gougetheeyes

You will look no more "ridiculous" with tattoos than anyone else! Get tattooed, get what you want, fuck the world. I don't tattoo so I can't answer your questions about working with skin and placement but I can't imagine it's that much of an obstacle.
@Shawn Porter posted a video a while back on his OV blog, an awesome awesome Dave Lum video, where his shop helper -- a woman -- was talking about how she hated her legs and her butt. How she was self conscious and never thought she'd get tattooed there, but once she did get some coverage on those areas, she loved them. Maybe the only big folks you're seeing with a significant amount of work have some not-so-great tattoos.. or maybe you're just freaking out cause you've only got one so far. But if you've got the itch, you've gotta scratch it, and everyone else can go to hell. Truly.
Apologies if this was too strongly worded.. I had the night off, some beers were consumed. The only people I don't like with a lot of tattoos are dickheads regardless of their tattoos.

I'll be there. Look for the sketchy kid who probably smells too loud

I can pick you up one since we live in the same area (and I'm pretty sure work in the same area too).
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Battle Royale to pick up a shirt for Ross.

@dcostello totally crazy you're getting on a plane and coming into town for this. And you too @CultExciter, stoked to meet you! We'll have over 50 pieces to bid on, doing a limited run of t-shirts and a limited print run of the piece Nash did for the flyer.
Without getting too long-winded, this project has really picked up steam and it's been a very humbling experience. The response has been incredible.. to see how the tattoo community has gone all in for this, and to see how positive everyone's reaction has been. It's been stressful but super rewarding and I'm already looking ahead to next year, thinking of what else to do, how to improve it... @ShawnPorter had some good ideas, too. Also have to thank @CultExciter once again for helping me out with getting flyers done -- dude, you were a life saver. We've gotten a little press, had a nice little piece up on Inked mag's blog which you can read here. (Disclaimer: didn't realize it was gonna be a straight up Q+A otherwise I would've tried to sound a little more intelligent with the As.)
Attached a few photos for your viewing pleasure for those that don't have Instagram, since most of the online presence has all been through that. T-shirt design by the very talented Matt Arriola, a piece by Tim Hendricks and the last image is by Cheyenne Randall, who goes by Indian Giver on Instagram.. really talented artist who is one of the few non-tattooers that's part of the show. A bunch of you probably know his "shopped tattoos" work that blew up a little last year.. but he's also done some great work with Shepard Fairey and Honor the Treaties, an art advocacy group for issues facing native people. Check those guys out, too, really awesome stuff.
The show is less than a week away so I hope anyone in the area can make it out!

It's been raining here all day and it's only 40 degrees.. The bigger issue is that there hasn't been street cleaning in over a month.. so basically the streets are full of garbage. I parked on a fucking MOUNTAIN of fish spines the other day. It's.. not good. But uh yeah, C'MON BY!!

It's been raining here all day and it's only 40 degrees.. The bigger issue is that there hasn't been street cleaning in over a month.. so basically the streets are full of garbage. I parked on a fucking MOUNTAIN of fish spines the other day. It's.. not good. But uh yeah, C'MON BY!!

I'll be there! I wonder if @ironchef will be there too???

@dcostello totally crazy you're getting on a plane and coming into town for this. And you too @CultExciter, stoked to meet you! We'll have over 50 pieces to bid on, doing a limited run of t-shirts and a limited print run of the piece Nash did for the flyer.
Without getting too long-winded, this project has really picked up steam and it's been a very humbling experience. The response has been incredible.. to see how the tattoo community has gone all in for this, and to see how positive everyone's reaction has been. It's been stressful but super rewarding and I'm already looking ahead to next year, thinking of what else to do, how to improve it... @ShawnPorter had some good ideas, too. Also have to thank @CultExciter once again for helping me out with getting flyers done -- dude, you were a life saver. We've gotten a little press, had a nice little piece up on Inked mag's blog which you can read here. (Disclaimer: didn't realize it was gonna be a straight up Q+A otherwise I would've tried to sound a little more intelligent with the As.)
Attached a few photos for your viewing pleasure for those that don't have Instagram, since most of the online presence has all been through that. T-shirt design by the very talented Matt Arriola, a piece by Tim Hendricks and the last image is by Cheyenne Randall, who goes by Indian Giver on Instagram.. really talented artist who is one of the few non-tattooers that's part of the show. A bunch of you probably know his "shopped tattoos" work that blew up a little last year.. but he's also done some great work with Shepard Fairey and Honor the Treaties, an art advocacy group for issues facing native people. Check those guys out, too, really awesome stuff.
The show is less than a week away so I hope anyone in the area can make it out!

