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Welllllllll....if it makes you happy get another one, right?! Went and saw Paul Dobleman at Spider Murphy's last week...please excuse the inflammation Hope everyone is having a great New Year so far!

Whoa, with all the awesome tattoos posted in the Lowdown thread recently I'm surprised no one's posted here yet. I'll kick it off! Here's my thigh by Seth Wood, started at Temple and finished at Saved.

done by Chris O'Donnell at his private studio happy new year to all

my back piece by Chris O'Donnell

Above is a picture of me laying like a passed out pale seal on Iain Mullens table. Today was the second to last session on my back. Can't wait to see it finished. We're doing the last bit and touch ups with Rudy Fritsch at the Scottish Convention in the end of March. Going to be fun/hell. Todays session was nice except for a few bits. I can't believe how quick this piece has been. I got the idea to start my back in April last year, asked Iain about it and then we started in mid June. It really helps that both him and Rudy work super quick and make for good company + conversations during the sessions. Secret bit of knowledge exclusively for LST (I know people love that exclusiveness, I sure do): that ain't a dark red, but actually a light gray wash looking bloodied and irritated. Haven't got a piece of color on me, except for a few patches of gray and white.

Well I was waiting to post a healed pic of my finished Seth Wood thigh, but since I can't seem to take a decent pic of my own leg, here's when it was half-fresh: http://s16.postimg.org/lelsgz5qt/Untitled_1.jpg I started it at Temple in Oakland in June and finished at Saved in NYC in December. I live in North Carolina so both locations meant a trip for me. Really awesome experience getting to see two different shops and travel all across the country to get this done, made some awesome memories, hung out with friends new and old, and just overall had an adventure. Seth is an awesome dude as well and I hope I can get something else from him in the future. (posted this in the contest thread too, hope it's okay to post it twice!)

Finished my back on Friday night (well, Saturday at 5:30 am). It was a hell of a ride - it took almost exactly a year of sessions every 2-3 weeks. We'll do a final session after this heals to tie the bow on it. This tattoo was made by Sean Zee out of Brick, NJ from pictures I've taken while scuba diving. I gave him 50-some pictures and a wish list, and he selected about 15 shots to create this scene. These pics were taken on 4 continents from 1998 through 2013 using (mostly) a Nikonos V underwater camera with an SB-105 strobe, UW Nikkor 35mm, 28mm, and 15mm f2.8 fisheye lenses, Sea & Sea (no relation) macro kit and Nikonos closeup kit. Sean is a great guy, dedicated and amazingly creative. It boggles my mind how artists just "see" stuff like this and make it happen. He put up with a lot of questions and "what ifs" and "why nots" from this nearly virgin canvas (as he likes to say, "this woman only had lil kitty paw prints on her shoulder before this"), explaining to me all the ways this tattoo would NOT work, and ended up just putting it on the table that it really needed to be a full back if I wanted so many references. And to prove it, he designed the whole thing superimposed on a picture of my bare back and emailed it to me. I remember the moment I saw it for the first time and it shorted out my brain. I committed to the full back about 20 minutes after I got the email. (And I admit at the time I did not understand in the least what I was in for...) Kinda funny, thinking back on it, how all the chatter and uncertainty and 14 years of wanting some sort of tattoo with my eagle rays were completely silenced and resolved in a heart beat. Anyway... So, the critters making appearances, starting at the top right and going clockwise are: two moon jellyfish, two Moorish idols, two clownfish and anemone, a batwing coral crab and mustard tube sponges just behind him, a leopard moray eel, two squirrelfish hiding in red sea fans that cross my lower back, a sea snake in lettuce coral (very poisonous, which I didn't realize until after I'd crawled up in his face to take the picture and then been admonished by the divemaster after the picture was developed), a queen angelfish and a hammerhead shark. In the center are two spotted eagle rays and the broken mast of the Nippo Maru, a Japanese supply ship sunk during WWII by US forces in Truk Lagoon, Micronesia. When I look at this, I don't just see a tattoo of fish. It's a diary of my favorite diving experiences. Each part has such different memories of the location, the people I was with, and the experience on that dive. (Yeah, poisonous sea snake. Whoopsie on that one. And the clownfish was actually guarding a little ring of day-old eggs. And trying to photograph moon jellies in a surge without being hit is like playing a 3D video game. And that I really really wanted my spotted moray eels but Sean said the pattern wouldn't age well, so with resigned sadness, my handsome spotted moray had to morph into a leopard moray. Sniff Sniff.) All of this flooding my brain at the same time. And then I get this goofy grin on my face thinking about walking around with this huge awesome back piece that anyone I know would be shocked to learn I have. He put up a little video where you can see the ribs, too: Video of SeeSea's Back. Healed pics coming to an LST contest near you. I want a T-shirt, dammit :D

