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after almost 7 years of getting tattooed i just finally got my FIRST eagle the other day... thanks to tony sellers while he was guest spotting @ tattoo marks for the week.

I got this done by Jonas Nyberg at the Helsinki ink convention at the end of march and finally got my gf to get a decent photo of it so here it is!

Finally I have something new to report. Let's see if I remember how to post a pic. I got this little clipper while on a trip to Amsterdam (which was rad, as one might imagine). The shop, Tattoo Peter (named for its founder) is the oldest shop in Amsterdam established in 1955 and in its current location since 1977. Cool little shop with walls lined with amazing old flash. My artist, Bill Loika, is a super cool laid back dude from the US now living in Amsterdam. I had a goal to get tattooed by someone older than I am which is becoming increasingly difficult ;) Mission accomplished ! Bill is still in the game at 66. Awesome! The pic is of the fresh tattoo. Healing this sucker has been a bitch for some reason. I'm kinda bummed that the detail of the Dutch flag has yet to reveal itself. Fingers crossed. The design is from Tattoo Peter flash from the 60's. Also a pic of Bill with old Tattoo Peter flash in the background. Sideways pics dammit ! Apologies...[ATTACH=CONFIG]12615[/ATTACH]

more work done tonight. next appt is the end of June. The frog is getting redone in this go 'round-he's kinda old (15 years or so I think) so he would look out of place I thought.

you want to be 100% shitless during the ass sessions.

Can we all take a quick second to appreciate how awesome @Iwar's @livedintattoos account it?

I started following a couple people I found with the #lastsparrow tag, hope you guys don't mind. :)

I hate to be that guy who double posts but I was told that the recent tattoo pics are supposed to go in this thread compared to the upcoming tattoos thread haha. Here is a pic of my tattoo I got on Sunday from Nik Moore at Scarab Body Arts in Syracuse, NY.

Welp, I booked my first appointment (July 14) to start a full back piece with Kelly Edwards today ( https://instagram.com/kellyedwardstattoo ). I'm 56% so excited I probably won't sleep until the appointment, 44% scared shitless. I have a lot of general ideas for potential incorporation, but I feel like I'm going to annoy the poor man to death. Most painful place I've been tattooed so far is collarbone and near the nipple... so this should be a riot.

Anyone who follows me on Instagram has seen this, but here's a little teaser shot of my arm from Grez. I said from the beginning that I wasn't going to post progress shots much because I love that feeling of just seeing the whole completed piece, and I'm amazed I mostly stuck to that. Haha. Now that next month is likely the last sitting, I can see end in sight and can't wait to share it.

Just to further pipe up on the whole all is brutal commentary. Finished shading my ass and right thigh on Saturday. Currently still dreading sitting, then standing, or going to the bathroom. Have fun!

This is so true! The ass is a brutal place to get tattooed. So glad I never have to go through that again!!

The situations when being around kids are the hardest. I was almost always shunned by other parents in every situation involving my kids and social interaction. It always took a while for other parents to get to know me before they stopped rushing in to rescue their kids from the "weird tattooed guy". Although I had tattoos for 10-12 years before my kids were born, it still took me some time to adjust to strong/negative reactions I got from other parents. The strangest thing anyone has ever said to me regarding tattoos was "you must be so sad every day that you ruined your life with all those tattoos"....... my reply was a surly, "yes, I asked our lord and savior to forgive me everyday, please pray for my soul" as she was clearly a religious kook... Even though I'm not from a small town, it was still rough in the late 80's, early 90's having a lot of tattoos. Rough as far as stares/comments and general disdain for "my kind".. I was a delivery driver for a beverage company for many years and my company thought it was a great idea to send the 6'3" long haired tattoo guy to all the worst, inner city stops they had. Their reasoning was "he won't upset the upscale store owners and who will mess with him in the bad areas?" It suited my personality, so it didn't take long to adapt. I think the people in the inner city areas were baffled by my tattoos but pretty quick to accept me as they knew what it was like to be outcast too... At one point, I got so sick of answering the same 3-4 questions I got asked 1000x a day, I had business cards made to give to people instead of having the same exhausting discussion over and over. They said: TATTOOS....YOU BET!!! a: Yes, they're real !!! a:Yes, they're permanent !!! a:Yes, it hurt !!! a: No, I don't regret a single one !!! The back of the card had a rant about "if the card didn't answer all your questions, see a reputable tattoo shop near you" and the quote "the only difference between tattooed people and non- tattooed people is tattooed people don't care if YOU have tattoos or not" Anyway, I don't get as much attention now-a-days now that plenty of younger people have hands/feet/necks/faces tattooed and every pop star and NBA player is fully tattooed!

