bongsau

@bongsau YES. It's incredibly vital that your tattoo history not be lost, if you want to share it. Our tattoo's are living history...emphasis on "living". When you go, they go (generally). Your story is part of the folklore of tattooing. 

@bongsau looks like you've finally run out of space and had to start layer 2 now ;-)

One thing I do enjoy about LST is the reminders of old posts/comments to see where I was and where I am now with my tattoo journey. So here is this crazy cat idea from a few years ago and an updated photo of my chest/torso. guess ya don't always need to put a panther on it! cheers

 

Got tattooed in Vancouver by a bunch of Edmonton homies:
Sitting outside an Italian cafe on Commercial Drive and bump into Shawn "Deadly" Hedley who happened to also be in town and was hanging out next door at Unity Tattoo. So you wanna tattoo me right now? Sure let's do it bud. 
30 minutes later...

(goldfish is actually black & yellow).

Shawn Hedley is great. Has a really cool aggressive style in the way he tattoos yet still his tattoos heal nice and smooth.
Aftercare: walked all over Vancouver for 3 days straight with this thing rubbing on the inside hem of my jeans and drank a lot of beer. Head ringing, healing like a peach. Also got to see my other tatt-bros Teddy Kardos and King Len who were also in town and who have both tattooed me.
Aside from hanging with my little bro in Vancouver, the main event of the my mini-trip was to reconnect with my old bud Shawn O'Connor. Shawn lives in Nelson, BC and was coming out to tattoo for a few days at Fraser Street Tattoo. Shawn's done half a dozen tatts on me but we haven't sat together in 4 years since he moved away from Edmonton. We did this crouching tiger blastover, 2 hours on the bread basket ...

Fraser Street Tattoo had an awesome vibe and Shawn and I had a dope sesh. Saw my #1 tattbro Heidi who popped in to laugh at me. Got to meet Chad Woodley, have some show n tell in his shop and have some beers after. I'm already planning my next one to squinch in something from him next, he's a super nice guy and really skilled, I'd really like to experience his machine.

Got some good mileage on my tattoos and my vans shoes. Vancouver, you are alright ;)

One thing I do enjoy about LST is the reminders of old posts/comments to see where I was and where I am now with my tattoo journey. So here is this crazy cat idea from a few years ago and an updated photo of my chest/torso. guess ya don't always need to put a panther on it! cheers

 

haha thank you @Gingerninja it's on my long-term project list...i was going to make a collection of all my stencils and line drawings as a colouring book, but i think i should go even further with pro photos of my tattoos and stories about all 50+ of em. like a personal lived-in-tattoo memoir. Not sure who would want to read it but thanks for the encouragement! Still got a few more tattoos to get though ;)

haha thank you @Gingerninja it's on my long-term project list...i was going to make a collection of all my stencils and line drawings as a colouring book, but i think i should go even further with pro photos of my tattoos and stories about all 50+ of em. like a personal lived-in-tattoo memoir. Not sure who would want to read it but thanks for the encouragement! Still got a few more tattoos to get though ;)

haha thank you @Gingerninja it's on my long-term project list...i was going to make a collection of all my stencils and line drawings as a colouring book, but i think i should go even further with pro photos of my tattoos and stories about all 50+ of em. like a personal lived-in-tattoo memoir. Not sure who would want to read it but thanks for the encouragement! Still got a few more tattoos to get though ;)

haha thank you @Gingerninja it's on my long-term project list...i was going to make a collection of all my stencils and line drawings as a colouring book, but i think i should go even further with pro photos of my tattoos and stories about all 50+ of em. like a personal lived-in-tattoo memoir. Not sure who would want to read it but thanks for the encouragement! Still got a few more tattoos to get though ;)

image from Steve's Instagram of my new baby.  That man FLIES through tattoos and is the largest man I've met in my whole life.  Sweet as a peach, warm, intelligent, socialite at the convention and artistic and brilliant (in my opinion)

My tiger half sleeve was finished on Tuesday.  Super happy with it and how well it's healing.  Work by Kevin Stress at Enso Tattoo in Columbus, OH.  Great artist and shop, would recommend to anyone.  Let me know what you think!
 

An action shot with me on the near table.

<<<Photos borrowed from the artist's IG>>>

Got tattooed in Vancouver by a bunch of Edmonton homies:
Sitting outside an Italian cafe on Commercial Drive and bump into Shawn "Deadly" Hedley who happened to also be in town and was hanging out next door at Unity Tattoo. So you wanna tattoo me right now? Sure let's do it bud. 
30 minutes later...

(goldfish is actually black & yellow).