Here's a photo of my winged lion by Valerie Vargas, its quite big so a little distorted and wraps a lot, it's only a start but I love it was such a great experience and a lovely shop and atmosphere, plus it's like the first tattoo I've had in six years that's needed more than one sitting, looks like il be visiting home again sooner rather than later

Send your friend to Stewart Robson @ Modern Classic Tattoo, I've seen him do some amazing cover ups. At the least he might be able to give your friend some real advise ssuch as lightening the tattoo with a couple laser sessions before he goes in for the cover up, that way the tattooer has a little more freedom...

ok i am attempting pictures again......lol if this go doesnt work, i give up. @Tornado6, nothing from Kirk Jones.......yet. plenty of empty space.

less than 30 days until appointment #1. time to start planning the travel logistics.

got this ganesh yesterday thanks to robert ryan @ electric tattoo in asbury park, nj

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!

According to Google, Portsmouth NH is less than a hour's drive from Portland and you have Jason Scott and Hobo's and Congress Street. Jason Scott rules, Jeb Riley tattoos there and he rules, and Chad Koeplinger guests there regularly. Portsmouth is a really nice town too.

Holy shit this is good! (cod - BEST snakes).

wish we could see said tattoo its probably awesome and should be left be

@SeeSea - gotta be alot of emotions there as you wrap this piece up - quite a journey - i can see myself going there one day - seems such an intimidating project though - cant imagine going through it and be at the end - quite an experience i'm sure - enjoy it...and then keep going :)

Hinges in the ditches - love it! Don't forget to oil those babies.

Thanks for all the likes, folks! I'm having trouble comprehending that it's over. I thought of it in the past tense yesterday and surprised myself. @Bmore - yeah, sharks. Sharks are many times misunderstood creatures. Most we encounter either don't care for us and just leave (often because photographers and videographers are chasing them for the shot), and others either ignore us or check us out with a drive-by and wander off. I only had one near-wetsuit-soiling event but hey, we're in their ocean and not the other way around. @Mush - thanks! Yeah, I'll take your vote going up against all those spectacular Japanese pieces! There are just soooo many awesome pieces around this place. If I had another back I'd love a Battle Royale, and if I had another back I'd love something with a lot of negative space that included my butt, and if I had another back ... I have learned so much here. @KBeee - funny! It took me a couple tries to accurately list all the critters in my last post. I kept leaving things out so I had to stare at the tattoo to list everything! Thanks! @pidjones - if I continued around and did a torso, that 3D app thing would be really cool. Thanks! @OutOfIdeas - ::SMACK:: Smartass. :p @Pugilist - yeah, holy hell is right. This finished in a thundering climax of 4 long sessions in 7 weeks. I'm not yet right in the head. Thanks! @graybones - thank you! @HettyKet - thanks! Actually, I didn't know Zee was Sea in Dutch. An online translator even says it means a large body of salt water. Wow - I had no idea, but the irony is wonderful! Thanks for sharing that. @marley mission and @sophistre - yeah, I know? Is this the year of the back or something? @scubaron - thanks! I didn't originally think about the stories, I just chose a bunch of pictures because I loved them. It was only after it was completed that the deeper meaning of the entire piece came through.