@xcom can I ask why you're hashtagging pictures of your grocery shopping with #lastsparrow?

Tattoo by Eckel - - - Updated - - - Tattoo by Chris ODonnell

I think it's common for people to get "problem areas" tattooed to help them like those body parts more. I personally have never thought a tattoo made a certain part of the body look worse, if anything, it's a huge distraction from flaws. If you want it on your foot, go for it.

I don't have the slimmest of ankles, either, and that's where I got my first tattoos - on both of them. I urge you not to judge yourself, or label your body parts with pejoratives, lol, and simply get a tattoo where you feel led to get on placed. I knew my first tattoos were meant to go on my ankles, though I have no real explanation for why, and that's what I did. I even got my tattoos circumferentially around each ankle, which, if you listen to the style gurus, cuts off your leg and makes short legs look shorter (not supposed to wear ankle straps on shoes, for instance). To hell with that crap! Ignore our image-obsessed culture and do what you like, and get a tattoo that YOU like.

I forgot I made this embarrassing post! Thank you all for the encouragement and positive vibes :) I like the idea of trying henna first to see what it might look like. The foot/ankle would be the most all-year-round visible spot I'd have a tattoo, so I am having more than my normal amount of anxiety over placement. Alternatively, I'm also considering the back of my upper left arm (above the elbow) for this piece (a fox head and some patterned bits around it). I'm so terrible with decisions -- especially about tattoo placement. I've been looking at pictures of tattooed people on the internet for weeks now, trying to get a feel for how tattoos look in certain spots on the body. Classic overthinker, right here. Thanks again for the indulgence, guys! You really are the best. - - - Updated - - - Picture! :) And thank you for the encouragement!

@keepcalm, I have fugly feet. Imagine Hobbits and The Beast from the X-Men movies. Didn't even occur to me when I got my feet tattooed. I just wanted to get tattooed. I think you'll be fine. As what is usually said, get what you want. I'm sure you'll love it. Tip, when you do get it, keep your feet elevated and take willow bark capsules to help reduce swelling.

By Tim Pausinger, Pearl Harbor Giftshop, Toronto. I don't have experience with the most painful spots (ribs, back, butt). This was not as brutal as I expected but certain spots closer to the armpit felt like hot pokers up and out through my shoulder haha !

My back is feeling pretty raw oooof. I've used a light hit of A&D 3 times in the last week. Dry heal FTW ! My backpiece is near completion, which is a rewarding feeling as I could use some relief from constantly healing tattoo. Starting to feel like a reptile !

Just got home with this one. Still swollen...

Hard to get a good picture of the elbow. Done by Chad Koeplinger last night!

Session 3 done, backpiece done (although we have already talked about adding background - my bank account and body both screamed in unison). Such a cool experience, i've met some awesome people, had some great times and i've come out of it with a tattoo that i have to keep reminding myself is actually mine. To think that 6 months ago there was nothing, it's crazy! Already posted in the latest tattoo thread but i had to bring it to my chums in the backpiece thread! I now looking forward to sitting back and seeing what the rest of you guys are getting, bring em on!

Gotcha.

I don't have thick ankles particularly, but I do have pretty beefy calves. They're just very, very muscular, to the extent that I don't often fit into zip-up knee-high boots (which sucks, because I love themmmmmmm). I used to worry about this kind of thing with shoe choice. Can I wear the boots with the big piece in front? What about booties in general? Won't that make my leg look wide all the way down? I don't really worry about this anymore. If you look happy in what you're wearing, people roll with it. If you look uncomfortable and nervous, they notice. There is no substitute for genuine joy. Plus, I second the person above who said that tattoos can be transformative! Mine made me love my fat upper arm long before I started getting back into shape.

Heading to Oakland, California to see Freddy Corbin at Temple tattoo to get inked for our 25th wedding anniversary. Appointment is noon, Tuesday. Daniel Higgs did the original wedding tattoos at Realistic Studio in San Francisco and Freddy was in the shop watching and making comments while he was doing us. Daniel doesn't do tattoos any more. So our first choice is Freddy to keep spiritual continuity. The wife and me are getting a "25-XXV added somewhere . I am also getting a "Dragon" mixed into it... I'll keep you up to date. :cool:

I went the superhero route not only because I like comics, but I felt that while some people be be anti-tattoo, how can you not like superheros. Typically if I'm wearing a tank top showing tattoos, it will be accompanied by superhero themed clothing along with my 2 young sons also wearing superhero themed clothes. I guess in my mind I feel more like a nerd than a thug. My last outing was at a 5K with the family and I had several people ask me about the tattoo and wanted to take pictures.

