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I got this today from Skylar Grove at Polished Tattoo in San Jose while my car was being washed. Yup, total impulse tattoo and I love it.

Added onto my arm yesterday with Clare Hampshire. Could not get a decent photo at home, so pic is from her IG.

Finally got around to taking decent pics. Sorry if this is posted in the wrong section.

Here's my new one, done yesterday at the mondial du tatouage by Chad Koeplinger! STOKED!!!

Thank you for coming out @Fala and @CultExciter and @dcostello it was an awesome (if stressful) (but totally awesome) night! Having weird trouble uploading photos right now but you can find more on the Facebook page. I'll post some up soon!!

@hogg i am getting samurai, i told him how i wanted it to be and the main theme. and gave him pretty all the artistic freedom he wants lol @jen7 yeah, for aftercare, i have my girlfriend who can apply it on my back which is convenient lol @Cork haha yeah its always been an idea lingering in my head that i was going to get one. but didn't wanna make an impulse decision. been thinking long about who i wanted to get it from and what i wanted. funny that you mention that because my girlfriend is also getting her first tattoo from jess which is also gonna be a full body suit. we just kindve randomly came in one day to his shop and told him that, he called us crazy lol @xcom yeah thats what I've read, i think the excitement is over powering the nervousness right now though lol @bongsau haha thanks for the wooden spoon advice

I don't I have any photos of it fresh or all fully laid out. But this part shown of the light blues is all healed and aged and is what I had trouble keeping in the first time around. I wouldn't get this cartoonish sleeve today, but I'm still happy with it now and love it for what it is.

Hannya spilling water down rocks and stuff to the octopus? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah! It was so great being tattooed by Chad! I had a lot of fun! Looking forward to the next session!

I'm getting the underside of my ass cheeks tattooed tomorrow. So yeah that should be interesting, like not in an erotic "shades of grey" interesting way (note, there will be many shades of grey) ibut more of a WTF this is dumb is this really necessary? Uh, onward with the bodysuit quest! Also, I'm at 197.5 hrs according to my tattoo spreadsheet...which means hitting the ass crack as I bust the 200hr milestone tomorrow hurrah! feeling pretty excited though, really, truly. Can't wait to burn my shirt in a firepit this summer. Cause I won't be needing that shit anymore! :cool:

What a FANTASTIC event @gougetheeyes and @MrsGougeTheEyes!!! I feel so lucky to have won such a great painting within the auction and for such a great cause at that! Will you have the pieces that are unsold viewable on your wordpress site?

Inspired by Bradley Tompkins' BRIGHT_AND_BOLD takeover, I decided to make an account that features good, healed and settled in tattoos. It's really niche I guess, but I have always enjoyed seeing tattoos that have been lived in, and I'm sure there's a few others out there like me. I am also hoping to maybe get some enthusiasts to do takeovers and show off a few of their tattoos, accompanied by stories about their experiences getting them. The account is called "Lived in Tattoos" (@livedintattoos). Check it out!

I have a 2 year old high energy german shepherd and while I'm no dog trainer (not even close), I've been teaching her some fun things to keep life interesting in -25 weather. Also to help relieve my guilt over long work weeks, ha. We hike daily in the middle of nowhere. All my previous dogs have been rottweilers, so all new fun over here. We've been working on scent detection, hiding something the day before and retrieving it the next day on our hike, tracking followed by sit-stay, and random fun. All our hikes are mostly off leash, so obviously before we ventured to the harder stuff we had her basic off leash commands down (come, sit, heel, watch, stay, leave it, etc). Totally neat to see her react to scent and tracking in various temperatures and weather conditions. It's all I mostly post on IG, so apologies to anyone who started following me expecting tattoo related stuff. My lunatic.

Purified water is the secret. - - - Updated - - - I have a tattoo based on this picture. a favorite

I got a GoPro to take with me on my mountaineering adventure, so of course the first thing I did is attach it to the dog...

Welcome, this is the place! Back is full of surprises...but being your first tattoo it will all be surprises and new sensations so you won't know any differently ;) Hot tip for any tattoo session - bring a healthy meal to level up during the session. Get a good nights rest. Stretch beforehand. Wear warm socks. AND bring a wooden spoon to bite down on haha. Good luck :)

I would tell her to go slow so she doesn't end up with lots of garbage on her by 19. No text, no 25 lines of poetry/ prose/ stories/ song quotes etc. No neck or hand tattoos. Who knows if we will even cross that bridge My little girl rubs my arms its very funny that she is noticing that they are different and doesn't get why it doesn't come off.