@KBeee, that's funny. Yesterday I saw your panther/rose on the main page and pulled it up to look at it again. So nice. It's awesome to see the matching set.

I just bought a new house. Bit of a downsize from current home but I dontt need all that space. About 10 minutes from where I am now in a super small town, bigger lot, no back yard neighbours and cheaper taxes. Just need to sell my current home now... fun

Welcome! I dig the "love thy neighbor" one a lot!

Another Aussie. Good shit. Welcome! Brisbane here :)

I have a crush on Dana Helmuth's snakes, but I have to admit that is incredible.

Welcome! I'm going to suggest that you get your arms done before you even think about hands and fingers because there are few things in life more ridiculous than people with hand tattoos and nothing on their arms.

Seth does the best snakes . . .

I feel like I've been talking about it forever, but I guess I booked pretty far out. I had my "official" consult with Grez at King's Avenue for my left arm that will start in two weeks. I'm doing a 3/4 sleeve, and we decided on an eagle fighting a dragon. I knew I wanted an eagle, so then we kinda worked through some options. I'm mostly letting him run with it, as everything I've had him do for me so far has been perfect. Haha. I can't wait.

Just figured out what this spring is going to be like, travel-wise. In somewhat chronological order, four trips 1. 9 days: Istanbul with my girlfriend. 2. 3-4 weeks: Copenhagen and Bruxelles to visit one some of my best friends who just moved -> Toulouse for a tattoo -> Barcelona for a tattoo (->Paris/Amsterdam?) -> London and or Cornwall -> Edinburgh for the tattoo convention and finish my backpiece with Rudy and Iain 3. 1 week: Very north of Sweden, with my parents and brother (and maybe two dear friends), to visit relatives and do wild life shit 4. 3-4 weeks: Berlin to visit friends -> Krakow -> Lviv to visit old study buddy -> Kiev for my cousins wedding -> St. Petersburg to visit a new friend (-> Moscow?) Actually, I haven't done this recently.. what I did do was to make a decision to work less and enjoy life a bit in the near future. Bye bye all my hard earn cash. Bring on the fun times, adventures and inspiration!

@ironchef I. Can't. Even. It hurts my feelings its so good.

It's not too big. A pic of this could never be too big. It really is one of my all time favorite tattoos ever. Really. Next time you are in the Bay area I will buy a round or snacks or something so I can see this face to face. Really. - - - Updated - - - Thanks, @hogg!

You've got at least 2 world class artists really close to you . . . CHAD LENJER the drown town - - - Updated - - - Ha. you beat me by 3 minutes . . . :)

Yesterday, by Trevor @ Liberty Tattoo Seattle.

Newest from Josh Brown.

All of those traditional designs look the same to me, ha. That's like saying you have a clawing panther and you can't believe that someone else got one too. Although that rose morph issue... yeah. @Graeme yours looks way better anyhow. Mr Toby, you'll just have to find comfort in the the fact that you have an epic back piece. Be mad when that gets copied.

To the OP, I can pretty much guarantee that was a classic eagle design that Bert put on you. I highly doubt he drew that custom for you. He most likely was flipping through some classic flash designs, saw that eagle, and performed that eagle. The other tattoo was done by someone probably looking at the exact same design.

This Means War - The Old Firm Casuals Hard to pick one because my favorites change almost daily, but this band is one that I'm really digging and this, their newest album, it's pretty awesome. Frontman is Lars Frederiksen who used to be/is the guitarist and backup vocalist for Rancid. Funnily enough I read somewhere the other day that Lars actually worked at 222 tattoo as a shop helper while Rancid was taking a break from touring at one point. I thought it was a cool connection between a rad shop and rad musician

@Brock Varty Thank you! The super tiny amount of lotion has made the healing experience 10x better. I've switched to dry healing my new tattoos because I feel like it works better for me but now I know a high movement area like the elbow ditch needs a little lotion.