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The winner of Tattoo of the month "December" 2014 is @Cork with this spectacular back piece by Dana Helmuth. Congratulations!! Please PM @steve1461686340 with your shirt info (size and male or female) along with your address. New contest will be up shortly!

Remember how we were talking about Eagles earlier? BAM! I got an eagle fighting a dragon the other day. If y'all didn't see it in the latest tattoo lowdown thread, here it is! From flash originally drawn by Tom Berg. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Now that's what I'm talking about @beez! - - - Updated - - - I'm not to proud to say I lived in bikini tops and going braless while home while healing my back. I've only had line work done, but damn, healing it wasn't all that fun. I wear multiple layers at work daily (including thick coveralls) so healing blew. But bikini tops- I love you. Oh, and ladies, I haven't posted a photo here. But here's the start to my shoulders to knees backpiece. Weee. Next sit in three weeks to finish lining my butt and thighs.

Great tattoos this month, I'm glad there weren't a lot of entries. I was hoping the holiday would work in my favor, haha. I've wanted a shirt for a long time now, thanks for voting for me!!

Was looking like a slow start to 2015 for me but things changed quickly. Coming up between now and end of March: Bryan Randolph Jeff Rassier Tim Lehi Theo Mindell We are spoiled in the Bay Area...

I thought I'd come back to my intro thread to post a picture, since I started reading these forums while I was contemplating this tattoo. Just wanted to reiterate what a wonderful site you guys have here, it has been really great to not only see lots of cool work, but also hear about other people's experiences and thoughts. Thanks again LST gang; now on to figure out how to make Arizona happen [emoji83]

My Top 14 of 2014: 1. Run The Jewels – Run The Jewels 2 2. D’Angelo – Black Messiah 3. TV On The Radio – Seeds 4. Spoon – They Want My Soul 5. Jack White – Lazaretto 6. Young Fathers – Dead 7. Brody Dalle – Diploid Love 8. Ty Segall – Manipulator 9. Beck – Morning Phase 10. Benjamin Booker – Benjamin Booker 11. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Piñata 12. Oozing Wound – Earth Suck 13. Pallbearer – Foundations of Burden 14. Mike Coulter – Saviors

This is a piece by Justin Weatherholtz at Kings Avenue. I saw it in person. Basically, this client had an acne issue and went to a dermatologist for an acne treatment shot. Problem was he turned out to be allergic to the medication and it scarred up the acne pretty badly. Justin tattooed in the scars and used the texture of the scarred skin to create an almost 3D effect. The blacks/greys in the water....that's scar dimpling and cavities that got filled in.

Yesterday, by Trevor @ Liberty Tattoo Seattle.

Happy New Year LSTers!!! The rules: The tattoo picture that gets posted in this thread for January 2015 with the most 'likes' for the month wins! The contest starts on the first of the month and ends on the last day of the month. Your tattoo picture must be posted in this thread (both tattooers and tattoo customers can win) in order to qualify. Include with your photo/post...tattoo artist name & tattoo shop. You MUST be the one who has the tattoo or did the tattoo. You can 'like' as many tattoos as you want. It can be a finished or in progress tattoo. You cannot enter the same tattoo in more than one contest. Sorry for posting this a day late you guys!

They asked us to post our Ink Mistakes....

Just booked in with Franz Stefanik to start work on my stomach. Starting with a devil's head, then we'll see what happens next.

Congratulations @Cork! Now that's a back piece.

Awesome, I know a few people going to school down in that area. I'm up in Northern Ontario near Thunder Bay!

I try to get out there every 3 years or so. Heading there later this year, hopefully Sept or October. I live in Waterloo region. :)

Thanks! I try to head out there every year, though traveling that way is pricey! The food, people, scenery, atmosphere is so unique. I plan on moving out that way when I'm all said and done with school! Where in Ontario are you located?

as long as they aren't "artists" who will claim to be able to do anything . . . Educate yourself enough to be able to at least look at a portfolio and see if you think they are capable.

Happy New years friends!

joe your recs / links are always top notch

I just posted this video from my trips to Newfoundland. I don't know if any one is familiar or even interested in this area of Canada, but you should be! It's magnificent! "

Definitely going to look into Thomas Hooper, I'm in San Antonio so not too far from Austin. Thanks for all the info, really appreciate it.

@Ebolarama If you think that tribal tattoos look ridiculously awesome, you should go for it! Yes, there is a bit of a stigma attached to tribal (but there's a stigma attached to tattoos generally, so...), and some of it carries over to here, but tribal when it's done well is really awesome. It's strong, it's bold, when it's done properly it flows with and accentuates the body amazingly, and all that solid black means that it's going to hold for the rest of your life. "Tribal" is also a really broad category of tattooing and is really diverse. Usually when people say "tribal" the first thing that comes to mind is that Leo Zulueta or Zulueta-inspired spiky stuff, and maybe that's what you're talking about, but that's only one small facet of tribal tattooing: you could go in a Polynesian or Micronesian-influenced direction; guys like Colin Dale in Denmark are doing essentially Nordic tribal influenced by Viking designs; in Austin you have Thomas Hooper who takes tribal as a starting point and is pushing tattooing into exciting new frontiers from there. There's so much more than this out there too. Explore, explore, explore, and find what excites you the most and makes you feel that you need a tattoo like that.

