Leaderboard

Finally got around to getting some pictures of my completed Nue half sleeve and chest plate. This was completed back in March by Brian Bruno at Absolute Art Tattoo and I can't recommend him enough. It's a really good shop full of great people.

Last session in last night, minus an upcoming touch up session. Mike

Now that this is (mostly) healed up, here is my latest from Grez. What do you do when you love Catholic imagery but haven't gone to church since you were a kid? You throw the best mascot in sports in a virgin Mary shroud. Grez is a big baseball fan, so he took the idea and ran with it, including adding the Liberty Bell in place of the sacred heart. Edit: he also did those cats last fall. They've settled in nicely.

my sociology teacher gave each student an egg. The idea was that we were to care for the egg over a week, in order to simulate the idea of caring for a real infant. I found my egg the other day. He is 26 years old. I suspect mine is the only one to survive this long.

26 years of negglect

My oldest daughter wanted to slam some bullshit passage down her rib panel. I said, sweetheart...I love you, but if you ruin prime real estate like that with shit text, I'll be forced to trade you for another daughter with more brains. She's 25 this year and has learned the sound advice given by her father.

Second session done, going on six hours now :cool: Just Having FUN !!

We're doing a full background of wind, water, and maple leaves. I believe we're going to line that next session, probably along with the scales/patterns on the snake. @Hospitelli That is great! Brian Bruno is one of my favorites, I'd love to make the trip to VA one day to get something from him.

Do what I do, when I look at my tattoos I just think about how awesome they look to me, I don't go over them with a microscope looking for imperfections. I think if you look hard enough you can find something wrong with any tattoo. If I were to spot something I didn't like I would take off my glasses and it would be perfect again!

I don't know if this counts as upcoming, but I started my second (and last haha) sleeve last month. It has Raijin (japanese god of thunder) riding a dragon on my forearm, Fujin (japanese god of wind) on my bicep, A demon head chest panel and some clouds with skulls in them. My artist is tying it into my back piece which is an Oni head and was just finished last month. The plan was to try to finish the back piece first, but there was a scheduling issues. I'll post pics after my next appt.

Well, nothing has been finalized, but I asked and he said he's trying to come to NYC this fall. Here's hoping. I don't think he's an active member here anymore? (I don't know about you, but somehow going to New York from Boston always feels like an effort, even though it's really not that far. I'm trying to get over that because it's a bit silly.)

Good satire of Yelp.

In that case I would strongly advice you to visit a tattoo shop. There's really no substitute for consulting with a tattooer in person, and I can almost guarantee that it's gonna generate the best result for you.

/rimshot!

My name is Michael.I recently got an old tattoo of two swallows and an anchor redone and it inspired me to get more.I was a sailor and I logged over 40,000 nautical miles so I need some more swallows.I also crossed the equator,so I want a shellback tattoo.I want a rooster and pig on my feet,and other old school sailor tattoos,including a big badass eagle on my back.By reading posts on this forum I am getting an education on what is good and what is not.I would like recommendations on where to go in the Albuquerque area for the good stuff.I waited many years for these tattoos,now I'm ready.

Whatever was in there has solidified into something like a pebble. If you shake him gently, you can hear him rattle. No smell at all though - never was. He's a good egg.

Mario Desa's folk birds are amazing. Instagram

Welcome to LST! If I was in Texas and wanted that fixed I'd have Steve Byrne (Rock of Ages, Austin) throw a big eagle right on top of it, for the most part it seems light enough to cover

Did the first session on my back yesterday with Dave Cummings. Really stoked on it.

