Your First Tattoo Story

[hogg]

Mom did the kanji for Mom on my sternum when I was 17.

Now there's a sentence you don't hear uttered very often.

[justcallmematt]

HA!!

[bulldog]

1990, was 16 and got a small rose on my forearm done at a shop in Kings Cross - London. Shortly after i thought it looked way to small for a "mans tattoo" so got dragon tattooed freehand around it, this was crap from day one but at the time i was just happy for it to be bigger.

A spliff then a bat tattooed after that, was still 16, not posting pictures as there just end up in the worst tattoo thread......:)

37 now and yet to still get a good tattoo....:p

[Sean Rakos]

My first tattoo story isn't anywhere as amazing as the gentleman I tattooed yesterday. This is his first tattoo , done 32 years ago by Capt. Jack Collidge in New Jersey and it's still amazing today.

[bulldog]

back when a rose was a tattoo all by itself

cool tattoo

[ianxadams]

tattooed on my calf by Mike Schweigert on my 18th birthday at Electric Tattoo, Bradley Beach NJ

[ANTONIO]

tattooed on my calf by Mike Schweigert on my 18th birthday at Electric Tattoo, Bradley Beach NJ

Wow what a beautiful tat, it wouldve looked way cooler on the side calf though IMO.. but its fuckin beautiful man

[ANTONIO]

My first tat story sucks. I was 16 smoking a blunt with my gf and I decided to get a tat. so we went that same day and I got my moms name on my wrist.. looks kinda shitty but I like it

[ShawnPorter]

I was 15 I think; I was coming back from my HS Graduation and asked my folks if I could get a tattoo as a present. They said yes and we stopped at a shop in Savannah, Georgia where I got tattooed by a scary biker chick named Darnell.

My mom lied and said I was 16 since that was the minimum age Darnell would tattoo.

I had doodled this little sun that ended up looking nothing like what she tattooed on me. I'll look for pictures (it's since been covered up by Josh Hoffman) but man... it was AWFUL. She did it with a single needle, but some of the lines blew out so much that they were easily 1/8" wider than other parts of the tattoo.

I was nervous, so she gave me booze to sip. Then tattooed my brother with the same needle setup because "you two are family".

[eisen777]

Well I stick and poked a shitty rune on my arm in high school, my friend did the band "emperor" E logo on his arm, so this was the 90ds so I did the rune often seen on burzum albums. Young dumb metal head, my tattoo feel out (mostly) still it got covered up(what was left of it). Then tattoos became legal a few years later. My wife who was my girlfriend at the time went to the tattoo shop and got a baphomet from a cross eyed biker in Worcester...because i was not to be out done my my wife I went to get a OM MANI PADME HUM. Still looks nice but its become a college kid cliche I keep it because my wife got it too. Hell that time was all about LSD and spirituality so sue me.

[eisen777]

Well I stick and poked a shitty rune on my arm in high school, my friend did the band "emperor" E logo on his arm, so this was the 90ds so I did the rune often seen on burzum albums. Young dumb metal head, my tattoo feel out (mostly) still it got covered up(what was left of it). Then tattoos became legal a few years later. My wife who was my girlfriend at the time went to the tattoo shop and got a baphomet from a cross eyed biker in Worcester...because i was not to be out done my my wife I went to get a OM MANI PADME HUM. Still looks nice but its become a college kid cliche I keep it because my wife got it too. Hell that time was all about LSD and spirituality so sue me.

Damn...that was actually my second tattoo (the om mani)....i got the carcass tools of the trade as my first "real" tattoo, but I already posted about that.

[Guest Rando]

Got my first tattoo in 1993, age 16, from a guy who was passing through my hometown. It's a celtic design that I still have. He was tattooing out of the living room of a cook from the restaurant where I washed dishes. Reservoir Dogs was playing on the VCR so I felt like a real badass. Ha. I was so pleased with the first tattoo that I went back shortly thereafter for a second - a celtic/tribal arm band. Ah, the 90s. Turns out that was kinda beyond his expertise. I had that wonky crap on my arm for about 12 years before I got it covered up.

