RoryQ

Got this on the back of my knee by Tim Pausinger today at The Pearl Harbour Gift Shop.
I was really surprised that he said he didn't tattoo this before (or anything else on that sheet).
Saw some really cool Bill Baker flash in there of all these different wrestling holds - awesome! If I'm back I'm getting the sleeper hold one for sure.
Most importantly met LSTer @markbee and his wife - really good folks. Next time In in town we'll have a proper coffee / bite to eat ... Although then again can't beat a meet up in a tattoo shop either.

Little Uncle Alan reaper head on the side of my knee.
Really cool shop to get tattooed at- probably the most unique / nicely finished I've seen.

My never-ending front piece by Tomo...

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

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

Finished my sleeve with Mo Coppoletta. He did the upper part of the arm too, a koi, out of shot.

Drove down to Allstar in Limerick for around midday. I had a quick breakfast first and then threw the car on cruise control for the motorway trip down (takes around two hours from Dublin). There's nothing quite like the sensation of speeding down the country knowing that you're on your way to get some (hopefully) world-class tattoos when you actually should be working for The Man and watching the clock hands tick by.
Allstar was the same as when I was there the previous week: Full of guest artists and with a great atmosphere as a result. To be honest I recommend anyone to go there and get tattooed by Ross or one of his guys at any time: You'll enjoy looking at the amazing flash and art collection on the walls if nothing else. Everything from Smith Street / Frank Carter / Nick Colella sheets to one-off signed pieces by many of the greats.
Fortified with a large americano I ended up getting tattooed by Chad first, who rapidly elected to do one of the two ideas I had come with: A rock of ages on the back of my leg. I gave him a free hand and you can see the results further down my post. I'm super pleased with this, I feel like he got all of the elements I like about the ROA motif and managed to somehow get them into a leg piece without having it feel crammed.
Next up was Oliver Peck, rubbing his hands and querying what I wanted on my other foot (he had tattooed a panther head on the other one the year before). I had originally thought a matching cat head, but he pointed out that really so long as it was the same size I could get something else if I wanted. Taking the hint, I mentioned that I'd always wanted an anvil tattoo, and suggested putting that over some flowers. We chucked around some other ideas, but he seemed stoked to do the anvil so in no time at all I was in the chair for the second time and getting zapped once more.


The mismatched size of the images in this post reflects my complete lack of technological know-how, sorry. I tried to get my own photo of the ROA but I practically pulled a muscle trying to get a decent shot of the back of my leg. As a result I've stolen the pic Chad put up on instagram, which is not ideal, but hey - at least it's my leg, right? It's just a pity my calves are so skinny... Years of squatting and you wouldn't know to look. I heard Arnold Schwarzenegger had the same problem in his early days.

Just back from two days under the needle. The artist was Ching, from Taiwan (as you can probably see from his watermarking of the photos). He's guesting at White Dragon Tattoo in Belfast along with his buddy Yang.
Got to do the left arm when they come back next year...

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Overall a not bad couple of days. The outline and black background was relatively straightforward (on Monday). Yesterday ended up taking 7-8 hours, I think underestimated how much detail was involved in the buddha and hannya details.

Chris Smith (Deluxe Tattoo) did this on me a little over two weeks ago... More or less healed now, bar some of the red on the kneecap still being a little raised up.

Well, I'm just back from Chicago after an overnight flight.
Went to bed for a few hours but feeling pretty wrecked. But probably not as wrecked as the couple who were sitting a row away from me on the plane and were traveling with a 2 year old. This kid must have made a pact with himself at the beginning of the flight, and been like 'dude, this is my first time on the aeroplane, I ain't going to sleep - hell no!'. Which was grand for the first five or six hours but by the end of the flight he was so hysterical with tiredness that he's gone completely apeshit. I think if he were an adult he would have been tied up with seatbelts. He went full on exorcist, getting sick, throwing milk bottles, slapping his mom and flipping a tray of food over his sister. It was awesome in that (1) I wasn't trying to sleep (2) he wasn't my kid (3) he didn't target me with any thrown objects. Seriously though, I felt sorry for his parents- you can see how people get worn down and end up doing something counterproductive out of frustration in that situation.
Anyway, babbling slightly here.
The tattoo-related news is that my right knee is all done by Chris Smith at Deluxe Tattoo. It's trad style, it looks to be healing well and I'll get the obligatory pic up in a couple of days when it's settled down (it was done on Friday).
This is a bit random, but they've got one of the coolest signs hanging outside of any shop I've been in:-

I'm going to post up in one of the aftercare threads also, about an aftercare approach based on a product that was new to me- tegaderm. Pretty interesting stuff.

Oliver Peck panther head.
I heard on Thursday that he was in Dublin (in Tommy's Classic Ink) for one day only, and taking walk-ins. Took a half-day's leave from work and... Bob's your uncle...
This morning it's not that swollen, but it does appear to be weeping a fair bit - to do with the location, I guess?
While I was in the shop I met Ross Nagle and Jordan from Frith Street very briefly.

I think this is more or less healed up. Bit of a rubbish photo but I'm only using the Mac. Got to get a proper pic later to forward onto Ching.
The last session (face and headpiece) has settled down and blended in with the rest. And yes, I really am this pale.
Over the rest of the year I am looking at a couple of smaller traditional pieces on my right leg, and then sometime towards the end of the year I am going to try and sleeve the rest of my right arm with Ching - got a design planned out already.