@dcostello totally crazy you're getting on a plane and coming into town for this. And you too @CultExciter, stoked to meet you! We'll have over 50 pieces to bid on, doing a limited run of t-shirts and a limited print run of the piece Nash did for the flyer.
Without getting too long-winded, this project has really picked up steam and it's been a very humbling experience. The response has been incredible.. to see how the tattoo community has gone all in for this, and to see how positive everyone's reaction has been. It's been stressful but super rewarding and I'm already looking ahead to next year, thinking of what else to do, how to improve it... @ShawnPorter had some good ideas, too. Also have to thank @CultExciter once again for helping me out with getting flyers done -- dude, you were a life saver. We've gotten a little press, had a nice little piece up on Inked mag's blog which you can read here. (Disclaimer: didn't realize it was gonna be a straight up Q+A otherwise I would've tried to sound a little more intelligent with the As.)
Attached a few photos for your viewing pleasure for those that don't have Instagram, since most of the online presence has all been through that. T-shirt design by the very talented Matt Arriola, a piece by Tim Hendricks and the last image is by Cheyenne Randall, who goes by Indian Giver on Instagram.. really talented artist who is one of the few non-tattooers that's part of the show. A bunch of you probably know his "shopped tattoos" work that blew up a little last year.. but he's also done some great work with Shepard Fairey and Honor the Treaties, an art advocacy group for issues facing native people. Check those guys out, too, really awesome stuff.
The show is less than a week away so I hope anyone in the area can make it out!

@dcostello totally crazy you're getting on a plane and coming into town for this. And you too @CultExciter, stoked to meet you! We'll have over 50 pieces to bid on, doing a limited run of t-shirts and a limited print run of the piece Nash did for the flyer.
Without getting too long-winded, this project has really picked up steam and it's been a very humbling experience. The response has been incredible.. to see how the tattoo community has gone all in for this, and to see how positive everyone's reaction has been. It's been stressful but super rewarding and I'm already looking ahead to next year, thinking of what else to do, how to improve it... @ShawnPorter had some good ideas, too. Also have to thank @CultExciter once again for helping me out with getting flyers done -- dude, you were a life saver. We've gotten a little press, had a nice little piece up on Inked mag's blog which you can read here. (Disclaimer: didn't realize it was gonna be a straight up Q+A otherwise I would've tried to sound a little more intelligent with the As.)
Attached a few photos for your viewing pleasure for those that don't have Instagram, since most of the online presence has all been through that. T-shirt design by the very talented Matt Arriola, a piece by Tim Hendricks and the last image is by Cheyenne Randall, who goes by Indian Giver on Instagram.. really talented artist who is one of the few non-tattooers that's part of the show. A bunch of you probably know his "shopped tattoos" work that blew up a little last year.. but he's also done some great work with Shepard Fairey and Honor the Treaties, an art advocacy group for issues facing native people. Check those guys out, too, really awesome stuff.
The show is less than a week away so I hope anyone in the area can make it out!

@dcostello totally crazy you're getting on a plane and coming into town for this. And you too @CultExciter, stoked to meet you! We'll have over 50 pieces to bid on, doing a limited run of t-shirts and a limited print run of the piece Nash did for the flyer.
Without getting too long-winded, this project has really picked up steam and it's been a very humbling experience. The response has been incredible.. to see how the tattoo community has gone all in for this, and to see how positive everyone's reaction has been. It's been stressful but super rewarding and I'm already looking ahead to next year, thinking of what else to do, how to improve it... @ShawnPorter had some good ideas, too. Also have to thank @CultExciter once again for helping me out with getting flyers done -- dude, you were a life saver. We've gotten a little press, had a nice little piece up on Inked mag's blog which you can read here. (Disclaimer: didn't realize it was gonna be a straight up Q+A otherwise I would've tried to sound a little more intelligent with the As.)
Attached a few photos for your viewing pleasure for those that don't have Instagram, since most of the online presence has all been through that. T-shirt design by the very talented Matt Arriola, a piece by Tim Hendricks and the last image is by Cheyenne Randall, who goes by Indian Giver on Instagram.. really talented artist who is one of the few non-tattooers that's part of the show. A bunch of you probably know his "shopped tattoos" work that blew up a little last year.. but he's also done some great work with Shepard Fairey and Honor the Treaties, an art advocacy group for issues facing native people. Check those guys out, too, really awesome stuff.
The show is less than a week away so I hope anyone in the area can make it out!

