The race to get covered vs the desire to still be able to get tattooed.

[CaptCanada]

to me thats the benefit of having those spots tattooed. you dont have to be fit, just being covered in tattoos will keep you looking tough! haha

From a picture that D posted, he looks quite slim, young, and still probably able to eat like a horse with no after effects. Sure you don't have to be toned with tattoos but going from 140 to 180 as you age could scew things a bit.

[slayer9019]

I would like to revive this thread a bit as I got a bit of new perspective recently when reviewing my next two tattoos with my artist (a traditional skull/dagger/snake on my inner bicep and a Asian dragon/phoenix from top of the foot to my knee) and realized that I have been getting tattooed at a minimum once a month for the last half a year or so and am booked out with him until 2013 and at least 1 more artist as well in the same time frame. This makes me wonder how much longer will I be able to get tattooed. While I love to get tattooed, I also love to get big tattoos which cover area quick. I have a feeling that I might have to take a break in 2013 to be able to conserve a bit of space for later in life. At the rate I'm going I would be done before I am even 30 years old! At the same time I am getting the tattoos I like from good artists and have always planned on getting a ton of tattoos. Has anyone else just about finished in this short amount of time?

[Kev]

What slowed me down (and might make a good topic for another thread) is switching from getting tattooed by more than just one artist. My first four were by Ezra Haidet and I got them pretty close to each other time-wise, but when I moved to my legs, I decided to try and get each new tattoo from a different tattooer. This has broken things up for me as far as travel, scheduling, and some deeper thought about what I actually want. I still have quite a ways to go. I plan on both thighs, both ribs, and back being large scale tattoos, so each one those is cost and time investment in itself. Not to mention I have a son starting college in the Fall and a wedding next Spring, so there's that, too ;)

[kylegrey]

Its kind of the rock n roll "better to burn out than fade away "philosophy vs the zen ,jedi shit about taking your time .I intend to be fit,training and getting tattooed right up to the end and although money is my main limiting factor right now its probably for the best cause I constantly change my mind lol.

[Dan S]

Just my little 2 cents...

I'm 57, put my first tattoo on myself when I was 12. For me, every piece has had a meaning, whether it was jailhouse hand-needle, or sitting for one of the greats. I never went for coverage, and some of the pieces I got along the way are fairly pedestrian...for someone else!

What I mean is, I do have a few pieces of flash from the wall at the original location of Chicago Tattooing Co., but even the panther head cover-up on my wrist has a special meaning for me...the roses I got when I was engaged to my first wife, the dragon and dagger I got during a particularly iffy stretch of running and gunning, they all meant something TO ME, even if they were "just" flash off the wall.

Other pieces I got with varying deegrees of thought, but always for a reason...mostly cover-ups of jailhouse work, but always with a meaning to me. The demons head on my left forearm is a cross between a standard Japanese demon that was pretty common in the '70's and the album cover of King Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King". The cloud dragon on my upper left arm is another cover-up, lots of black, and pieces of a dragon from flash, along with a LOT of hand-drawn stuff from Dale Grande.

When I did finally, about 6 years ago, decide to finish up my right arm, it was with designs that I researched and picked for their relationship to me ancestors. The Runes tell the story of my lifes journey, the knotwork shows the complexity of life, the world-serpent is there, and Wotan supervises it all. To tie all that together with the work I already had took, if I recall, 5 sittings of 5 or 6 hours each.

Thing I'm getting at is I can't even come close to understanding someone who would go out and toss a few grand on the table and say "sleeve me up" to an artist. It's kool, if that's your gig, that's your gig, but for myself, I want to be able to look at every inch of inked skin and remember...

That said, yeah, I have plans for more, but money, don'cha know!!! 6 kids...it really cuts into your ink budget! I have a full backpiece planned, and some other, smaller pieces for my chest, then who knows, maybe someday I'll get ambitious and have Nick take a look at that left arm, see what else could be had there.

As far as keeping fit, well, it doesn't cost anything! I still teach and work out at least 3 days a week. Can't lift as much as I used to, a long life of martial arts and motorsickles has seen to the arthritis thing being there, but I can still get in a ring with the youngsters and hold my own. Give it a try-nothing like the martial arts to keep you going!

.02

[Hogrider]

Thing I'm getting at is I can't even come close to understanding someone who would go out and toss a few grand on the table and say "sleeve me up" to an artist. It's kool, if that's your gig, that's your gig, but for myself, I want to be able to look at every inch of inked skin and remember...

