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Kyle Sajban from Red Rocket Tattoo NYC. Back hurt A LOT more than I thought it would.

It's been a long time since I've added anything, and the competition is quite stiff per usual! Finally got this thing finished (for the most part). Chris Buckholts @ Webbworks Tattoo in Naples, Fla.

On a positive note, I was getting my flu shot the other day and this woman in line behind me was like, "Oh my GOD, you have to see her tattoo!" She calls her husband or friend or whoever over and said, "Well I want one like that!" Then the guy giving the shot also complimented it. It was my tiger on my left arm.

Ask you supplier if they can order them. And read the rules.

Pictures didn't take, here again Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 2

Those comments... aye At least it's good to know that tattoos still serve a rudimentary purpose of keeping the assholes away...

he could always make his own

A thread with 50+ pages talking about how sore tattoos aRe , they are fucking sore end of.

3rd session done with Nick Colella. We did all the color and I asked him to put a rose in. Glad I got something by Nick himself. He freehand drew it and it turned out awesome. 1 more session left for filler. Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 2

This exists somewhere else on here but I'm stoked on this thread! Here's my left thigh from last year from Nash Hogan, great dude. I'll be doing something bigger on the other one soon! Soonish. When I can. So.. at some point. - - - Updated - - - I've also had a couple other things added around it on the knee and inside of the thigh but don't have a picture. Probably for the best, nobody needs to see all up in my business.

I think I post this every time you get tattooed by El Monga, but I really need an El Monga tattoo. I am envious that this tattoo isn't on me.

I'll throw my hat in the ring too this month :cool: Bob Roberts, Spotlight Tattoo. That El Monga piece is SICK @9Years

latest from Eli Quinters

It's not size, it's technique.

I thought we could use a thread that shined a little light on some of the artists we love, but aren't necessarily very renowned or getting the recognition we feel they deserve. Lets get the ball rolling.... I've been a fan of the work of James Tex of Deadly Tattoos inc, located in Calgary, Canada, for a few years now. I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with his work, and some members here might even know him personally and/or have tattoos from him. Anyways, I stumbled across him a while back in another tattoo forum where a member showed off the progress of a Samurai sleeve he was getting done from Tex. I was blown away by his work, and to my great viewing pleasure he had a fairly large online portfolio on his shops website: Deadly Tattoos inc. I'm not sure if everyone agrees with me in that he's "low key", but I can't say that I have read an article about him or seen any pictures of his tattoo except on his website (and obviously the forum I mentioned). Here's a few samples of his work from his online portfolio:

This backpiece by Shige, Yellowblaze, is one of my favourite tattoos. I loved it the second I saw it, the scale of the design, the placement, the execution, its all fantastic. However it seems like many other people also loved this design and wished they had it, but instead of taking reference from it, creating something new, adapting the design, they just copied it, line for line. This isn't the only tattoo I have seen copied line for line - I am sure it happens all the time. I KNOW it happens all the time. I also saw it happen to a member here who had a beautiful dragon done by Shige, his tattoo was copied by a Korean artist called Gen. Every time I see it happen it makes me disillusioned - I have met artists who are genuinely proud to reproduce other peoples work, and see no problem with it. They say "If its on the internet, its fair game". I HATE that kind of attitude. It hasn't happened to any of my tattoos, but I know it would make me angry. Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery, or is this unforgivable plagiarism?

LMAO…Ghostface Killah’s 3rd Annual Top 10 Softest Rappers in the Game List! | Word On Da Street This has made me laugh out loud for the past 30 minutes now, thought i'd share it with all of you. You gotta read it out loud though or you won't understand a single thing. example: "This nigga looks like a transgender Vietnamese prostitute that got abducted by aliens n was cloned but never really finished the process of turnin hisself into a actual human n shit so he came out lookin like he do…but he still part alien n only kinda human lookin now namsayin. " or how about "Soulja Boy Aka the 2011 Mr Bojangles. This nigga also deserves recognition as the coon of the decade namsayin. I dont even kno how muthafuckas listen to this niggas music….nevermind callin that shit hip hop. If it was 1930 this nigga would be rockin a necklace made of chicken legs n pigs feet n be tap dancin on watermelons for a livin." Enjoy!