The Like feature appear to work from Tapatalk, but then when you refresh you'll notice that your like has disappeared. This is an ongoing issue that has not been resolved by Tapatalk yet, several other forum owners are complaining about the same thing. There is even a different 'like' system that I would be willing to switch to, but it also does not work in Tapatalk. Unfortunately there is no other forum app out there that has supports this feature either. I do plan to migrate LST to a new software platform entirely sometime in the next year hopefully, and once that is done, we wont even need tapatalk because the site will be fully responsive and will just reflow to work on any size screen, complete with all the features that work on the full desktop size. Tapatalk will also work on the new version, and the like system does work in that one if you prefer tapatalk over the 'responsive' version for some reason.

Oh it's a pleasant enough journey, and if you and the Montreal contingent on here can make it to NYC semi-regularly, then someone who lives in MA doesn't have an excuse (other than the city's ability to make money disappear). Guess I'll just have to get tattooed twice while I'm there to make the best use of a trip. It's a hard life.

@polliwog it is an effort but it is always worth it for a tattoo.

The was eggxactly the joke I was hoping to hear.

Watching Ink Masters use to be a guilty pleasure of mine but I've completely stopped watching it now. None of the shows that are on air benefit the community in any way what so ever. When you start bringing in movie stars, and athletes (with shit tattoos) for critiques and give them more air time then a legitimate artist that has done it for a majority of their lives they you become a joke. I can only imagine what next season has in store. Maybe they will have Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber on as guest judges!

You're the worst.

Oh, you guys are making me so jealous at the idea of getting tattooed during the day and being awake and having a well-deserved enjoyable post-ritual to look forward to! My pre-ritual involves a nearly full day of work, food that won't upset my stomach, and baking a fresh batch of brownies for me and my tattooer. He only works after hours, so we end up starting within a couple hours of my normal bedtime. My post-ritual involves heavy caffeine or energy drink and careful driving to get me safely home in the wee morning hours, driving through vacation areas near the Jersey shore where cops hide out to snag drunken drivers after weekend parties and when the bars close. I always wonder what would happen if I get pulled over. NJ has a drowsy driving law even if you're not substance impaired. I guess it would depend on the officer, his attitude towards tattoos, and my cheery personality. But I think the leaking wrap and paper towels taped to my back would give credence to my statement that I haven't been drinking! And I also play the Count-the-Number-of-Fucked-up-People-on-the Road game. Some day I hope to get tattooed during the day and then aim for a bowl of ice cream and a steak. In that order :D

Listen to @exume. Rock of Ages is a powerhouse, and you can't go wrong with any of the guys working there. Check out their website: Rock Of Ages Tattoo Also, Chad Koeplinger will be joining RoA team soon. You should definitely check out his work too: http://instagram.com/chadkoeplinger Other good shops that I know of in the area are Great Wave Tattoo - Austin, Texas and Perfection Tattoo. Good luck!

saw a commercial on A&E for a new show called "Epic Ink" the sound bite that made me pay attention was "we don't settle for easy traditional tattoos."

I don't give two shits about Dave Navarro or this show, but since when does getting tattooed on your arms and chest constitute a "Warped Tour body suit"? Tattooed people say the darndest things sometimes...

@Reyeslv, Thanks for the comment, I can't wait to see the finished product. I have found thigh/ass area quite hard to heal. Almost all other areas on body were happy after 2 weeks but thighs and ass for me have been hard work. Add to that areas which I have never shaved before in my life being shaved and I just cant wait for it to be over. All I can say end result will be worth it. - - - Updated - - - @Seasee, I love it. You have to love the spontaneous decisions. In a way my backpiece was very quick in the planning. I wont bore you with the story, but the main design of my back was decieded within probably 6 weeks and a fair bit of flexability left in the artists hands. I love how it is turning out and fall in love with the design more each day. Sometimes being spontaneous and going with your heart can be the best way. :)

We're big fans of a greasy spoon breakfast before and roast chicken after the tattoo.

After seeing @Graeme get off to a good start both here and IG, I got to thinking, my backpiece has been finished for a year and a half now. I sure do enjoy having it, but, damn I'm glad it's done! I wouldn't want to experience it again.

