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Original was my first tattoo from 20 years ago. Met with my artist to see what would work. He took several photos, did an outline tracing and committed to drawing what might work. The old dragon was 20 years old and tired. Got it on a business trip in Chicago at the Jade Dragon Tattoo Parlor. At the time a group of young, enthusiastic managers went downtown to see the iconic tattoo shop. 6 of us left with new ink. Many years later, I wanted something new, fresh and keeping with the dragon theme. My artist carefully explained what colors would work, what design would work and the size of the new piece to effectively cover the old work. Little did I know this was going to be a journey, a process and commitment of many months. Once I saw the stencil and the pc screen illustrating the color choices. I decided to take the plunge. First session was about four-five hours for outline work. Second session was the beginning of shading. (4-5 hours) Third Session more color. ( five hours) Fourth Session-almost done ( Was coming down with the flu and getting cold chills and shaking thinking I was getting cold) close to 4 hours.. Have been back for two touch up sessions and have the last one scheduled this week. If you notice the yellow areas in the whiskers and scales between the horns, a little more color saturation is needed to prevent the old image from showing through. Comments-Cover work can be very complex. Its a blend of design, choosing the appropriate colors that will cover light and dark and going larger to find a design that will obscure the old work. It may never be completely invisible, however the focus of the new work will draw the eye away from the previous work. Detailed shading and design is never one and done. Plan on more than visit to get the deep color saturation you desire and to cover the old areas. I waited 30 days in between sessions to allow my skin to heal and allow my artist to see what really needed to be done next. Learned a lot about what after care products I prefer. When doing a lot of shading work, some products with lidocaine do make a difference. While you might not experience the same level of relief on line work. When shading and the pores get opened up..there is a difference. At my age-(56) five hours is longest I can sit. Four hours is much easier. Having a cool artist that understands you and the end goal are very important. I wont be doing any more cover work but I plan on lots more ink. Have had a couple more new pieces since this piece was almost done. Hope this helps those thinking about cover work. My artist explained he would much rather work on a 20 year old piece than one done six months ago. Just one old guys experience.

It seems the key is to keep the area clean. If the area is clean and sealed then no MRSA or anything else nasty will get under or through it. It's used by most hospitals...

So many awesome tattoos here lately, wish my tapatalk likes would show up! I got double teamed on my feet today, Jason Walstrom did the pig while Mimi Wunsch did the rooster. Pics stolen from their IG's. Wasnt as bad as I'd thought it might be beforehand, but definately stung more in a few places than most other spots so far, a bit worse than collarbone, nowhere near as bad the rib cliff. It's gonna be a fun few healing days coming up I'm sure!

Daniel Albrigo, three kings in NYC. Still kind of freaking out

Got this pantherose from Jeff Rassier at Black Heart yesterday. So stoked. If I lived here, I'd get a lot more tattoos a lot more quickly.

I've been on a tattoo hiatus which was supposed to last until October, but this weekend I kinda sorta fell off the wagon... By Nico, Blue Arms Tattoo (photo stolen from his instagram)

Last one by Hugo from Siha Tattoos (barcelona) the pain was bearable and it was about 3 hours of line. shading and colours at the end of the month! Teapot by Mors from Chiale Baby (Lille) and calf by Servadio from AKA London the lettering reads "DOOM"

Yesterday my colleagues client didn't show up on the Rotterdam holland convention. So he wanted to tattoo me instead. I always wanted an Jim Carrey tattoo. 7.5 hours on the upper leg is no joke but I like it. Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met behulp van Tapatalk

I was bored on my lunch break, so my buddy Chris Porter at Alley Cat Tattoo cured what ailed me. Super small and right next to the knee ditch. Sorry for the leftover stencil residue. I like bright shower curtains.

got this from jeff rassier the other day in sf super stoked. super nice guy. go get tattooed by him. oh yeah thanks to hogg and others for telling me to call the shop back coz would not have gotten it if i didn't

got this pretty lady today from timmy tatts.

Navajo style filler by Paul O'Rourke, AllStar Tattoo, from today.

Thanks you everyone, I totally love it! The sternum was an 8 of 10 pain wise wasn't pleasant the nipple was a 10 on a mans scale of pain lol but it only lasted like 10 mins... First day we did only 6 hours as we spent like 4 hours perfecting the picture and stencils and by 6 hours of work it was 1am and my Mrs had had enough so we called it. Second day 14 hours! I am considering lasering y Remis piece as letting carlos do my whole front, we have some great ideas for it and the Remis piece just doesn't fit in

I put this in this months contest thread, but I figured I'd put it here too. It was done by Ron Henry Wells at the Philly convention. Getting tattooed by him was great. He kept yelling at me every half hour or so. Highlights included: "I can't believe you're making me tattoo between Grez and Scott Sylvia!" "Seriously, fuck you." "You know I'm ruining the property value of your leg, right? I mean, I'm gonna put this tattoo here, and next thing you know, bloods and crips will be selling crack on your leg." "Why do you even want to get tattooed by me after these other ones? I should be working at Starbucks, not making tattoos." Dude was hilarious. Anyway, this is healed now, and it definitely fits in and doesn't ruin my leg at all. Haha. He's so self-deprecating, but goddamn if he doesn't just keep killing it. I love almost everything I see him do.

