suburbanxcore

@cibo their loss is your gain!
@piccalilli that crushes. So awesome.

<10 days until I finally get back to Horitomo! Happy but nervous about pain tolerance, hopefully we'll make some good progress!

So, I recall being asked if I was going to do the other side after I posted my left side's tattoo here some months ago... yes, yes yes, fine, you win; you were right. I couldn't leave it unbalanced.
Discussed it with Horifuji after my last appointment for the left side and I asked him what he would suggest. He suggested Sojobo on the right shoulder to keep the theme consistent. The karasu tengu on the left shoulder would need to be supervised, anyway.
Horifuji at State of Grace in San Jose USA. Outline and details machine, almost all colour tebori. 
Great shop, great people, great experience, great artist. Links to his Instagram posts as the photos are much clearer than what I can do.
And both sides from the front...
 
 

have been away for a bit, just realized i didn't post up the finished work from Scott Sylvia...the guy who bailed on this drawing totally lost out! :)

Pretty good day for my wife and I at Smith Street. Angel Fish for her by Frank William and a koi for me by Eli Quinters. 

Getting started on a fun piece before my back project. Artist changed the classic photo to match the color of my dog. So this is tattoo number five and I am still learning. Yes your biceps are free. Back is not too bad. Thigh is a little more sensitive until you start rounding the corners.  Got the line work this session. Going to be a fun summer

These are both a year or more old at this point, but I never actually put them in this thread.
The death's head moth was done by Oliver Peck when he guested at Kadillac Tattoo Mt. Airy (Philadelphia) last summer. Not the best picture, but he ended up slipping a lot of hot pink in there that wasn't at all what I'd expect from him. In the end, I loved it and was happy with how it came out. Getting tattooed by Oliver is as great as you'd expect. I had just gotten my shin done by Scott the week before and mentioned in our emails; Oliver came barging in yelling, "Lemme see that Scott tat!" right off the bat. After we were done, he actually took his shirt off and showed me a ton of his tattoos from Scott, Trevino, Rassier, Stell, etc. So fucking awesome.
The torch moth was done by Keith Reed at X-Treme in West Chester, PA shortly after they moved to their new location. This was a "thank you" tattoo for helping them move. Keith is the best. Just an every day, no-bullshit, hard-working tattooer. Without him, I wouldn't know shit about tattoos.
Not the best pic in the world, but @Dan and I were chatting back and forth and I realized I should probably upload em. Once that Grez knee you can see half done gets finished, I'll hit up the squidpants thread.

Hey guys, long time no post. I just realized I never posted my two latest because I wanted to wait until they were both healed. Not the best pics, but you get the idea.
Cobra by Scott Sylvia done at Pagoda City Convention. Drawn on in 15 minutes, outlined in about an hour. Scott is the absolute best. We had originally talked about him doing all of the black in Reading then the color in the fall, but he had the time so we just powered through. It was another great experience being tattooed by him, and I can't say enough great things.
Death's head moth by Oliver Peck while guesting in Philadelphia at Kadillac Mt. Airy. Another pleasure. Oliver was so down to earth and easy to talk to, just like you'd expect. He only did three or four tattoos that day, and I was lucky it happened to be the last week before school started and I could squeeze in after cross country practice (the only heavily tattooed coach in the world, I think). He checked out a ton of my tattoos and even took his shirt off to show me his stomach from Scott, his side from Rassier, and his back from Trevino. So awesome.
Not the best photos, but it's what I have.
Also, I was not expecting to have nearly this much pink on my legs, particularly from Scott and Oliver, but here we are.

Finished up my arm with Grez last month. Here are some healed shots (that I also just put in the contest thread).

Anyone who follows me on Instagram has seen this, but here's a little teaser shot of my arm from Grez. I said from the beginning that I wasn't going to post progress shots much because I love that feeling of just seeing the whole completed piece, and I'm amazed I mostly stuck to that. Haha. Now that next month is likely the last sitting, I can see end in sight and can't wait to share it.

Now that this is (mostly) healed up, here is my latest from Grez. What do you do when you love Catholic imagery but haven't gone to church since you were a kid? You throw the best mascot in sports in a virgin Mary shroud. Grez is a big baseball fan, so he took the idea and ran with it, including adding the Liberty Bell in place of the sacred heart.

Edit: he also did those cats last fall. They've settled in nicely.

A little in-progress shot my wife posted on Instagram of the peony on her elbow from Martin Lacasse at Olde City Tattoo. You can see the back of the snake as well. That's also the first peony that bloomed in our yard this spring.

Here's an in-progress shot he posted of the snake. From @lacassetattoo.

Finally, here's the ditch peony.

Nice little filler tattoo of a bunch of lilacs (my mom's favorite flower). Done by Keith Reed at X-treme Ink in West Chester, PA.

I put this in this months contest thread, but I figured I'd put it here too. It was done by Ron Henry Wells at the Philly convention. Getting tattooed by him was great. He kept yelling at me every half hour or so. Highlights included:
"I can't believe you're making me tattoo between Grez and Scott Sylvia!"
"Seriously, fuck you."
"You know I'm ruining the property value of your leg, right? I mean, I'm gonna put this tattoo here, and next thing you know, bloods and crips will be selling crack on your leg."
"Why do you even want to get tattooed by me after these other ones? I should be working at Starbucks, not making tattoos."
Dude was hilarious. Anyway, this is healed now, and it definitely fits in and doesn't ruin my leg at all. Haha. He's so self-deprecating, but goddamn if he doesn't just keep killing it. I love almost everything I see him do.

I have a appointment set with @cltattooing   on May 12th at her shop in Oakland, "FTW Tattoo Parlor",some of you should remember her.
anyway,I am getting a B&G death moth on my upper chest and some lettering on my fingers.
I am super excited to finally get some work from her,I have been following her for a while now.she is awesome IMO.
the bay area has a ton of great artists and it's only 90min from me.

Walk-in with Ami last Thursday...

Added this panther about three weeks ago, picture came out a little blurry.
 

image from Steve's Instagram of my new baby.  That man FLIES through tattoos and is the largest man I've met in my whole life.  Sweet as a peach, warm, intelligent, socialite at the convention and artistic and brilliant (in my opinion)

Worked on the left thigh. Hope to finish the background (mikiri) next month!
 

As promised, can't wait to go back in the summer for the colors.

My tiger half sleeve was finished on Tuesday.  Super happy with it and how well it's healing.  Work by Kevin Stress at Enso Tattoo in Columbus, OH.  Great artist and shop, would recommend to anyone.  Let me know what you think!
 

An action shot with me on the near table.

<<<Photos borrowed from the artist's IG>>>

First sesh with Kiku, at Invisible Ink, NYC. Going to add a snek and take it down to the ankle. That's why she's peering downwards: searching for her absent friend. 

Here is my latest tattoo. Just finished it last Thursday. Four hour ribs session 😬

Finished all the black yesterday, I'm getting tattooed every two weeks from here on out so I'll just update at the end of this sleeve to avoid spamming the thread. 

Steve Byrne in April and another call from Horitomo to schedule for the summer, the closer it gets the more giddy I get!