First tattoo

[Lochlan]

The who, what, where, when, and why of your first tattoo? Pls include a picture if possible as we would love to see it!

Edited September 8, 2010 by Lochlan

[Bunny Switchblade]

Let me say it is an honor to be the first post in this thread!

I can only imagine some of the ownderful stories to come!!!

First tattoo was a pachuco cross on my left index finger! Was done by needle and thread with india

ink by a boy whose name i can't even remember! It has lasted 28 years and believe it or not cost me

a promotion to a management position 17 years ago....back when tattoos were not as ""hip" or "fashionable"

Would I do it again??? Yes....most definitely....although knowing what i know now.....it would have been professionally done!

I got my first Professional tattoo 26 years ago by the lovely Juli Moon while she was still at

Dragon Moon Tattoo in Baltimore, Maryland! It is a butterfly on my left breast which has since been

incorporated into my chest piece! I am fortunate to have started being tattooed by such a wonderful

tattooist right out of the gate and i know that now! I have made several mistakes over the years

by being tattooed by people in the craft who were friends but less than accomplished tattooists but

fortunately nothing that is horrible or couldn't be fixed!

Why did I get tattooed?

I grew up in an area where people had tattoos....not necessarily I guess the best area, and I fell

in love with the art at a very early age! I am the only one of the three girls that walked to the door of

Dragon Moon Tattoo that went inside that evening! It was more of a street shop then than a "studio"

and I have to admit I was scared to death! But I did it and have lived with the outcome of my decision

for 26 years now!

What a wonderful decision it was too!

I have some of the best friends and have met some of the nicest people!

That decision 26 years ago has led me to have a wonderful collection of art on my body done by 49 artists to date! I want to have the best work I can have....by the best artists I can get to tattoo me!

I am a collector of fine art now and my skin is the canvas!!!

[Lochlan]

Wow, this is a great story and thanks for letting us hear it! As you're an avid tattoo collector I hope you will continue to contribute great tattoo content!?!

[Bunny Switchblade]

I would be more than glad to!

[Iwar]

I felt like blowing some life into this old thread.

I got this tattooed in some random tattoo shop in Copenhagen back in 2000. The design is taken from my dad's old businesscard (he's a guitar luthier).

The picture was taken two minutes prior to posting...

Your turn!

[Petri Aspvik]

I dont have a pic.

I was 15 and in a group home. A guy had needle melted into a piece of plastic and some ink from a pen. I wanted a Wu-Tang logo and he poked it in my arm while we sat on my bed.

[abees]

Chad Koeplinger, Frith Street, 28th May 2010, cause i wanted a torch :eek: (also the lettering was at the same time)

the picture's backwards, as it was taken in a mirror. the stars and dots filler were done about half a year or so later when i was also getting some other things tattooed by him (Chad) again.

[jayessebee]

I'll play

this was connected to a tribal wristband that's long covered- done in 1995...I got it because the piercer was out that day haha

[cfgsteak]

1986 in hawaii when I was in the army:

[Iwar]

@abees, fuck you for getting a kickass chad koeplinger tattoo as your first! I hate you! ;)

So, to the folks that have a shitty first tattoo like myself; are you planning to cover it or keep it? I'm actually leaning towards keeping it. Atleast for now.

[Shannon Shirley]

my first was by bill salmon at realistic in SF ,1984. tribal w/ buddist swastika. OK so I was pretentious, Ive certainly learned.

[cfgsteak]

I'm keeping mine, but damn...i'm pissed I put that stupid little thing in the middle of such excellent space...DOH!

