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@taaarro DAMN!!! Looks AWESOME! Must be an AMAZING experience!

@phickey BANANAS!!!!

@BrianH Tell Henning I said "Nej Tak"

@Wilhell FANTASTIC!!!! Love how dynamic and powerful it looks and the colors just POP!

From the Needles and Sins blog, a short video from TED. Really neat! Needles and Sins Tattoo Blog | Tattoo 101: What makes tattoos permanent?

Funny and ironic....I'm reading the latest posts on this thread as I'm watching RED DRAGON on cable. The icing on the cake? As most of you know, I have a dragon on my back...from Rubendall. HA! @misterJ @BrianH PS. Yes, it hurt...a lot. But so well worth it.

@sighthound AWESOME!!!! Yoni is a super cool dude. I've bought prints off him, love all the details he packs in his art!

@TrixieFaux @DJDeepFried The family that tattoos together...stays together! Awesome little pictorial.

@Cork LOVE all of this but that snake RULES!!!

That battle royale piece was done on previous Kings Avenue shop artist, Brian Paul. He had the relationship and timing part down in order to pull off that sweet killer trifecta. That piece was the inspiration for me to ask Henning and Rubendall to collaborate.

@TrixieFaux MonMon cats by Horitomo need to be the LST standard for members who are cat lovers. EPICLY AMAZING! I need to get on my game and try to get a monmon cat. Otherwise I can't maintain my rep as a crazy cat person. Cheers @TrixieFaux! Looks STELLAR on you!

I got really lucky with Henning and Rubendall. Normally Mike isn't into collaborations, especially if its not with another artist that works in the same shop. Even though Rubes and Henning are great friends and business partners, Mike was still hesitant. But the timing and things worked out and luckily both agreed. Henning honestly had no issues with it. He LOVES tattoos and tattooing so he was super stoked into the idea. I think if anyone is planning on approaching artists about a collaboration, make sure the artist know each other well and as the client you would need to figure out the timing and try to get them to agree on the collaboration. My back piece is the only true collaboration between Henning and Rubendall. Henning did share that a few years ago he had a client who was in trouble with the law and basically was on his way to prison for a long duration. The client wanted to finish his tattoo before being hauled away and Mike just happened to be in town. The client's piece need another 16-20 hours of work but Henning and Mike tagged teamed and did side by side coloring and shading and finished everything in a one day 9-10 hour session. Next day the guy went off to jail. @HaydenRose I personally think Grez would be okay with collaborating with Rose Hardy. She's new to the shop and as a business approach, it would be smart for Grez to generate clients for Rose which could result in repeat business for the shop overall.

@mmikaoj I applaud you good sir. You turned on beast mode, held your nose, bit down and dove right in. STUNNING and BRUTAL

@semele I stand and applaud you!!! WOW!!!!

@SeeSea good luck with everything and best wishes!

Lots of INSANE backpieces

Plopped down a deposit for Wendy Pham when she visits NYC in September. Emailing ideas back and forth with her. LOVE her work and SUPER excited!!!

If you're serious about a getting a Henning piece, I would email him now. Henning's normally in NYC around the end of October after the Bay Area Con in San Jose. Tell him Ricky sent you :p

@misterJ Next time you see Rubes, tell him Ricky, the Asian Sensation say's "What's Up!" Your back is shaping up nicely but I'm not surprised. Rubendall ROCKS!!!

@Wilhell SO AWESOME buddy! WOW! My body doesn't like pink so I try to shy away from it as much as possible. The reaction looks like your blue.

@Cork I like Wendy's florals but LOVE her whimsical little creatures. Have to think a little about it and also placement since I'm slowly running out of real estate. I've been looking over her Instagram and Tumblr for ideas. Right now just hope I get an email back about a spot. Great idea on the heikegani. I thought the lobster she did with little Murphy the hamster riding it was AMAZING. Very Miyazaki like.

@Cork Yep, I'm all over it. Soon as I saw the post, I emailed her for a September slot. What you thinking of getting or what is your wife planning on getting?

Looks like the dragon is grasping the top of a Japanese ken, a traditional sword normally with a vajra handle. Think of the blade that Fudo holds, that's basically it.

@Lance she's mostly fur, seriously really tiny old lady. Will be 15 this year...

@Lance's request and I know @Pugilist is a sucker for her face and eyes...haha