IAmMattLewis

Got this a couple weeks ago from Nikki Balls in D.C. Still a little shiny, and not a great pic, but you get the idea. Thanks for looking.

Here you go, on my left thigh, koi, water and cherry blossoms done in Japanese style by Henning Jorgensen. Not completed yet and also now connected to my back piece project. Will eventually get a piece on my right thigh to balance things out. Maybe a tiger or dragon or both.

got this hot momma a few weeks ago from eli quinters

New one done today by Stevie Edge

got this dagger from jaie devore a few weeks ago

Got this from Bailey on Saturday.

2nd session w/Scott Sylvia...done...

My girlfriend and I got 'honeymoon phase' tattoos from Nic Lynds in Austin while we were on vacation. This one is hers. Mine is the same just harder to shoot.

Got this From Phil Hatchet Yau at Tahiti Felix's Master Tattoo while visiting San Diego this weekend. One-shot, 4 hours.

Very happy with it. Super cool tattoo shop, with tons of original flash from the 50's and some from even earlier. Phil is super nice and seems like a great dude.

So today was my second session with Henning on my backpiece and it was a tough one. Started bright at early at 9:30am at Kings Avenue Long Island. This was probably the most painful and longest tattoo session I've ever had. We both under-estimated the time it would take for Henning to finish lining some additional feathers and to shade in the rest of the background. The first 5 hours were relatively low key. The last two hours were terrifying. I now know I will probably not entertain a torso piece anytime soon as the pain from the ribs was just brutal. This was the first time I considered tapping out but I was able to bare down and we managed to finish. Here are some pics. Color next year for the phoenix. Next session will be with Rubendall in December to put more color into the dragon.
Big thanks to @Killercook76 who dropped by today for moral support and assisted in taking some pics. He showed off his Garver and Hendricks pieces which were AMAZING. Cheers bro!
I love this guy but he "royally" kicked my ass today...

Added some more feathers and filling in the top

Background fully shaded

Right side from Tuesday's session

Left side from today

Yesterday morning at 7 AM my girlfriend, my cousin, and myself drove down to Richmond to get tattooed by Max Kuhn. It was my 3rd session on my back and we got about 4 more hours in on it.

My girlfriend got her stomach finished

My cousin came along and got his 3rd tattoo. I just took him to get his first back in June or July from Shrewsbury, then he got tattooed by Lowercase J last month.

showing progress on my back done by jess yen. i lost count but i think we are about 25hrs or so in.

So many killer tattoos so far, and I don't want to win, but just to make things fun, I'll throw this one in the ring:

Done by Chad Koeplinger at the Montreal convention in September.
Also because of this forum I have this impression that Scandinavia is full of super nice people with jaw-dropping tattoos.

I guess I will throw my in progress piece done by shige this monday at diamond club tattoo into the mix

I'm not sure why I've lurked this site for so long and not joined....
It's possible that I didn't feel the need.....
It's possible I just got plenty from just lurking...
Either way, this is one of very few good website resources for tattooers.... hopefully I can contribute something.
The spec sheet...of sorts....
Mr. Bruce ......currently (2013) 43yrs old........that's all you need to know...I won't bore you with my last name, it's long and too often mispronounced and my grandfather wouldn't appreciate that.
Self Made tattooer...nothing made up or romantic. From hand poke in Junior high to my Spaulding Super Saver kit Senior year of high school circa 1988 ......those Pumas changed my life, tape deck rotaries lost their appeal.
Trained by the best convicts my family tree could provide. Got my first "tattoo" at age 11 , and the ONLY cover up I've ever gotten.....regret it every day since.
"Professionally" licensed since 1998 .... Unable to tattoo in my own state of MASS since it was illegal for 38yrs, once ban lifted I began work same week at a great street shop opened by a friend with more money than me .....
Greatfully tattooing in the same chair since.......... in my hometown, born and raised.....Pushing 13yrs ...... Hopefully beyond.
Travel.... Friends....acquaintances....along the way.......
I keep my head down, respect the hard working people who give up their pay to get tattooed by me....and enjoy good conversation.
I don't innovate, that's for innovators..........I just work, I'm that................ It's more than fine to me.
Hopefully I can participate here...avoid the negativity...and meet like minded folks.

