Iwar

YES!!!

I took a brief trip to Portland to get tattooed by greggletron. Cool shop and a nice guy as well. The knee was quite the experience!

Rubendall and Henning said I "buck the Asian stereotype" of having no ass :D

started this end of '13 with rich hardy in krakow,poland. then i travelled to london, paris and london again to finish it few weeks ago. so relieved that i finally don't have to get through that pain again. although the shading during the last 3 sessions was so easy in comparison to the lines.
anyways i can only repeat that rich is the nicest guy. everyone should get tattooed by him if he is around.
merry christmas everyone!

Got this today...
Marie Sena.
Lousy picture.

haven't been on here in a while. I enjoyed seeing all the great work everyone has gotten recently!
Had an appt with Chad Koeplinger on 11/14. I thought I was in for one more painful, albeit short, back appt for some touch ups in case he felt they were needed. After taking a look at my healed back, he said some very wonderful words "rob, I think we are done". I emphatically replied back, "thank GOD!"
So, I had him do some filler on my wrist. He tattooed a flail and a fly and I am absolutely loving them both. I really enjoyed getting these, but I will admit, the ball of the flail, on the inside of my wrist was a bit more painful than I would have thought. Felt like it was sending electric shocks into my hand! Still, easier than the back for sure!
Included a pic of my healed back, and a photo off of Chad's instagram of myself and a seemingly GIANT Andrew Stortz . Andrew's back piece is insanely good.

not black friday...colour saturday...finished up today...
scott's the best..i'm sooo happy :)

Chad Koeplinger, Rose in the elbow ditch, done at Smith Street mid Aug '15, done in an hr and half (I couldn't believe how fast it was), Why? Why not.

Getting some work by Eddy Deutsche next month. Thanks for looking!

Somewhere between 5 or 6 hours of outlining today with Sam Warren. He ended up going just the tiniest bit bigger than I thought he would, but I am so stoked to get this started. Oh, and this goes into the dreaded butt crease, which had me seeing stars.

Robert Ryan!

Sandor Jordan finished my Shoki today! It was going to be on my calf, but i decided i wanted to go big and put it on my thigh.
He's a kickass dude and an awesome tattooer!
Jordanist on Instagram

This is a bit of a joint effort. The Dagger, Collar, Angel and Reaper (2-6 weeks old) are by Fergus Simms - Melbourne Tattoo Company, and the Eagle Snake fight (2.5 months old) is by Jess Swaffer - Chapel Tattoo.
Wanted to wait until the whole spot was done before i posted them up! Super happy with them, and two of the nicest tattoo experiences (bar the pain!) I've ever had.

(Pardon my overly enthusiastic post but I've just recently started getting tattooed, and I've never been tattooed at a convention - this is all pretty new to me so I'm gushing a bit!)
Not great pics, and no good clear ones of the tat yet, but am SO STOKED (and still a bit wonky) from my epic day yesterday with Darcy Nutt at the Richmond VA Tattoo Arts Convention. We emailed about ideas beforehand, but she decided not to draw anything up, wanting to meet me first and collaborate on something after we spoke in person. She had no other appointments, so my simple Japanese koi idea turned into my own freshwater angel fish from pics off my phone, and my beloved peonies.
She freehanded it onto my arm, and including that part of it and one potty break, it was 6 hours in the chair. That is why I look a bit cross-eyed strung out by the last pic! I ate an omelet at 9 am and hubby tried to get me to eat along the way, but I could not do it - endorphins from pain suppress the appetite, I guess. I tried to stay hydrated, though, and found my happy place. It is all about breathing. I knew I'd be leaving with something wonderful that I'd enjoy forever, and it would be worth it.
She won Tattoo of the Day (I guess I won too, but I didn't do anything but sit there), and that was pretty sweet! She finished at 9:25, the contest was at 9:30, and the pic was taken at about 10, at which point I didn't know my own name, lol. That is definitely a long session, I don't care who you are, but I had an opportunity that was not to be passed up, and Darcy is a genius.
When I went up to the judges, they looked at each other, shaking their heads and grinning as they all exclaimed, "Fuckin' Darcy..." cuz they KNEW this tattoo was going to win, lol. Anybody who has the chance to get some work done by this sweet, wonderful, brilliant lady you should definitely do it. She made this design up on the fly, without ever having done this type of fish before. I'll post pics when I get the ones done by the photographer at the show, or the ones she'll post on her IG, showing the fish better towards the back of my arm.