@daveborjes tight crucified skin tattoo, i'm following you now bud

#daveborjesisabigmeanie

i fucking love everything about that post.

I do everyday in Instagram, Called likes and when I get a chance I spun a comment. :)

Ive talked to taneli several times while at the shop and hes a cool guy, and i fully plan to get something from him at some point Thanks again to everyone for the warm welcome to the site! I've been busy and not posting much at all but i got my gf to take some pictures so heres one of that rooster.

That is shite :( sorry to hear that. Especially when it's an old friend, but at same time a friend should accept you for who you are. Even though if they don't fully understand why or even what, you get tattooed. And at the end of the day, your body, you're not hurting anyone (well maybe yourself :p lol) but hopefully you get my meaning. Just my 2d's worth. My co-workers (including bosses and big boss of dept), don't understand why am so heavily tattooed, or why I keep going. Same with my friends. But, they all accept me for me. Maybe it's 'cause I really don't give a flying fuck what any of them think about my tattoos, means I get that reaction? *Shrugs* Don't let them drag you down.

I hope this is okay to post here but here is a pic of my first tattoo that I got yesterday! I am beyond happy about it and thought that the process of getting it was not bad at all. Here is a link to the guy who tattooed me because I feel he needs to be recognized for his work! https://nicholasrobertmoore.wordpress.com/ Let me know what you guys think of my tattoo everyone.

@jnin really? I've had opposite reaction when my legs are on show. I've had parents stop me and, say stuff like "do you mind stopping and showing my daughter/son your tattoos?" Or sometimes esp in places like shopping centres (you call them malls I believe in the states), where children are running around they stop and talk to me or just stare fascinated. Then parents come up and apologise, I just laugh and, say it's cool. Maybe it's because Belfast (where I get tattooed), really doesn't give a fuck about whether your tattooed or not? I've never had a parent move their child like that. Have this lovely sweet story, when was on way to get the Giger portrait done, walked through shopping centre. And this 4yr old was running from parents and just stopped dead in front of me. Started at the Oni Mask, he was properly transfixed. His mother asked if I could follow them around all day, because it was the quietest he's ever been :D That made me smile.

yeah i get comments now and again - i think though that people that hate on tattoos or tattooed people are typically haters in general and thus...not worth my time

part 2 of of my Marvel Avengers themed tattoos by Clint Cummings. Still a bit swollen, but decent quality pic

Did you ever have the chance to get work done by someone and passed it up for one reason or another? You shake your head in disgust every time you think about it? I don't mean a wishlist, but actual stories of the one that got away. Mine was Ed Hardy around 1992 @ Tattoo City. I had already traveled out to S.F. twice and had work done by Eddy Deutsche, Dan Higgs and guest artist Henk Schiffmacher. Both times I hung around the shop for 2-3 days solid and stayed with Eddy and Alex Herman. Saw my first lungfish show then too.... The third time I went out to get work done by Marcus Pacheco and have Eddy finish my sleeve, Ed was around the shop for a couple days, which i hadn't seen on my previous visits. I asked Eddy to introduce me if possible. He did, and told Ed I was his old (Eddy's) friend from "the mean streets of Detroit" which wasn't really true. Ed was cordial but all business as he looked up for a second, shook my hand, and went back to his business. I mentioned to him "I would love to get some work done" by him and I was travelling to S.F. a couple times a year to get tattooed. Eddy told me "every once in a while, Ed will come in a do a few walk ins and leave. As I was staying with Eddy, I got invited to go to the movies "with a bunch of guys from the shop". That night Eddy and I went and met Corbin, Higgs, Igor Mortis and a few others at the theater to see American Me. As we were hanging around outside bullshitting, Ed Hardy walks up and we all go in and see the movie. The next day, As Eddy was finishing my sleeve, I noticed Ed in the shop again. I went out of my way to say Hi when he came over to see what Eddy was doing. He was polite and hung around for a few minutes,then vanished. Later, when we were done, I saw Ed again. This time he said to me " I have some time later (when he got back from an errand or something) if you wanna get tattooed". I nearly shit myself..... I said, I would talk to him when he got back.... I was simultaneously flustered/excited/nervous. This was my shot to get tattooed by one of the greats and I had almost NO MONEY! I had already withdrawn all the money in my bank account and my 1 credit card was maxed. I asked Eddy if he would give me back the money I just paid him with the promise i would repay him in a week or two with interest..he said No, he needed what I paid him. I called my mom to wire me money and was again told "NO"! When Ed got back to the shop, I had to embarrassingly tell him "thanks. but can't do it this time". I told him I would be out again and would DEFINITELY love to get some work done. He smiled and said "nice meeting you". well, you can guess the rest.......... Share your stories about the one(s) that got away!

