Rob I

Its just normal bruising. Both your new tattoos look great.
Relax guys, the lines are fine. @Jason687  go back and see whichever tattooer you jive with. Or try someone new, enjoy your time at the shop.
 

Had a blast at the convention!  Was great to meet @polliwog @Fala and was also great seeing @Graeme and @Pugilist.  Briefly saw @Shaun1105 which was cool but missed @BrianH due to walking past every booth except the one he was being tattooed at. Feel pretty dumb about that since it was directly behind the one I was hanging out at. Also bummed to have missed seeing Sam  whose handle name eludes me at the moment.  (Mitslam??)
Got this by Nick Colella on Saturday in the same booth and at the same time as @Graeme was getting an awesome tattoo by Robert Ryan. Absolutley love it and had a great time talking to Nick. Such a great dude and awesome tattooer. This is my first leg tattoo. On the side of my left calf. 

Had a blast at the convention!  Was great to meet @polliwog @Fala and was also great seeing @Graeme and @Pugilist.  Briefly saw @Shaun1105 which was cool but missed @BrianH due to walking past every booth except the one he was being tattooed at. Feel pretty dumb about that since it was directly behind the one I was hanging out at. Also bummed to have missed seeing Sam  whose handle name eludes me at the moment.  (Mitslam??)
Got this by Nick Colella on Saturday in the same booth and at the same time as @Graeme was getting an awesome tattoo by Robert Ryan. Absolutley love it and had a great time talking to Nick. Such a great dude and awesome tattooer. This is my first leg tattoo. On the side of my left calf. 

Had a blast at the convention!  Was great to meet @polliwog @Fala and was also great seeing @Graeme and @Pugilist.  Briefly saw @Shaun1105 which was cool but missed @BrianH due to walking past every booth except the one he was being tattooed at. Feel pretty dumb about that since it was directly behind the one I was hanging out at. Also bummed to have missed seeing Sam  whose handle name eludes me at the moment.  (Mitslam??)
Got this by Nick Colella on Saturday in the same booth and at the same time as @Graeme was getting an awesome tattoo by Robert Ryan. Absolutley love it and had a great time talking to Nick. Such a great dude and awesome tattooer. This is my first leg tattoo. On the side of my left calf. 

Had a blast at the convention!  Was great to meet @polliwog @Fala and was also great seeing @Graeme and @Pugilist.  Briefly saw @Shaun1105 which was cool but missed @BrianH due to walking past every booth except the one he was being tattooed at. Feel pretty dumb about that since it was directly behind the one I was hanging out at. Also bummed to have missed seeing Sam  whose handle name eludes me at the moment.  (Mitslam??)
Got this by Nick Colella on Saturday in the same booth and at the same time as @Graeme was getting an awesome tattoo by Robert Ryan. Absolutley love it and had a great time talking to Nick. Such a great dude and awesome tattooer. This is my first leg tattoo. On the side of my left calf. 

Had a blast at the convention!  Was great to meet @polliwog @Fala and was also great seeing @Graeme and @Pugilist.  Briefly saw @Shaun1105 which was cool but missed @BrianH due to walking past every booth except the one he was being tattooed at. Feel pretty dumb about that since it was directly behind the one I was hanging out at. Also bummed to have missed seeing Sam  whose handle name eludes me at the moment.  (Mitslam??)
Got this by Nick Colella on Saturday in the same booth and at the same time as @Graeme was getting an awesome tattoo by Robert Ryan. Absolutley love it and had a great time talking to Nick. Such a great dude and awesome tattooer. This is my first leg tattoo. On the side of my left calf. 

Had a blast at the convention!  Was great to meet @polliwog @Fala and was also great seeing @Graeme and @Pugilist.  Briefly saw @Shaun1105 which was cool but missed @BrianH due to walking past every booth except the one he was being tattooed at. Feel pretty dumb about that since it was directly behind the one I was hanging out at. Also bummed to have missed seeing Sam  whose handle name eludes me at the moment.  (Mitslam??)
Got this by Nick Colella on Saturday in the same booth and at the same time as @Graeme was getting an awesome tattoo by Robert Ryan. Absolutley love it and had a great time talking to Nick. Such a great dude and awesome tattooer. This is my first leg tattoo. On the side of my left calf. 

Lil' anchor by Josh Henderson

My Dad had a killer skull with an intertwined snake on his upper left arm - he went into the Marines in 1946 right after graduating from high school. He was too late for WWII but remained in the reserves after serving two years active duty in California and was then activated and sent to Korea during the Korean Conflict. I'm assuming he got his in the San Diego/Los Angeles area since he was stationed at El Toro Air Base. This is a picture of him in July 1946 at Parris Island - had just been named high scorer for his platoon during qualification week. The rifle in his hand is a Springfield Armory-made M1 Garand. The serial number is 2860035 and I am still trying to find it - a needle in a hay stack...but I'll keep looking.
So, for me it seemed natural for people to have tattoos since my Dad had one. He was an electrical engineer and taught at a College and then went into the corporate world.
 

Here are my yokai made by Dave Cummings. Love them so much. 
@a_beukeveld your hannya is gorgeous but that's no surprise! I bet it's already healing super well!
I also got a great little skunk from Nick Colella!
 

It is SO perfect, Mark. It is spectacular.

Recieved this from Dave Cummings at the Montreal convention. He did an amazing job.

ok - where are the montreal tattoos people!!!!???? cmon now

And, finally, in the daylight. I am really stoked. This says exactly what I want it to say...without stating it blatantly. For me, it is awesome.

@Devious6 this is exactly what you were looking for - love it
obviously a pretty special tattoo
enjoy

Good times this weekend and even if we couldn't manage a formal LST get together I feel there was some good hanging out and getting together and talking in person is always so much better than doing it on here.  Until next year!

eh fuck it leave it

Very nice! I'm in Austin also. Kinda want the artist completing my first sleeve (Scott Ellis, Triple Crown) to do other arm. Kinda want to mix it up Jason Brooks is definitely on the short list. Like this a lot. 

I'm catching up on unread items and just saw this.  Awesome with a capital A. 

Got this today - crappy picture so it's hard to see the colors. I'll post a better pic tomorrow after it is a bit less irritated and in better light. This is my 9/11 Pentagon survivor nod. I had the artist perch the eagle on a pentagonal-shaped piece of rubble. Had originally wanted to have the date 9-11-01 in the center but, after getting feedback here, decided against it. I'm glad I left it out. I asked him to create some clouds and show the sun beginning to peak out - really based on my desire to speak to the focus on the future and not just the event itself. I was very, very lucky to survive that day - this piece has much meaning.

Looking a little less irritated today - and now on to the commiserating about healing thread!!

i have to admit - i used to have the idea that you have to come up with your own design - i dont do that anymore as i love to work with classic designs or designs that the tattooer has created - but here are a couple of examples of 'this' becoming 'that' - luckily - Jamie Sawyer did my design ideas justice :)

Bad news!  The brunch place I had in mind doesn't take reservations and because I have a really small window of time (my kid gets vaccinated at 9, I have a tattoo appointment at 11) I'm going to call the brunch off and suggest that maybe those of us going to the convention on Saturday try to grab a drink there?

The pain will be intense! 10/10 extreme! You may pass out! You may die!
Tattoos hurt. Tons of people, my mom included have them. Get a cool tattoo and post a picture here after. Pain is pain, who cares.

I'm definitely coming now!  A friend and I are coming up on Friday evening.  Count us in for brunch meetup, please!
Looking forward to the trip, even if I'm not likely to get a tattoo this time.