From Darcy's IG:
https://www.instagram.com/p/-ZQEJVMdTl/

Kore posted a picture so I thought I'd share it here
Shou from 36 Ghost by Horiyoshi3
Made by Kore Flatmo
About 30 hours so far

First session from my long and humbling journey with Horitomo, in August. Ignorantly assumed that I'd be able to schedule within 90 days and was sadly mistaken. Won't have my next appointment until July. It's probably for the better, I needed to pump the brakes.

Anyone getting tattooed at the convention today? I'll be at Chad's booth @ 7 tonight. Look for the dude hating his life getting his knee done.

Thought I would also upload and share this dope action shot. Plus you can catch a peak at my backpiece that's about 5 months settled in as well as Len's great hair lol ;)

Another reminder that it is the tattoo experience as whole - that truly makes the tattoo. that's what matters. Tattooing is a very powerful, deliberate and permanent act and series of events.
Last Wednesday was an incredible day. My work in the morning. Popping into the tattoo shop to just to say what's up and casually flipping through Len's book - I have 3 tattoos from Len now and each one was a spontaneous act with permanent results. Going and getting a dope haircut so I didn't get a cheap $25cent razor fade (found a new barber, an older black gentleman, he shared his cool snake tattoo on his dark skin, he got in 1967!). My tai chi practice in the park. An encouraging doctor's appointment. The boys keeping the shop open into the evening to accommodate me (shout out to Champion Tattoo Edmonton). The stencil and re-stencil to get the placement just right. The first 30 seconds when I thought holy shit man, this is brutal have I gone too far? Bishops Green on the stereo. Tattoo talk with the boys. Sweating through the table. Feeling my nose about to get crushed sideways on the table. the post-tattoo newport smoke, the vulnerability and the satisfaction with the end result. The morning after when the shower water hit the back of my raw tattooed skin. Even today walking down the street, walking proud and tall with this new tattoo. Hearing the lady behind me in the crosswalk whispering out loud 'damn that's a nice tattoo' to herself. Seriously, I am really buzzing off how this one turned out.
The butterfly symbolism is pretty obvious.
But also this:
I dreamed I was a butterfly, fluttering about, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly. Soon I awakened, and there I was, myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. -Master Zhuang
I became aware of this taoist quote the morning after receiving my tattoo, and I too had the butterfly dream leading up to this spontaneous tattoo. I found it very fitting, not just in the context of the rest of my tattoos, but in terms of some personal growth I have been making over the last few months. And here comes this profound tattoo experience from a simple design that carries some complex symbolism to me, providing enlightenment when I needed it the most.
Thank you LST for providing a medium to share the tattoo experience together !

Finally lost my cherry today. A great experience and I love my new tattoo.
By Bradley Tompkins at Frith Street.

buffalo by bh robinson. good dude~ pic is sideways bc i like to be as horizontal as possible

So I bought some fundoshi's off of eBay a while back, thinking I might use them when I start my backpiece. In hindsight I should have known that only japanese men with bodysuits can pull those off. Pale norwegian guys, not so much. Had to cherish the moment with a picture though. I hope you all feel privileged! :cool:

- - - Updated - - -
Only thing I made my mind up about pretty early on was that I wanted to go big on my front and back. Other than that I'm just randomly filling it in with different styles of work from different tattooers I dig. I guess my thighs and feet match each other, but other than that I just pack'em in there. I absolutely love the look of japanese bodysuites though, but that's not for me. I like too much from both worlds.
Now let's see the rest of you in your fundoshis! If you don't have any laying around, all you need is an old bedsheet and a pair of scissors, and voila.

Second session this month. Scales are now all done and every little thing we do is just making the whole thing pop a little bit more. Super happy.

"Yknow what's awesome about this budd?...you have a whole bodysuit of tattoo and MY tattoo is going to be the one everyone is gonna ask about haha"
Keepin' it real w/ King Len, guest spot at Champion Tattoo in Edmonton, AB

Deadly placement, deadly evening, deadly tattoo. But holy fack did this one sizzle and rattle.

have an apt. w/ bailey hunter robinson next sat. he's guesting down here at rock of ages in austin... getting one of his trademark buffaloes to start off my right arm. ~2excited~
just need to be sure not to get confused and call him heather bailey (which i've already done in my head a dozen times)
:o :cool:

I recently finished a short documentary that profiles Norwegian tattooer Morten Transeth. I also added English subtitles to the best of my ability, so remember to switch captions (CC) on if you need 'em :)


Go to http://instagram.com/morten_transeth to see more of his work.
Thanks for watching!

I'd choose "tattoo mojo" over technical perfection any day. It's like music man... It needs soul! I think Deutsche, Roberts and Horiyoshi's work has plenty, and then some.