First session of my eagle/rose done this weekend, second session to do the color in a few weeks. Done by Karl Williams. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ron Wells finished this one on me yesterday. It's so beautiful and I couldn't be happier with it:

Just Had the best two days ever, got to hang with some tattoo royalty get tattooed and spend an early Valentine in a cool hotel with my mrs, first I got my thigh / knee Tattood by Tim Hendricks Then I got my side / ribs done by Matt Arriola a day later I'm feeling a bit tender now, but it was totally worth it, pain killers and booze? don't mind if i do :D

Frank Carter, Frith St. He drew this on in quite an awkward space between two pieces on my leg. Super nice guy, had fun getting this one. First time in Frith Street! And I robbed this picture from Frank's Instagram btw

Done by Rev. J.R. out of Vicious Ink in Rochester Hills, Michigan.

Done today by Paul Slifer at Red, Hot and Blue Tattoo in Edinburgh,

...so on wednesday i flew out from germany to poland to meet up with one of my favorites, rich hardy. he started my back piece...and i`am more than glad that i chose him - i`m absolutely in love! one the one hand it was such an amazing and satisfying experience for my mind but on the other hand it was so horrible for my body. i wouldn`t call myself a pussy when it comes to tattooing but this time i was almost ready to start crying and stopping this whole thing; but somehow i made it through. :)

Who: Jamie Greaves What: Awesome snakiness When: Today - 12.13.13 Where: Real Art Tattoo, Leicester, UK. Why: I love snakes...and this is my third snake tattoo. I wanted something traditional and this is my most traditional piece yet. Gotta say though...It hurt like a bitch and I felt like a real pussy for a lot of the time, really struggled to get through it! Hope you guys like! P.S. Photo courtesy of Jamie as well, taken from his instagram.

My two latest lowdowns! Cat-lady by Valerie Vargas at Frith Street Tattoo, and start of tiger and dragon thigh piece by Marius Meyer ( will post a better picture of this later!)

Got to catch up with Austin Maples when he was back in town @ third eye, he squeezed me in for this fun little gap filler, if you are in SF he's at idle hands.

Had a ton of fun at the Lowbrow Tattoo Convention in Killeen this weekend. Met a lot of great people and got some cool tattoos. Devil Head from James Clements Panthgle from James Yocum Tex Avery Whistlin' Wolf from Paco Cendon (Won tattoo of the day on Sat!) I'm happy but I can barely walk today.

Got this from Bailey on Saturday.

Just finished my Jason Reeder owl. :D My picture is awful because it's still shiny/swollen/red, plus I'm bent over upside down trying to get a good angle, it looks slightly distorted here but looks better in person. It's on the side of my leg and the wings wrap onto my shin slightly, so it's tough to get a pic of it all. Jason is awesome to work with and we've already discussed expanding on this piece and having a nocturnal theme around my lower leg. 2 sessions, about 5 hours.

Here is a terrible photo of what I got from Tony Nilsson while at NY Adorned over the weekend. Great dude and a really humble young tattooer. I'm stoked I went and got something from him while he was here in the states. Being that I really don't post all that much I've gotten a little behind, but I have some new stuff from Grez, Steve Boltz, and Bob Roberts that I'll try and get some photos of as well. It's funny because I am not a fan of forums or posting pictures of tattoos online in the slightest, but there is something so enjoyable about this site that I find myself always coming back and wanting to share. The tattoos that have been getting posted all over this forum are really mind blowing. There's too many people to mention, but I've been real jealous lately browsing around. Hopefully, whatever I throw up someone enjoys 1/100th the amount of how I feel about the O'Donnell or Rubendall (just to name a few) pieces that I get to see on here.

Got my last tattoo in September on my ribs in memory of my best friend who passed away last year. Since he was the brother I never had, I wanted something that would make the memory of him last forever. And since we both loved The Perks of being a Wallflower, I got a quote from the movie. The tattoo was done in Jessheim, Norway by Caroline @ Ringerike Tattoostudio, who also did my first tattoo. :) The quote is "And in this moment I swear, we are Infinite."

