First tattoo

[Johnny]

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

Yeah, but that other arm is looking pretty sweet these days. What's up Steak? I followed you over here to learn some stuff.

[cfgsteak]

Yeah, but that other arm is looking pretty sweet these days. What's up Steak? I followed you over here to learn some stuff.

Hey Johnny...this is a GREAT place to learn about tattooing! Aahzz directed me here...

They dont know shit about guitars though. ;-)

[Johnny]

That works for me. I know a lot about guitars. Only wish I knew how to play them better.

Only problem is, it looks like this place is going to cost me as much as the guitar forum.

[kirkson]

They dont know shit about guitars though. ;-)

speak for yourself! ;)

[sbj619]

OK, this is my first tattoo, done by myself during a party at my house while the parents were out of town. Was a little loopy and like 14 years old at the time? (1984). It started out good, the F and U came out nice; but the C and K are horrible. India ink and a sewing needle.

Part of it got burned off on a motorcycle tail pipe later (and that doesn't seem to make it any worse haha).

[Bart Bingham]

My first tattoo was the black eisturzende neubauten stick man. my friend james did it in our friends garage. it was done with a tattoo machine but the needle was 5 sewing needles soldered onto a needle bar. all lined and shaded with that. it was probably 1992/93 i'd guess. then in 1993 i got all the chrome doodads and flames added by matthew wojciechowski. and although you cant tell from my crappy phone pic that tattoo and the sleeve i have from matthew are both almost 20 years old and both are so well tattooed that they look like they were done last week. I had very little interest in tattoos til i saw what matthew was doing.

[jinxproof1996]

matt rules. i'll tell him tomorrow!!..

[Amok]

Got my first a few months ago, it's in honor of my wife and her family who is chinese. I asked specifically for a 5 clawed dragon which the artist had never done before as he was a Japanese specialist.

Not the best pic, taken right after the final session.

[LilMountain]

Was my Dad's 16th birthday present to me, someone in Las Vegas, dont remember exactly who. It was supposed to be my Native American totem animal, with the eagle feathers representing the native american meaning behind it (have since gotten a rooster, my chinese zodiac with a sun and a scorpion with stars to accompany this one)

[Duffa]

My first tattoo was some kanji. Yes, I can admit it lol. It would have been 12 years ago and I got this in a local biker shop near where I grew up. The place was a classic walk in shop. Flash covering the walls (not the best flash but everything they needed for their clientele) The guys in there where rough as guts, but to their credit the shop was pretty clean... even if they where smoking up a storm in there. I had got it thinking it meant "Good Luck" or "Good Fortune"... I was wrong... (kinda)

As most kids are, I was stoked with it and went around showing my friends and all was going well until I showed my chinese friend Alex. He asked "What's that say?" to which I replied "Good fortune", to which he simply replied "No it isn't." and starts laughing until he's almost in tears. I asked him what it meant and he refused to tell me. He said "if you went and got a tattoo without doing the research then you can live with it". Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

At the time I worked night shift in a internet cafe/online gaming centre which was rarely busy, so for the next 3 nights straight all I did was try and find out want it meant. That and trying to convince Alex to tell me.

Third night, it's 4am and I am loosing my shit. I could find one or the other character but not the two together. (I admit I probably wasn't looking on the best sites but eh).

Anyway, its 4am and this cafe was below a few English language schools in the Brisbane CBD. There weren't may people in there but I noticed that there was one asian guy sitting playing Counter Strike so I walked up, tapped him on the shoulder and just said "excuse me, are you chinese?". Poor dude shit himself (not literally) and cautiously answered "y...yes". "Awesome!", I pulled out the chair next to him, sat down and said "whats this say?" He breathed a sigh of relief, smiled and tried to figure out how to explain it to me. My heart was in my throat thinking the worst all I could think was this is going to be bad - Alex was laughing so hard its going to be really really bad...

The young chinese guy looked up and said "it means 'Better Life'... its a really good symbol. we say it at new year and for luck". My response was "so its a good symbol? its ok??" he smiled and nodded. I was cheering to say the least. I gave him his time for free on the machines, and then went upstairs to see Alex who was working in another shop. And told him what I'd just been told. He looked at me and said "I know. I just wanted you to shit yourself for a little while until you learnt your lesson"

So kids what have we learnt? Your chinese friends can be real assholes sometimes ;)

[Aahzz]

That works for me. I know a lot about guitars. Only wish I knew how to play them better.

Only problem is, it looks like this place is going to cost me as much as the guitar forum.

It'll cost you at least as much, yeah...

