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I finally get to give this a shot! Dana Helmuth, 95% completed at Read Street Tattoo in Baltimore, the rest done in his private studio.

I can relate, I feel ya My parents reaction to my first tattoo was OMG why why why...it's so big...why did you do that to your body... Then I got some bigger hidden pieces. I never disclosed because they clearly were not interested in acknowledging the big pink (well, purple, blue, battleship grey, etc) elephant in the room Then I got both arms done. And some legs. I wore long sleeves and pants to family dinners for years after the fact...then eventually my parents said, look, we don't really like or understand tattoos but we know they are obviously important to you. And we don't want you to feel uncomfortable when you come visit the family, you are loved and accepted. So please know you can wear a short sleeve shirt and shorts when it is summertime and be comfortable with us. You are our son and we love you, regardless. What I'm trying to say...your parents love you. And hopefully they come around. Change in perception can take time. And mom and dad did come around...after 10 years. I came home from a trip with a screaming eagle on my neck. They weren't that shocked which actually was super-weird! But then we finally had a conversation where they gave me an opportunity to open up briefly...about why and what tattoos give to my life, what it means in my heart, the confidence in my body Why your neck?! Well, easy mom n dad! because there is no space anywhere else! But until they do...remember your tattoos they are about YOU and they are to worn with your CONFIDENCE. Own it! So don't waste your energy trying to convince your parents, family, whichever people that aren't genuinely interested. That's their friggin' problem, not yours. Good luck :) about your Mom...Moms don't like seeing their kids in pain, which is all my mom could see in my tattoos. Pain. Until I talked to her. Open from the heart. Then my mom saw them as colourful and beautiful. The pictures on our skin are a reflection of what's inside us and where we have been. So talk to your Mom openly. Tell her all the positive things the tattoos have given you. And in time, let's hope your mom/family can drop the negativity and have an open-mind, to accept you and accept the things that are important to you. In the meantime, remember - your tattooed skin is thick and colourful now. don't let the negative vibes stick to you. Tattoos are temporary...and so is life :)

I have gotten tattooed by some fucking awesome female tattooers: Stephanie Tamez, Marie Sena, Maud Dardeau, Cat Bijou, Rebecca Guinard, Eilo Martin. While I do not specifically seek out female tattooers, I do think that as a women who cares about women a lot, I notice the work of female tattooers more than folks with less gender consciousness might. Does that make sense? There are so many women doing great work that deserve more attention than they get. I'd love to get work from: Virginia Elwood, Wendy Pham, Juni, Jill Bonny, Sheila Marcello, Claudia de Sabe, India Amara and LST's own amazing @cltattooing .

If I were in your shoes, I would try to truly understand why your mom hates them so much. She hates them just because they are trashy? It must be more than that for her to act so serious about it. I'd sit my mom down with a bottle of alcohol, and I would force a clean answer out of her (my mom prefers avoidance of issues). And you have to ask the right questions too. This might seem silly but root cause analysis is a valuable life tool, use the "5 Whys". "Why don't you like tattoos?", "In your mind, what makes them trashy?" I'm not going to role play this whole thing out, but I hope you get the idea. Then explain your side, why you like tattoos, how tattooing in this day and age is very different than tattooing in hers, etc. In my own experience, I see a lot of it come from pressure from our parents own peers. If your mom's friends hate tattoos, then that makes her look horrible as a mother that she raised some miscreant that likes tattoos that would embarrass her in front of her friends. You have to see it from her side. If you were on her side of the fence, what would it take to change your mind? I can tell you, sure as shit, if I were to go to the beach with my mom, she would immediately be fearful of what the people around us would think about my tattoos. She can't help it, she is a mother. She wants all her kids to be seen in a respectful light, and that is her opinion of what respectful means. My older brother rocks a mohawk. It looks good. My mom hates it and it embarrasses the hell out of her because her friends see her son with a mohawk and she feels ashamed.

Ah, happy to announce I've joined the dedicated crew here...started by backpiece yesterday! Lined in from shoulders to back of knee. Some long line pulls and wow the bottom of the ass cheek wow that is advanced level tattoo. Thank you to the LST crew here for sharing your backpiece experiences, I felt it helped me be prepared for this important session. Sat for 3~4 hours and it was one of the most comfortable tattoo sessions I've ever had. My feet were totally relaxed the whole time. Very cool to reconnect with my tattooer. He did my first in 2003, a rib dragon in 2005 and my crane arm in 2007. Full circle, especially when this back tattoo connects to his older work. Tattoo is being made by Steve Batt (TheGangOfOne) in Edmonton, AB. We are doing a Shaolin kung fu monk with rocks, waterfall, cloud swirls. (You'll have to forgive me, I'm not quite ready to post up pics for the general public, and i don't want my tattooed ass to "break the internet".) This tattoo is the missing puzzle piece...all my tattoos neck to ankle are now connected! :) Feels great, my back is tie-ing everything together, and I've reached the bodysuit zone after 11 years, like I'm walking around wearing armour. But really this is just the start...gonna get going on black and colour in the new year and see what kind of rapid progress we can make.