Ah-HA I think we have root cause here, folks. Maybe you should stop by the thread below if you haven't already. It's your tattoo to be happy or sad about. It's hard to not let our wife's opinion influence ours, but in the end, you're the one with the permanent mark on you. I doubt my wife likes Kongo Yasha's faces, and who can blame her, he's an ugly bastard, but that's what he looks like and she has to deal with his ugly mug along with mine. http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/546-relationships-tattoos.html

I endorse this sentiment 100%. The issue here has very little to do with the actual tattoo and almost everything to do with self-confidence. @2bacanvas if I have come across as a dick on this thread it is because I am a mean and hateful bastard, but you have mentioned that "people say it kinda looks like an alien", that you "get allot of mixed reviews on this tattoo. Some like it and some criticize it." If you get hung up on what other people think about your tattoos, you are ALWAYS going to be unhappy with them. Fuck what other people think because 1) it's on you and it's permanent (you're never going to laser off a little bit of it and have the guy rework it so let's just drop that notion); 2) most people are stupid and uncreative and have no idea when it comes to art and don't especially care either, so if you ask the average non-tattooed or lightly tattooed person what they think of tattoos they're probably going to prefer the bird silhouettes that are contorted into their children's initials and look like a pile of shit over a beautiful Japanese tattoo that has no overt meaning. So basically nobody with any sense should give half a shit about their opinions. And that includes the people here. If you're not going to be confident in the tattoos you get you probably shouldn't be getting tattooed anyway. Tattoos aren't for everybody, and that includes a lot of people who have them.

Got this lady head from Max Kuhn on Monday! Wraps a bit!

For those who have kids and have tattoos... Do your kids have interest on tattoos? What do you tell them about your tattoos when they ask? All of my kids are old enough to be curious about my tattoos... While I don't tell them to go run and get tattoos, I do support them when they say "I want a tattoo when I am old enough like you dad". The only rule I keep telling them is... The day you are ready.... I am coming with you! AND never get a tattoo from a friend at their house!!! I also advice them of them on what could be a life changing decision. My oldest is 13 and he is an artist. He loves drawing and he is pretty skilled. My oldest went to my first back session because he wanted to see what it was like... A few hours later he told me he wanted to be a tattoo artist or a DJ, or.... You know kids... LOL As a father I support my kids 100% but it is my duty to guide them along the way....

@Sean Sinha There will be, but not until tomorrow. I was in a rush when I left and I didn't bother taking a pic at that time. I'll post some after I get it cleaned up in the morning.

@bongsau good luck man. Keep it rolling!!!

Hahaha good luck

I popped into The Pearl today and had a couple of little fillers in and around my right knee. My lower legs are really filling in nicely, and I've made a stab up into the thighs as well. I was speaking to Tim Pausinger today, and we are going to get back to work on my back-piece in the summer. It will be nice to have that beast taken care of.

I am in none of the photos, s'okay. Nice meeting you @CultExciter and @dcostello!

Hey everyone, My name is Chris and i am from sunny southern california. i currently have no ink as of yet. but i am the process of getting a full back suit. been thinking awhile now about this, and figured i might as well go big or go home. and who else to do it but the master himself, Jess Yen from MyTats in Alhambra. just recently had my consultation and really looking forward to proceeding with this piece. a bit nervous but more excited than anything else. from what I've already read on here, the back seems like it has many surprises lol. any advice or words of wisdom is greatly appreciated!

ship on the water's surface? surfer?

Ill be up in Quebec on a business trip in May. I hope I make it in.

you are very kind. I also keep terrariums

April 15th, back in the saddle with Greg after I had to cancel my last appointment due to illness. Then, on May 4th, Dan Gilsdorf. :O

Thank you! Yes maybe in Germany or Barcelona, trying to keep the commitment to the max! ahah