Ok, right there. If you really want a tattoo, then go get one. It doesn't have to mean anything. It could be something that looks bad ass and you just want to get it tattooed on you. I thought my first tattoo had to mean something too. You'll find that the experience of a fresh tattoo with a good artist can trump any personal symbology. What tattoos have you been admiring? Do those "mean something" to the wearer? On the flip side, a candle burning at both ends, or a candle burning by itself, is pretty good imagery for losing time if you ask me. Google search reveals some good ideas, but no artists, so I'm hesitant to post a lot of pictures here. Here is one from Grez in NYC. You get the idea. Added snake and dagger for badassitutude.

It's very interesting reading everyone's responses. Thanks to everyone for getting involved. I was never under any pretence that a traditional eagle was a remarkable new idea and I knew full well that Bert's version comes from a long history of traditional flash. As a result of that I certainly don't begrudge anyone for getting one. I'm sure in fact that there are plenty hidden amongst these forums and galleries. On reflection, and after a bit of common sense, the similarity between the two eagles is not something that worries me that much. I really like mine and will continue to get a lot of pleasure from it. I do however think the issue of copying will be something that keeps raising it's head in this art form we all love, and that's something that it would be interesting to keep hearing people's thoughts on.

Sorry, no, not done on Ink Master. Local artist in my hometown, NYC.

Honestly, I don't know why you would pay somebody here to draw something for you when this is a service that your tattooer already provides as part of the tattoo.

stop here :)

I posted this over in "http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/5952-thread-posting-while-getting-tattooed-page9.html#post107507" mid grind last night, but here's an update. Right ribs to arm pit and detailing out the right side. I'm still limited to what he puts on Instagram, so it's not close up and the lighting isn't great. But man this is getting me crazy happy! Although, of course, next session was supposed to be my last one ... but now it's not again... ;) But he can detail it out all he wants - I'm just in love. Ahhh, he just put up a detail shot. The right is finished - second pass on the blue and rays are next, and finishing the left ribs, then a final pass for whites and blacks. Stolen from Sean Zee's Instagram

I like this, but not I'm not going "like" this. Jerk. And look at all that open space around it, what an amateur.

Right on @SeeSea! There are no perfect tattoos either, just as there are no perfect people... Hoping that my next tattoo is with Virginia Elwood, that would be awesome. I've only been tattooed by men thus far, and my husband's first tattoo is scheduled to be with a woman. Interesting dichotomy!

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.

Here's a couple of recent oils. The Rock of Ages is 5" x 7" on birch, the skull is 10" x 12" on canvas board. Both are for sale if anybody is interested.

My 30th birthday was on Friday. My wife took me out to dinner Saturday night and said we were gonna meet her brother for drinks. When we showed up to the bar she had a surprise party waiting for me. She said she was going out to have a smoke and when she came back in someone tapped me on the shoulder, my best friend flew in from out of state to show up. It was like a surprise inception.

Took 6 one hour sign language classes, had a blast. She planned on having a follow up class tonight to rehash things, ask questions etc, and I had to take a muscle relaxer for a headache and felt too "drunk" to go. it's fun tho, I wish I had more need to use it throughout the day so I could get better/faster at it. My husband is probably going to be the new drug dog handler for the police department, so that's kind of exciting for him. He started a business this past summer and it is doing pretty well for being new. I turned 40 last week. Got a super blonde almost-pixie cut and new funky glasses to celebrate.

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

I've never had an interest in boxing, but the mom of one of my kindergartners told me I should take a class at her and her husband's boxing gym. I laughed at first but then I thought, what the hell?! I got my other kindergarten teacher friend to join me for a class today. Holy crap it was grueling, and so much fun! I want to go back!!! Every time the instructor (my student's dad) would bark out orders, my friend would go "This is BULLSHIT!" and we'd crack up. Hopefully we didn't laugh too much for the more serious fighters in the class. Seemed like the music was up loud enough that it didn't matter. Great time. After the workout I asked the mom if this was payback for not giving her son enough stickers. Of course they did not even react in the slightest to my tattoos, not even the little kid! I knew they'd be cool like that. I have a feeling I am going to be wicked sore tomorrow and possibly Monday.

Riding North with some brothers shortly to get away from these 6000 cops in town for the G20. 39 degrees (102.2 Fahrenheit) today, so hitting the coast for ice cold beers & camping on the sand. Good...faaarkin...times.

I am new to tattoos. I always thought they were cool, but had trouble getting past the issue of permanency. The funny thing about scars is, they are permanent. Finally realized, a nice cool permanent tattoo is a lot better than an ugly permanent scar.

I finally got enrolled in college again after about a 10 year "break".