I don't think I posted the lithograph I bought from Trevor/Ed at last year's London convention. But here it is - Nurse Mercy.

I forget what happened to inspire the remark, but at some point I cracked a joke about my arms being ripped off, and my friend said 'hopefully not the expensive one.' It was the first time I realized that one of my arms is actually worth more than the other one. What a strange thought.

@Suiren - you need to stop controlling the tattoo process down to every last detail. Knowing or not knowing what type of needle you need to make the tattoo you want will make no difference in the end - except to piss off your tattooer for being an overly controlling customer who has no idea what they are talking about. Either go to a tattoo artist you feel comfortable working with, and trusting said artist, or don't get the tattoo. This boils down to 1. going to a good tattoo artist, and 2. trusting that your good tattoo artist will give you a tattoo. Without either of those things in place, the last piece (your tattoo) will fail.

I know it's hard to not think like this especially if you are new to getting tattooed or prone to getting star-struck (me), but you shouldn't! Tattooers are just people with a specialized skill set. We owe our lives to the clients and have no valid reason to think that we are better than you. Don't get tattooed by people who think that you owe them something, can't stress that enough. You will find that the more you get tattooed, the experience is just as important as the art. Get tattooed by people who not only do awesome work, but who are friendly and humble people that you will want to spend however many hours in close proximity with. If you aren't comfortable in your tattooer's presence, you probably shouldn't get tattooed by that person. Hope that helps :)

LM Knight's the fricken man. Would love to get tattooed by that guy. - - - Updated - - - Posted this one in another thread, but here's mine by Jay Watkins: [/img] And some other's he's done: https://instagram.com/p/z4CDJrDIIF/?taken-by=jay_blkmgc https://instagram.com/p/zi_V1njINt/?taken-by=jay_blkmgc https://instagram.com/p/zTYmptjILw/?taken-by=jay_blkmgc

Dan Sinnes

Got this done by Steve Byrne at Rock of Ages the other night.

fresh right inner bicep Thou Shalt Hustle! :cool:

I had the pleasure of meeting Matt Gone aka Checkerboard Man recently at the Edmonton Tattoo Show. He was super friendly, charming and with a nice dose of crazy...I mean who isn't crazy to go the lengths we all do to get the tattoos we want to express ourselves! I recall reading about Matt Gone in the early stages of my tattoo journey, I think it was an interview in Skin & Ink and he was on the cover (I was/am really into ska so I was stoked on anything checkered haha). That led to find out more about the checkered fellow and I found his stories, tattoos and motivation to extensively tattoo his body inspiring. It showed me what was possible with tattoos. It also echoe'd my sentiments about tattooing as a way to express myself, assert control over my body and love myself. I also liked how he wasn't simply a circus freak but a dude who was stoked on tattoos and committed to the process, working hard to reach his tattoo goals, no matter how insane they may appear to the average plainskin and tattooed individual alike. Here's a really cool article about Matt Gone where he talks about his tattooers...he's had some heavyweights do his tattoos like Stell (!), Roy Boy, Sailor Moses, Gil Monte...list goes on. https://www.bigtattooplanet.com/features/artist-profile/an-interview-with-matt-gone I really appreciated how candid Matt was about his tattoos and stories. As well as how encouraging he was to get people to strip down, not be shy to show off our tattoos. It was a tattoo convention after all! I connected with him on facebook this week. I guess one of the event organizers was there when I stripped down to a smile and got this photo taken with him. That exchange along with the spectacle we had at Matt's booth with my buddies with the Paul Jeffries works, had the organizers hire/invite Matt Gone to upcoming Alberta tattoo events. This was his first time in Canada and now has more visits planned for the future. more info (NSFW) MATTGONE.NET - - - Updated - - - still buzzing from the exchange I had with him, really fun

Great Flying Spaghetti Monster, Jondix's stuff is out of control.