Oooh, very cool! We share some tastes in fiction, then! Campbell's is an interesting voice. It's not as bleak or subtle as Ligotti, and it isn't as poetic as Barron. Calling him a contemporary horror author feels like stretching things to me...he's been writing for over fifty years. I'm having trouble remembering where I started with him, but I do know that I started with his short fiction, which I remember preferring to his longer works. It might have been Dark Companions, or possibly Alone With the Horrors: The Great Short Fiction of Ramsey Campbell. I suspect it was probably the latter, but I dunno. I'll have to go back through and read some to refresh my memory. His prose is solid, but what impressed me most about him, when I was blitzing through his stuff, is that he's able to capture the unreliable reality of a descent into madness and paranoia better than anyone else I have ever read. I suppose The Face That Must Die is probably the standout example, though it is a novel. Campbell's mother was schizophrenic and suffered from paranoid delusions. The intimacy with which he depicts characters who slowly lose touch with reality is really something; it lures you along with them gradually enough that you follow the leaps of strange logic that the character makes, and all of it makes total sense...only it's a false kind of sense. Still, it makes the lapse of sanity seem understandable. You get how they got there. I prefer Barron and Ligotti and Ballingrud for the most part because I love lyrical writing, but Campbell is an old master for sure. I had to laugh, because 'funny dead English people' is probably actually a huge genre of its own. Not a narrow field, haha. Er, something modern and in that general direction...Jonathan Strange & Mister Norrell, maybe? As for my jerb, well...I'm writing a book. Trying. I call it a profession because I'm doing it every day to the exclusion of all else, but it feels a bit cart-before-the-horse until somebody buys the thing from me. Still, though! A good reason to wallow in genre fiction. edit: I almost forgot to ask -- what about you? I think I might lose my mind if I had a mandatory reading list that I didn't create myself.

Awesome start and welcome to LST! Advice's and Tips? The back is full of odd surprises... Some spots its ok and one inch to the right just feels all kinds of fucked up :D Nonetheless is all manageable... Just sit, Relax, Breath and accept was coming :)

Name your kid dragon or tiger or panther or rose . Those words would look beautiful as a script tattoo.

Sorry about the filter guys. It was the only online photo I had. I'm going back for another session in 3 more weeks due to my arm swelling up so much it wasn't taking any ink after 4 hours.

Definitely should check out the work of Jeff. Absolute legend!

Shirts are done! I can't 'em 'til tomorrow though but Ross I assume we're a similar size so whatever fits me I'll recommend for you. Stoked to see everyone! Although @dcostello your flight still on time? LGA is closed down til like 7 tonight..

Just booked the final session on my back! March 18th to clean everything up, add more black and detail it out. Several places along my ribs and (UGH) love handles the blue color fell out. I have a problem with some lighter blues. Ironic this is an underwater tattoo, right?

yeah can we get back to fighting about if this tattoo is awesome or not ;)

Hello, new poster here! I'm starting my back with Chad Koeplinger next week, extra super stoked! Last time I got tattooed was a year ago by Zach Nelligan and Joel Madberg Soos.

Somewhat along those lines, I really love the NASA instagram account because they post a lot of really incredible photos and they also explain what's happening in them. They posted a picture a couple of weeks ago from the Hubble of gravitational lensing, which is spacetime being warped around galaxy clusters because of their immense gravitational pull, and if I can massively understate things, it is really fucking cool. There are a bunch of other good space-related instagram accounts too. The International Space Station is worth following, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is cool, and there's a great account of pictures taken by the Hubble though I don't think it's an official account. So much great stuff out there.

Ah, there it is...the opinion that validates yours. If you don't like it (and it seems like its pretty clear WHAT you don't like about it) why ask around about opinions? I don't mean this to be harsh, but maybe this style of tattoo isn't for you? It's been my experience with larger work that there will be differences between the original drawing and the final tattoo application. They are, after all, two very different things. If you go in being dead-set on every detail and line I think it's a pretty sure bet your expectations will be different than the outcome. I think the impact and overall effect are much more important, but that's me. Not to say you shouldn't feel like you can (and should) get what you want, but with something that large and involved it's unlikely that any drawing will be a perfect transfer into the tattoo. As mentioned above, extend it up! With more coverage, the over-all impact will become the focal point, not some minuscule details that only you (the wearer) will notice because you have the opportunity to obsess about it. Just some guy on the internet's $0.02

Whew. Side of knee done yesterday by Kevin Collins at Vanness & Fellows in Raleigh. I can't say enough about Kevin, Mark, and AJ. One of the nicest tattoo experiences I have ever had.

I had the seventh session on my back yesterday and we finally started in on the colour and crushed the tiger. There's still a bit of shading to do in the water, and we're still figuring out what to do with the snake with regard to scales or patterns, colours, etc., as well as what colours to do the maples, but I am super stoked on the progress we're making.

Session 2 done yesterday, plenty left to do but its crazy how different it looks from the end of the 1st session. Borrowed this pic from Marius' instagram page. Started with the fine line scales on the snake, then the black in the skull and finally some colour on the snake. All told it was probably 5 - 5.5 hours this time around.