You should talk with your Mom, because neither your visits nor your tattoos are going to go away. Ultimately she should respect the fact that you make your own choices and the fact that the two of you don't need to agree on everything. If her reaction to that RIGHT is going to be so negative it's only going to have a negative impact on your relationship and time you spend together . . .

3rd session done, 3-4 more to go to finish the top half and start/finish the bottom half:

...a TED speaker asks: Juan Enriquez: Your online life, permanent as a tattoo | Talk Video | TED.com I thought it was an intriguing talk only because often, the negative reactions to tattoos have to do with them being "forever," and "what if you change your mind?", etc. It made me think about the young people I've known who've passed away -- their Twitter feeds, their Facebook profiles -- their online selves are frozen in time. The girl who passed away 12 years ago, would she still like those same TV shows she talks about on Twitter, or be comfortable showing those Facebook profile pictures? In the grand scheme, it doesn't f^cking matter -- those things show who she was at that time, and I don't think there's anything shameful or regrettable or embarrassing about that. We're all humans, and we all grow and change our minds and adopt new attitudes. Everything we leave behind -- tattoos, Facebook pages, message board posts, blogs, pictures -- is just a big, fat smearing of evidence of how we've personally tripped through life. Like the slime trail a slug leaves behind. Yes, you can quote me on that last one. I know it's elegant as f^ck. ::sips tea, pinky out::

Great vid, thanks for sharing. I figure it's because he is from the era where tattooing wasn't a "thing" or a "lifestyle" and the only way to get into it was to be born in, which he was. He even said that he wasn't that smart or good at anything else so he just took on his family's trade. I'd say he's truly of the old school, where he didn't have the luxury to follow his dreams or whatever, but had to make ends meet somehow.

I saw a Mike Roper backpiece yesterday, a golden dragon, in the flesh. WOW just WOW

My mom haaaaaates my tattoos. I think there is less stigma because I'm a guy and have been a weirdo since birth. I think you will find the situation calms down when you do. Your added tension going in heightens the reactions. There comes a point when you parents see nothing about you has truly changed and they will eventually be over it. Just be strong you have to be yourself

Thanks! So many cool artist, got myself a few new favorites @CShaw König is amazing! I'm not even that far away, might have to make a trip south next summer :) @Pugilist It does make sense, I think one views almost everything differently when one becomes aware of...well, how the world is at the moment and maybe how one would like to see it changed. And Virginia Elwoods art is insane, thanks for informing about her.

I think this pretty well sums up why I still like my bad tattoos. I got them at a time when "fuck it" was kind of my motto, and even if they suck they remind me of that awesome carefree period of time.

My mother has been extremely supportive of the tattoos my brother and I have, but they do still make her uncomfortable on some level, and this is definitely why. She's less concerned about what other people will think of her than she is about what they'll think of my brother and I -- she worries that they'll make snap judgements about our character, and sees this as the potential for doors in our lives to close unfairly to us. I sent her a long letter before finally getting started on getting tattoos, explaining my interest. She'd made the usual 'what will you do when you're old and they look terrible?' remark, and as part of the letter I explained that I'd rather be interesting when I'm 70 than a bangable 70-year-old -- seriously, who cares about that at 70? I'm 33 and I barely care now -- and added sort of on a whim that, given I hope to donate my body to science when I pass away, I hope the person who receives it spends a few moments puzzling and wondering over all of the art on me. Bizarrely, this latter image is the one that seems to have made everything fine for her. She finds it hilarious. Everybody's mom is different. Communication is worth a try at least once, though, and if you can get to the bottom of it, all the better. It'll be a shame if not, but you have nothing to feel guilty about either way. A mother's job is to prepare her children for the world and the decisions in it, so that we're ready to make those decisions for ourselves when the time comes...even in the presence of opposition to what we find important. Sometimes it just gives rise to uncomfortable differences of opinions in the end. ;)

My parents are surprisingly neutral about it. My Dad even tried to justify it by saying, "You know, I see teachers get tattoos nowadays." If anything, I try not to advertise any new tattoos I've gotten or will be getting. But as I type that, why am I hiding the fact that I'm getting more tattoos? I'm not going to shove it down their throats, but if they happen to ask I will tell them. Side note: I do tend to get shy around any kind of parental figure aka other people's parents. I think I just assume all parents hate tattoos, even though my parents seem to be neutral about it, and not all parents are the same. I just have a tendency to cover up when around parents. But if anything, my parents know what kind of person I am, and that I have not changed. Maybe if your parents saw that, their opinions on tattoos would be different. On the bright side, you don't live with them. So you only have to deal with it when you visit them. In my case, I only see them twice a year.