Ello everyone! I am back (well sort of). Been enjoying browsing through the LTL thread. *high fives to all* A friend and I may be going to the Montreal Convention, but nothing for sure yet, so hopefully I can meet some LSTers and *fingers crossed* get tattooed?! Yeah, so... moved back to VT and slowly settling in. Starting a new job next week and very excited as it will give me more clinical mental health experience and all the people who work there are super cool. Also pretty proud of myself for landing a FT w/ benefits job in less than a month since moving here, and a better one at that. Feels really good. Trying to move on relationship-wise, don't see the point in "appropriately?" mourning the break-up... so I have a potential date! Also reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, which has been a blast. And seeing my family everyday is a joy like none other. And its very clear how much happier my puppy is here instead of in the city. She's a runner and definitely prefers to be off-leash :) Not sure how often I'll be contributing on here, but just wanted to let y'all know I'm not dead... yet! And keep on getting rad tattoos, you all rule and thanks for the support.

Traveled from NY to SF this past weekend to skull and sword. Hungout with some of my favorite artists and what happened next is pure magic that only a stellar human by the name of Yutaro can provide. This is my Baku!

got my second tattoo from claudia de sabe today needless to say i'm extremely happy with it (and sore) on the back of my upper arm

Really love these by Rico at Daruma Goya in Japan

Anyone have any stories about massage parlors and the reaction of the masseuse? I went to an Asian place last week and the lady was practically pulling my boxer briefs down so she could see my entire butt. Even when the massage started and she saw my back, she laughed and semi-hugged me. It was an awkward experience. That was the first time a masseuse acknowledged the tattoo.

FWIW, I sent an email to Tapatalk about Likes not appearing. I'll let you know if I hear anything.

Yeah I saw that a couple days ago

I'd like it too. Come on down!

This is great! I think I'm going to have to mosey on down there in a couple Sundays and get Franz to fill some space.

parent of the year. seriously.

I did a search to see if this was posted before. Here's a youtube video of the Yakuza and the relationship to tattooing. Some really nice bodysuits and stories.

Had franz stefanik put me through some pain yesterday, he was really fast and just a really nice bloke to get tattooed by, very happy with it and it dosnt look out of place next to my Santoro gorilla, he also did a butterfly on my girlfriends leg which I got her as a birthday present, which is always a win win I get a girlfriend with tattoos n she gets a new tattoo Obviously stolen from his Instagram, we all know how hard knee pics are to take

I thought it was about time I posted my recently in progress backpiece, started end of Feb this year. This pic is about 36 hours in progress. I am quite tall and also have a bit of extra meat around the "love handle" area so is a big amount of skin to cover. I have been doing constant 3 hour sessions every 2-3 weeks with 2 x 6 hour sessions thrown in. Generally have been pretty good with each session but I have to say left thigh background shading for some reason sucked incredibly, probably one of the least favourite sessions of all my new work. Strange thing was the right thigh shading a week later (not shown in pic) was easy. I just noticed btw the snakes body going across my arse does line up, it looks like it doesn't but must have been the way I was standing in the pic. It was taken after the left thigh shading session and I was not a happy camper. :) Also just attached the outline after the 1st 6 hour session.

Got my rose morph today... am super happy with it

The clinic was definitely more 'businessy' in their dealing with me. They also insisted I use a numbing cream, which made my appointment about 30 minutes longer. They also didn't quite understand when I said I was done after 6 sessions, and tried to sell me another deal even after I said I was going to cover the area they had lightened. The technician at the tattoo shop was much more personable, only offered a numbing cream, and didn't insist when I declined. I will definitely seek out another tattoo shop for the last piece I need lightened. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just got this bake neko started today by Josh Damnit at Classic Tattoo in Upland, CA. I am dead!

Here's one of mine, redrawn from the Bowery book and tattooed by Sophie at Eight of Swords last year, a very nice birthday gift from the one and only @MrsGougeTheEyes