@dcostello totally crazy you're getting on a plane and coming into town for this. And you too @CultExciter, stoked to meet you! We'll have over 50 pieces to bid on, doing a limited run of t-shirts and a limited print run of the piece Nash did for the flyer.
Without getting too long-winded, this project has really picked up steam and it's been a very humbling experience. The response has been incredible.. to see how the tattoo community has gone all in for this, and to see how positive everyone's reaction has been. It's been stressful but super rewarding and I'm already looking ahead to next year, thinking of what else to do, how to improve it... @ShawnPorter had some good ideas, too. Also have to thank @CultExciter once again for helping me out with getting flyers done -- dude, you were a life saver. We've gotten a little press, had a nice little piece up on Inked mag's blog which you can read here. (Disclaimer: didn't realize it was gonna be a straight up Q+A otherwise I would've tried to sound a little more intelligent with the As.)
Attached a few photos for your viewing pleasure for those that don't have Instagram, since most of the online presence has all been through that. T-shirt design by the very talented Matt Arriola, a piece by Tim Hendricks and the last image is by Cheyenne Randall, who goes by Indian Giver on Instagram.. really talented artist who is one of the few non-tattooers that's part of the show. A bunch of you probably know his "shopped tattoos" work that blew up a little last year.. but he's also done some great work with Shepard Fairey and Honor the Treaties, an art advocacy group for issues facing native people. Check those guys out, too, really awesome stuff.
The show is less than a week away so I hope anyone in the area can make it out!

@dcostello totally crazy you're getting on a plane and coming into town for this. And you too @CultExciter, stoked to meet you! We'll have over 50 pieces to bid on, doing a limited run of t-shirts and a limited print run of the piece Nash did for the flyer.
Without getting too long-winded, this project has really picked up steam and it's been a very humbling experience. The response has been incredible.. to see how the tattoo community has gone all in for this, and to see how positive everyone's reaction has been. It's been stressful but super rewarding and I'm already looking ahead to next year, thinking of what else to do, how to improve it... @ShawnPorter had some good ideas, too. Also have to thank @CultExciter once again for helping me out with getting flyers done -- dude, you were a life saver. We've gotten a little press, had a nice little piece up on Inked mag's blog which you can read here. (Disclaimer: didn't realize it was gonna be a straight up Q+A otherwise I would've tried to sound a little more intelligent with the As.)
Attached a few photos for your viewing pleasure for those that don't have Instagram, since most of the online presence has all been through that. T-shirt design by the very talented Matt Arriola, a piece by Tim Hendricks and the last image is by Cheyenne Randall, who goes by Indian Giver on Instagram.. really talented artist who is one of the few non-tattooers that's part of the show. A bunch of you probably know his "shopped tattoos" work that blew up a little last year.. but he's also done some great work with Shepard Fairey and Honor the Treaties, an art advocacy group for issues facing native people. Check those guys out, too, really awesome stuff.
The show is less than a week away so I hope anyone in the area can make it out!

@dcostello totally crazy you're getting on a plane and coming into town for this. And you too @CultExciter, stoked to meet you! We'll have over 50 pieces to bid on, doing a limited run of t-shirts and a limited print run of the piece Nash did for the flyer.
Without getting too long-winded, this project has really picked up steam and it's been a very humbling experience. The response has been incredible.. to see how the tattoo community has gone all in for this, and to see how positive everyone's reaction has been. It's been stressful but super rewarding and I'm already looking ahead to next year, thinking of what else to do, how to improve it... @ShawnPorter had some good ideas, too. Also have to thank @CultExciter once again for helping me out with getting flyers done -- dude, you were a life saver. We've gotten a little press, had a nice little piece up on Inked mag's blog which you can read here. (Disclaimer: didn't realize it was gonna be a straight up Q+A otherwise I would've tried to sound a little more intelligent with the As.)
Attached a few photos for your viewing pleasure for those that don't have Instagram, since most of the online presence has all been through that. T-shirt design by the very talented Matt Arriola, a piece by Tim Hendricks and the last image is by Cheyenne Randall, who goes by Indian Giver on Instagram.. really talented artist who is one of the few non-tattooers that's part of the show. A bunch of you probably know his "shopped tattoos" work that blew up a little last year.. but he's also done some great work with Shepard Fairey and Honor the Treaties, an art advocacy group for issues facing native people. Check those guys out, too, really awesome stuff.
The show is less than a week away so I hope anyone in the area can make it out!

