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Here's my progress so far by Diego Azaldegui. Got another session in a few weeks which should hopefully finish it off.

Tim Lehi oneshot

Session five yesterday, lining and shading background on the ribs and love handles. Goddamn the love handles are a shitty fucking spot. Next session we'll shade the background on my other cheek and thigh so we'll be going into the new year with a substantial chunk of the background done. I love how it's coming together.

Ok edited to make it not so massive, we'll see if that works. Tried to get a head on photo to show the other side as well, but it made it distorted as it wraps around and looked funny. Done by Ellen Murphy at Lombard St Tattoo, Portland. As I said the other day, rad shop, Ellen was awesome, great day all around. Picked off the wall from a Stell sheet, mostly healed now.

Already mentioned this in a thread i started in the "get togethers" section, but i'm scheduled to start my backpiece with Marius Meyer in December. Flights and hotel booked, no backing out now! Nothing concrete yet but it's going to be a battle royale type piece, definitely involving an eagle and perhaps a snake/skull, depending on size, placement etc. Feels great to be finally getting it all started, i've been slowly putting the money away to one side to make sure i get used to not having it and left it a good amount of time to be 100% certain it's financially viable. Now my only concern (although not a huge one) is the healing process. I live alone so it's not going to be particularly easy to clean and apply cream etc.

I love this post, and especially the last sentence of it. I wish I'd understood earlier that spaces and asymmetries are ultimately temporary and to not worry about looking lopsided and needing to balance things out right away. Then again, while I never planned on getting just one tattoo, I also never planned getting as much coverage as I currently have, and I think one the super cool things about tattoos is that you end up with a more or less permanent record of the process of figuring things out. I may not have always made the choices that I would knowing what I do now, or will in the future, but that's tattoos. I totally agree with the sense of freedom that comes when you decide you're going to be more or less fully covered. Having a back piece in progress has been pretty wild in terms of how much of my body is getting tattooed in a fairly short period of time.

you should direct message a few to all your LST friends on instagram

Sorry, been super busy lately & haven't had a chance to spend my usual time allotment of lurking, reading, and generally enjoying this site! I have just got the first draft sketches through from Erin today, and WOW! I am very excited!!!! This Wednesday I fly up to Auckland, and we are tattooing Thursday Friday Saturday - she's pretty certain she can get it finished in three days still, so that's rad. I am arming myself with the usual session requirements, as well as with some tramadol to help keep me still, and a sweet playlist to zone out to.. Bring on a back piece :)

@polliwog, if you're still a couple years out from starting, and you begin saving now, I think you'll have a good start financially. Discipline is key though. Skip a night out here or there, grand vacation ideas may become pleasant staycations, make food instead of eating out. All that junk. It's doable. Difficult at times, really difficult even, but doable. I had to change my mindset and ask myself what I really wanted. For years I wanted a tattoo but always lamented not having funds for anything. one day I realized I was actually wasting a lot of money on things that while entertaining or seemingly needed were non-essential. Also start mulling over a design now. You may find the perfect design tomorrow, or you may find yourself going through a few ideas. You may even think you found a great one, then change your mind a month or 2 later. Over time one will stick but you've plenty of time. Also some artists have long wait lists so depending on who you want to do it, you may actually have to wait a while anyway. Might as well get in with who you want rather than settle for second choices. Good luck! Back pieces are AWESOME!!!

I vote "No". Would love to seem them but I like that his work is hard to find on the internets.

Thanks for the info. My Buddhist & Shinto Diety knowledge sucks so this provides an interesting read today. Not that I regret my choice, cuz I totally dig mine, but in hind sight it would have been cool knowing more about Dieties and related imagery before doing my own back. I'm currently fascinated by Tobatsu Bishmonten, Repeller of foreign invaders and Protector of Capitol cities. Imagine a 3 faced Diety clad in armor with 10 arms each bearing mostly swords and other knick knacks, all the while astride a lion. A very strong image for a back piece. Hokusai did a crazy 4 faced, 12 armed version that I've been drooling over.

First pass at a label. I think I am going to go with Horibrew or I just thought of Irebrewmi.

As promised I have now managed to get some pictures of my fully outlined back. I never imagined it would be so many lines when I started but after 5 sessions and 15 hours in total we have completed the first stage. Very happy with it and can't find enough mirrors to look at all the detail.

Thanks for posting this picture! I LOVE looking at pictures of regular people doing regular things where you can see some tattoos. It helps me immensely as someone who is admittedly kind of anal about placement -- I want to know what I would look like with a tattoo on certain parts of my body, and seeing other people with tattoos in those places I am considering is helpful. Google image searching only goes so far, because usually the photos are taken with the intent of showing off the tattoo(s), so it doesn't give you a good idea of what the person would look like in regular life, regular clothes, and regular postures. Incidentally, I think it's a great photo, and it shows how well the tattoo on your arm fits your personality! :) More pictures, people! ;)

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

Last minute appointment at Kingsave NYC with Chris O'Donnell

Front of my El Monga leg. Done at Tattoo City in March. Pic is from today (healed). Entered the back of it a few months ago, figured the front needs to toss its hat in the ring.