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm getting a full sleeve as my first tattoo for several reasons, not necessarily, in this order; First I like the look of a sleeve, Second I found an artist who has done some killer sleeves, Third I'm 54 and want to get tattooed while I'm still in good health, financially able and have good skin. I'm doing the sleeve in sections and just had the outline of the first section done. Just thought of the forth reason - I'm an anal retentive who is obsessed with symmetry and thematic continuity. :-)

[Dan S]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm getting a full sleeve as my first tattoo for several reasons, not necessarily, in this order; First I like the look of a sleeve, Second I found an artist who has done some killer sleeves, Third I'm 54 and want to get tattooed while I'm still in good health, financially able and have good skin. I'm doing the sleeve in sections and just had the outline of the first section done. Just thought of the forth reason - I'm an anal retentive who is obsessed with symmetry and thematic continuity. :-)

At 54, you've had the experiences you need to know what you want for a sleeve, I can definitely see that. Guess my post was more aimed at the 23 y.o. that goes out and has it all done at once.

[gougetheeyes]

At 54, you've had the experiences you need to know what you want for a sleeve, I can definitely see that. Guess my post was more aimed at the 23 y.o. that goes out and has it all done at once.

Yeah, I basically did that around that age, though it all wasn't in one shot. Shit, most shops were still all cash only so none of this "credit card sleeve" stuff, which, I have to admit, is pretty fucking appealing even as I'm pushing 30. I started getting tattooed as soon as I turned 18 and thank god I was usually broke. But once I got that itch, I had to scratch it, not because I wanted to roll up my sleeves and try to look cool, just because it was always there and I felt like I had to or I would.. die. Or probably something less dramatic. You're right though, the big downsides are experience -- both in life and much more so in becoming familiar with tattoos -- and since I was so frantic, I kind of blew it some of the placement and composition. Don't regret any of it, but there's certainly something to be said for waiting and planning. But at 18, 19, 23, whenever, "patience" wasn't really part of my vocabulary.

[slayer9019]

Yeah, I basically did that around that age, though it all wasn't in one shot. Shit, most shops were still all cash only so none of this "credit card sleeve" stuff, which, I have to admit, is pretty fucking appealing even as I'm pushing 30. I started getting tattooed as soon as I turned 18 and thank god I was usually broke. But once I got that itch, I had to scratch it, not because I wanted to roll up my sleeves and try to look cool, just because it was always there and I felt like I had to or I would.. die. Or probably something less dramatic. You're right though, the big downsides are experience -- both in life and much more so in becoming familiar with tattoos -- and since I was so frantic, I kind of blew it some of the placement and composition. Don't regret any of it, but there's certainly something to be said for waiting and planning. But at 18, 19, 23, whenever, "patience" wasn't really part of my vocabulary.

Ready for the lethal combination I have found myself in? I am young, know a ton of good artists and worse I can afford to have a session a week all year long. It is hard to say no! I guess "no" is not in my vocabulary either unless it is "no make that drawing bigger". At least I found this forum to help steer me down the right path. As a double edged sword I also find that this site adds to the itch to get tattooed

[CaptCanada]

You can pay for tattoos with a credit card now? Hot damn, I'm young but I wanna go back in time. When you had to call people on a landline or write a letter. O well at least here in japan cash is still king.

[lving4today]

Being young and being introduced to all these great artists thanks to the interwebs, I battle with the idea of "go go go get covered now" and then the responsible person in me says "no no". I'm glad I haven't rushed anything quite yet though because my list of artists to get tattooed by just keeps increasing and I'd like to have room for them when the time comes. I'd much rather have smaller pieces enthusiasts and tattooers can recognize and appreciate by great artists then being covered just for the sake of being covered

[Scott R]

Being young and being introduced to all these great artists thanks to the interwebs, I battle with the idea of "go go go get covered now" and then the responsible person in me says "no no". I'm glad I haven't rushed anything quite yet though because my list of artists to get tattooed by just keeps increasing and I'd like to have room for them when the time comes. I'd much rather have smaller pieces enthusiasts and tattooers can recognize and appreciate by great artists then being covered just for the sake of being covered

man you sound like me almost a year ago when I was shown the light

[lving4today]

man you sound like me almost a year ago when I was shown the light

Its like 4 years I got my first tattoo at 18 and kept getting em, but up until this past year I hadn't truly appreciated it like I do now. LST and the members have paved the way

[ThaliaCamille]

Thing I'm getting at is I can't even come close to understanding someone who would go out and toss a few grand on the table and say "sleeve me up" to an artist. It's kool, if that's your gig, that's your gig, but for myself, I want to be able to look at every inch of inked skin and remember...

