ironchef

I work for city government so I might come off sounding like a narc, but here's some food for thought:

In NYC, you have to be 18 years or older to purchase tobacco products or smoking paraphernalia including hookah bongs, shisha and e-cigs. In NYS you have to be 21 or older to purchase alcohol. There's conversations in NYC to push the tobacco stuff up to 21 to match up with the alcohol threshold.

Do I think tattoos fall within the age of consent thresholds as tobacco or alcohol...probably not. Should it be? Not sure.

@Graeme 's comment is a very valid point that a lot of the younger generation just don't really know and most times get horrid work in some chop shop. Does that mean we should put down limitations. Maybe for the greater good but generally I hate placing a ban on anything. Jesus I sound like a politician...

You guys look so normal and nice.How was the the place,and food.I should have joined you,but I wanted to watch the Cowboys & Eagles game,but it sucked anyway.

I heard the burgers were good... @gougetheeyes @dirbab

Good times people. Pleasure meeting everyone.

I can pick up some stuff and ship it out to you. Message me the details of what you want and how to go about it...

...and @beez- WOW! You hit the jack pot!! You're getting an amazing tattoo!!

Thanks brother! Message inbound!

I guess I can wait till they hit the web, but just throwing it out there to see if anyone would like to help me get a couple of Horitomo tattoo cat shirts. PayPal the cost of the shirt and shipping. Lemme know and thanks in advance!

Thomas recommended taking Aleve when we finished my arm to deal with the pain and to fight off any fever that can come with long, brutal sessions.

I forgot to mention that my contact dermatitis was a combination of skin irritation from being shaved on the thigh, irritation from being tattooed...and maybe the stray cat hair or two that made it on to my pants. DAMNED cat is gonna be the death of me! ;)

Ha, yes, I take a Benadryl or something similar when I get home from a tattoo...so I can get some sleep!

I did the exact same thing after this past Tuesday's session. I probably would have slept like a rock already having been worked over on the table for so long and I generally HATE taking pills. But with that said the Benedryl is two-fold, helps me sleep and also to mitigate any allergic reaction I might have. Previously I spoke about contact dermatitis I had after getting work done on my thigh. Now I incorporate the anti-histamine into my post tattoo work routine to avoid any issues.

@fairgreen on Instagram in case you didn't pick up on the side bar feed on the LST forum these last few days, hahaha :p Fair warning, mostly pictures of my cat. Sometimes food pics. Pics of the LES in Manhattan where I live. And oh yeah, the occasional tattoo pic.

@9Years

I actually did not want to get a back piece done initially as my thought was, how the hell will I get to see and enjoy it. But since I was getting comfortable with my artist and also the process of tattooing, it was natural to move on and have at it with the biggest canvas on my body. I had looked at various Japanese/Asian themes, Quan Yin with Dragon, Tiger and Snake, General Gwon, etc. Eventually decided on the Dragon and Phoenix motif (balance, yin and yang, female and male, etc.)

I got extremely lucky in that I was able to get two fantastic artists to agree on a collaboration. They decided who was going to do what and we've worked everything out so far. Been a FANTASTIC experience.

FYI folks, I might drop by NY Adorned before meeting up. I'm planning on picking up a print from Yoni Zilber. If you'd like to meet up and tag along, you're more than welcomed to. Cool shop and Yoni is a really nice dude putting out amazing tattoos! It's walking distance to/from Angelina's

@HaydenRose @BrianH

You guys are too funny! hahaha

- - - Updated - - -

I'll keep tally in the Original post.

[x] I'm your huckleberry...in like Flynn

@Lance @hogg Rubendall said, "You can't half ass the scales and they take a lot of time." Well worth it.

I'm more nervous about my upcoming sessions with Henning as he always wants to maximize the time when we're working together. We're talking 7+ hours that I've sat with him before. Hope my back can take the punishment.

So @ironchef the backpiece is really starting to come along! Those finger waves healed beautifully and I absolutely love the color of the scales on the dragon. Was that your choice or Mikes? I can't wait to see the update on this after Henning gets some more time on it. You going for multiple sessions while he is here or just another 6 hrs? @MikeL, that back piece is looking good and I love the thick line work. When it gets colored in it's really going to pop.

