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Last Sunday I had an appointment with Deno. Got this on the back of my left leg. Sorry if the pic is too big. @CultExciter - Gave him the SOIA dragon and asked him to do his version of it.

@Cork - nearly done - 3-4 sessions and he wants it done by the end of the year. FML. With much trepidation, I'm booked every other Friday through Jan 2. Through the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. I think it's quite insane, but we have a dive vacation at the end of Jan and he feels very strongly about not going more than 3ish weeks between sessions. UGH! I think I'll be burning some sick days trying to stay healthy. Red and irritated at the top, and some of the marker is showing through. We have to fade out the sides around my ribs (joy) and a few more little critters below my waist to come. Aside from final whites and highlights most of this is done, EXCEPT for the eagle rays in the very center. It's pretty obvious they are still the first coat of paint. Those eagle rays were the reason I wanted a tattoo - I may have described this elsewhere, but that was a picture I took very early one morning right off the dive boat, and their beauty and strength I wanted to capture with a tattoo on my back. (Every critter here is a picture I took scuba diving and my tattoo artist created the scene from my photographs.) So, in the tradition of bringing the dragon to life by filling in the eyes last, we are saving the eagle rays until the end to bring this around full circle and bring the ocean scene to life.

Got this from Timothy Hoyer last month. Really stoked about getting a tattoo from one of my absolute favorite tattooers.

Yesterday did four-plus hours of blasting black on my arm with Seth Wood, guesting at Memoir this week. Three more sessions to go. Can't wait for color. I like getting tattooed, the pain and everything. Is that weird?

Had the final session of outlining on my back today. Another 3 hours taking the total to 15 hours just on the outline. I definitely feel like it has taken a while but I am very happy to be moving on to some shading next month. The backs of my legs are less happy that I am currently sitting down to write this. I will post some pictures of the final outline in a few days once it has settled a bit. In the mean time I can say that I am very happy with it.

@jonnyw - Is there really a need to take the pain down to a 3 or 4? A 7 isn't acceptable to minimize the side effects for a 4ish hour session? You really can't handle an upcoming 3+ hour session without being seriously drugged? And even then, you still have to split it into 2 sessions? So 60mg Vicodin+valium+muscle relaxant for what sounds like less than a 2 hour tattoo? I haven't read this entire thread in a while, but I doubt your conclusion that the general consensus is to dope up to this degree. Unless you have some medical pain issues you are being treated for, my only reaction to this is to man up. In full disclosure, I take 3 Advils at the start, and also 1/2 a 7.5 mg Vicodin pill at the start and the other half around hour 3. It is prescribed while I work through some very painful pelvis/spine problems that make it impossible for me to sit without a lot of discomfort. This very low dose makes sitting in a massage chair vaguely possible, and I find it does nothing for the tattoo pain.

Hi, I've lurked this site for a couple months, but just signed up for an account. Currently live in Seattle, WA. Nice to meet you! I was also wondering if anybody could recommend some artists with the following styles. I asked reddit / tattoos but they're not the most helpful over there, and they seem to focus mostly on styles I'm not really into. 1. Not really sure what to call it, but kinda like a neotraditional style with heavy Asian influences? Some examples of what I'm talking about: Sany Kim - Instagram Lim Sung Hwan - Instagram I'm actually planning to go to South Korea for vacation, and gonna try hitting up those two for tattoos. I also can't find too much stuff on Lim Sung Hwan; Anybody know more about him? 2. Also looking for artists that mix American traditional with esoteric and occult kinda stuff? Really into Daniel Higgs related styles as well. Some examples below: Jeff Zuck - Instagram Cole Dunn - Instagram Adam Shrewsbury - Instagram Pedro Soos - Instagram Dane Soos - Instagram --Pretty into the whole Soos crew in general. It would be pretty cool to find more artists with these styles! Thanks in advance!

Witch hazel on a paper towel, blotting it on. Do it a couple times a day. It'll take it a bit to totally heal up, but that can help it out. Looks like a few red reactions I've seen. Don't put anything else on it, let it dry up.

A terrible picture of my little book collection

its already on the site so i guess i'll throw this in from jeff rassier last week

Got this German Kaiser wolf today by Murray Sell at Flying Tiger Tattoo in CT. I love it and it's definitely unique.