Tiger kneecap by Destroy Troy. Timeless Tattoo Kansas City, MO This was done earlier this summer. Awesome dude. I cannot wait to get some more work done by him. If you look closely there's a scratch on the bottom right, that happen a week before the tattoo and was not done during the session. Split in to two 2 hour sessions, with a short touch up afterwards. This was taken directly after the second session, I just can't seem to get a better picture than this. I highly suggest getting a tattoo from Troy if you're ever in the KCMO area.

A few more hours put in on my back piece. Also did last night background from under the pits on both side to mid rib cage. All work being done by Rodrigo Melo from Northstar Tattoo NYC. Super stoked at the progress. Mike

got this classic filler from chuck donoghue as a final souvenir from a us-road trip. across the sea i got tattooed by him an stuart cripwell (posted a genie lamp a couple of weeks ago).both experiences and environments were different...but both in a more than positive way!

Hey all! I'm new here and have a initiation thread going. Thought I would kick off my posting here with my latest tattoo, done two days ago at Blue Arms Tattoo in Oslo by Tony Nilsson. I have borrowed the picture from Tony's instagram, which can be found here: Instagram

I had another (relatively small (3.5 hours) session on my Tamatori-Hime sleeve today, we finally got to put some color into it :-) Unfortunatly the octopus will be colored next time, which i think will give a big change as to how everything looks now. And a nice (almost) full body shot :) :

hello! this is my amazing oneshot tiger from Henning Jorgensen! got it done at Royal Tattoo/Helsingör about 6 hours!

Today was the third session on my Tamatori-Hime sleeve/chestpiece. It took 5 hours to put in some background on my upper arm :) (There is some old kanji on my upper arm that's in the process of being covered) And this is the complete picture of how it is now:

A Piece Amy artists wife is doing.. She is amazing

derek noble knee today.

Chris O'Donnell: Blog Chris O'Donnell Tattoo funny enough he just posted a few photos of my hannya sleeve that he finished back in April. going back for one more session to fill in an empty spot on my inner arm.

Got this yesterday at FTW's Owen Jensen flash BBQ party. By Jason Phillips. Got a sweet painting of the design too!

I started a 7/10 sleeve and chest panel with Martin Lacasse about three weeks ago at Olde City. It's a samurai piece based on the Yoshitoshi print below and what he drew up floored me. He did all the line work(a lot) in about 3.5 hours for the first sitting and we just did the first shading session Friday. If I had the money I'd go every couple of days because I'm fiending to see what this looks like completed.

After five months or so of getting tattooed at a more or less sane pace, this month I seem to be returning to full-on insanity. Filled in the gaps on my chest with a pair of butterflies yesterday by Robert Ryan--I really love my tattoos from him, and I love going out to Electric, even if it means braving New Jersey transit.

Holy shit!! Thats so cool! I got a rose yesterday by Joshua at Peoples Art Tattoo in Copenhagen. The banner says mom in danish.

So I'm back from my trip to LA visiting Bryan Burk and Chris Conn :o I had the best holiday of my life in just three days! and here are the results! Panther is by Bryan Burk, Dark Horse Tattoo and The cat-lady is of course by Mr. Conn himself! Best tattoo experience I have had and probably will ever have, he is something special this guy :o

Jason Kelly at Live Free in Atlanta, GA. Nicest dudes. My girl got a sweet hour glass from Miguel O. Back of thigh is by far the worst tattoo pain I've felt. Goes right on to my ass cheek with the tongue, but Jason drew it straight on and was super fast and a true dude to the tradition of tattooing. Walked away with a cool tattoo, some prints from Miguel and a cool ass experience from all of them. Oh yea my appt got delayed because Myke chambers was getting tattooed by Jason. NBD Also, a drunk chick asked to watch me get tattooed so I said yes. She then proceeds to massage me and tries to cop a feel under my shorts all while getting tattooed. Thankfully Jason kicked her out. Fuxking weird

Not sure if this is even kosher but I just saw this on Reddit and had to share here. Dude got the same tattoo that his grandpa got in Pearl Harbor in '42. New one is by Daryl Rodriguez from Hold it Down in Virginia.

I got the opportunity to get tattooed by Stewart Robson while he was up in Scotland for the Scottish Tattoo Convention. After the convention Stewart was tattooing at Lab Monkey Tattoo in Stirling so I travelled through and got this Kitsune mask on my shoulder/chest. This is my second small tattoo from Stewart and I suspect it wont be the last. Edit: sorry the picture is massive but I can't seem to make it smaller...

Hello again! here's a little update after my 2nd session with Valerie at Frithstreet yesterday! One long session left before we finish the first part of my back :D Yay!

Just wondering who this piece is by and is it classed as traditional or new traditional. I love it :)