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If anyone is there tomorrow evening, I will be the nerdy looking lady getting her thigh tattooed by Rubendall.

That's TOMORROW? Is it OK if I am super excited for you?

This is just not true. Paying a high price might not always mean you are going to get the best tattoo ever, but typically the better artists charge more because of supply & demand. They are known to be really good and have customers lining up to get their work. They can charge more. They should charge more, you are paying for their quality, dedication, and creativity. The scratchers cannot charge high prices because they suck, they need to get customers however they can. There is a middle ground, where maybe they are not scratchers, but they are also not next-level amazing and they probably charge somewhere in the middle. $100/hr. is not high for tattoos.

Just got back from honeymoonin' on Vancouver Island. :cool: We wanted to get some honeymoon tattoos and a we were thinking of getting cute little hummingbirds although we did have a running joke of getting "spirit eagle" tattoos on the drive out to the island. Then one night my wife says "YEAH let's get eagle tattoos, that would be more bad ass than a cute little hummingbird!" RIGHT?!? Can I get a HELL YEEEAH! As fate would have it, we passed a Birds of Prey sanctuary on the way in to Victoria and met this bad ass dude named Manwe who solidified the plan: We got some super-legit tattoo work at Government Street Tattoos in Victoria, BC. We called the shop they said come on down and let's chat, BOOM how does tomorrow at 10AM sound. Seriously such an awesome experience getting a tattoo from Chris David in this shop. So stoked on the results: Hers: Mine: I'm super stoked on the placement and design of my latest and greatest tattoo. THUMBS UP On deck for this winter (tattoo season)...getting a piece on the opposite shoulder/neck and starting the back piece. BOOSH

This show: Yet, I still watch it.

Take lots of pics of you guys eating the poutine! I have never had any, so I need to live vicariously. Then, some pics of the tattoos, yeah that goes without saying.

I'm compelled to make this same post on a very regular basis. That or something along the lines of "I LOVE TATTOOS!" Sometimes that's all there is to say. On a related note, I'm getting tattooed tomorrow, so I'll have some awesome stuff of my own to contribute. :cool::cool::cool:

Get a California grizzly!

Wait for this weekend. With the Montreal convention starting tomorrow and people here having some crazy stuff lined up, there's going to be some rad tattoos getting posted over the next few days.

Shops also worth noting: Everlasting Idle Hand Picture Machine Mom's Body Shop (ask for @Jacek Minkowski or Olivia) Seventh Son Warhorse Tattoo (Berkeley) FTW Tattoo (Oakland) Tattoo 13 (Oakland) Analog Tattoo Arts Kolectiv (San Jose) also, I can basically guarantee that there will be someone at any of the shops previously mentioned who can kick the shit out of any style you're looking for.

I'll put my wolf permanently in this thread. Chris O'Donnell, NYC:

Thank you for organizing all of this for us!!

Alrighty - I'm having a hell of a time reserving a table for 14 on the 19th. ..so I went ahead and reserved the same table we had last year at OTD (out the door): OTD Pacific Heights 2232 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA 94115 Tel: 415-923-9575 Our reservation is for 7:30pm They do good vietnamese food and parking wasn't bad last year. Any objections should come pre qualified with a confirmed availability at alternate suggestion. ;)

@mmkaoji I always used to use it too, but a couple of times when I was abroad with no access to it I started being fairly minimalist and just washing gently and maybe down the line some unscented moisturiser. I noticed that the tattoos weren't healing any worse, and when I broke out the bepanthen again recently I felt like even with a thin layer it is just too thick- I don't trust it. That's mainly why I've dropped it, but when I was getting tattooed my Mo Coppoletta a couple of weeks back we talked aftercare and he said he didn't recommend it either. With all that said, it's obviously one of the big and trusted aftercare options people use, and I doubt it's actively screwing people's tattoos up, so each to their own. I'm healing the last bit of black and grey on my sleeve right now, and I pretty much just ignored it bar washing it. I really think the less interference, fiddling etc the better... for me, anyway.

Or, whichever numb nutted producer chooses the "artist" gets tattooed by them.

if i were rich i would so go to this convention. not to get any new tattzappin ink, but to annoy and make fun of you all! (could do it with stereotypical "swedish" accent but that will take some beer)

#smilenowcrylater

I'll holler at a taco truck. #neverscared

Yes ma'am.

This weekend is going to be rad! So for poutine on Saturday so far we have myself, @Pugilist, @Mark Bee, @BrianH and his strangely tolerant girlfriend, @Mushu, and hopefully a real-life friend of mine who will have just gotten his first tattoo. Anybody else? @mtlsam @Dennis? I'll make the reservation tomorrow. This is probably not a lot of people for a 15 pound poutine so I feel that this is going to be a dangerous meeting!

I heard you guys like dry healing tattoo pictures.

Getting psyched! As fate may have it, I may be getting started on my turtle shell next month...looking forward to it (not looking forward to it) and making a contribution to this epic thread!

I know I started my own thread for it, but I since it's an awesome thing, too... I was trying to raise $500 for my AIDS walk, with the team goal of $1000. As of yesterday... I raised $1000, taking my team total up to $2040! My amazing girlfriend raised $525 of the team total, which means that the rest of my team is slackin! I only used two of the premiums that were available- a bar tab at my bar and a 'Shawn will cook you a super unhealthy dinner' option that someone spent $100 on... Simon Erl is doing us a shirt... which means I could even get more than the $1000. It's going to help so many people in my area!