I will be starting on mine with Chris January 23 2014 at Kings Ave NYC. Pushed the start date ahead a year because I've been working like a dog doing a ton of OT at work. Social life has taken a hit but it will be well worth it. I'm all kinds of giddy and nervous at the same time.

Rubendall asked what colors I was thinking of for the dragon. I showed him a piece he had done a few years earlier where I loved the various greens. He suggested a red belly which I was stoked on, so we're pretty much on the same wave-length. I'm scheduled for multiple sessions with Henning. He's got some more outlining to do, that's for sure and I'm sure we'll get everything shaded. If things go fast and I don't pass out from the pain, maybe we can get some color into the phoenix!

I got to chat with O'Donnell a little bit. Still kicking around the idea of getting something from him. Have to finish up this back piece first before thinking too far ahead, haha.

@ironchef looking strong as hell! 6 hours straight in that location...tough. Going to be hitting my lower half on the 26th.

Mike

LOVE Melo's work! Great looking sleeves and back piece you have!

@Hospitelli I contacted him through his email and was put on his waiting list back in in May. And another LSTer with a lot of work from Henning put in a good word for me and I think that helped alot.

Wooohooo! Looking forward to seeing Henning myself! Will be working on the back piece end of the month. Can't wait!

6+ hours yesterday with Mike Rubendall on my back piece. Check out full report with pics in the "Full Back Piece" thread.

Okay folks, quick update after yesterday's session. Great experience as usual over at Kings Avenue Manhattan. As I stated in my previous post, I took the summer off from tattooing and just jumped right back into it with a 6+ hour session with Mike Rubendall on my back piece. To get the real effect of this, check out the first two pics. Started off during the day and ended well into the evening. Needless to say I'm very happy with how things are turning out so far. LOVE the colors. Will be seeing Henning at the end of this month for upper back portion of this collaboration. Enjoy the pics and my goofy commentary:

The man himself laying it into me...noon time shot

Almost end of the session...about 7pm or so

You want to talk about a shop with heavy hitters? Rubendall, Grez and way in the back....O'Donnell. And each one of them super down to earth and funny as well. Can't really ask for anything more.

Messy and yes...painful

Full on progress shot, what we managed to get done

Left cheek and right inner thigh

Right cheek

My suggestions:

El Castillo De Jagua - Lower East Side - New York, NY

Angelina Cafe - East Village - New York, NY

@ironchef you can't hide that shit on your Instagram and let it pop up on that side bar and I barely miss it. It looks awesome but that really goes without saying.

Having not been tattooed in well over 4 months, it felt like I went 12 rounds today in the ring with Rubendall, hahaha. We did a 6-6 1/2 hour session. I'll try to upload better pics tomorrow. For now just enjoy the ones in the Instagram feed. Goodnight...

I don't do bars,so I'm out.

Just realized 169 bar is out due to them opening later.

Top Hop or Spitzers

So because we are getting close lets narrow down the location.

Contenders:

Spitzer's (LES)

Top Hops (LES)

Peculiar Pub (Greenwich)

169 Bar (LES)

Iggy's (LES)

Everyone vote on one of them so we can call it official. Just quote this message so I can tally em!

169 Bar sounds good to me!

so i have a weird question.

i already have a bryan burk tiger, right? well i am 100% having him do my back but honestly the more i think about, i just want him to do a another bigger tiger on my back, with background and maybe other elements.

is that weird to have 2 similar tattoos from the same person on you?

I have two sets of koi from Henning Jorgensen. One on my left arm, two on my left thigh. LOVE his koi. Thoughts have run through my head of getting more koi up the left side of my torso to tie everything all together. Like most hobbies, interests, passions; there is no set formula in how one goes about collecting things. Just get what you like.

Welcome Sweety! That Jack Kirby piece ROCKS!!!

Generally we like to keep talk about money off of LST.

I don't like talking about money either and call me old fashion...or just plain old, I prefer to bring gifts. Books, bottles of alcohol, some type of food or treats. Sure cash can be king, but this works for me and the artist always seem to appreciate it.