[jayessebee]

I'm keeping it; I'm used to it being there

[David Flores]

Technically I got tattooed in High School in someones kitchen once but it was so small and so light it didn't really count and it has been long since covered. When I was 17 I moved to Colorado (1997). I had my own apartment but was always really broke and never had any money to get tattooed even though I lived behind Snake's Tattoo where I believe Snake just celebrated his 39th year of business and was always tagging along with people when they got tattooed. When I moved to Oregon and finally got established I decided to start getting tattooed. I enlisted the help of a friend with some nice black and grey tattoos and he set me up with his guy. It was and still is a private studio on the second floor and he booked out 3-6 months in advance. This was odd having hung around Snake's place where he didn't even make appointments and usually the line was 20 long when you walked in but when in Rome. So I made the appointment and eventually got the tattoo, but the experience just didn't seem right but either way this guy did good work so I booked another appointment. In the four months while I was waiting for my appointment I decided to check out some more shops and I walked into a shop and the walls were full of hand painted flash all the signs were hand painted and people were just hanging out talking about whatever and told me I could tattooed same day usually and wouldn't have to wait more than a week even if it was busy. This seemed much more like the environment for me and so between the two guys working there I had four more tattoos when I finally went in for my appointment four months later. So now i have a couple realistic black and grey tattoos they don't quite flow, but it was the start of my tattoo journey and it could have been a lot worse. So here is my first tattoo in a shop.

[TrixieFaux]

I got this in 1991 or 1992. It has definitely faded and lost definition over the years but I still love it. I actually considered covering it up with something bigger but then realized that would be dumb since I still like it and it is a good memory of being impulsive and young. I was around 22 and living in Boston. My boyfriend at the time said he was going to NH to get a tattoo from Julie Moon and asked me to go with him to hold his hand. I said sure but instead of holding your hand I want to get a tattoo, too. I am not a pisces and don't care about astrology but I always liked this image of the two fish/yin yang thing and fish in art in general. It has gone through getting all stretched out by my pregnancy and bounced back!

[MsRad]

first tattoo is my chest piece, done by Chris Conn, January of '05. sorry for the crappy photo, and there's been some fading and aging, but i still love it.

[Valerie Vargas]

wow msrad, that is pretty awesome. but seriously your first tattoo on your chest? youre one tough lady!

[gougetheeyes]

Two new school style bluebirds right smack dab on my chest. I know I told the story in another thread, but pretty funny, 2001, the minute I turned 18, shaky-handed white dude with dreads and I was just stoked he let me choose the music. Nice enough dude though I later made friends with the guy he apprenticed and heard some horror stories. His shop burned down a few months later.

The bluebirds made it tough for a larger chest piece but it's all been mashed together pretty decently at this point.

[MsRad]

wow msrad, that is pretty awesome. but seriously your first tattoo on your chest? youre one tough lady!

yeah it was funny because Chris asked me "you sure you want a chest piece as your first tattoo?" and to be honest, i hadn't really thought about the pain factor, but it actually has been one of my least painful tattoos! i think the wiring in my body for pain is just different from other people's because the most painful spots for me have been inner bicep and thigh by my knee. everything else has been a cakewalk in comparison.

[Petri Aspvik]

I heard the inner bicep sucks all around...

[Petri Aspvik]

Then I would stab that motherfucker with a fork!

ahhaha. FUUUCK! ;D I thought I was in the Troy Denning VSB Topic!!! :D

OK, now the fork seems even more random!

[cfgsteak]

I heard the inner bicep sucks all around...

Id rather have my elbow tattooed 10 times over than have my inner bicep done once. I'm glad I only have two of them...sheesh!!!

[Tight-Lines]

First tattoo was "RISE ABOVE" on my ankles. It was done by a Sureño who worked in the Applebee's kitchen while I was a host. Its obviously a Black Flag tattoo. I was also wearing a Black Flag shirt. I was 17 and stupid. Oh, it was in his studio apartment and he smoked the biggest fucking joint I have ever seen outside of the Pantera Videos before he started as well.

I mean, if you are going to get a Black Flag tattoo... thats how it should be done.

[tatsthompson]

jon Glessner did my first day a few days after I turned 18. It's one of his early ones, but I was still pretty lucky to get a really nice tattoo straight off, but that didn't stop me from getting crap later on! hahahah

[cookietruck]

this might be my first post, been lurking for a bit.

my first tattoo was a few years ago. my lady paid for it for my birthday. hurt pretty good, still didn't get the whole tattoo thing after getting this one, i got one more because of some coaxing from my brother...after that one...i'm pretty addicted to the whole experience.

i think i've been lucky to get work done from guys who are nice dudes, personable and make the whole experience really unique.