By @Badtaste (sorry I don't know her real name):

How about all 14 of you rent a big bus and drive up to Vancouver for some cool hangs instead? I know all the cool spots! Also, I think a Pacific Northwest hangout is in order because this thread is making me super jealous.

I had another (relatively small (3.5 hours) session on my Tamatori-Hime sleeve today, we finally got to put some color into it :-) Unfortunatly the octopus will be colored next time, which i think will give a big change as to how everything looks now. And a nice (almost) full body shot :) :

Sean Herman:

I think the problems you are running into here is that the primary purpose of this forum is to educate people on what a good tattoo is, not find them the tattoo they want at a lower price. As a rule it is preferred that pricing not be discussed (especially for specific artists). There are a number of reasons for this I'm sure, but foremost to me is that a person's first concern should be to find a reputable artist who does the type of work they want, and go get an awesome tattoo that will make them happy for years to come. If that means that you need to save up for a little while then that is fine. I think it's safe to generalize and say that the people who tattoo are just regular folks who live pretty modest lifestyles. The good ones spend a lot of time outside of just applying the tattoo to further their craft and make the customer happy. It's easy for some people to take that for granted when they think about what they are paying. The bottom line is that you can't put a price on a good tattoo. The people here care deeply about the art and work hard for it. Price haggling cheapens that experience and hopefully you can forgive those who are a little offended by that. P.S. I also work in ems, and I do it because I love my job. Comparing hourly rates to other professions will give you a headache. Should we make more than an ad executive or a drug representative? In the big scheme of thing, perhaps. But that's capitalism for you. You either accept that or go find a different job. Have a good day dude, I hope you find what you are looking for.

no idea is this is true, but have heard through the grapevine that talented but young tattooers applied and were rejected for being too good. essentially, they didn't one one or two being so much better than the dregs they typically get on these shows. and probably they didn't have enough drama to be interesting on TV. Though I don't doubt that most folks with any degree of skill wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole. And yet here I am, watching it every week like a sucker.

I'm SO EXCITED for you!!! :D :D I'll be glued to my instagram feed, post up ASAP, K?!?!

Great tattoos! Sean Lanusse was working the booth next to where I was getting tattooed at the Rochester convention and he seemed like a super cool guy who clearly loves tattooing. That lantern he put on you is great! Welcome again to LST and keep on getting awesome tattoos.

been watching this show and...i'm speechless...some of those "tattooers" should be taken out into the woods and be shot..

@hogg Absolutely, everyone in that shop lays down a quality tattoo. Hanna did a small one on my upper arm a couple years ago, and I've been following her, Austin, Jason, and Erik on IG for a while now. Holly and Iggy are great as well, I never meant to say otherwise. And the shop itself just feels great.

I can't wait to see what you get. I absolutely love that cat he put on you. Real magic in that tattoo.

Heres my chest piece that I had finished about 2 months ago. This piece took about 12 hours.

oooh sweet, can't wait!!! We'll have another barrage of great tattoos at the end of October, too.

Im not sure I can take any more death this year. Everyone please stay alive. Thanks.

This time tomorrow we'll be on our way up... @Mark Bee definitely feels like christmas eve!

My buddy @ian has hooked me up with a prepaid phone that I'll be using for my entire stay. For anyone interested in meeting up while I'm out there, my phone number will be 805-403-2812. Thanks Ian (aka "The Wolf")

Not completely sure what he'll be adding yet. My original idea was to put a Penrose triangle right below my other one from him, but he wasn't sure that it would fit well thematically (which I understand). He sent me a picture with a bunch of occult symbols in an attempt to generate some new ideas, and I pulled out a couple of my favorites and sent those back. We'll see what he comes up with, I can't wait.

Oh crap!! Games over!! Hennings tattoos are so amazing!! Real talk.

okay sorry.. maybe i'll have something new in a couple of months.. - - - Updated - - - Okay here is one of my older tattoos. Not finished.. By Phil Szlosek at Kingsave NYC

I posted this in the latest tattoo thread, but I'll put it here as well. Done by Todd Noble at Right Coast in Fenwick Island.

hello! this is my amazing oneshot tiger from Henning Jorgensen! got it done at Royal Tattoo/Helsingör about 6 hours!

I read an article in I cant remember what magazine many years ago that pointed out that almost every question we get asked about our tattoos can also be directed towards a new teen mother example: "did that hurt?" "what do your parents think about that?" " you know you're stuck with that for ever, right?" "i cant believe you'd do that to your body?" "why would you do something so irresponsible?" etc., etc.

Got started on this last week. It's going to be a long term project but at least it's finally started.

I missed this post. I read that book a few months ago and loved it. The writer is Canadian and mutual friends with some friends of mine. They gave me the book, and I read it in a couple of days. I am pretty sure that John C. Reilly bought the film rights to it so you should expect to see it as a movie.

El Carlo recently finished my fiance's chest...

It's on my left flank. Ridiculously gorgeous! I am one satisfied customer!!

Not my biggest pet peeve, but had a girl come in yesterday with a lotus on her lower back. Her first words were- "I want to do something with this. He messed it all up. I don't like it." So I look at it, and it's well done. Some of the magenta healed a bit patchy, but it was otherwise done by someone competent. She tells me it's too big and she doesn't like that there's not water around it. I had to remind her that she SAW the stencil first, and gave him the go ahead. She seemed completely put off that I wasn't on board with her shit talking whoever did it, but that's not my style. The sad thing is, I know if it were a lot of the other shops around here, they'd just start bashing the initial artist, further perpetuating an unnecessary bad rep for the guy.