ironchef

I might be wrong but I believe traditional style is to start with a back piece (turtle back) and kind of grow from there. Or plan out a munewari or full body suit unless you want work from different artists. I've kind of pieced my quasi-suit together.

@Mark Bee AMAZING chesty!

Here's my stab at it. Let's start at the top row from left to right: Gobu sleeves (five tenths) with hikae (chest plate), Shichibu sleeves (seven tenths) with hikae, classic munewari with gobu sleeves and thighs or basically a gobu munewari, next is a variation of the munewari with hanzubon (shorts) where the inner thigh is completely filled in with tattoo work, full body suit or donburi soushinbori with nagasode (long sleeves), the back piece diagram is kame no koh (turtle back) then the last suit is a shichibu munewari (seven tenths).

Funny thing is one time I was at a public function couple of years ago and there in my official government capacity. Think town hall style type of meeting. Most times these things are pretty civil with people inquiring about quality of life issues and who is responsible for such and such. This go around I get the luck of the draw and it's a tow truck driver (a business type which my agency regulates and oversees) and he's laying into me saying how terrible we are and I'm sitting up there all high and mighty and looking down on him cause he's an average working joe with tattoos on his arm. I told him he was wrong and we treat everyone fairly and he was mistaken if I'm judging him on his appearance. He continues to rant and said he noticed me sneering at him when he first walked into the meeting and gawking. I tell him if I was staring, it was probably more in admiration of the artwork on his arms and I basically tell him he is unfairly judging me based on my professional appearance to which I take off my suit jacket and role up one of my sleeves to expose my 3/4 sleeve. Couple of people in the audience laugh, some applauded. He catches me at the end of the meeting and apologizes for pre-judging me and states he's just frustrated with the regulations thats putting a strain on his business. I give him my card and tell him to call/email me so we can discuss his concerns further.

Thanks for sharing that link @Fala ! It's a very good in-depth read and gives me some ideas for future work. @TaeTae I like that two bonji characters in the middle of chest. Never seen the characters on top of one another.

@slayer9019 maybe the mods can make it a requirement for future contests, hahahaha

@rhandt Sounds like a plan. See you around the forums!

Needles and Sins Tattoo Blog | Demetra Molina Interview with Loretta Leu

Welcome to the forum @jada ! Sounds like you hit the entire crew at Saved Tattoo...AWESOME! Now we have to convince you to leave Brooklyn and come get tattooed in the LES, hahaha.

Welcome from one native NYer to another! Very interesting sleeve you've got there, I LIKE it!. Would be interested in letting you take professional photos of my tattoos and share stories. I always feel my amateur iPhone photos don't do my tattoos any justice.

Congrats @Wilhell !!! I'll let Rubendall know next week when I see him!

WOW we are off to a GREAT start!

YES!!!! AWESOME! Love her work! Wooohooo!!!

AWESOME bro!!!

Oh God! It looks great though! Definitely some sensitive spots there! When will you finish it???

AMAZING @Eilin !!! How bad was the side of the knee?

I believe he works out of Brooklyn NY appears to be well respected locally. My opinion is that he does decent work based on his gallery and Instagram which in full disclosure I do follow. If you are set on tebori work and you're out on the west coast, I would give heavy consideration to making a trip out to San Jose to see Horitomo or Yokohama Horiken

I actually just got in the book that is referenced in the article. Bought it directly from the publisher. Looks really amazing so far and all English text. Can't wait to dive into this! : Wabori, Traditional Japanese Tattoo: Classic Japanese tattoos from the masters - Kingyo Books

As @Graeme mentioned, the best bet to keeping your tattoo fresh and vibrant would be covering it up from direct sunlight. If you want to show off your tattoos or like being in the sun, sunblock is alternative. I personally love warm weather and going on vacations in the Caribbean. I've researched and tried several different brands of sunblock and know what works best and monitor my application time (better to err on the side of caution and over apply). Short of that if you keep hydrated regularly, some lotion now and then will keep your skin in good shape and the tattoo looking nice. Welcome to the forum!

Bonji are the Japanese reference for Sanskrit characters from esoteric Buddhism. I'm sure if you Google the elements, you should be able to find it. Also if you find yourself a good artist well-versed in Japanese tattoos, chances are they can help you locate the bonji characters you'd want in a style that you will like.

@Cork OUCH!!! Looks fantastic bro!

Hardy's talk on the black panther tattoo at 2013 Bay Area Tattoo Convention. Kudos to the production team that made this.

@Killercook76 has experience with Tegaderm. Tagging him so he'll chime in.

BEAUTIFUL Mike! Looks like a good portion of the background has been filled in. I feel your pain brother. Looks FANTASTIC though!

I really want that Horitoshi I book. Is it available anywhere online at a decent price? Found a local shop that has it in stock, but at an inflated price.