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I wanted a hot stuff devil/aloha monkey mash-up, and that's exactly what I got! Danny Reed put this on me yesterday at Hot Stuff Tattoo in Asheville, NC. Awesome guy, and a very cool shop. I waited till he put it on IG.

Definitely plan on it. I'm doing field research on jailhouse tattoos for the next eight months, but as soon as possible, I'll be there! The scope and quality of the work offered is, as we used to say, a trip.

Today Bonel from Corazon Santo in The Netherlands which is also working on my second sleeve, finished the Phoenix backpiece on my wife. (The kanji was there already, it had been done a few years back by another artist)

I'm already an old wrinkled dude covered in tattoos, I've got six kids, and all but two of them (too young) are regulars with Nick Colella. Fuck anyone that doesn't like it.

@Dan S stay safe.. Please let us know your research went well and get a tattoo when your done.

Sitting at great Lakes right now waiting for my half sleeve drawing from Nick. I had an appointment elsewhere today, and I showed up and the guy said he wasn't in the right frame of mind to tattoo. Called Great Lakes, Nick said no appointment so made the 2 hour drive. Hope this turns out well. Excited, nervous all in one. Hope there is an atm close by in case my cash is short. Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 2

I booked my next flights to New York this morning. Third session on my back with Grez in a couple weeks. It was a nice coupla months off!

^^ This...worse feeling ever! My ritual is serious now, as I have worked out the "kinks" that can ruin my day (well more than getting my knee drilled with a needle for a few hours haha). Shit, shower, shave, as close to the time before me leaving as possible. Fill my two nalgene 1L bottles with ice and water, begin hydration. Start the long drive into NYC, and park in the same parking deck (no need for street parking tickets, assholes want $150 a pop). Walk to burger joint, get massive burger and fries. Go to favorite bar. At bar immediately bartender(s) ask me what I am getting worked on today. Drink 2-3 tasty beers. Walk to shop, smoke a cig on the way. Use bathroom before because nobody likes to stop mid-tattoo. Afterwards, get in car light up a premium cigar (currently working on a case of Rocky Patel Vintage 1992s). After I get home shower forever then get a nice scotch and look at new tattoo. Literally nothing ever changes, and it works out perfect. Also not drinking any alcohol the day prior makes a massive difference!

YES! That's the one I want. The Hardy tattoo isn't too shabby either.

3 week tattoo-bonanza to come: London: Mole eating planet, side of underarm, El Carlo. Lady head sleeping under starlit sky, inside of thigh, Jacyln Réhe. Eel eating it's own tail, around another tattoo on front of thigh, Deno. Trieste, Italy: Heart/factory-thing, front of other thigh, Rudy Fritsch. Back in Stockholm: Tibetean UFO in smoke, back of knee, Iain Mullen. After that: chill time for a month or three. edit: (checked bank balance) ... or six

Thanks all...I may get some work while I'm here, who knows?! My posting is very limited, been here since last April, and this is the first I've been able to. Federal Pre-Release/Halfway House, most of the residents are coming off multi-decade bits, so there is some real wild tattooing. I posted some elsewhere, and will try to get some more, but it's a fairly major violation to get caught with a camera, or taking pix. A year, no big deal.

Yup, the only thing standing between me and nightly sex with a variety of super models is these damn tattoos ... and my wife. :-)

Horitomo is amazing, but has a very different style than Shige. I think for tattooers like Shige in the US you can't go wrong with Jeff Gogue. But honestly, I wouldn't attempt to get a sleeve while working on minimum wage. You're looking at a financial commitment of multiple thousands of dollars. Finish your schooling, get a job that pays better, and then start seriously looking into it.

Just saw this posted on Facebook... talked my dad into a little hand poked heart on his forearm at the end of the night. Don't have any good finished photos, though. I'll try to get one sometime that's in focus and such. His last hand poked tattoo was in the military in the late '70s or early '80s... it was one you had to earn through some sort of actions, of which he's only ever told me part of the story. And even that bit was pretty rough, so I'm unsure if he'll ever tell me the rest.

I will be grateful to have survived that long, and continue repairing/getting tattoos so long as I am able. If they look ragged and are unfixable when I'm 90, I guess all those 20 year olds dying to have sex with me are just going to have to be sad and disappointed.

I like to walk around a giant boulder three time. Upon reaching my third rotation, I point a six shooter pistol in the air and fire twice; in one second increments. After the second shot is fired. I hop on one leg backwards, around the boulder Three times. Guaranteeing a 100% successful heal. Hope this helps ;)

The good news is that the healing seems to be going really well. Two long 11 hour shifts at work with the constriction of a shoe. The swelling is going down after three days. I have the additional worry as I have type two diabetes, but what the heck. Good luck with your appointment. I just love those Horitomo cats.

