Rikhall

Big night for me last night, having Chad Koeplinger start my back piece. I am so insanely in love with it and so grateful to Chad for tattooing this on me.
I'm sure some of you saw his instagram with the pics below. If you can believe it, he did this in 2 hrs, with about 30 minutes of breaks for me scattered throughout the session. So, he did this in an hour and a half. No joke. He still has some more lines to add in the hair, and some more tiger stripes, but this, to me, was one hell of a start!!!
Also, it was great to meet @BrianH. He was the appt before me, and got an AMAZING tattoo from Chad.
AND to add to this wonderful evening, Jason Scott handed me a gift that Martin Lacasse sent for me. He gave me the ORIGINAL sketch, that was sent to the publisher, of MY dragon from the 365 Book!!!! OMG ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?!?!? I AM SO INSANELY PSYCHED!!! That was so super nice I can't even believe it. WOW!
Oh, and in closing, This was EXCRUCIATING. The lines are so insanely thick, and it wraps some onto my ribs, up on my traps, and flirts like hell with the top of my ass. There was no easy part of this tattoo, just varying levels of hell. Explains why i needed 30 minutes of breaks in a 2 hr session. Got back to my hotel at 2:30 in the morning, and with all the adrenaline, and the fact that I thought I should sleep on my stomach (just can't seem to do it), i didn't sleep a wink. Hopefully tonight i'll get a good night's sleep.
Anyway-
I can't seem to get these pics to display correctly and I forget how to fix them.
rob

I have been really slowing down on getting tattooed recently, but I am very stoked to be getting an adaptation of this cute little nautical star/butterfly design by Robert Johnson flash (from the 1950s, found in the always amazing Flash from the Past) so that I may always keep moving in the right direction. Appointment in a couple of weeks.

I'm really looking forward to the Lost Love flash book. I already have the Milton H Zeis: Tattooing As You Like It book and I think I'm more excited for Lost Love than I was the Zeis book.
Also, if anyone knows what movie is played in the video, please share...I've tried looking it up and came up with nothing.

It was on Tim Beck's Instagram really nice, I've been thinking that one of those with a animal head in it would be cool, like the hardy ones but a round flower instead of a rose

a guy at work dosnt like my tattoos because they have no meaning then i got a rose of nomansland and because my gran was a nurse in ww2 told him thats why i got it (even though i would have got it anyway) and all of a sudden he thinks its great,
another time the same guy was slagging off my tattoos for having no meaning so i apologised for not pretending my life was a episode of miami ink

two full days wit Steve Bryne in month and trying to book with chad for just before depending on where he is.

a guy at work dosnt like my tattoos because they have no meaning then i got a rose of nomansland and because my gran was a nurse in ww2 told him thats why i got it (even though i would have got it anyway) and all of a sudden he thinks its great,
another time the same guy was slagging off my tattoos for having no meaning so i apologised for not pretending my life was a episode of miami ink

Greg Christian.

No problem, and I'd also recommend watching the artist interview videos on this site, Vice's Tattoo Age series, and the Gypsy Gentleman videos because they'll give you insight into the people making tattoos, and there are some great tattoos and great stories in them.

a guy at work dosnt like my tattoos because they have no meaning then i got a rose of nomansland and because my gran was a nurse in ww2 told him thats why i got it (even though i would have got it anyway) and all of a sudden he thinks its great,
another time the same guy was slagging off my tattoos for having no meaning so i apologised for not pretending my life was a episode of miami ink

It's not Breaking Bad ;)
Meaning; it's not serialised. There isn't a story. It's in four parts because each part focuses on a different aspect of being part of FST (or being part of tattooing as a whole)
Part One is the close knit family aspect.
Part Two is the global 'community' and FST's position in it.
Part Three is the people, roads and attitudes that led us to be where we are (wherever that is) and
Part Four is focuses on what it is to dedicate your life to something.
Each part was designed to stand on it's own. Each one has a slightly different feel. Already the people who've seen the rough cuts of them all have a favourite.
Thanks to everyone for the interest. Special thanks to those who bought or rented it. I really appreciate it. The response has been way more positive than I thought.
I feel I should say: it's probably not what you expect. It's not a moving gallery of tattoos and it's not an advertisement for tattooing or for FST.