[Jack]

other than stick and poke, I was 19 and i went to a man and told him i wanted a heart with a knife on my ribs. I saw some flash of it, and got it did. other than hurting like the dickens, it was purty uneventful. Cool dude though

[slayer9019]

Well I stick and poked a shitty rune on my arm in high school, my friend did the band "emperor" E logo on his arm, so this was the 90ds so I did the rune often seen on burzum albums. Young dumb metal head, my tattoo feel out (mostly) still it got covered up(what was left of it). Then tattoos became legal a few years later. My wife who was my girlfriend at the time went to the tattoo shop and got a baphomet from a cross eyed biker in Worcester...because i was not to be out done my my wife I went to get a OM MANI PADME HUM. Still looks nice but its become a college kid cliche I keep it because my wife got it too. Hell that time was all about LSD and spirituality so sue me.

I would say the only way to get a "real" black metal tattoo" would be some kind of stick and poke. This is of course if your are a "true black metal fan" as low production quality is better. I joke, but seriously that is some pretty black metal stuff there.

In all seriousness you should check out Uncle Allen. Dude has some unreal black metal stuff!

[eisen777]

hahaha we certainly wanted to be "true"...some dumb stuff happened then but hey I got into some music I still listen to today.

[lving4today]

2 weeks after I turned 18, went in with an image and said I wanted a "half sleeve" and wanted that image to fit my arm and look more like a tattoo. Huge burley dude. I was too nervous to shop around for an artist, so he ended up doing it. Dude was wheezing so heavy throughout the entire thing. Was so stoked on it afterwards, but as weeks went by I was like "fuck" Got more tattoos from the same shops and came to find out the dude was helping out the owner by tattooing and he mainly does airbrush work with a side of tattooing. He no longer tattoos at all. Moral of the story: take your time and shop around.

[hogg]

Wow what a beautiful tat, it wouldve looked way cooler on the side calf though IMO.. but its fuckin beautiful man

Respectfully disagree; I think the placement is perfect. It also frees him up to get something directly on his shin.

[Shannon Shirley]

I dont think youre old enough to say shit like that......

hahaha we certainly wanted to be "true"...some dumb stuff happened then but hey I got into some music I still listen to today.

[eisen777]

I dont think youre old enough to say shit like that......

I guess. Its still true. I was a teenager then and early 30 now. Im just thinking on the past and remebering how dumb/awesome it was. I think most people do that.

[smiling.politely]

nothing too eventful... when i was 20 (in 2007), i got some text and a skull on my left forearm. my dad has the same text on his forearm, and since i was unsure as to what my goals in coverage would be at the time, i figured that getting that tattoo in dedication to my parents would always ring true with me. plus, skulls are rad.

[samanthahay]

The day I turned 18 my step dad took me to his artist. I got a shamrock with some orange shading around it on the top of my foot. I had wanted it since I was 15. I thought I would puke because it hurt so bad. Almost 10 years later it's still my favorite piece.

[ThaliaCamille]

My story is pretty boring. 18th birthday, took myself to a shop in the CDB, procured a tiny upside-down heart on my thigh that matched a preexisting (also upside-down) scarification on my other thigh. It took all of 10 minutes. TBH, I think it'll be incorporated or covered up by something else soon, it's the only one of my tattoos that I'm a bit embarrassed about.

[William Burgess]

Was 17 and had just got out of the hospital in Honolulu after getting some surgery. I am from the Big Island of Hawaii and there were no tattoo shops there at the time(1989). I had pretty much been fascinated with tattoos since about the 5th grade, when I got a copy of Donald Ritchie's book "the Japanese Tattoo" from the Hilo Library. Did a bunch of homemade crap on myself in the ensuing tattoo fever.

We were getting a bite to eat in Chinatown, must have been on Smith Street because I remember seeing the sign for a tattoo shop down the street. This turned out to be China Sea Tattoo. Went in nervous as fuck and consulted with Scott Sterling and made an appointment for the next day. Come the next day it was Rollo that ended up doing a coverup of my homemade stuff with a panther(traditional position like the original) and a rose.

I had no idea that he was so legendary until later. The only negative aspect of the whole experience was my mistaken impression that all tattoo shops were badass like that one. After all, I just stumbled into one of the most highly regarded tattoo shops of all time.

[Bunny Switchblade]

My first tattoo was at 15....a pachcco cross on my left index finger done with needle, thread & ink! It is still partially visible under my knuckle tattoo......and was actually very well done!

My first professional tattoo was done on my 18th Bday by Julie Moon at Dragon Moon Tattoo in Glen Burnie, Maryland! A Butterfly i picked off the wall and had tattooed on my left breast....and it was slowly built around over the years to become part of my chest piece!

[I Pray To Crom]

Got my 1st tattoo the day after my 18th birthday at the oldest shop in my town. a tribal-ish sun on my inner forearm. over a decade later, I ended up apprenticing there.