the used lasers, before they took it out. You have to experience someone slicing into your eyeball with a knife to truly appreciate fine, quality pain. I wouldn't use any numbing cream or painkiller-type stuff for, say, 3 or 4 hours of work on an arm, but for long sessions on sensitive parts, bring it on!