Who from the board is gonna be checking this out? I'll be flying in Friday for the event. I look forward to meeting ya'll and seeing some amazing work for a great cause.

Super stoked that I finally got tattooed by Eddy Deutsche!

My first tattoos Grumblekiddles, by Lorin Hay at Red 5 tattoo

That big torso devil from Theo Mindell is on me! We have finished everything now except the last bit of fire/flames. Next/Last appt coming up in April to kill the beast.

Post your devils/demons/etc!
Planning to get one from Craig Boxcar Chazen next week, but for now here are some of my favorites.
Luke Jinks


Theo Mindell


Chris Marchetto


Boxcar

...and then there was this genius who set fire to himself and part of the stage. Almost looked like it was part of the act until random people started running in from the sidelines flipping a table and dumping their bottles of water on it. Lucky the fire didn't run all the way up the banners in the back or get out of control. Can you imagine an evacuation at a convention?
Caught on Cam: Fire Breather Catches Fire During Tattoo Convention | NBC 10 Philadelphia

Sorry to see you didn't go home with anything, @SeeSea, except this awesomely ironic picture of us being photobombed by Brian O'Halloran from Clerks while wearing a shirt that says "Polite as Fuck."
It was cool catching up with you again @Bunny Switchblade, and meeting you @daveborjes.

@Cork took 3rd and treated the audience to a quick burlesque after he dropped his drawers for the judge. I think that cost me the win. :). It was a field of almost 30 and some really nice work.
Congrats to @Cork!

Okay...and once these dye-filled macrophages are in your lymph nodes, then what? What are the health implications of this? I think laser removal and ink migrating to lymph nodes has already been touched on here, but - please correct me if I'm wrong - this sounds like it puts even more of a burden on the lymph system. This skeeves me out way more than getting tattooed ever would.

Got this tribal on my calf when I was 19yrs old.
@Scorpion Studios by Brett Osborne.

Here is a quick pick of the back of my knees...thank god, never again. Hey unless I can get my hands on that removal cream, then let's party all over again...
TheGangOfOne rolled in the blackness on the left 5 days ago, it is just continuation of my backpiece. So my whole L backthigh (and buttocks) is all black water waves and rocks.
The R side was put in back in 2011 by OllieXXX, the green water connects a sperm whale on the thigh to an octopus on the leg.
That lizard on the side needs a touch up yikes
That red-yellow rising sun was my bright (?) idea to fill in my lower leg. It kind of looks silly but folks always seem to point it out, and the red and yellow have held really well for 10 years so whatever. I'm almost tempted to black over and continue the black/grey water waves down.
The scrappy looking black tattoos on my calves are a palm tree (Island Records) and a Bad Brains bolt that I got in 2003 from this skinhead pal. THe plan all along has been to keep them open and completely fill around.
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Knee tattoos are painful to get, but manageable if you have a tattooer who can work quickly and efficiently, as the knee will balloon up and once that happens the pain will intensify. The healing I find more difficult and painful than the tattoo, either when moving or at rest. Especially that friggin lizard, he took longer to heal than anything else. Hard to bend the leg when the skin is raw and tight afterwards for a few days so you will have the zombie limp. Don't let that deter you! I went jumping and kung fu kicking 2 days after a knee session, that was dumb but my leg still works and the tattoo is still there. You won't die haha. Within a couple days that swelling and bruising go away, you regain some mobility and it's business as usual, just with more colour to accentuate yourself :) the mortality rate is very low! good luck, you can do it!
Also, be aware that knees take a lot of abuse over the years. I've banged up my knee a couple times since I got one tattooed. Took a big chunk out the centre and one off the side. So you have to be prepared for that happen. Just part of living life.
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i found this pic of my "squid pants" from a few years ago on my computer last nite, enjoy...a colourful dude and his ugly dog. Turtle is 10 years old, from Miles Kanne. Hard to believe the blue is still blue. They do look better as they age :)