Saying you want a certain shading technique vs just saying you want a traditional tattoo are two different things. I was using the needle grouping example to try to illustrate that point. Also I have always contended that the best advice someone can give on the internet about tattooing, is get off the internet and go into a reputable tattoo shop. I didn't learn what I know just hanging out in tattoo forums it required some in real life trial and error at real tattoo shops. There is no book or iphone app that will make you a savvy tattoo customer and 99% of what's on the internet is misinformation.

Why? Because in tattooing the customer usually isn't right. Because tattooing isn't the sort of democratic activity where you have an equal say to somebody who has spent years or decades constantly working at his or her craft because you read something on the internet.

"I'm going to tell her to ignore judgmental ass holes."

The lady Of Waterlupe/Pray for Surf painting Hardy did is probably my favorite interpretation of it

Old tattoos are way cooler than liver spots and varicose veins is my usual response to that question.

You might as have asked if there are any good rose tattoos out there. It blows my mind that a tattooer just said that. This should be a no-brainer; there are about a million amazing tattoos on this theme and you shouldn't need to ask this question. Nothing personal and welcome to the forum.

I masturbate furiously before and after. Sometimes during. Often banned. I usually eat, but nothing that will cause me to fart (very little options.)

I was there for the opening and party. Stunning shop. Great work.

"Perfectly Aged" from Bodies of Subversion via Sang Bleu for when people ask how your tattoos will look when you are 50/70/90... Not that it really matters or is anyone's business, if they fade and get old along with us, so be it, but these are holding up quite well! http://sangbleu.com/2013/09/06/perfectly-aged/screen-shot-2013-07-08-at-8-14-15-pm/

Well why did you bring up women's bodies declining if you didn't think it made an impact on the choices women should make for their tattoos? I don't worry about what my tattoos will look like as I age. But I got that impression from you. You have to understand that you are a MAN talking about how and where a WOMAN should get tattooed. It's fine if you think tattoos are "sexy" on a woman, but end the discussion there, please. It's the same as when men blame a woman for not appreciating a cat-call. There's a point in the conversation where your opinion crosses the line. Maybe you didn't mean anything by your comment, I understand. My point is that this is a forum (watch how you articulate yourself, as meaning is hard to convey through text), tattoos are personal regardless of their meaning, and most (if not all) of the women on this forum have dealt with a lot of hardships as a result of deciding to get tattooed, so don't blame us if we don't take a compliment the way you wanted us to.

Most of my sessions have been 4-5 hours on average, nothing shorter than 4 hours. Several times I've sat 8-9 hours, mostly with Henning. We try to squeeze in as much work as possible when he's visiting. My first tattoo was with Henning and the entire experience was an all day event. Walk to subway, subway to LIRR, LIRR out to LI, cab from LIRR to Kings Ave. That's about 1 1/2 to 2 hours travel time already. Arrive 12-12:30PM. Other than email communications, hadn't seen Henning since the first time I met him in about 1 1/2 to 2 years earlier. Short conversation, Henning begins to stencil me and draw, which takes about 45 minutes. Then we get to business. Couple of bathroom breaks, a 30 minute break for lunch, then back at it. Henning would ask how I'm doing and I tell him I'm fine. Do you want to keep going? Sure (with no frame of reference). By the time all was said and done, it's about 8:30PM. I literally get home about 10:30-11PM.

I cannot 'like' this enough! Thank you so much for posting it!

a high quality sleeve and chest panel from an elite artist? I would say at least 60 days of working 15 hours a day for the US federal minimum wage.

Welcome. Since you'd have to travel to get tattooed anyway, why not go to Japan and get tattooed by Shige instead of finding someone who tattoos like him?

Welcome to LST and I hope you got a Boy and his Blob tattoo.

Tammy won't be able to make it now either so it looks like we'll be in pretty good shape with the number of seats we have. probly wont need a second table.. see ya tomorrow!

See you guys tomorrow!!!! :) :) :)

So jealous! Wish I was in the area. Have fun guys!!

also may be late. my girlfriend and i are heading straight to spider murphys when we get off the plane so i'm not 100% how late we will be leaving the shop.

@daveborjes That is too damn good. I just learned about Heike crabs a month ago when Crystal from Gomineko Books posted about them. The legend behind them is super cool.

Eddie Martinez, SuperGenius Tattoo, Seattle WA Did this in one sitting yesterday! Oops, image had not attached. Here ya go:

This has always seemed staged to me... and if it wasn't, she shouldn't have been allowed in the chair.

Yeah I liked that over stippled stuff the first few times I saw it, but I think I would rather have a real cool full color bird on top of a skull that has some stiple shading in it, then just an outline and a bunch of dots. I could see maybe a tiny filler piece done that way, but I don't think it would work out very well for larger pieces, too much detail lost IMO.

