Leaderboard

A relatively recent one - from Deno when he was visiting Tattoo Paradise last year. Picture borrowed from his Instagram.

I looked at some other online discussion tattoo forums for a while, and most of them were just filled with negative rude people, online discussion forums are not new to me,I have belonged to computer/home theater/audio video/canine,etc,etc,a couple for 10 years now, so thanks to all here for making this one a friendly,enjoyable,& comfortable place to hangout.

Best advice I got.

bump scorpionfront.com - - - Updated - - - also, there's this

Got this on my arm last week from Joe Ellis: Done at Lab Monkey Tattoo in Stirling, Scotland although Joe now works at Sacred Electric in Leeds.

Agreed! And the level of discourse around here is uncommonly thoughtful, I find, in addition to the general friendliness. Go LSTers ;) Go team!

Heading back to Dana on June 10th for some ass line work. It's bound to be an exquisite experience. I'm tempted to get some painkiller, but I just feel like that would be a cop out. More importantly, you'll all get to see my ass.

last week I had some blood drawn for a routine test (i'm perfectly healthy so don't anyone worry) and when the phlebotomist asked if I preferred one arm over the other I rolled up both sleeves and said "well you can either poke this hannya in the face or you can just poke this empty skin on my right arm." She then remarked that since I have tattoos I must not be worried about a simple blood draw and I agreed I wasn't worried. But in my head I was thinking "How many years experience do you have drawing blood?", "Do you have a portfolio of your previous work I can look through before I choose you as my phlebotomist?" Strange that people have asked me if I'm worried about getting infections, diseases, viruses, etc from tattoo artists that have 15+ years experience but no one is worried about the phlebotomist that might be fresh out of training with only 6 months experience.

I had to add this - This is from a Jenny Clarke flash sheet, and is supposed to be a chest panel/half sleeve design, which the artist clearly didn't understand, and copied it, very small, onto a forearm. I don't think I have ever seen a tattoo miss the point as much as this one.

I agree that there's a pretty significant difference, but for some people just the idea of needles can trigger a panic attack. a woman recently fainted at the shop where i work, not because she was getting tattooed, but because she was watching her friend get tattooed. she's lucky she didn't get a concussion falling and hitting her head on the floor! phobias are irrational, so even if it doesn't make sense to us, it could be terrifying to someone else.

Get more tattoos around it.

Strange that I never posted mine to this thread; I must have thought I already had(?) According to Steve Byrne, I was the first person to ask him for a RoA (in 2011 if you can believe that), so I guess that's my claim to fame:

Mostly Jinx Proof and Tattoo Paradise. Can't say enough good things about either shop. I've gone to the Baltimore Tattoo Museum a couple of times, too.

Couldn't agree more. I'm a type 1 diabetic on an insulin pump (essentially a little robot pancreas...it's pretty rad), so I'm pretty comfortable with needs of both the injecting medication and placing ink varieties. That said, there are new nurses at my endocrinologist's office and they are fucking horrible at drawing blood. The last three times I've been in they've either pressed the syringe right through the vein, or rolled the needle while it was in. I end up with a bruise for a few days at the site and look like I have a different sort of problem all together. I'm actually getting tattooed this Sunday after a doctors appointment on Saturday, so my hope is that they've improved so that I don't have to awkwardly explain to the tattooer that the needle mark and bruise are from an indelicate nurse, not some questionable extracurricular activities. Might be time to ask the nurses for a blood-draw portfolio.

gettig a traditional butterfly on monday

part of my back piece skull action.

Eddy Deutsche finished mine a few weeks ago. Terrible pic of the whole thing and one of the mini ROA in the book at the bottom. Four total in the piece ;)

wear a feather boa.

It is really cool. It was great finding a cool community like this that's so helpful, welcoming. There are some real dorks in other online forums...

Hate to be the guy, but the silence should be deafening.