Welcome!

Welcome! If you're into travelling and getting tattooed, you've found the right place!

yep that back piece is killer

This is mine from Fergus Simms. Legit one of the best people to get a tattoo from.

Was trying to book in with Chad at the beginning of April but couldn't sort anything so I booked in with Bert and Eli at smith street, wanted to get in with Steve aswell but he was fully booked that day or else I would have had a piece by all four of them, looking at getting a larger piece by Chad later in the year instead, which should be cool because most of my tattoos have been one shots so far

My plan from the beginning was to spread the wealth and get tattooed by a variety of artists. Ive been under the gun with Jesse Smith for about 18 months and need to stop and move on. My first tattoo from him was on my upper arm. I then decided I wan'ted a more visible example of his work and am now getting a sleeve (? not sure what its called on a leg) on my lower left leg. After that is complete I expect I will get a divorce and move on. There are just too many great artists to not try em all out

in toronto airport a women who was easily in her 70s sat and stared at me for a while then got up walked over and said she thought they were amazing and they made her want to get one

in toronto airport a women who was easily in her 70s sat and stared at me for a while then got up walked over and said she thought they were amazing and they made her want to get one

in toronto airport a women who was easily in her 70s sat and stared at me for a while then got up walked over and said she thought they were amazing and they made her want to get one

in toronto airport a women who was easily in her 70s sat and stared at me for a while then got up walked over and said she thought they were amazing and they made her want to get one

i used a vacation to new york and got some work by Dan Santoro on the 2nd day and it ruined the sight seeing experience, id recommend getting it later your vacation if the plan is to sight see and also the city your in could inspire you for a idea

two full days wit Steve Bryne in month and trying to book with chad for just before depending on where he is.

Got this done by Frank Carter yesterday, nabbed the picture from his instagram as i'm too lazy to take one myself.

Yep, this was all at the NYC con. I emailed him and told him I would like a nine tailed fox and I like this drawing, and he told me to come in Saturday.Horimitsu seems like a nice guy. He shook my hand when I arrived and left. He doesn't speak English well so sometimes I had to say things twice, but I was able to get across what I wanted. I asked if I should get it on my upper arm or lower leg. He looked at both and decided my leg would be easier. He enlarged the drawing with a photocopier when I asked him to. He knew what I meant when I told him I wanted it yellow but not too yellow. At the same time he also exercised his own judgement, which I'm grateful for because he knows his stuff. For example he told me blue wasn't a good color for the fox's eyes when I suggested it.
I watched him draw, he was really careful, precise and focused. When he was done I saw him count the tails to double check and make sure there are really nine of them. I was planning to ask him if I could keep the drawing when I was done, but by the time it was done I totally forgot. I guess it doesn't matter though, because I have the same drawing on my leg for the rest of my life.
I wasn't good at handling the pain, especially for the first couple hours. I probably moved way too much. I'm glad all the lines came out non-shaky despite that. It took 5 hours total including a few breaks. One of the guys working there (don't remember his name, sorry) gave me a rice dumpling during one of my breaks because there wasn't any food for sale at the con. The food helps with the pain. He also got me a Twix when I was done. He also answered some questions I had and even brought me my ipod so I wouldn't have to interrupt Mitsu to get it myself.
There were a lot of people gathered around the booth watching me get the tattoo. I thought that would bother me because I'm a shy person in general, but I was so distracted by the pain I didn't care at all. Also the tattoo is so great I kind of wanted everyone to see it. I chatted a bit with the guys getting tattooed by Shunho right next to me, and some other people. There's kind of a sense of comradery in the place because we're all interested in tattoos, which is cool. I left shortly after it was done though because I was pretty tired.
So, overall, Horimitsu is a nice guy and the experience was great.