Continued....(I promise this will be the last installment) So the wife is obviously feeling pressure from her social and career circles to be something she isn't. Like I mentioned earlier, I've been flying the middle finger at "normal" society for so long, it's almost cliché. Her and I have a pretty long history together at this point so I may not get a pat on the back and the "I'm proud you have so MANY tattoos", but I at least still feel, she's got my back. My kids are shaken by it but they have so many other friends in and outside of school, the sting only last temporarily. Just from the sheer osmosis of seeing their parents be proud to be who they are ( I assume), they quickly adopt the "I don't have time for people that don't like me " credo. I'm proud they're our kids and think this will pass and give them good fundamentals about real life. My wife seems to get over it too, but in a more therapeutic, cry with your friends type of way. We talk about it and she agrees that "some people just suck" regardless of the reason they chose to take it out on you..... Even though we come to an agreement that tattoos weren't the root cause of all this dumb school crap, I tell her that I will be on my best "tattoo behavior" when the need arises, like her formal work events or anytime she thinks I should cover up. As I said earlier, the whole time we've been together, I haven't gotten tattooed or really expressed any burning desires to. There was casual mentions of eventually getting more work done, but nothing definite or planned. So out of nowhere I get the "have you ever thought of getting tattoos removed" question. In my mind, life has been going well and all the perceived craziness about tattoos causing social damage in my families life, is in the past. As I mentioned, I was pretty upset and hurt by the question. It wasn't like my tattoos were done by some lousy scratcher or in a Russian prison, my tattoos were well done, colorful, and with the exception of the "death before suck-ass" dagger, appropriate. My wife tried to explain all of the reasons that she thought it would be a good idea, most of which, had something to do with social situations. I always had an answer to her concerns... Q;What if there's a formal party? A: I'll wear a tuxedo and look more handsome than I already am! (jokingly) Q:what if we have to go to a summer party with my important clients? A: I'll wear white pants and a blazer (like Thurston Howell) Q: what if it's a swim party? A: I won't swim (tell them I can't), just stand back and watch. You get the idea...... I told my wife in no uncertain terms, I'm more likely to cut off my legs than get the tattoos removed. She didn't like the answer but knew she couldn't reasonably go any farther with it. She said she was sorry she felt this way, but truly loved me. I said "if you truly love me, you wouldn't feel this way and ask me something so absurd". I was really bummed that the women I had been through so much with, was acting like one of "them"!! I think she had a bit of a crisis over the whole thing, because I think she planned the outcome to end differently and I would just happily agree to remove solid, beautiful tattooing, on a large portion of my body. Thankfully, she talked/cried/drank it out with a group of her close friends that rationally told her she was insane for asking of me what she did. Even people in her own family talked her away from these unrealistic notions and told her how lucky she was to a not be married to a "social automaton" (her aunt said that). She told me " I came to my sense and realized I was way out of line" and thanked me for being a great husband and father, tattoos or not. I was still a little hurt but relieved I didn't have to chop off my legs or get a divorce. This brings us up to 8 months ago.... I decided that the time was right to get more work done. I was sparked by seeing a local artists hand painted flash (included in an art show) in the newspaper. I was nervous, but cautiously approached my wife with the idea. Her reaction was a stern "NO" followed by a short lecture about "haven't we already been through this?". I reminded her that I hadn't been tattooed in well over 18 years and we never specifically discussed this, just causal mentions. I reasoned with her that any tattoo I was going get would not really change anyone's perception of how covered I already was. My left wrist has a Seth Ciferri piece and left forearm is covered by a Dan Higgs piece. other than those, I really wanted to "finish my arm" I told my wife. I also told her this was a good opportunity to get the kids names tattooed on me, something I always wanted to do since they were born. She reluctantly agreed with the stern warning "no hands/face/feet". A week later I was getting tattooed again...... But, I've since expanded our agreement to get "just my arm" to include my chest/pecs and some minor fill-in stuff on my legs.... Ain't life grand:):):):):):):):):) - - - Updated - - - Thanks.. As I said "required" situations like school...jeezus, I would never willing put myself in close proximity with those jackals if it wasn't for the kids. Most of those awful parents have just resurrected their high school clique hierarchy (or lack of) to prove how important they really are. It seems to be quite prevalent in elementary where teachers ask for volunteers and parents spend every non-working moment helicoptering around their kids. luckily middle school teachers want none of this crap (my daughter is already there) an the closest you have to come to any of these stepford mothers, is in the drop off lane... don't get me started on kids sports! Glad to hear there are some "good ones" holding down rationality on this crazy world of elementary schools :) - - - Updated - - - thanks...damn straight, but I've known this all my life. It's just taken my wife a little longer to realize. I hope she doesn't have a change of heart because I gotten and plan on getting some pretty kick-ass work done. Didn't a women chop her husbands penis off as he slept....?