Yes, exactly. My skin is unusually prone to cracking when freshly healed though (whatever the wound), even if I use enough moisturizing agent and the like to give myself spots on the uninjured skin. Don't dare risk that with a tattoo. I've never had (or seen) scabbing under -derm, only thin, thin peels. In a clinical environment it's most unusual to -derm skin for less than 5 days, it's designed to be used for up to 7 days before changing. TBH I only change on day 3 'cause I want a better view of my tattoo. Would probably heal more quickly if I didn.t.

this last time I had it on for a little longer than two days. It's healing actually the same maybe even slightly better than 3 days. I guess it all depends.. I would be afraid to leave it on until it starts peeling.. only because when i take it off it might prematurely get stuck to some peeling/scabs that aren't ready to come out.

Hmm, surely waiting for long periods is kind of counter productive if you're wanting to use -derm products. It's certainly not normal practice where -derm is used in a medical setting, in fact it's not something I've ever come across. As I understand it the first 24-48 hours are the most crucial in getting a good heal on a tattoo. The more often one washes and re-wraps before applying the -derm the more the skin is irritated and the more the healing is disturbed and slowed. It's not just excess ink, plasma and bacteria that are being washed away it newly formed cells too. I wash well after 3-4 hours and apply the -derm on well air dried skin. No cream. No extra washes and re-wraps. After 3x 24 hours I removed the -derm, wash well, air dry and re-apply. Removing on day 6 or 7 as I see the skin going flakey under the dressing. Tattoo healed, first peel done.

@MoistTowelette I waited a full 10 hours. Think I should wait something closer to 16+ next time around? It's really not that big of a pain, if the running plasma/ink bubble gets too close to the edge if the bandage I will just slap another sheet to extend it down, no biggy My wife just said, but honey aren't you worried about that ink build up under the bandage staining the other parts of your skin? I love her, but she hasn't picked up anything being married to a tattooed person, haha.

I liked the start of the article before it devolved into the usual clichés you find in mainstream writing about tattoos. Tattoos don't need validation from journalists, academics, or the art world.

Ok at the risk of sounding like a huge bitch i'm gonna post this anyways... As far as I know Scott and company started this site to promote good tattooing, and good tattooers. I've noticed lately in the members gallery there have been a lot of bad tattoos uploaded. Is this just going to turn into another tattoo photo gallery where anyone can post photos of every horrible tattoo they do, and then have people thinking that work is good because they saw it on a site that claims to promote only good tattooing? I feel bad when I log on and on the very first page there's awful tattoos being shown. Am I just a horrible person for thinking this or do others feel the same way? I feel like if I wanted to see average bad tattoos I could just do a google search or visit one of the numerous tattoo design websites. Is it wrong to have a moderator removing bad work at the risk of offending the person who uploaded it? We seem not to have a problem telling people in the forums when a tattoo is shit.

Thanks guys. I wanted to be sure to get a personal piece as well from Nick. I just asked for a rose and let him decide the rest. Best decision I made. Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 2

great video ! Love his art , love his music , love his tattoos

@ironchef I plan of finishing it as soon as possible, but I don't think I'll get my next appointment until january, Marius is a busy guy! Gives me some time to forget the pain though! hehe

Myself, I go to whichever tattooers I'm familiar with and whichever tattooers who's quality of work I think is good. I've been tattooed by 16 different guys with 160hrs (and counting) over ten years. Tattooers with different style/vibe, different equipment, different processes, different touch. Hammer hands and gentle-gentleman. I've gone to most of my tattooers for more than one piece. This has really expanded my experiences and journey becoming an illustrated man. By going to different tattooers I've had the opportunities to be tattooed in new shops, old established shops, local shops, travels, private home studios, different shop setups and so now I know what I like, who I like and where I like to go to receive a tattoo. I've been tattooed by apprentices and I've been tattooed by some legit people that have been doing it for decades. Having Some tattooers are great to just slap on a banger and have some fun. Some I know will squeeze me in at the end of a day and sharpie one of my ridiculous ideas on. Some I know give that little bit extra in terms of refining a design/idea and being very particular about placement. I am lucky to say I have had nothing but positive experiences and NO REGRETS which is an important thing I attach to being a tattooed person. If you have one tattooer you trust, that's great and enjoy it. I like to think that variety can lend itself to a wider range of opportunity and experiences.

