Total newbie

[SheilaM]

Hello all -

My name is Sheila and I live in the Seattle area. I've decided to get my first tattoo this year in honor of a milestone birthday. I'm currently reading as much as I can about the process; if I'm going to do this, it won't be on a whim and I'm going to do it right since I realize the results will be with me for a lifetime. Knowledge is power, as they say...

In my research I came across this forum and have learned a lot over the last few days of lurking.

Thought I'd introduce myself since I may post a couple of questions here and there.

Thanks to all of you for providing such a marvelous resource!

[Lochlan]

Good morning.

I was up in Seattle recently and just want to say you live in a beautiful city!

Glad you are enjoying the site and the wealth of knowledge from tattoo collectors to world class tattooers. Look forward to seeing you in the forums and seeing pictures of your new/first tattoo.

[dari]

Hi Sheila and welcome, so glad you are using LST as a resource. Are there any tattooers that you have in your sights?

[AlannaCA]

Hi Sheila!

welcome to LST!!! its really great to hear that your doing your research and youve for sure joined a great forum with lots of knowledgable people!

[SheilaM]

Thanks for the welcome!

Yes, Seattle is beautiful...now if only the sun would come out once in a while! The rest of the country is baking and it's like April here! I love the Bay Area too; have visited several times over the years.

I like Josh Schwegel's style at Slave to the Needle, but one of the reasons I wanted to participate here was to see who you all would recommend in this area. Just because I like something doesn't mean it's good; I might just be showing my ignorance and lack of technical knowledge!

Slave to the Needle, Laughing Buddha and Madame Lazonga's are the names that always seem to come up, but I'd guess it's more about the person than the shop, once you're past the "is the place clean?" question.

I'm looking to do something pretty old school, I think, using a sacred heart, an anchor, and a swallow as elements. I have an old Mexican milagro that I'd like to use as a basis for the design of the sacred heart. Color, not black and grey.

Not that I've thought about this much. Only about 5 years. Maybe more. (!)

And I'm pretty certain this won't be the last, but it might be the last for a while; the Day Job frowns on visible tattoos so I am a bit limited in what I can do right now. Considering the other two I have in mind would be my right wrist and an ankle/foot. This will be left shoulder/tricep, I think, and since I don't go sleeveless at work I'm fine.

[MsRad]

Hi Sheila!

Would you consider traveling a little bit to get the tattoo done? Not that any of the shops you mentioned were bad, but there are also some good artists in Portland area too. Just a thought...

[Joe Shit]

Welcome Sheila..I visited Seattle like 7yrs.ago,and met some real nice tattooers..Slave is one of the best shops.But like you said,it's more about clicking with the tattooer,then just going to a particular shop.I met this dude Curtis@ Anchor Tattoo | Seattle, WA | WORLDS FINEST TATTOO PARLOR A real nice guy that does traditional work.

Hidden Hand Tattoo - home Lucky Devil Tattoo Parlor Jackson Street Tattoo Co.

CICADA TATTOO - Seattle, WA Marco & Stacie https://www.facebook.com/LitFuseTattoo Seattle Washington Tattoos, Tattooing, and Art Gallery - ArtCore Studios

There's a convention next month- Seattle Tattoo Expo

[SheilaM]

I'm certainly open to suggestions, in fact that's exactly why I'm here! Bigjoe, thanks for the links; starting to look through them now...

[SheilaM]

Should have made it clearer - Portland's only a couple hours away, not a big deal to get to, so I'd consider artists there too.

[Joe Shit]

This shop has good traditional tattooers. Liberty Tattoo-Seattle (LIBERTY TATTOO) on Myspace Levi & Matt Under the Needle Tattoo: Enter

I like to visit as many shops as possible to get a feel for the shop,and to look at portfolios in person.There's so many good tattooers,it's hard to narrow it down to a few who's work you really like.I like to make a consultation with a few artists to see which one i click with.There's a lot of times where i like a tattooers style,but when I meet them,we don't connect with each other.