Graeme

Chipped away a few more hours on my back. I think we're pretty much done the black shading, I think there's some greys to do in the water still, we still have to figure out the scales or patterns on the snake, but we're making progress. All work, as always, by Dave Cummings of PSC Tattoo.

@Mush Looking great and that seems like it was a really serious session! You're killing it!

People get the tattoos they deserve.

You're a short trip across the border at the moment, however, so a trip to Japan may not be necessary. Though I would love to go one day. Good point about Mike Vallely though. I'd like to pretend that isn't a thing. Bands should stay broken up.

Welcome and I'm sure I'm not the only person here who would love to see pictures of your DE Hardy tattoo!

Welcome! Have any pictures to share? Who is doing your tattoos?

Your intro definitely does not suck, welcome to LST!

@DragonFanSa We've been respectful and kind towards you here so far, please be respectful back to people when they tell you they find your language offensive.

If you need to "refresh" a tattoo six months to a year after the tattoo is finished, you got a crappy tattoo.

Also taking up oil painting as a hobby. Those paints are expensive! @kylegrey reminded me that I've heard the YOB and Electric Wizard albums too. I really like the new YOB, the Electric Wizard album is solid, not their best, but still good.

@blackdots I feel that the bars should be poorly done. I've wanted some on me forever, well before I started getting tattooed, and I'm wondering if I should handpoke them on myself because it seems kind of wrong to have them done well.

@daveborjes Don't remind me. I have an ass and back of thigh session coming up on Saturday. I didn't find the shading to be all that bad, relative to the lining anyway, which was awful, but ass tattoos just suck. I had a choice last session between the ass and the ribs and I went with the ribs because it seemed more pleasant. THE RIBS. I am starting to understand how and why a lot of people don't finish backpieces because they require such a massive amount of dedication. They are hard-earned.

Fair enough, I've never met Oliver. Thomas as some sort of zen monk, on the other hand...

I spend all my money on tattoos, got none left over for music. The only album I bought this year was the new SWANS but honestly I haven't even listened to it yet because they're a band that requires undivided attention for extended periods of time and I haven't managed that yet. I'm lame.

@purplelace Please stop.

The thing about that video is that I'm pretty sure the whole thing is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, sort of like Oliver Peck and Thomas Hooper are playing caricatures of themselves. The palm still seems horrible though.

@beez That was great but HOLY SHIT about your mom keeping her tattoo for you.

For me, part of getting increasingly heavily tattooed is understanding and accepting that not everybody likes tattoos. It's tough when that negativity comes from your own family, but that's all part of what you take on by getting tattooed. For my part, my family has been more or less fine with it. I know my dad doesn't like my tattoos but we don't have a super close relationship so we've never talked about it. My mom always wants me to say that my latest tattoo is my last one, though I don't really see how it even matters at this point. She's coming more and more to accept that getting tattooed is just something that I do, but there are tough moments for sure. My parents were staying with us but were away visiting NYC during the Montreal convention a couple of years ago and they got back to the apartment just at the moment I got out of the shower the day after having my shin destroyed by Chad. My leg was super beat up and swollen and my mom saw it and immediately burst into tears about it. I guess a large part of that had to do with what @bongsau said earlier in this thread about our parents not wanting to see us in pain. At the same time, though this has never been said to my face, I know that some of my extended family has been pretty hostile about my tattoos. One of my uncles, a retired former career air force officer, a really straight-laced type, asked my mom flat-out why I look like a "goddamned biker" and have so many tattoos. I couldn't have asked for a better response from my mom. She told this uncle that I have so many tattoos because I like them. So yeah, she doesn't like that I have tattoos, and she has asked me what she did wrong as a mother to make me do something like this to myself, but when it comes down to it, she doesn't think I'm a bad person for it and has stuck up for me. And that's great with me. My in-laws don't know that either me or @Pugilist have tattoos at all. We see them in general a couple of times a month. It's all long-sleeved shirts and pants around them even during the hottest part of the summer, or hiding if they stop by unexpectedly. We say that they need to find out eventually, but if they do find out it's going to be a huge fight so it's best to just keep them covered. I think even when they do find out we're both tattooed, we'll still both keep them covered around them out of respect.

@daveborjes Wait until you get your crack shaded. That was an interesting session.

Nice intro, welcome!

Welcome! I'm sorry your first tattoo experience was a bad one. I'm sure there are people here with better knowledge of tattoo artists in your area than I have, but the first person who came to mind is Brenda Flatmo in Cincinnati.

Here's a couple of recent oils. The Rock of Ages is 5" x 7" on birch, the skull is 10" x 12" on canvas board. Both are for sale if anybody is interested.

Welcome!

Dude, please use the Latest Tattoo Lowdown thread instead of starting a new thread every time you want to post something.