ironchef

Great collection :cool:

Is there anywhere I can still get the one in the middle second row down?

If you are referencing this one, unfortunately it was part of a limited set and no longer available.

Damn nice heads up! I might swing by after work as I work right over in the Financial District.

See you there brother.

Beautiful. But weren't there only two series of four? Where'd the other two come from?

The top row of three prints are available from Tattoo Elite International. Then the remainder comprise of the two limited print runs consisting of four prints per set.

@Lance @el twe : Definitely too be continued and I patiently wait for the next batch of prints to be available. Honestly wish some of Horitomo's earlier tattoo cats were available as prints. I loved the ones with the dragons and the rats!

Thanks @Pugilist ! I can't think of a better way to christen a new apartment then by hanging up some tattoo cats! I'm saving a spot on my wall for a future @Graeme cat print!

Saw info about this on Instagram. I will be hitting the TriBeCa location in Manhattan on Tuesday as it is minutes away from my office.

Wear Your Dreams: My Life in Tattoos at Barnes & Noble - Tribeca, New York NY

http://www.hardymarks.com/

So today's Father's Day and my dad is celebrating the only way he knows best...by spending the day at the mah-jong parlor. My lady is working so that leaves me with a free day to my own devices to which I decided to mount and hang up the Horitomo cat prints I have accumulated. I love the entire series and the various ones that are not in print but posted on Horitomo's Instagram. Patiently waiting for more prints to come out and the much rumored book that collects all of the various tattoo cat incarnations. Hopefully one day I make it out to the west coast to get a tattoo cat from him...would be an awesome experience.

Looking forward to completing my Half Sleeve w/Chest Panel by O'Donnell on July 11th. After that, I have an appointment with Koeplinger July 24th at Smith St for my first traditional tattoo, a wolf head, which will be done on the top of the foot. Really excited about that piece! I'm also waiting to hear back from Henning to do a half sleeve w/chest panel whenever he is available at King's Ave. He will be up this fall but is not sure what his schedule will be like or how booked he is. Last but certainly not least, I am on Rubendall's priority list for his next booking which will be for 2016 all because I was too lazy to drive out to Massapequa after a graveyard shift at work. Looking to get him to do a piece on my ribs for what I am saying will be my final tattoo...... but we all know how that goes.

Holding your nose and diving into the deep end of the pool, eh? Kudos!

John Sultana does killer tattoos and he seems like a super nice dude too.

Pretty much love everything that's been posted to his Instagram.

I contacted Hooper maybe over a year ago and he was super busy but asked me to touch base with him in about 4-5 months. Tried again but Thomas just had a full plate and couldn't get me in on his schedule. It's known that he's going to be leaving NYC soon and moving permanently to Austin TX and he basically told me if I ever made my way down there he'd try to fit me in. I also asked him that if he planned to visit back up in the East Coast to please let me know. Through all our communications, Hooper has been a true gentleman and I could tell he really wanted to get me in for some work but just couldn't make it happen and I do not fault him in any way for it.

There have been some opportunities where Hooper and the Saved crew have done walk-in Sundays that I could have easily taken advantage of being my proximity to the shop location. But in the long run, I knew I wanted something more than just a quick small piece, so I'll patiently continue to keep in contact with Thomas until the opportunity presents itself. But at the same time, I'll keep my options open should another artist strike my fancy.

But isn't the traditional way of getting a Japanese tattoo to do it in short sessions? If you look on Horiyoshi 3's instagram there's a lot of 50 minute sessions and what not.

I concur with @Graeme though mostly from second-hand information and not direct knowledge. Tebori is a very slow process and generally very short sessions from what I researched online and read in books. I was talking to a client of Horitmitsu during the NYC Tattoo Convention and please take this big a big ole pinch of salt, he had a killer full sleeve from Mitsu and it was still in progress. I asked how the pain was and he said it was less painful under tebori than with a machine. Then I asked how many hours he had into his sleeve...he said about 60+. Completely blew my mind.

This was further substantiated by a recent post from Horimitsu of a peony piece he did on a client in Toronto after the NYC convention. The client posted it took 4 hours to do just the peony on his shoulder. I think an artist with a machine would take probably half as long if not quicker but again dependent on the individual artist and their individual work speed too.

Sadly, we haven't done this as much as we should be doing it, though last summer when we were passing through New England, @Pugilist made me a surprise appointment with Ron Henry Wells at Congress St Tattoo in Portsmouth NH and I got a rad little bear head on my collarbone to balance a wolf head I have on my other collarbone. We have matching tattoos though, and next year is our fifth wedding anniversary and we have something super cool planned for that.

Also, I finished by sleeve today. Some of you saw some gory in progress pictures.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing. Really re-enforces my idea of getting my lady something. Matching? Maybe...it's an idea I've been toying with. By the way, saw the updates on Instagram. Hooper really worked you over today. You're a trooper to sit through all that. Can't wait to see the whole thing!

