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Just got this today from Johnny Bones at Full Circle Tattoo in San Diego, CA. Edit: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how goddamn classy Full Circle is. They accommodated a rigid schedule for me (I jumped on an airplane an hour after this) and Johnny knocked out a nice little memento under pressure. The shop itself is gorgeous and their crew were nice as can be. Johnny Bones has been guesting there for a few weeks. He works at Mi Familia in Anaheim. He's pretty killer.

Not sure where to post this, but since she on LST from time to time, I just finished designing Deb Yarian's spread for TAM.

Spencer added another lotus, a lily pad, and some cool background mandala stuff to this last night. He also put some negative space around where my daughter's name already was, by the top... now I have to wait until January to continue. Funny how first I asked for a tiger coming down my upper arm. Then he had all these ideas I liked so it grew into what was going to be a 1/2 sleeve. Now... there have been more cool ideas and it's going to be 3/4. By the time it's done, we should have a better camera.

Speaking of Senor O'Donnell, here's the latest from his instragram:

not the same as the random image thread. this is for posting pics you took on your phone. my porch has crabs. 3rd one I found. how the fuck does that happen? jumbo shrimp - - - Updated - - - Yes, really real. Happened at the previous shop I was at. So dude walks in with a guitar strapped to his back, bible in hand, his pants hanging low enough to see pupes, and basically looks like a weirdo nerd gone Falling Down (you know, with Michael Douglas?). Anyway, he asks about getting tattooed and writes down this semi-long list of bizarre phrases and math equations and shit; 'glue on guitar' 'my left nih' (>btw, I just figured out this was probably his spelling of 'my left KNEE'<)and like 5 other phrases I can't remember. So as one of us is preparing this, he uses the bathroom. When he comes out his face is all wet; I ask him if he's alright. He says "yes I was just getting a drink." pause. I said "why is your face all wet?" repeats that he was getting a drink. longer pause. at this point everyone is kinda watching this exchange. I said "from the toilet?" half-joking.... "yes" non-chalantly "I don't believe you..." he goes back in there and STARTS DRINKING. Long enough for me to snap this picture. double triple whoa. I was speechless for a second. "Dude, you need to get out of the shop; that was pretty fucked up. You really need to leave" Dude says OK and leaves. Holy what the fuck. Best thing that happened that week.

just to throw this out there. i was talking to my daughter yesterday while she was drawing. and she told me that what she was drawing was a tattoo. so i said cool i didnt realize it was a tattoo and her was response was "of course daddy, it has black in it" i never told her that it was her own observation, needless to say i was extremely proud of her. so after all that could be said about what lasts or not i can say this. if a 5 year old can come to that conclusion on her own that its only makes sense to have black in tattoos then i conclude whether things stay or not it belongs there.

I just re-watched the Kore Flatmo interview the other day. I like what he said about magazine features, and awards and such not being validation. He also says some interesting stuff about how mediocre shit(I'm not saying the show is or isn't) doesn't really affect the top notch stuff at the end of the day. It's just a tv show. People's reasons for doing it aren't really any of my business. I'm going to watch it because it's interesting to watch...train wreck or not.

Chris Garver's introduction was awesome. I loved it all the way through

I disagree on both counts. I really loved this one, and having worked as a translator for 3+ years, I can tell you that direct, word-for-word translations rarely if ever work well.

Sternum/lower chest near upper abdomen still makes me cringe.

might as well have another crack, Tattoo around the clouds and Kraken is fresh/swollen in this pic. Tristan bentley, Ocean ink Sydney Australia

Found a coupla pix of my old work before it got blended in...dhon't think I out these up before, but if I did, well, shit-ignore 'em! The parrot is Dale Grande, maybe 1975, and the roses and banner are also Dale, about 1974. And yeah, the images are lousy...they are scans of my arm, not pix, done in preperation for sleeving.

@Androosh that rose is great

I'm getting my work done by Jake at Inkies Tattoo in Fremont, CA. Sorry no State of Grace :( I chose the artist as I wanted someone that was as excited about doing it as I was to get it done. I looked at quite a few places and talked to a few artist but I walked away not feeling it. I only went to Inkies on a whim one day as I passed by as my next consult was not until late Oct and I said WTF. When I went in I met the receptionist and she asked me what I wanted to do. I said it was a cover-up with a weird idea that was in my head. When I told her I wanted a Zombie sleeve she sprang out of the chair and ran off. Next thing I know Jake walks in yelling that he heard someone wanted a Zombie Sleeve. Come to find out Jake is a HUGE Zombie fan. He even hosts a Zombie Crawl in San Jose (now Alameda) for Charity where everyone dresses up as Zombies and goes from bar to bar. Needless to say he was very excited to do my sleeve. We sat down right there are started tossing out ideas. We met two weeks later to start the sleeve. He does not have decades of experience but his work is good and the excitement he had was my deciding factor. As you guys know, when you decide something this large you want the whole experience to be positive. I could not imagine sitting for 7 hours with an artist you didn't mix well with much less letting someone put ink into you where you felt like they would be more exited doing something else. I posted up a pic in the cover-up section but here is another. I hope you guys like his work. I know I do and I have gotten a ton of positive feedback and even a little old lady sitting next to me on the BART tapped my leg to get my attention and told me she really loved my tattoo and that it was original and different :) Gotta love the Bay Area for stuff like that. This is after my 3rd session with at least one more to go for Highlights, Color and Touch-ups. As far as other stuff on the Bucket List. Well there is the mother / daughter threesome to yet be done :)

PRE-PARTY! Let's make this another (informal) LST meetup.

i am there monday and friday with scott, will also make it a point to speak with juan about zeiss repaint he did and if he would like to tattoo it

Oh great, another one from the bay area.. :D Welcome @bravnik!