I have been getting a lot of acupuncture lately, and my acupuncturist always asks about tattoo stuff, and those needles vs. these needles. I told her acupuncture is like, a freaking treat compared to getting tattooed. Interestingly, she was saying that she imagined the places that she finds acupuncture needle insertion hurt the most are also the places where getting tattooed sucks the most, but it doesn't seem to correspond at all. Like she says forearms are generally a rough spot (although I have not found that to be the case, with the exception of my wrists). And like, she sticks needles right into my forehead and stomach and I don't feel a thing. So all that to say: duh, different needles feel different. Also, I have a sick fascination with getting my blood drawn--its kind of cool to watch!--but last week I went for a routine blood test and they took EIGHT VIALS and it kind of freaked me out when the damn process would not end. I have no idea why. I suspect vampire nurses.

i tell people it's more like being cut. because that's what's really happening. not sure if this helps there fear at all.

stole this from sonju's injungram

Got a Garver tattoo at invisible.. will put it in the contest for next month..

Chris Garver at Invisible NYC

My wife picked this out for me last night. Done by Jason at Taylor Street. Good times were had.

Go this sunday from the Awesome and generally super cool Beaux Brady on sunday to go with my other hand he did.

This backpiece by Marius Meyer is on a guy from this forum. Amazing piece!

4th session with Filip :cool:

Just had a full sleeve done by Dmitriy Samohin. I did 8 days straight 8-9 hours a day for all this to be completed. Around 70 hours :) The Panther and Lion are on my thigh :) Hope this is in the right place :)

KevinRileyTattooMachines.com Machines are COMPLETELY HANDMADE one at a time. All frames are hand cut from my design or yours. All hardware is made to match each machine, right down to treading the contact screw. Hand wound coils are made to fit each frame, All coil wire and the capacitor will fit neat. No extra wires to get in the way. All Machines are 100% guaranteed for life, Unless they are modified by someone else. If you want a machine built to suit you, I'm you guy. Any reasonable request can be made....but I don't do Bio-Mec carving, Aaron Cain did it first, Does it the best, so get that stuff from him. But anything else.... Like - Custom frames designed from your drawing. - Reproduction of an antique design. - Custom coils... built on coin, fiber, plastic or linen washers. - Any tube vice you can think of. - 1.25 or 1 inch coils. - Right or Left handed. - Powder Coated or Oil Blackened Finish. - Clip-Cord, RCA, or 1/8th Electric connections. SOLD ONLY TO PROFESSIONAL TATTOOERS... WITH PROOF. Machines start at $350us for standard styles. Email me at.... [email protected]

Recently I have gained some damn good motivation to get healthy. Quit smoking a few months back and now have been working my ass off to get back in shape. Getting my chest tattooed has been a pretty big motivation.

I'm the same, some areas of my body are just agony, I am starting my back soon, and I think I will need some medication to help me through...I think lower back and upper ass will be awful!

well, I do not like getting a shot or blood drawn...but not like it freaks me out..just disturbing seeing the needle going in there. feels funny. i skip if i can. would never skip a tattoo tough!

I might have actually seen you get this tattooed. I get tattooed quite often at Invisible.

I've done a 10 hour on my Koi . luckly it was on my arm..

I keep my arms covered too. I don't think there is anything dumb about being cautious.

Had a DAMN good time with the Stells and the folks who showed up at Pair o Dice to wish Richard a Happy Birthday and shop opening. That shop is going to push out some killer tattoos.

I'd planned to start working on ideas to connect my arms across my back and then be done for a while and now after looking at pics in the gallery and shop websites I'm trying to think of something to go around my ankles, around the other stuff I have there. Bad influences, the lot 'a'ya.

I would like to add this very fresh skin decal by Greg Christian. My thigh never looked better, STOKED! The pic is from his instagram page.