The great Stephanie Tamez. @Graeme and I feel that bleeding right next to each other for hours really strengthens our marriage.

You and @Graeme ROCK!!!! Have either of you gotten tattoo appointments for one another as gifts or tokens of affection? I'm thinking about getting Henning or Rubendall to tattoo my lady as a gift one day.

Yay, western NY represent!!! Welcome!

I just had almost five hours done on my back today and I am SPENT. So tired. One session left.

In the meantime, I am just waiting around for @Graeme to finish with Thomas. They are on hour six, I believe. Poor guy. I asked him how he was doing before I left and he said he was managing but that he was definitely in that "why the fuck do I do this to myself?" part of the session. A feeling I know well.

Anything past the 4-5 hour mark, and my mind starts to revert back on itself. I think about all the negative or bad things from the past and this torture I'm having inflicted upon me is my penance...not that I'm a religious man. I hear faint whispers in the background telling me to sit strong and sit long, but by then it's either the pain, the drugs or the sugar that I'm running on, haha.

My back. Finished with Chris O'Donnell. Couldn't be more stoked on it.

I so wish I could triple like this. One of the most epic back pieces I have ever seen. O'Donnell is a genius! You are one lucky client to have this AMAZING piece on your back. Just totally sublime!

I like what Troy Denning has, both the beads and the bonji.

The comments at the bottom of the article are equally terrible from narrow-minded individuals...

The waiting in line experience:

Only the first person in line "camped out", I was told he got there at 2am and the shop manager (Jen) hinted that his request was for something you wouldn't expect someone to go to Mike for. A few people arrived around 6-7am and then the majority of the line showed up between 8am and 11am. I got there a little after 11am and there was about 25 people ahead of me. I finally got to the front of the line at 4pm.

Waiting in line was actually a good time. More than half the people already had work by Mike and were looking to extend half sleeves, start sleeves on the other arm, backpieces, etc. It was cool seeing Mike's work in person and talking with other people who are passionate about tattoos.

I'm excited about getting my backpiece started and wish the first appointment was sooner, but the 21 month wait will allow to me research what I want more thoroughly (although in the end I will probably just throw a few general ideas at Mike and let him take control). Also the wait time gives me plenty of time to save the money for this huge investment. I also think I should use the long wait to adopt a healthier lifestyle so I can survive the 6-8 hour sessions I have scheduled. It will be worth the wait!

Sounds almost like a live version/meet up of LST! hahaha! Glad everything worked out and the weather cooperated. I need to stop into the Long Island shop sometime this summer just to say hello.

I found Rubendall's wait time allowed me to figure out what I wanted and it tempered me from doing anything impulsive. Additionally, I personally don't like getting tattooed during the warmer months so having those 4-5 months cut out help me out as well. It also allowed me time to save money for the tattoo. I'm used to waiting as I started off getting tattooed by Henning Jorgensen and maybe saw him only once or twice a year as I waited for him to roll back around to NYC. Good things to those who wait I guess as it has resulted in me being able to convince Rubendall and Henning to collaborate, not something commonly done by either artist.

and the winner is...wait for it...TWO PEOPLE!

@Eilin

with the the amazing lady head in a mirror by Xam(post #13)

AND

@phickey

with the crazy dragon 3/4 sleeve by Henning Jorgensen(post #10)

Congratulations!!

Thanks everyone for your submissions. Keep 'em comin!

Please PM @steve1461686340 with your shirt info (size and male or female) along with your address.

Congrats @Eilin! So honored and humbled to be able to share this with you. Thanks to all the LSTer's for voting and much appreciation and admiration for all the mods on running such a great forum. To all the other participants, love all the pictures of your tattoos. Keep them coming as I'm enjoying every bit of it. Cheers!

Hell yea, some damn good tattoos! My friend backed out getting tattooed by Matt and I was like screw it, I want to get my knee tattooed! I'm getting tattoeod by Matt on the 23rd at 6. Where you thinking about getting tattooed by him?

I've got too many tattoo appointments lined up and running out of real estate, hahaha! 6PM on Sunday June 23rd, I'll have to see if I can drop by. I'm coming back from a wedding in Toronto that weekend.

Well I finally get to post in here about getting a new tattoo, not just getting the same one worked on (damn it's almost been a year!!). Just signed up with Matt from Invisible to get a demon on my knee.

Matt is doing some great tattoos these days! Love everything that's on his Instagram. When's your appointment? Maybe I can drop by and intro and say "hello" in person.

I have a crazy idea in my head: tomorrow morning I should drive 4 hours down to NY to make appointments for 2014 with a famously hard to book artist... This is a good idea right?

Well worth the trip and tomorrow being June 1st, I have a feeling I know who the artist is and where too :p

Tell them I said "hello"