I've gotten tattooed by Virginia Elwood and Tamara Santibanez (both at Saved). As well as Ashley Love (now at Adorned) and I would highly recommend all of them. Virginia especially is the nicest to sit with and chat. She really has that bed side manner thing down :) I don't know why but I've gotten more and more drawn to women tattooers as I've gotten older. I think it's just because I'm pretty much drawn to badasses in general. I'd love to get something from Rose Hardy at Three Kings soon.

keep calm and tattoo on...

Hi everybody, My name is Andy. I'm a midwest kid/bartender/guitar player in a psychobilly band who's been living on the west coast for the last 10 years. Got my first tattoo at 18 and have continued getting inked in fits and spurts ever since. Finally at 32 I'm within shouting distance of having my right sleeve finished, just need to figure out what the hell I'm doing with my elbow. I find I've gotten in the habit of acquiring pieces as travel souvenirs so I haven't necessarily given a ton of thought as to an overall cohesive "concept." So what ended up as a sleeve began as just a bunch of different pieces. I just know I've always been drawn to American traditional imagery and style and at this point I seem to have run out of room on this particular arm. :) I'm actually a little blown away I've managed to go this long without running into this forum, but now that I have I'm happy to be here. After just briefly clicking around, it's obvious there are a bunch of talented, knowledgeable folks here and I definitely look forward to getting to know you guys. Cheers.

I kinda noticed that I seem to predominantly like female artists, although I'm not actually looking for it as such. High on my list at the moment are Claudia de Sabe, Wendy Pham and especially Emily Rose Murray. The first two are within reach for me, but Australia is sooo far away, damn it...

Haha, well done @daveborjes! Inside the cheeks is the best.

@daveborjes Wait until you get your crack shaded. That was an interesting session.

@Pugilist, I have to give extra support to a Jill Bonny shoutout. I'm biased of course. And absolutely, the other artists you listed are also amazing. The couple I'm unfamiliar with will definitely get a web search from me tonight.

Throwing the hat in. Newbie getting his second tattoo, 4 months after his first. I got this skull and dagger from Luke Wessman in NYC @ Wooster Street Social.

I met a girl, we talked tattoos, she's from az, shows me her legs done by roper, says they're friends and she can text him and give me a referral. Looks like I'm saving some money and flying to Arizona sometime this year. !!!! Also naturally me and this girl have been seeing each other. Life is cool sometimes.

So half sleeve is coming along nicely - foo dog and goldfish recently added. Sleeve by Daniel Innis at the Pearl in Toronto.

Got this from Horimatsu in October. It was a great experience, he is such an awesome dude with some pretty cool stories to tell. Also I got this cattoo on a caturday so I kind of won the internet that day :D edit: can't figure out why the picture is all wonky but if one clicks it again for full size it looks like it is supposed to... edit2: oh, and it's located on the outside of the calf.

got this beauty from nick oaks on his visit in toronto @ the okey doke beyond happy with the turn out

I wanna know why he can't get tattoos.

wilko66 here, not much tattoo stuff on my page either.. But shit instagram makes me want to get new tattoos daily!

Thanks to everyone for the awesome advice & encouragement! I am proud to say that my back piece is now finished!! Woohoo! Did my full back in three days! Here's a pic for those interested :) Artist: Erin Chance, Guest tattooing at: Sacred Tattoo, Auckland, New Zealand

Sorry no pics. I got a chance to look through a pile of Dana's secret stash of Roper pics, some are pretty good. I also got a chance to scroll through Bloodwork Bodies. Man, that book is amazing. The green dragon is in the book, I had to steal a clean pic for you guys. Not to mention it was good to catch a glance at @hogg's ass on more time.

I'm with you. I only regret the ones I never got.

Hi, here is a healed photo of the hell scene that Tim Lehi did on me last month. He is my favourite tattooer and it was so fun to get this piece from him. I also posted it in this months contest: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/lst-announcements-contests/6076-november-2014-tattoo-month-contest-page4.html#post105993 The size of the photo might be a bit too big, but I will fix it as soon as I can.

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

Got this from Greg whitehead in Portland. Instagram

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

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.

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

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.

This is more than a year old so not sure if it's been posted before. Anyway, it's pretty cool. Tattoo Timelapse - Myke Chambers

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

Done by Ed in 1979! GOD DAMN!!!!!!!