I'd promised myself no more unplanned tattoos this year, then Ian Flower decides he's going to be doing walk-ins every Thursday til Christmas... definitely getting on that, now to decide what to get!

I just spent at least an hour going through this guys pictures. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard. A lot of the comments people posted were hilarious.

I guess it depends on who you consider "the industry". Winning Inkmasters or Best Ink probably won't get you invited to State Of Grace or Ink N Iron, but could definitely get you a gig as token tattooer celebrity in a lesser known show or traveling convention and stay pretty busy and make some good money. The problem is the shelf life for a reality tv star is pretty short, and when people forget who you are and you can't just be the dude from the tattoo show, then it comes down to if you put on good tattoos.

BHR snakes:

Nick CTC

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=537755179583877&set=a.197285293630869.58055.145111408848258&type=1&theater This is my right arm shortly after my last session. Some parts are still raw in the picture. The back of my arm is a cover up of some shitty script... The artist is Tim Morris at A Brand New Tattoo in Eau Claire, WI. I am honored to be friends with him. He is an amazing person and really solid tattooer.

I really don't give a shit.

Hey guys, been lurking for a while now and finally decided to post up. Not an artist but a canvas. Got my first Tattoos at 17 and have waited until now to do something else. Just covered one up with a full Zombie Sleeve that will be done in the next session (I hope). Already spent 20 hours on it and it's really coming together. Color, Highlights and Touch-ups are all that is left. The next will be a half sleeve cover-up on the other arm. After that? Who knows. My bucket list is getting full so I need to start pouring some out I think.

SO GOOD. He isn't gonna be doing a lot of snakes for a while, so those who are working on theirs are a lucky few.

Love Dexter. I've been watching since the beginning, it's the only show I make sure I don't miss an episode. I've got high hopes for season 7 and two episodes in I've got a good feeling. IMO, nothing has yet compared to Season 1 and 2. Doakes was classic.

That's so awesome, @G.Uristti! Question for you tattooers with kids: when you color in their coloring books with crayons, do you fill in using lots of tiny circles? Semi-serious question. :)

I know!! when its slow @ the shop sometimes we check out whats new just for shits n giggles. Def good for a laugh! Someone I work with posted "whys be that sock on that bible" under a faux name hahahahahaha!!

@hogg @dcostello you guys getting anything done? i will wear my LST shirt saturday

I feel like I'm on Instagram, liking everything. But shit is good.

Cheers @Jack much appreciated haha ;) Just got back from True Love and after a shower my leg isn't to bad currently, however the hour and a half train ride back was hell due to it being peak hour and not being able to stretch it out properly! Goodtimes... I'll post picks in the lowdown thread right now

I actually just took inventory of my guns. I currently own 25 various rifles pistols and shotguns. Some of my favorites are 3 1911's, 2 M1A's, and an FN FAL I built myself. I guess I'm the crazy guy with guns.....

Going to have a little visit with Seth Wood in a couple of weeks.

I believe the scientific term is "lower squid pants" however a citation will be needed

Slayer- I have a four day pass and I'm only using it for Saturday. If you want it for Sunday, it's all yours once I leave. It's a good convention, but I'm just there to blow a month's mortgage on a single toy. :D

It's a very fresh photo.....and not even a good one....but I had Dana Helmuth tattoo me this past Saturday at Read Street Tattoo and he decided to add a dragon head and claw in the area I had saved for him! :)

"Tattoo poor" I call it. Basically all my money beyond essentials gets saved for tattoos.

Always. My window on Saturday is about 1:00 to 5:00, and Sunday I'm off the whole day, though I usually end up sleeping til about noon. Lemme know, gents! - - - Updated - - - @Perez @whothefuckelseisinNYC?

It sounds like you are building a really nice portfolio for yourself. Please show us pictures. I would love to get something done by you. PM me the pictures and I promise I wont share them with the rest of the board.

I double hogg dare you!

I'm going onto my forearms in less than a month and I feel pretty good about it. I'm 33, I'm well established in my job in a field where tattoos are not a problem, and if things change, I'll deal with it and wear long sleeves if I have to. The only stress I have about getting my forearms tattooed is how my mother-in-law is going to react since I don't think she knows that either me or my wife have any tattoos. Really not looking forward to that.

Dat was posted a looooooong time ago. I have since bought into the whole picture social media business.

Yeah i got that one done right before you

I got this yesterday from Ryan Cooper Thompson at Freaks On 39th in Kansas City, Missouri. It's from his sheet that was published in the Milton Zeis "Tattooing As You Like It" book.

got this little pipe in my ditch yesterday by timmy tatts @ tattoo marks. my girlfriend got this awesome parrot by timmy as well

First off it should only be referenced to as squid appendages. I got a squid shirt and some squid pants started but only after the tatty zap gun finishes inkin me bro. All joking aside, I use the term (even though I hate it) for lack of a better word to most people, but never refer to anything less than a "sleeve". Half, quarter, third-pounder, all sound like shit.

Come hang with the gays this weekend. Pride is the happiest weekend on earth. I will be dancing.