For me, it's purely aesthetic. I prefer the look of a single, well-composed, continuous piece on the arm. Different strokes, is all.

[Hogrider]

At 54, you've had the experiences you need to know what you want for a sleeve, I can definitely see that. Guess my post was more aimed at the 23 y.o. that goes out and has it all done at once.

I'm with you. What are they going to do when they are 24???

[ANTONIO]

You can pay for tattoos with a credit card now? Hot damn, I'm young but I wanna go back in time. When you had to call people on a landline or write a letter. O well at least here in japan cash is still king.

Why would you wanna do that? lol

but tattoos with credit card now?? thats some type of shit you only see in america lol

[David Flores]

I would like to revive this thread a bit as I got a bit of new perspective recently when reviewing my next two tattoos with my artist (a traditional skull/dagger/snake on my inner bicep and a Asian dragon/phoenix from top of the foot to my knee) and realized that I have been getting tattooed at a minimum once a month for the last half a year or so and am booked out with him until 2013 and at least 1 more artist as well in the same time frame. This makes me wonder how much longer will I be able to get tattooed. While I love to get tattooed, I also love to get big tattoos which cover area quick. I have a feeling that I might have to take a break in 2013 to be able to conserve a bit of space for later in life. At the rate I'm going I would be done before I am even 30 years old! At the same time I am getting the tattoos I like from good artists and have always planned on getting a ton of tattoos. Has anyone else just about finished in this short amount of time?

Tattoos are something you should get when you are young and carefree. There will be a time when you don't have all this free time or extra money to spend on tattoos, so if you are fortunate enough to be able to get tattooed regularly do it. Dan Higgs, Chris Conn, Scott Harrison have "quit tattooing", Ed Hardy isn't taking appointments, Pinky Yun, Mike Malone, Eric Maaske, Mike Brown are not with us anymore. I kick myself for not getting tattooed by some of these people when I had the chance. (especially Malone as I got tattooed at his shop just a few short months after). Now I am not saying there isn't plenty of people left to get tattooed by, my point is you never know when it will be too late.

Yeah you probably don't want to finish before 30, so yeah maybe take a break from booking out tattoos every month and maybe just travel, don't stop getting tattooed, just don't plan it for awhile. Take trips with no expectation of getting tattooed and if you stumble upon a good shop or opportunity to get tattooed by someone cool, then do it.

I had a conversation with a couple of tattooers I really look up to yesterday and one of them pointed out it's hard to be the old grizzled guy with gnarly tattoos if you keep getting new tattoos and also will I really want to get tattooed by the 25 year old hot shot, when i am in my fifties, shoot I don't want to do that know for the most part (no offense 25 year old hot shots).

[slayer9019]

Tattoos are something you should get when you are young and carefree. There will be a time when you don't have all this free time or extra money to spend on tattoos, so if you are fortunate enough to be able to get tattooed regularly do it. Dan Higgs, Chris Conn, Scott Harrison have "quit tattooing", Ed Hardy isn't taking appointments, Pinky Yun, Mike Malone, Eric Maaske, Mike Brown are not with us anymore. I kick myself for not getting tattooed by some of these people when I had the chance. (especially Malone as I got tattooed at his shop just a few short months after). Now I am not saying there isn't plenty of people left to get tattooed by, my point is you never know when it will be too late.

Yeah you probably don't want to finish before 30, so yeah maybe take a break from booking out tattoos every month and maybe just travel, don't stop getting tattooed, just don't plan it for awhile. Take trips with no expectation of getting tattooed and if you stumble upon a good shop or opportunity to get tattooed by someone cool, then do it.

I had a conversation with a couple of tattooers I really look up to yesterday and one of them pointed out it's hard to be the old grizzled guy with gnarly tattoos if you keep getting new tattoos and also will I really want to get tattooed by the 25 year old hot shot, when i am in my fifties, shoot I don't want to do that know for the most part (no offense 25 year old hot shots).