Shawn Hedley is great. Has a really cool aggressive style in the way he tattoos yet still his tattoos heal nice and smooth.
Aftercare: walked all over Vancouver for 3 days straight with this thing rubbing on the inside hem of my jeans and drank a lot of beer. Head ringing, healing like a peach. Also got to see my other tatt-bros Teddy Kardos and King Len who were also in town and who have both tattooed me.
Aside from hanging with my little bro in Vancouver, the main event of the my mini-trip was to reconnect with my old bud Shawn O'Connor. Shawn lives in Nelson, BC and was coming out to tattoo for a few days at Fraser Street Tattoo. Shawn's done half a dozen tatts on me but we haven't sat together in 4 years since he moved away from Edmonton. We did this crouching tiger blastover, 2 hours on the bread basket ...

Fraser Street Tattoo had an awesome vibe and Shawn and I had a dope sesh. Saw my #1 tattbro Heidi who popped in to laugh at me. Got to meet Chad Woodley, have some show n tell in his shop and have some beers after. I'm already planning my next one to squinch in something from him next, he's a super nice guy and really skilled, I'd really like to experience his machine.

Got some good mileage on my tattoos and my vans shoes. Vancouver, you are alright ;)

One thing I do enjoy about LST is the reminders of old posts/comments to see where I was and where I am now with my tattoo journey. So here is this crazy cat idea from a few years ago and an updated photo of my chest/torso. guess ya don't always need to put a panther on it! cheers

 

One thing I do enjoy about LST is the reminders of old posts/comments to see where I was and where I am now with my tattoo journey. So here is this crazy cat idea from a few years ago and an updated photo of my chest/torso. guess ya don't always need to put a panther on it! cheers

 

how old is the tattoo ?
i have lines that raise up like that all over, mine seem to be seasonal and a function of temperature/humidity as well as how heavy my tattooist was on me when we made the tattoo. I had a leg tattoo that itched for years and now it's fine. i'm not a medical professional, but appears to me that you're situation (from the photo) is not so dire that you need to cut out and ruin the tattoo to do some science lab tests. you could also try epsom salt bath for less invasive approach and see if that helps.

One thing I do enjoy about LST is the reminders of old posts/comments to see where I was and where I am now with my tattoo journey. So here is this crazy cat idea from a few years ago and an updated photo of my chest/torso. guess ya don't always need to put a panther on it! cheers

 

Finished the entire arm, took a little under a year and a half. One last touch-up on everything to clean it up. Unfortunately, my artist is moving 5 hours away in July. Feel free to leave any comments or criticism.

One thing I do enjoy about LST is the reminders of old posts/comments to see where I was and where I am now with my tattoo journey. So here is this crazy cat idea from a few years ago and an updated photo of my chest/torso. guess ya don't always need to put a panther on it! cheers

 

Got tattooed in Vancouver by a bunch of Edmonton homies:
Sitting outside an Italian cafe on Commercial Drive and bump into Shawn "Deadly" Hedley who happened to also be in town and was hanging out next door at Unity Tattoo. So you wanna tattoo me right now? Sure let's do it bud. 
30 minutes later...

(goldfish is actually black & yellow).

Shawn Hedley is great. Has a really cool aggressive style in the way he tattoos yet still his tattoos heal nice and smooth.
Aftercare: walked all over Vancouver for 3 days straight with this thing rubbing on the inside hem of my jeans and drank a lot of beer. Head ringing, healing like a peach. Also got to see my other tatt-bros Teddy Kardos and King Len who were also in town and who have both tattooed me.
Aside from hanging with my little bro in Vancouver, the main event of the my mini-trip was to reconnect with my old bud Shawn O'Connor. Shawn lives in Nelson, BC and was coming out to tattoo for a few days at Fraser Street Tattoo. Shawn's done half a dozen tatts on me but we haven't sat together in 4 years since he moved away from Edmonton. We did this crouching tiger blastover, 2 hours on the bread basket ...

Fraser Street Tattoo had an awesome vibe and Shawn and I had a dope sesh. Saw my #1 tattbro Heidi who popped in to laugh at me. Got to meet Chad Woodley, have some show n tell in his shop and have some beers after. I'm already planning my next one to squinch in something from him next, he's a super nice guy and really skilled, I'd really like to experience his machine.

Got some good mileage on my tattoos and my vans shoes. Vancouver, you are alright ;)

Got tattooed in Vancouver by a bunch of Edmonton homies:
Sitting outside an Italian cafe on Commercial Drive and bump into Shawn "Deadly" Hedley who happened to also be in town and was hanging out next door at Unity Tattoo. So you wanna tattoo me right now? Sure let's do it bud. 
30 minutes later...

(goldfish is actually black & yellow).

Shawn Hedley is great. Has a really cool aggressive style in the way he tattoos yet still his tattoos heal nice and smooth.
Aftercare: walked all over Vancouver for 3 days straight with this thing rubbing on the inside hem of my jeans and drank a lot of beer. Head ringing, healing like a peach. Also got to see my other tatt-bros Teddy Kardos and King Len who were also in town and who have both tattooed me.
Aside from hanging with my little bro in Vancouver, the main event of the my mini-trip was to reconnect with my old bud Shawn O'Connor. Shawn lives in Nelson, BC and was coming out to tattoo for a few days at Fraser Street Tattoo. Shawn's done half a dozen tatts on me but we haven't sat together in 4 years since he moved away from Edmonton. We did this crouching tiger blastover, 2 hours on the bread basket ...