You can't learn to swim by reading a book. To expand on that again, tattooing is best experienced first-hand. Many times, here on this forum, in the shop I work at and conventions etc, someone has mentioned that they wish there was a book that had all the information they were looking for about a particular subject at that moment. It usually doesn't exist. You have to find it yourself. With regards to tattooing and "tattoo culture" We're living in a folk art culture. We should embrace the folk art tradition of oral storytelling and first hand knowledge and be relieved that we not (yet) shackled by the literary bounds of other art movements, cultures and historical societies. But to be more on topic, in a general sort of way... I'd stick my neck out and say that any style of tattooing (until maybe around 2000-2010) is influenced by the popular culture surrounding the people who get those styles. Sailor Jerry cribbed movie posters and other advertisements for many of his designs between the 40's - 70s. Mike Malone used objects and paintings he found in Chinatown as reference for many of his popular designs. It stands to reason that Charlie Wagner would have used Edwardian style filigree ornamentation (from a variety of sources, jewellery included) in his designs. The dotwork thing is slightly separate. During the first decade of the 21st century tattooing entered a more post-modern, referential phase where most styles of tattooing referenced or were influenced by earlier styles of tattooing. Except dotwork. I consider the work of Thomas Hooper, Xed Le Head, Jondix (I'd extend that to Duncan X) to be the only "new" style of tattooing since biomech in the 90's - but that didn't seem to catch on outside of tattoo culture the way their work did. That's why I still bother to get involved when someone refers to dotwork as a "fad". While it is imitated ad nauseam, we've alive to witness the birth of a new tattoo style that was influenced by disparate artforms outside of tattooing to the point where it works and it's possible to have a coherent bodysuit of that style. Pretty exciting stuff.

Not getting something because it is a trend is just as bad as getting something because it is a trend.

Ha ha ha.......well this is truly what I have focused my "collecting" on! Can I ask why pick the year 1985? I am just curious...... - - - Updated - - - Here are a few off the top of my head..... There are probably several more but I am not sure they have made it to the 28-30 year mark just yet so i didn't include them...... Debra Yarian Debbie Lenz Gale Watkins (my mentor) Tony Polito Mike Perfetto Steve Delgatto Jerry "Reds" Donohoe Ronnie Dell'Aquila Richard Stell John Black Tom Beasley Ritchie Montgomery Dana Brunson Jennie Peace LeDan Peace Stan Moskowitz Marvin Moskowitz Ernie Carafa Jerry Swallow Juli Moon George Benjamin Mike Skiver

That's Elizabeth Weinzirl and unless I'm mistaken most of her tattoos were done by Bert Grimm. @ShawnPorter posted a video interview with her on Occult Vibrations, which is super cool for many reasons including that you can see how good those tattoos look:

I hope there are no haters .. but I'm going to post this tattoo again this month!! Haha Done by Tim Hendricks at Gold Rush in Costa Mesa , CA

Yes I travel by car from the UK to all over Europe as I hate flying lol My trips are usually around the 4000 mile mark every 6 months. All my back to back sessions so far have been fine apart from this last one, which was just one off day I guess, no explanation for it. I have been told by nearly all the artists that worked on me that I have very good skin for tattooing, don't ask me what that means lol I also heal very quickly which I guess is another bonus. I have fallen asleep a few times while getting tattooed and missed it all lol From my expirience so far, for me personally my thighs are by far the worst pain and my shin was extremely painful also. I am told ribs are terrible, which I guess i will find out in 2 weeks time as Carlos Torres is doing my whole side. I have asked for him to try and complete the whole rib and half chest side in back to back sessions in 2-3 days as he isn't long in London but I am not sure I will handle that so I guess I will wait and see :)

Before the appointment, I try to take a big dump at home so I won't have to get up during the session. I don't eat much before either. A couple of years back, I came within a RCH of getting a case of the shits from something I ate off the coffee truck at work on tattoo day. So I play it safe and minimize any risks that could derail my appointment. Right before the appointment I'll shower and put on comfy clothes before I leave the house. Once I'm there, I'll go next door to the Chinese food place and buy drinks and snacks for anyone at the shop. In the chair, I'll pop open a Pepsi and down a couple of Percocets to ward off evil spirits. On the way home, I stop at 7-11 for a few 1/2 quarts of beer for the ride home. Once home, of course everyone wants to see what I got, so I give 'em a peek. I leave it wrapped, put an old beach towel across the bed and hit the hay. Rob

I'll see your Michael angelo and ing-vay and raise you a great kat!

fuzi....could we please never mention him again on this forum? i kinda wanna punch him in the eye for doing what he does. skin molester! he's in sweden now i read somewhere...should i go and punch him in the eye?

I don't even think his graffiti is that good.