JoshRoss

I've been gone for a while. I'm stoked to see so many great tattoos being done.

Started my back with Horitomo in December.

So much good stuff going on. I'm everyone keeps it up as I keep my tattoo-cation going until March.

Gotta admit, it feels nice to be pumped on getting tattooed again!

I love that. Thanks for sharing, @SnowyPlover!

Sorry to hijack, but I'll be in town this weekend. I'm gonna catch some of the comedy festival, but are there other things happening in the area? Also down to grab a drink if anyone's free!

Welcome!

http://ukiyo-e.org/ is a great site to get lost in.

The Perseverance book is a steal at $20 and it fucking rules.

What were you thinking of getting?

I love not checking this thread for a few days, and returning to see the most awesome stuff.

@JoshRoss, I believe Kip Fulbeck, who photographed the Perseverance Exhibit, has a Horitomo back piece depicting Kannon paired with a dragon. It's obviously awesome. You can't go wrong with either of those ideas alone or paired together. Then again, really can you go wrong with anything Horitomo tattoos? You just know it's going to be good. Bet you can't wait till February.

I couldn't go wrong. All though I'm leaning towards a tough dragon.

I really can't wait until I meet him to see the sketch and say, "Yeah, that's it."

@JoshRoss, that is so cool. Very clean. I've definitely got the itch right now.

Very nice about Horitomo too! What are you getting?

Kannon, dragon, or both. I've got until February. Maybe I'll just let Tomo decide!

Done by Horimitsu at the Bay Area Tattoo Convention.

I've heard so many different things about tebori, but it was an awesome experience. So much that I'll ask Horitomo to shade my back by hand when we get that going.

@Lance, @CABS - it was nice to meet you guys. Wish we got to hang.

I'll be there again tomorrow with @ELTOTTAGO to finish up with Mitsu if anyone wants to meet up.

@ironchef - thanks so much for the tip on the scotch. Mitsu says you're a good dude.

This is what I tell everyone: Get a dragon.

I'll be there Saturday night and most of Sunday. It'd be cool to meet some people, maybe grab a beer!

For my session with Horimitsu, I gave him a small bottle of single malt scotch (emphasis on small so that he could stow it easily in his check-in bag) and I also tipped him after the session. While being respectful, I say just go with your gut.

I generally prefer giving gifts over tipping. Has more personal meaning. However in other instances, cash is always king.

Scotch is always best. Thanks, dude!

@Lance,

I did get in with Horimitsu for Saturday. It's at 8 PM, so I'll probably stroll in pretty late.

Hey guys,

I tried the search function, but didn't find exactly what I'm looking for.

Could someone please enlighten me on proper tipping etiquette for Japanese tattooers? From what I understand, tipping isn't customary in Japan. I've also been told you should bring a gift before your session. I'll be getting tattooed in the States at a convention, should I just stick to tipping or bring a gift? My normal thing for gift-giving is usually some kind of alcohol, and I'm not even sure I can bring that into the convention.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Got this rose from Holly Ellis at Idle Hand's Get What You Want/Get on Saturday. I was hoping to end up with her and I'm glad I did because it was a LONG day.

Nice! I'm jealous. Did you contact him or the shop? I find it so difficult to get an appointment with him.

State Of Grace had a list of return clients and they called me. They didn't really have many options, though. I would call ASAP!

Just booked my stomach with Koji Ichimaru in a few weeks. I'm hoping that will do it for the year.

I've long since lost track of how many hours I've had to sit or lay on a table. I don't think I want to remember or get into it with just anyone even if I did. It just leads to calculating costs which isn't the point of a tattoo.

Once my sleeve started to look like a sleeve, I was so stoked and stopped caring about tracking time/cost.

Although I haven't put in nearly as much time as a lot of you guys/girls!

I'll be there. Really hoping Horimitsu gets back to me because I'd love to collect something rad.

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Well this has been a great experience! When I contacted SOG in March, I emailed some ideas/elements I wanted to incorporate along with a photo of my black cat and my leg. I referenced a couple of elements from his book like the cat's expression on one page, the skinny snake from another page, and peonies. When I got there today I finally saw his drawing and it was just perfect immediately! Love at first sight. He used machines only which was fine by me. I love the way the cat and snake seem to be eyeing each other suspiciously with narrowed eyes... And here I am on the hotel bed with my feet kicked up watching ET. Stella is beside me wearing her new monmon cat (t-shirt) nightgown.

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I love peonies and this might be my favorite Monmon Cat so far. Congrats!

Ha! I guess that’s part of the problem. There ARE so many options. Let’s not even start my munewari vs. chest piece/torso decision process. My back piece is of a historical Warlord from the 1500s. I once remarked to Jill Bonny, the artist I go to, that if I had chosen a specific mythological story, it would have been easy to figure out what else could work to pair with it. Got “Benkei” on my back, then “Yoshitsune” would be a natural pairing on the front, right? She in turn pointed out that by not doing so I actually freed myself to pick pretty much from everything.

I did talk with Jill though. I originally wanted *2 other specific samurai , munewari style, since the figure on my back is popularly known as the first of a trio who consolidated the lands under 1 rule. She didn’t dig it. She likes the image of Nobunaga to stand strong on its own, rather than have other samurai dilute it. Makes sense but I still have that idea stuck in my head to some degree.

She mentioned I did have a theme going for me. I have water elements on my lower body, and as you move up transitions to earth, then air elements. Also I have a “real life” theme going on with the back portion of my body. I have a koi on the back of my right leg. Namakubi on my back thighs and bum, and Oda Nobunaga on my back. She also pointed out I have “mythological” stuff on my arms so why not have the back/ back legs have “real” things and arms/torso have mythical things.

With that I’ve thought perhaps tengu as it relates to warrior aspects that play off the back piece although there is no direct story link between tengu and nobunaga like there is with Yoshitsune and tengu. I’m being too anal about that. Or tennyo to completely disassociate and contrast things like the real vs mythical and brutal warrior vs heavenly messenger. I do already have yin yang monmon cats on my feet, and dragons and ho-o are yin yang-ish pairings as well. There’s Fujin/Raijin as a potential too. Or there are Buddhist deities/Myo-o figures. Shinto ones too. I’m neither Buddhist nor Shinto so I'm not intimately familiar with subjects from that source. I’ve been thinking mainly in terms of finding stories to depict or guardians/deities or human-like figure oni types. Hannya may actually work, not the mask, but the creature. Perhaps creatures like a baku will work too if I can't find a 2 legged subject.

Thanks for the suggestions @DevilMan & @misterJ. Anyone else, keep ‘em coming as I know I think too much and am being too anal about wanting things to relate. Or PM me since I don’t want to de-rail things too much. I am grateful though. I’d like to get this dang thing started by Fall, but if I can’t decide I’ll wait. No use rushing. Thanks again.

I think the baku is a great idea! :D

This thread is so fucking awesome! Just got a couple hours done with Grime on friday and Saturday on my way home I stopped by State of Grace and ran into @cvportagee mid back piece session with Jill Bonny. Nice to see you bud!

I was just in that morning. Hope to run into you guys sometime!

Ladies and Gentleman, we've got (some) color :cool:

Tonight we managed to do a 3.5 hour session of mostly greens and red.

Unfortunatly we can't continue until the end of may... A six week break after 3 months of bi-weekly sessions... how am I going to survive that?! :p

Incredible!

Nice one! I tried getting an appointment but he was fully booked. Super jealous!

I definitely worked a little to get in. Totally worth it.

I'm not sure if they're opening the wait list to everyone yet, but he'll be back in October!