Hey Folks, We all obviously have our personal reasons for getting tattoos. I thought it would be fun and interesting to hear thoughts and experiences regarding getting or not getting a tattoo because of some superstitions, personal beliefs, cultural customs or taboos. Apologies for my very long-winded dialogue below. My own perspective is a bit of a double-edged sword. I’m American born Chinese, raised in the Lower East Side/Chinatown of NYC. My parents and grandparents are/were Buddhists. My maternal grandmother (Grams), who had a major role in my early upbringing, was a devout practicing Buddhist. I’ve never been religious but was always respectful of the customs and beliefs. It was Grams who naturally started me on the path of some of these beliefs and informed me of some of the more peculiar superstitions that ended up influencing my tattoo choices later on in life. As most of us know in Asian cultures, tattoos are still a taboo subject and subculture. However I’ve never been one to go with the grain so much but I ended up getting my first tattoo in my early 30’s. My first tattoo was a koi with water and cherries, done in a Japanese motif. I’ve always loved goldfish and koi as a kid and I remembered begging my grandmother to get them for me. Grams would flat out refuse. You see, while goldfish and koi are considered good luck, if they die, the Chinese believed your luck dies with it. Being very conscious of that, I figured a tattoo is permanent and the koi would “live” forever. It just so happened that when I got this first tattoo, it was at the end of the same year Grams had passed away. Part of it was in honor and remembrance of her. My next tattoo was of a dragon, my Chinese zodiac sign. I received a stern lecture from my mom on this. Even though she accepted this path I was on with getting tattooed, she had indicated it was bad luck to get my own zodiac figure tattooed on myself. It would be in conflict with one’s self. Too late I explained to her and we’d just have to see what the eventual outcome with be in my destiny, hahaha. Now when I had decided to get my back tattooed, a lot of odd things popped up that I had to consider. First, the literal connotations of getting my back inked, the Chinese would say you are getting stabbed in the back, bad karma. Of course didn’t take too much stock in that and plowed forward. Next, while I am in complete awe of most back pieces and overall tattoos for that matter, I had made a decision not to get any religious or associated figures tattooed on me. No Kannon, Buddha, demons, Monkey King, etc. You get the idea. It is considered bad luck and disrespectful to get a deity tattoo, let alone on your back where you would be “resting on them”. It broke my heart as I adore the powerful and serene image of Kannon riding a dragon and although life is short and one should always try to get what they want, I just couldn’t see myself breaking away from this belief. To the point I was scared I would “anger the gods” and have bad luck for the rest of my days. Hence you’ll notice in my gallery, my tattoos comprise of creatures and florals and will continue with this theme until I’m “done.” One thing that’s never been spoken of in a negative light is that it is okay to get a mantra or chant or just Buddhist scripture tattooed on yourself. These would act like talismans or amulets to ward off evil or bad luck. I’ve recently been researching Sanskrit and Bonji characters that I will eventually incorporate into my collection.

Can't recommend getting tattooed by Adam, Jeff, or Chad enough! Check out Walter McDonald too, his drawing style is a bit loose but he definitely has that magic

Thanks man. I like both of those guys a lot, and they're in my instagram feed! I hope to make it out to Texas someday to get tattooed by Chad.

Maybe I'm thinking way too hard. Well then if that's the case I gotta start looking into a new piece. Thanks gents appreciate the feedback.

Dude, I can't see what you'd want to fix. It's different, it's huge, it's very well done. What is the problem here? Neat twist on a dragon that I personally haven't seem before. The image is clear and I just can't figure out what you don't like about it. I think you are over analyzing it. Big time.

current im rocking: Organica Reinventing the Tattoo second edition (waiting in the mail for it - got it with the dvd on ebay for 50 bucks!) Flash from the Past (hardymarks) Whats Not ta Like (joe cap) ANIMALS: 1419 copyright free illustrations (dover) treasury of flower designs (dover) drawing the human head (burne hogarth) drawing the head and figure (jack hamm) the life and times of crazy philadelphia eddie vol.1 and vol. 2 paintings by alan david (the blue book) albus on anatomy 3200 old time cuts and ornaments (Dover) a few old typography books bj betts 1-3 an odd collection of tattoo sketchbooks (some all or nothing books, todd noble, freak, ryan downie, etc etc) americana flash collection, vol. 1 (mike giant) an ass ton of old magazines (international, tattoo, flash, tattoo society etc etc) - - - Updated - - - PS i hate anyone who has any of the grime books because im an envious hag.

Doritos. Black Doritos.

Got this from Theo Mindell while he was visiting Austin for a few days. The guy might be the straight up nicest dude I've met in a long time. And Paco Cendon at electric13 was super nice too and has an awesome shop. I very much underestimated the pain on the back of the thigh, just above the ditch of my knee. It's 3 days later and I'm still limping around.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Have not heard back from Anderson and my wife agrees with some of you to leave the area as is and let that tattoo shine on it's own. When it comes to tattoos, I tend to get a little scattered. Old ideas bouncing around in my head mixed with new things I see on the internet. Funny, in my work life I am solid, focused, organized and decisive. I probably should shift my focus towards my upcoming consult with Yoni Zilber for a tattoo on my back.