I can't tell is she, or the 4764846578 others trying the same thing, is genuinely convinced she will somehow do it different than anyone before her (because surely nobody else before her has ever done it 'right') and it will last forever, or if she doesn't care and just wants to get paid. Gogue said something that I can't recall to quote word for word but it was something to the effect of knowing that his tattoos fall apart in just a few years, and I still give him 10000% more credit than this other tattooer.

I like how watercolor tattoos are to this forum what Bose is to audiophile message boards...

Oh, you have no idea how much this idea scares me when I remember that everyone (except felons) can vote...especially after working a customer service job in my younger years.

dude your tattoos have been on the swallows and daggers blog

Garver panther=tattoo of the year

Yeah I tried it out Saniderm healing for the first time two months ago - I have nothing but good things to say about it, it was used on me by Jess Yen - he says he uses it on all his clients nowadays, I was a bit worried about leaving it on for 48 hours, but it was actually really convenient and ended up healing really well, after I took it off I washed it down as normal, got all the gunk off, used bacitracin as normal after that, didnt re-wrap it, and it healed quickly and with no problems! I am debating getting some to use on tattoos by other artists in the future.

Got my leg and cheeks drilled by filip about a month back, the inner thigh and butt crack/tail bone have to be pretty high on my list. I still find the healing and swelling 10x worse to deal with IMO. Getting my sternum done was pretty grueling too.

Got my full back piece started by Aaron Bell today...I do have large rib shots as well as stomach done so I had some idea of what to expect. Most was pretty tolerable, except for the edges of the back where it wraps into the ribs...but he saved the worst for last...a wee bit near the base of the spine sucked and he started to go a little on the butt cheek, just the very top. That hurt! Makes me wonder how I am going to make it as its a shoulders to knee ditch composition.

I´ve already posted this one in this months contest, but here it is. Mike Rubendall 5-6 hous. Most painless tattoo session ever,

Haha you're not wrong.

I'm good on the fleshy parts, but where those little ridges of bone shoot out from the pelvic bone... Christ, that hurts.

My weak spots seem to be thighs, the fleshy parts:-)

I am so calm and relaxed during tattooing sessions, but getting the spot right below my knee tattooed really burned. I watched my best friend get very teary eyed from the back of his knee being tattooed. I had to help him walk out of the shop, because the back of your knees have a lot of sensitive muscles and his leg was just wrecked from 4+ hours of work.

Okey, this is my last try for a while. Done by Mike Rubendall in the end of September.

I thought I'd throw up an old tattoo just go giggles, since I don't think I ever did in the contest. Regino Gonzales Invisible NYC

these are awesome

I also got my first tattoos from Rollo (in a motel in Austin back in 1992), and he certainly made a big impression on me. At Skull & Sword, Grime has a Rollo original on the wall; it's a cobra and skull he painted in 1979. It might just be the toughest shit I've ever seen. It has lots of the cool trick elements people are using now--heavy whip shading, snakes with no eyeballs, hits of bright green--and he did that back in 1979. When I saw it, I felt so sad that I didn't have room for it.

Yeah, I'm cool for the first 3.5, but then I would really like a cold beer. We'll see how long I'm "cool" for on my rib sessions next month, though.

people who walk in on their phone and try to ask questions while STILL ON THEIR PHONE. or answer their phone as you're answering their question. i just walk away. also, spoiled college kids who lay on our couches and put their feet up, and people who ask "so, what ELSE do you do?", implying there's no possible way i could actually earn a living tattooing!