Fraser Street Tattoo had an awesome vibe and Shawn and I had a dope sesh. Saw my #1 tattbro Heidi who popped in to laugh at me. Got to meet Chad Woodley, have some show n tell in his shop and have some beers after. I'm already planning my next one to squinch in something from him next, he's a super nice guy and really skilled, I'd really like to experience his machine.

Got some good mileage on my tattoos and my vans shoes. Vancouver, you are alright ;)

Leafs suck. 

Got tattooed in Vancouver by a bunch of Edmonton homies:
Sitting outside an Italian cafe on Commercial Drive and bump into Shawn "Deadly" Hedley who happened to also be in town and was hanging out next door at Unity Tattoo. So you wanna tattoo me right now? Sure let's do it bud. 
30 minutes later...

(goldfish is actually black & yellow).

Shawn Hedley is great. Has a really cool aggressive style in the way he tattoos yet still his tattoos heal nice and smooth.
Aftercare: walked all over Vancouver for 3 days straight with this thing rubbing on the inside hem of my jeans and drank a lot of beer. Head ringing, healing like a peach. Also got to see my other tatt-bros Teddy Kardos and King Len who were also in town and who have both tattooed me.
Aside from hanging with my little bro in Vancouver, the main event of the my mini-trip was to reconnect with my old bud Shawn O'Connor. Shawn lives in Nelson, BC and was coming out to tattoo for a few days at Fraser Street Tattoo. Shawn's done half a dozen tatts on me but we haven't sat together in 4 years since he moved away from Edmonton. We did this crouching tiger blastover, 2 hours on the bread basket ...

Fraser Street Tattoo had an awesome vibe and Shawn and I had a dope sesh. Saw my #1 tattbro Heidi who popped in to laugh at me. Got to meet Chad Woodley, have some show n tell in his shop and have some beers after. I'm already planning my next one to squinch in something from him next, he's a super nice guy and really skilled, I'd really like to experience his machine.

Got some good mileage on my tattoos and my vans shoes. Vancouver, you are alright ;)

Got tattooed in Vancouver by a bunch of Edmonton homies:
Sitting outside an Italian cafe on Commercial Drive and bump into Shawn "Deadly" Hedley who happened to also be in town and was hanging out next door at Unity Tattoo. So you wanna tattoo me right now? Sure let's do it bud. 
30 minutes later...

(goldfish is actually black & yellow).

Shawn Hedley is great. Has a really cool aggressive style in the way he tattoos yet still his tattoos heal nice and smooth.
Aftercare: walked all over Vancouver for 3 days straight with this thing rubbing on the inside hem of my jeans and drank a lot of beer. Head ringing, healing like a peach. Also got to see my other tatt-bros Teddy Kardos and King Len who were also in town and who have both tattooed me.
Aside from hanging with my little bro in Vancouver, the main event of the my mini-trip was to reconnect with my old bud Shawn O'Connor. Shawn lives in Nelson, BC and was coming out to tattoo for a few days at Fraser Street Tattoo. Shawn's done half a dozen tatts on me but we haven't sat together in 4 years since he moved away from Edmonton. We did this crouching tiger blastover, 2 hours on the bread basket ...

Fraser Street Tattoo had an awesome vibe and Shawn and I had a dope sesh. Saw my #1 tattbro Heidi who popped in to laugh at me. Got to meet Chad Woodley, have some show n tell in his shop and have some beers after. I'm already planning my next one to squinch in something from him next, he's a super nice guy and really skilled, I'd really like to experience his machine.

Got some good mileage on my tattoos and my vans shoes. Vancouver, you are alright ;)

Immaculate Concept is Steve Peace's shop in Calgary, AB. Steve puts on the Calgary and Edmonton tattoo conventions. He's a really experienced tattooist and been around the block, well-rounded, very nice guy. I think Immaculate is one of the bigger shops in Calgary. The Munk artist you've linked though is definately not my style of tattoo, so I don't have comments.
I don't know much about Calgary's tattoo scene...I'm from Edmonton, so anything Calgary related I am obligated to yell "Flames Suck" and take a cheap shot at their city lol (jokes, Calgary's a nice place). Lots of world-class tattoo makers in Alberta though, these would be my first choices if I were going for a full meal deal leg piece:
Calgary - Scott Veldhoen, Rick Wilson
Red Deer - Lucas Ford & Classic Tattoo
Canmore - OllieXXX
Edmonton - Champion (Shawn Hedley, Rich), Lucky Strike (Scott, Brent), Doing (Seve), Showdown.
do your research, talk to local people with tattoos that pop about where they got em, go check out the shops in person. Everyone is pretty friendly in this area. Good luck. PM me if you need more specific recommendations for Edmonton