Was able to get a three legged money toad (Jin Chan) from Takashi Matsuba (IG: traditionaltool) last night. The shading was done by hand (tebori) which is a first for me. Also the first piece I've gotten where the artist drew it on first as opposed to using a stencil. Can't wait to see the white all healed up and yellowed a bit. That's also three tattoos in three weeks. Feels good to have a break and be able to plan my next pieces :).

was in sf last week got this from jeff rassier. super happy about it reaper1 reaper2

I got this from Stewart Robson at the Bay Area/SFO Convention :)

Was lucky to get this dragon head from Horinao (IG: @horinao1) at the Bay Area Convention. Not sure if I want to add background to it later or leave it in that American piecewise style as I really like the negative space.

Done by Horimitsu at the Bay Area Tattoo Convention. I've heard so many different things about tebori, but it was an awesome experience. So much that I'll ask Horitomo to shade my back by hand when we get that going.

Got this print in yesterday as a gift from Taki, Molly, and Horitomo at State of Grace. What a great bunch of people! The cat was more excited about napping on the wrapping...

So I healed my lion arm tattoo with tegaderm for 4 days and everything went super smooth, almost done shedding skin now. It was my first tattoo so I babied the shit out of it and stressed out over every tiny detail like a new parent with his kid. I live with 2 heavily tattoo'ed people(wife and her father), neither of which used Tegaderm so I had to deal with plenty of eye rolling everytime I asked dumb questions. Friday: I was originally tattooed on Oct 10th, got home, cleaned up, applied Aquaphor, rewrapped and went to bed. Saturday: Woke up all gunky and juicy, cleaned up, applied a thin layer of Aquaphor and applied tegaderm. Protip: don't do that. The aquaphor prevents it from sticking properly so basically only the outter edges where it was applied to non-tattooed skin stuck, the rest filled up with yummy juices until it just kept leaking out from everywhere due to the Aquaphor acting as an awesome sauce lubricant to make the Tegaderm unstick. Sunday: I decided to take it off in the shower since it was a leakfest and the area was compromised since the seal was broken in a couple spots. Washed it again and reapplied a fresh layer of Tegaderm. Monday: All good, tattoo is warm to the touch, bit of juicyness, pretty irritated and sensitive. Tuesday: Still good, no leaks, a bit less juices, not too sensitive. Wednesday: No longer hot to the touch, feels really tight. Around 9PM, the elbow/ditch is killing me from the Tegaderm sticking to the skin & being tight when bending it and whatnot, can't take it anymore, hop in the shower and begin the removal process. 9:05PM: Wow, that is sticky. 9:20PM: Holy Amaze Balls of sticky awesomeness that shit was fun times. Ugh, lots of soap, lots of water, wOo wee. Oh hai, there's a lion face on this sticky film of doom. Thursday: All good, still a bit tender, starting to peel, I just kept reapplying Aquaphor and wearing my shirt sleeve as a nasty 2nd skin layer. Bleurgh. Friday: Feels much better today, switched to Lubriderm. Today(following Thursday): Been using Lubriderm ever since and it's almost done peeling now, healed like a baws, no scabs, no nasties. Looks just like when I left the studio. It doesn't really itch... I don't know if that's going to come or if somehow the Tegaderm made me skip that stage but I only just get the occasional itch every couple hours, rub it a little and it's done. Honestly I'm going to use Tegaderm again once I go back in on Nov 7th and will update again once I peel it off. I'll definitely skip the whole aquaphor+tegaderm bullshit though, that sucked... made the 2nd application a bit sucky since there were no natural juices in there to keep it moist and prevent it from getting too tight. I have to say too, applying that shit on a joint is no joke... the ditch & area that bulges out when you bend your arm were fun times, after a couple days I felt pretty irritated in those spots. It would definitely be amazing if it was applied to a flat area though, I honestly couldn't feel any of the film on my bicep/triceps area, the elbow is where all the fun was happening. Anyways, hope this helps people who are considering it, I'm sure the old method works just as well, it's tried and true but this process made healing so much easier, I basically didn't really have to worry about it for 4 days, no gunking up shirts, no having to wash/reapply and wake up to nasty bed sheets. As a first time tattooed person, it made the obsessing over everything a bit easier to deal with. Here are fresh and healed pictures, the angle, contrast and quality of the pictures are quite a bit different but hopefully this helps too:

I'm gonna start telling clients to bring a roll of paper towels, a razor and some tape. BYOS

@beez I've noticed that with most tattoo artists working in the Japanese motif, when tattooing animals and creatures, most won't highlight or fill in the eyes until the piece is nearly completely. We've heard the old saying that, "the eyes are the windows to the soul" and the Chinese take this literally. They believe when you "dot" the eyes or fill in the eyes, the creature should be complete and would come to life as it were. If it wasn't complete and "brought to life" it would bring bad lucky and imbalanced as you've indicated. If you ever been in a Chinese community and witnessed the Lion dances during the Chinese New Year or other special occasions, the event is started by the "dotting of the eyes" of the Lion with incense, thereby waking up the Lion to start the dance that wards off evil.

I usually take antihistamine the day of and d ay after a tattoo....it helps me relax plus helps with my bodies reaction. Good post/story.