Nice stuff from Claudia Desabe

Here's the latest from @Stewart Robson from yesterday at Black Heart. Left thigh yesterday and right thigh today. That is a really nice pice from Grez @dari snuck a peek when you were showing Stewart.....

The Tim Lehi tiger wraps around the front of my shin and the tail goes up the front of my thigh. I love Tim's tiger's so much, they make me angry. Grez did that Durga on me earlier today, I'm waiting for the swelling to hit. He's real light handed, so I'm sure tomorrow will be worse than getting tattooed. I know pic isn't amazing, I took it myself with iPad, heels touching, and toes turned out. If I just stood straight on, they could see each other, but we couldn't see them.
That picture really does a disservice to the tiger, you can't see the awesomeness of the colors of the face or how it flows, but it's probably better that way. I know it would only make @hogg angry.

Here is a terrible photo of what I got from Tony Nilsson while at NY Adorned over the weekend. Great dude and a really humble young tattooer. I'm stoked I went and got something from him while he was here in the states. Being that I really don't post all that much I've gotten a little behind, but I have some new stuff from Grez, Steve Boltz, and Bob Roberts that I'll try and get some photos of as well.
It's funny because I am not a fan of forums or posting pictures of tattoos online in the slightest, but there is something so enjoyable about this site that I find myself always coming back and wanting to share. The tattoos that have been getting posted all over this forum are really mind blowing. There's too many people to mention, but I've been real jealous lately browsing around. Hopefully, whatever I throw up someone enjoys 1/100th the amount of how I feel about the O'Donnell or Rubendall (just to name a few) pieces that I get to see on here.

Here's the progress so far on my knee tattoo from Matt at invisible nyc

from the convention ;p

When you get to the point where you don't rely on other people for your self esteem, it's a very liberating feeling. It took me more years than I'd care to admit.

From quotes to the other extreme: inkblots! Definitely a pretty original idea, but the finished product might look exactly like that.. a bunch of blobby black that you may end up regretting as much as the original quotes. Tattoos don't need to be literal. That's why you can get a reaper and have it mean death or life or party time or nothing at all. If you're going for full arm coverage start checking out some large-scale work. LST is a great place to start.. Maybe start with a portrait of Rorschach himself if you're really into it. I mean, he's not an unattractive man: Hermann Rorschach - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You can't learn to swim by reading a book.
To expand on that again, tattooing is best experienced first-hand. Many times, here on this forum, in the shop I work at and conventions etc, someone has mentioned that they wish there was a book that had all the information they were looking for about a particular subject at that moment. It usually doesn't exist. You have to find it yourself.
With regards to tattooing and "tattoo culture" We're living in a folk art culture. We should embrace the folk art tradition of oral storytelling and first hand knowledge and be relieved that we not (yet) shackled by the literary bounds of other art movements, cultures and historical societies.
But to be more on topic, in a general sort of way...
I'd stick my neck out and say that any style of tattooing (until maybe around 2000-2010) is influenced by the popular culture surrounding the people who get those styles. Sailor Jerry cribbed movie posters and other advertisements for many of his designs between the 40's - 70s. Mike Malone used objects and paintings he found in Chinatown as reference for many of his popular designs. It stands to reason that Charlie Wagner would have used Edwardian style filigree ornamentation (from a variety of sources, jewellery included) in his designs.
The dotwork thing is slightly separate. During the first decade of the 21st century tattooing entered a more post-modern, referential phase where most styles of tattooing referenced or were influenced by earlier styles of tattooing. Except dotwork. I consider the work of Thomas Hooper, Xed Le Head, Jondix (I'd extend that to Duncan X) to be the only "new" style of tattooing since biomech in the 90's - but that didn't seem to catch on outside of tattoo culture the way their work did.
That's why I still bother to get involved when someone refers to dotwork as a "fad".
While it is imitated ad nauseam, we've alive to witness the birth of a new tattoo style that was influenced by disparate artforms outside of tattooing to the point where it works and it's possible to have a coherent bodysuit of that style. Pretty exciting stuff.

DEEEEEENNNOOOOOOO
at the Bay Area Convention of the Tattoo Arts
Dude was so cool, I had such a great time. I also got to practice my spanish and many laughs were exchanged. I asked about some of his tattoos, he asked about some of mine, overall a lovely experience. Also, my forearm now somewhat resembles a balloon. Ha