I finally got around to sorting pictures of my chest - these were done in February / March of this year so I'm not sure if they count as 'latest tattoo lowdown' material though...


This oni head, also by Mo, is older, but I didn't have a pic of it until now.

It's funny, when I look at this picture I don't so much see the tattoo as all the bare skin below it, and I think 'damn, better bring that down the arm'.

Of course I'm glad tattoos hurt: I agree it's an integral part of keeping them for the dedicated only... Willing to sit and take it for the lifetime reward of the tattoo.
But...
I got to admit that I stopped philosophising too earnestly about the educational or self improving nature of the pain the time I got my front lined out. It wasn't a relevatory experience for me ... I just felt like I got carved up! I guess I found my personal tipping point that day.
Small tattoos, or decent pieces most places on the body... I can grin and bear it and, yes, I probably learned a thing or two about managing pain mentally. Even my back piece was pretty Ok.
But a really long sessions on a sensitive place like the torso or ribs... mostly just makes me miserable end of story. Can't make a purse from a sow's ear.

I think the answer to your question is in how you're defining a backpiece. Yes, if it's a traditional style japanese piece that goes from neck to knees then it might easily take up to 100 hours.
However, what if it's american traditional or a smaller japanese-style piece that only goes to the waist? That'll take a significant amount of time off. If it's black and grey, or has a significant amount of negative space, then even more. I think my backpiece would fit into this category - it took around 25 hours (OK, maybe 25-30...) :-

This backpiece, by Xam (The Family Business Tattoo, London) was done in 16 hours:-

Now that does blow my mind. Similarly, I've seen other backpieces on that scale banged out in short spaces of time, attributed to people like Filip Leu.

Chris Smith, Deluxe Tattoo in Chicago. The ship itself was done last year, just finished the background and flowers this time around ... Last Thursday.

For me the kind of realistic tattoo that appeals is black and grey stuff that doesn't go too far into the hyper-realism end of things (you know, that looks not just photographic but almost goes further, with the really crazy light effects).
Jose Lopez, Chuey Quinatar... Some of the crazy Mexican bandits in front of trains, goddesses, human sacrifices, Virgin and Jesus etc.
I like looking at the religious stuff in general, or big epic myths and legends pieces like you see some of the Eastern Europeans do.
Think these are both Zsolt Sarkozi (Hungary). Love this stuff.

I can identify with what you're saying ... although maybe it's a *bit* harsh.
However, everyone starts somewhere. Maybe that person with the feather turning into a flock of birds will go on a tattoo journey and finish up with a Filip Leu bodysuit. Stranger things have happened.

@spookyluke : This just isn't a forum that showcases DIY tattoos. The mission statement pretty much implicitly states that on the front page.
It's really more for celebrating the 'master master' guy$.
(In fairness, this guy is less crazy than others who have turned up of late.)

I think I'm starting to like the new drama-filled LST. It's like a dive bar, every evening a new bust-up.

Of course I'm glad tattoos hurt: I agree it's an integral part of keeping them for the dedicated only... Willing to sit and take it for the lifetime reward of the tattoo.
But...
I got to admit that I stopped philosophising too earnestly about the educational or self improving nature of the pain the time I got my front lined out. It wasn't a relevatory experience for me ... I just felt like I got carved up! I guess I found my personal tipping point that day.
Small tattoos, or decent pieces most places on the body... I can grin and bear it and, yes, I probably learned a thing or two about managing pain mentally. Even my back piece was pretty Ok.
But a really long sessions on a sensitive place like the torso or ribs... mostly just makes me miserable end of story. Can't make a purse from a sow's ear.

Of course I'm glad tattoos hurt: I agree it's an integral part of keeping them for the dedicated only... Willing to sit and take it for the lifetime reward of the tattoo.
But...
I got to admit that I stopped philosophising too earnestly about the educational or self improving nature of the pain the time I got my front lined out. It wasn't a relevatory experience for me ... I just felt like I got carved up! I guess I found my personal tipping point that day.
Small tattoos, or decent pieces most places on the body... I can grin and bear it and, yes, I probably learned a thing or two about managing pain mentally. Even my back piece was pretty Ok.
But a really long sessions on a sensitive place like the torso or ribs... mostly just makes me miserable end of story. Can't make a purse from a sow's ear.

Coming through airport security yesterday one of the security guards had a long (favourable) chat about my tattoos.
He said he had a couple but was too afraid of the pain to get more.
Then he explained that he got the tattoos after he got paralysed in a car accident and then beat the doctor's diagnosis that he probably would never walk again (!!!).
I was like "dude, I think you could handle it" (He laughed).
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Coming through airport security yesterday one of the security guards had a long (favourable) chat about my tattoos.
He said he had a couple but was too afraid of the pain to get more.
Then he explained that he got the tattoos after he got paralysed in a car accident and then beat the doctor's diagnosis that he probably would never walk again (!!!).
I was like "dude, I think you could handle it" (He laughed).
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Ask Chris his view - he has a lot of international clients and probably has fielded this kind of query before.
I left work covered for 10+ hours flying home from Japan but that's not the same as 30 hours obviously...
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