It's funny that you posted this today since I just a similar conversation with @gougetheeyes yesterday. He pointed out that I have a ton of free space left and you dont really realize how much space you do have. While I still might take a quick "break" towards the end of the year I am looking to travel a bit out of my area in the future, possibly trying to plan a trip out to Cali in the later months/very beginning of next year. I spoke to my friend who is about 30 now and he said that he is starting to race a bit to get the tattoos he wants now because he doesn't really like sitting for that long anymore.

[David Flores]

Honestly I kind of feel the same way, lately. Used to sit for 4 or 5 hours now I am done after about 2. I have two easy spots on my lower left leg, then it's my ribs, stomach, back of knee to ass all fun spots left so that has actually slowed me down a little.

[Jack]

Reading this thread has made me reconsider getting my arms done for a while, specifically so I can get harder spots done while i'm young and stupid. Unfortunately ribs and things are big expensive tattoos so I'll probably be old by the time I can afford them.

[Shannon Shirley]

god damn....if i could do my arms over....id get scotty to do my elbows now that he can tattoo....hehehehehe....we never see old tattoos by us old fu#ks...maybe Ill take some pics and spread em.....

Reading this thread has made me reconsider getting my arms done for a while, specifically so I can get harder spots done while i'm young and stupid. Unfortunately ribs and things are big expensive tattoos so I'll probably be old by the time I can afford them.

[cfgsteak]

I didn't have the desire as much, or the exposure to good tattooing, or really even the money to get tattooed when I was young. I'm 45, and I have a lot of empty space...and now I have the time and money to get tattooed. I don't regret waiting...I also wonder about age effecting sitting time...I did 3.5 hours on my ribs a few weeks ago. I wonder if it doesn't hurt the more you get tattooed regardless of age.

Maybe someone like @jade1955 might agree with this...I'm more concerned about living long enough for my tattoos to look old than being the guy with really old tattoos at this point. :p

I do agree with @David Flores on one point, you should do it when your carefree...I got married and had kids super young, now I'm divorced and this is really the first "carefree" time I've had since I was 20. (I sound defensive - not intending too)

[David Flores]

I didn't mean to make it sound like being old was a bad thing. We all get into this at different stages and I myself have had some downtime while in a relationship. I just mean if you are into tattooing and have people you want to get tattooed by that are good, you aren't gaining anything by waiting, in fact you could be missing out. I will always kind of be partial to the generation of tattooers from the time period i started getting tattooed, much like people are partial to the music of your childhood.

I think becoming completely covered is a big commitment and a lot of people never make it that far. Most people that are covered I would imagine went through some phases of getting tattooed all the time.

[Dan S]

So, i got quite a few tattoos when I was younger, all but one of them by Dale Grande, and then I slacked after the last one he did for me, I think in like 1984. That would put me at 29. Kids, houses, more motorsickles, bidness, all that stuff came along, and then I went back to Dale's shop when I was what, 50? I had some definite ideas for linkage/sleeving, and some designs I had dug up from history books. Just a tad too late. Dale had stopped tattooing actively, and only did the occassional piece, but he looked at what I had, and what I wanted done, and said "you need to talk to this guy I have working for me."

And that's how I ended up having Miles Maniaci at Chicago Tattoo layout the final design and do my sleeve. Took my ideas and turned them into a coherent piece.

As far as sitting and age, I'd have to check the exact amount of time, but if memory serves, I did 5 sittings, the shortest one being like four and a half hours, and the rest nbeing between five and a half and six hours. I could have at all night, but the designs were pretty hard to pick out after five or six hours, and Miles didn't want to push past that.

And I paid with a credit card. Hey-it gives me a minimum of 30 days to come up with the ching, and meantime, it's done!

The best part of it, to me, was that I was able to incorporate all of Dales work from back in the day into one solid design. His colors and linework have held up wondefully, and it all fits together well.

.02

[slayer9019]

I didn't mean to make it sound like being old was a bad thing. We all get into this at different stages and I myself have had some downtime while in a relationship. I just mean if you are into tattooing and have people you want to get tattooed by that are good, you aren't gaining anything by waiting, in fact you could be missing out. I will always kind of be partial to the generation of tattooers from the time period i started getting tattooed, much like people are partial to the music of your childhood.

I think becoming completely covered is a big commitment and a lot of people never make it that far. Most people that are covered I would imagine went through some phases of getting tattooed all the time.

Yea just got a taste of this when I found out that apparently, Uncle Allen is no longer taking sessions at his shop. Plus trying to track down a few people I would like to get tattooed by might also become hard as time goes on.