Why not... Horizakura peony/junco from last year:

Started this last year at Kings Ave. Made progress at the Montreal convention then finished it last week at Kings Ave.

Anyone know where I can find more of his work? I'm specifically looking for the finished version of this tattoo he worked on: http://distilleryimage2.s3.amazonaws.com/f8cdb5f01f3f11e292a022000a1e8849_7.jpg Here's another one of his tattoos I like: http://distilleryimage7.s3.amazonaws.com/73f964dc4a7211e38f17127ac3642ee8_8.jpg

Great idea! - - - Updated - - - Great idea!

Two marathons in two months! Intense :) One of the things I hate most about getting any tattoos from the waist down is that I have to put a hold on running for at least a week after. I'm thinking of getting the tops of my feet tattooed next year and am already bummed about all those missed runs :(

Lol, didn't mean to cause anymore anxiety. It is one of the more sensitive spots though and it was unlike any other part of the body, not just the pain but the whole experience. But, I've heard some people say that it wasn't bad at all. Different tolerances, perhaps. For instance, I've gotten both ribs done and didn't think they were all they are hyped up to be even though ribs are notorious for being painful. Just be like your namesake, and....keep calm lol (so lame). It's totally worth the pain though. An awesome pair of feet tattoos is one of my favorite placements - just looks so good.

Nice! I'm planning on getting two just like that in the same location. I have always heard that old sailors would get a swallow tattoo for each trip across the ocean. I don't know if that is true, but I've been wanting a tattoo to symbolize my two combat deployments overseas, and I think this would be perfect.

I'm getting tattooed by Marco Hernandez on December 13th, and Cheyenne Sawyer on December 20th. ... and perpetually chipping away at the background of my backpiece every 2-3 weeks with Chad Woodley.

Insane. So good, man.

@Lance Looks like Kishi Monju as @introspect mentioned above. Check this out for a little more info: Monju Bosatsu (Bodhisattva) - Japanese Buddhist Deity of Wisdom and Education @instrospect BEAUTIFUL work...thanks for sharing. @Graeme Coming together nicely dude. Finish up the shading and soon you'll be on color then it'll really POP! I need to get me a tiger soon! HA!

@Graeme, I suspect the tattoo Horitomo did is a depiction of the priest, Ikkyu. Not exclusive to only Kyosai, but he has an image or 2 depicting dancing skeletons with Priest Ikkyu and the Hell Courtesan, Jigoku Daiyu. I'm not positive it's the same client as I've only seen the pieces seperately, but I think it's a bodysuit with Ikkyu on the front and Jigoku Daiyu on his back. It makes cohesive sense and both are black/grey so I'm rationalizing it is the same Client. Couldn't figure out how to attach the image directly from my phone, but here's a link that shows an image. Third image down. http://kiritz.jp/2012/08/kawanabe-kyosai/ That said, I'm not sure if Shige's back piece is tied to any story or idea in particular.

thinking a yellow rose but i'm not 100%. i agree though, we just finished my back up a few months ago so its nice to beable to get some smaller ones from him now.

The X man cometh go follow duncanxtattoos on instagram .

Sorry for picture quality. Still swollen.

I work part time in a gun shop and this old guy walks in sporting, among other things, a Stoney St. Claire pinup. His best recollection was that it was done in the 60's or 70's. Stoney had a shop in Columbus from 1970 to 1980 so this tracks. [/url] The forearm piece was apparently his ex-wife's name "Mildred"? that Stoney had covered up and changed to "Mom & Dad". That rose is all but gone... [/url]

I thought this was pretty interesting - its a Hikeshi Hanten, or a fireman's jacket, the inside. October | 2014 | Daily Japanese Textile

According to an overly excited drunk fellow who was admiring flash in the shop, "tattoos invented skulls"

I will be travelling alone so it would be awesome to be shown around a little, i wouldn't like to put you out though! Man, this could end up being huge if Marius is as persuasive as you say. I'm certainly not the type to tell a tattooer to go smaller. Fuck it, if you're gonna do it you may as well do it right!

Got the ladyhead by Max Kuhn yesterday! Not the best pic. It wraps a bit!

I don't even know why I read these contest threads anymore. All they do is give me ridiculous tattoo envy.

Start of a neo Japanese sleeve by Shawn Van Oven @ Shamens Den Binghamton NY Shawn is an awesome guy so easy to work with. Met him at the Electric City Convention last year.

This!! Seth Wood.

OK, I'll bite @ironchef. My first leg tattoo. Got it at the London Convention. By Eli Quinters, Smith Street Tattoo.

As the Dead would sing, What a long, strange trip it's been:

My inner thigh leopard tibetan dagger done by Chad Koeplinger at last Barcelona Tattoo Expo.

My arm by Joel Madberg, Salvation Tattoo Stockholm:

I blame you for posting this...I got curious, had a look at the link and decided pretty spontaneously to give it a try. Never ran in my life (except in primary school I think) and always thought I'd hate it. But I need to get fit and this sounded doable. So I downloaded the C25k app, bought some shoes and off I went for my first ever run yesterday! I must be going crazy, because I'm actually looking forward to the next one tomorrow now... :-)

Nice one! New YOB is pretty great too: Been getting tattooed to a lot of BONGRIPPER lately. Dig it.

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