So I'm back from my trip to LA visiting Bryan Burk and Chris Conn :o I had the best holiday of my life in just three days! and here are the results! Panther is by Bryan Burk, Dark Horse Tattoo and The cat-lady is of course by Mr. Conn himself! Best tattoo experience I have had and probably will ever have, he is something special this guy :o

Bob Roberts panther tattooed by Hiro at Spotlight Tattoo. His photo.

Got this little train today from Adrian Hing (photo clearly robbed from his instagram)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhw_zbvxvb4

@Delicious I would add that just because people love you and our on your side, doesn't mean they know what is right for you. At some point I think we just have to gain the confidence enough to disagree with our family and understand that their preconceived notions of what society deems appropriate is not going to determine your happiness, only you can do that. And disgreeing with them doesn't mean you love them any less, just that you have become your own person. Their is that old saying, you live under my house, you follow my rules. Well I have my own house and I say fuck rules.

I believe that was me @Dan S @Delicious To the extent of my knowledge i am the only woman in my whole extended family apart from one cousin (who has a tiny trible symbol on her chest) that is tattooed... That includes men. I started to get the usual grief when i began getting tattooed.. a few colour realism butterflies, a little script that was all seen as acceptable however when i began getting larger tattoos people began to pipe up with their opinions. are you joining the circus? are you going to be a pirate? you are going to look so butch? what are you going to do when this early midlife crisis is over? you look like a lesbian! you WERE such a girly girl and now... etc etc. There comes a point in life when you have to make the choice between expressing yourself how YOU choose to because frankly other people might not be around for nearly as long as your tattoos will be. I've always had hella low self confidence but now when i look in the mirror and catch a glimpse of my tattoos i smile. They make ME happy on MY body. Other people will get over it. Sorry for digressing from the point of the thread. I have had a length discussion about native american indian tattoos at my local shop today and i've realised i am 'supersticious' enough to feel the need to have my indian girlhead and cheif wearing the correct headdress... that's as far as it goes for me though. Tattoos are things i perceive to be beautiful that i want to wear on my body.. n thats about the size of it :)

Not neccesarily just the eyes, but when somoene is getting a backpiece, usually work on filling in the background before the main image, because most people would be willing to walk around with a finished dragon and unfinished background but not vise versa. I personally like what @reverend1 said better though.

If I'm not mistaken, Beez, the story you're referring to regarding Horiyoshi III and his son's tattoo was from Jill Bonny's book: Studying Horiyoshi III: A Westerner's Journey into Japanese Tattoo. I can't remember exactly either about the specifics, but I think his wife's eye swelled up like Oiwa and other things happened to Horiyoshi III and his son also. This is an interesting topic @ironchef, thanks for sharing. My experience was a little dis-similar from yours but I understand your path and appreciate it. Instead of superstitions influencing tattoo choices, being Japanese, I looked to traditional subjects and supposed "rules" to dictate some of what I have. Like maintaining a specific season and the idea that water elements are on the lower body, air elements are for the upper, and specific pairings of creatures. As such I have a koi/peonies on my leg, a phoenix and dragon on my arms, and a soon to be finished image of Oda Nobunaga for a backpiece. The koi/peonies is a quasi memorial to my mom who loved flowers. My dad loves koi ponds. And I grew up watching samurai/yakuza movies with my Dad and Uncle. So my history/heritage influenced me too but in a different way. A bit more generically I suppose. My whole family is a bit gringo-fied so superstition and religion didn't factor in as much. So no superstition, but influenced in other ways pertaining to culture. It's interesting to hear how yours was. I rushed through this so hopefully this all made sense.

Cheyenne Sawyer from Atlas tattoo in Portland Oregon. Not only is he one of the most unique human beings I have ever been friends and co workers with, he has the ability to make ANY idea look amazing. big or small. The man taught me how to be a real "professional" and I was his boss, lol! Cheyenne Sawyer :: Atlas Tattoo :: Portland, Oregon

Joel Long. That man is fast on the hills of Trevino, but no one ever talks about him.