[Aahzz]

My first was last October, at the age of 42, and was a design I'd had in mind for about ten years. I figured if I still wanted it after that long, I should go ahead and get it. It was done by Crow Grando, who was then working at Beelistic Tattoos in Cincinnati. That one has spawned three more in just under a year, and I'm sure more are to come, though I have no designs in mind for the immediate future....

[Scott R]

OK, this is my first tattoo, done by myself during a party at my house while the parents were out of town. Was a little loopy and like 14 years old at the time? (1984). It started out good, the F and U came out nice; but the C and K are horrible. India ink and a sewing needle.

Part of it got burned off on a motorcycle tail pipe later (and that doesn't seem to make it any worse haha).

my first few were done in this manner, early 90s like 90-91 we were all about 14-16 I was fortunate to only get 4. Some of my friends were a dozen deep with some bad visible tattoos

[Tim Burke]

Got this one 6/7 months ago from Steve Vinall at The Family Business. No real meaning behind it, just something that settled in my mind after moving to London last October.

[Lala Blackheart]

Not counting the three little dots on my right big toe (that I darkened when I first picked up a machine last year), my first real tattoo was done the day before Thanksgiving of the year I turned 18 at the Sunset Strip tattoo parlor. Shock was the artist. We went there because that is Nikki Sixx got tattooed in 'Motley Crue Uncensored' and that was where I had decided I would get my first tattoo. It's a small (palm size) Celtic knot piece with a Pisces symbol in the center at the base of my spine. I went with my best friend, she got the same tattoo, same place but with a Gemini symbol instead of Pisces. She has since covered her back with tons of crazy work, but I have a big idea for my back and have not added much to it since then. Lots of tattoos in other places, tho! Looking for a pic of it. :)

[eisen777]

I got the carcass tools of the trade, circular direct off the cd from necrotism and on to my arm. I went thru this "no-cover up" phase then said fuck it but I am incorporating part of the tools into the sleeve since it was my first tattoo.....

[James See]

My very first tattoo was done in my bedroom at the age of 15. We made a machine from a pair of Wahl hair clippers, a sewing needle, and a cigarette butt. It shocked the shit out of me the whole time, and was obviously very clean. haha It said "skins", but I ended up scraping most of it out with a needle because it looked so horrible. The scars have long since been covered up.

[smiling.politely]

first one, from about four years ago. always took my dad's forearm tattoo to heart in school, and because skulls are rad...

done by Dennis McPhail of Artist at Large in Wichita, KS.

[MGblues]

The skull with the spider legs and web. February 13th 1985. It was my 19th birthday.

I got it at J.B. Davis Tattoo & Tavern in Waynesville, N.C.

It was a fuckin' biker bar with a tattoo shop inside. I was way more scared of getting my skinny long haired punk ass kicked going in there than of getting the tattoo, but the biker's were cool with me. (You had to walk thru the bar to get to the tattoo shop).

The stencil was an acetate sheet from a file cabinet, and no, he didn't wear gloves.

(At least I was first there that day, so I got the first go on the needle and tube).

I like it enough that I had it reworked last year.

[Gregor]

@MGblues I love that , totally badass !!

[Ty Pilkey]

I have a full chest peice of my three brothers names( Hayden, ashton, riley) and two roses that go on my front deltoids. My parents dont know i have it and its finally a relief to share it with a community of people that enjoy it :p ill post a pick later when i get the roses coloured in.

[slayer9019]

First tattoo is still technically in the works at the moment (its been awhile). It is based loosely on Gustave Doré's illustrations of Dante's Inferno, as I'm a big fan of his work and love demons/death art. Kinda wish I thought it out a bit more, maybe shopped around a bit more but I was dying to get tattooed for years and had to pull the trigger. Pictures when its done.

[Johnny]

The wait is over. I finally got my first tattoo. At 46, it seems a bit odd but for the last several months, I have wanted to do this as much as anything. So I did some research and decided on Pepper at No Hard Feelings Tattoo in Coral Springs, FL. She does absolutely beautiful work and super easy to work with. The consultation was perfect. She caught on to what I was trying to tell her right away and her drawing was exactly what I told her I wanted. I got the tattoo last night. It took about 4 hours and it was great. Pepper is really pleasant and easy to get along with. I cant say enough nice things about her and the experience. My tattoo isnt for everyone but it is definitely for me.

Check it out.

[Texkota]

@Johnny Awesome first tattoo, looks great....DONT scratch it!!

[Johnny]

Thanks @Texkota. LST has been a big help in figuring out how to approach the process. And @Joe Shit hooked me up with the recommendation to go to see Pepper. And that picture sucks plus I cropped it so tight you cant see that it goes from the top of my shoulder to about even with the bend in my arm. It's pretty big. And obviously the detail is far better than the picture shows. Gonna get some better pictures.

Thanks again. No itching yet. Hurts like a sunburn today.