This is a really cool thread and I've really enjoyed reading people's responses. I haven't been getting tattooed that long, but it's been long enough and heavily enough that I find it difficult to make a clear distinction between myself and my tattoos anymore because they're such a huge part of my life and my experience. With that said, here's some cool stuff: Travel. I think one of the greatest things about getting tattooed, and especially by getting tattooed by a lot of people who don't work in my city, is how much traveling I've done to get tattooed, and how it's made travel to seem like a much easier and much more doable thing than it did prior to traveling to get tattooed. Going to New York City seemed like a somewhat daunting trip before; now I realize that it's an easy 7-8 hour drive down a pleasant stretch of the I-87 and can be a weekend trip. While I was working on my sleeve and @Pugilist was working on her back, I think we made five or six trips between Montreal and NYC in a year, and that was unthinkable before tattoos became a priority. If it wasn't for Electric Tattoo in Bradley Beach (now Asbury Park) I never would have considered visiting that part of the Jersey Shore, or probably the Jersey Shore at all, but it was great and I'd love to go back. Barcelona is a great place no matter what, but getting a little tattoo from El Monga when I was there this summer made that wonderful city that little bit better. One of my first thoughts when hearing about a place I haven't been before is figuring out who tattoos there, because tattoos make the best souvenirs. Art. I've always been interested in art, always drawn to some extent or another, always made a point of visiting museums to look at art, I read about it, and so on, but tattooing has really helped me to broaden my perspectives on art. I would guess that I'm not that different than many of you in that it was really punk rock and skateboarding that exposed me to the first art that really blew my mind. That Corey O'Brien reaper deck Jim Phillips drew is my favorite thing ever and has been since I saw it in ads in Thrasher magazine in I guess the late 80s and early 90s. Those Pushead graphics on those Zorlac decks in that same era; the cover art for the Noise Forest skate rock tape, that stuff all still rules. I'm probably not the only person here who was first exposed to Scott Sylvia not through anything tattoo related, but through the H2O album cover he did. My first encounter with Dan Higgs had nothing to do with tattoos, but was through Lungfish. And somehow despite all that, I guess I still thought that art was something that hung in galleries and museums and spaces like that, and that the illustrations on record covers, skateboards, t-shirts, comics, and so on, were something different entirely. It sounds really lame typing this out, but tattooing has really helped me to see all of this stuff as legitimate forms of artistic expression, and that it's totally as acceptable to be in awe of a Greg Irons illustration as it is to be in awe of a Rembrandt painting. I have plenty of time for both of those. I really love that interview Ed Hardy did of Mike Malone in Bulls Eyes and Black Eyes where Rollo talks about coming from the New York art scene, doing projections and shit like that, and then eventually coming around to imagery that really blew his mind from his childhood, like biker patches and stuff like that. I get where he's coming from there. Tattoos have also made me really appreciate technique and craft. Lately, and this is in a roundabout way coming from seeing Shawn Barber's paintings, I've come to really like realism in art, especially as it contrasts with super conceptual stuff that isn't about skill or technique at all. I have absolutely zero interest in realistic tattoos though. Body image. Now the thing that I like least about my body is the amount of open skin I have left. Not that I'm in a rush to cover it all right away, because I want to get tattooed for a long time to come. Spirituality. We've talked a lot about meditation on here, but I think beyond that there's something spiritual (maybe you'd choose a different word, but I'm using spiritual) about tattoos. I don't mean in a direct way, like tattoos of crosses and Jesus heads or Buddhist iconography or whatever, but more about the way that tattooing seems to be a fundamental human drive. When I was getting my arm worked on there was a moment in a lengthy and brutal session where I was laying on the table, I could smell my own blood from the work that had been done on my shoulder, and there was this sudden understanding of how weird the whole thing was: I was there bleeding and in pain, totally voluntarily, and paying somebody a lot of money that I had worked hard for to do this to me. It isn't behavior that is entirely rational; that's part of the appeal of it. Before having experiences like this I was a lot more of a rational and logical person and getting tattooed has opened me up to the possibility that we don't always do things for easily explainable and comprehensible reasons. I think that's a positive thing, personally.

posted this in the latest tattoo thread but it looks like it belongs here as well Chad Koeplinger, 6-7 hours in so far two sessions to go.

Quick update of more work from Rubendall on my collaboration backpiece. His attention to detail is fantastic and looking at his water makes me sea sick! More to come before I take a break over the summer. Hope to see Henning soon to continue the upper portion of the backpiece. Enjoy the pics folks. FYI, there's some work that's still healing and of course new work. Will have fully healed pics in a couple of months.