What's your longest tattoo session?

[SeeSea]

14 more hours today, still nweds more work

Stunning. The details on the hair on each of them is just amazing. Not to mention your ability to sit for ridiculous amounts of time!

[Matthew Thomas]

My longest session turned out to be 4 hours long. I took a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some peanut butter oreos, some twizzlers bites, and my bobble (brita bottle knockoff). It was painful, but worth it. Here is a pic.

[SeeSea]

Set a new PR last night with an 8 hour sitting on my back piece. Just got home. Probably a total of 1 hour of breaks in there. And @BrianH, now I've got the formula to deal with the exhaustion and shivering. I drink a cup of no-caffeine hot tea at every break (we had about 5) and eat some food. I'm wearing leggings under sweat pants and two hoodies on backwards, with a camisole at my waist because he was working above my waist today. And fleece gloves. But the clencher was a heating pad. I tied it to the post that connects the face rest to the chair and leaned against the heating pad with my chest and stomach. It worked perfectly! That and the tea kept every single shiver away, and I finished up in much better shape after this session than my other shorter ones. Even drove 90 minutes home at 5am. Yay! Take THAT, damn shivers!

[tatB]

Set a new PR last night with an 8 hour sitting on my back piece. Just got home. Probably a total of 1 hour of breaks in there. And @BrianH, now I've got the formula to deal with the exhaustion and shivering. I drink a cup of no-caffeine hot tea at every break (we had about 5) and eat some food. I'm wearing leggings under sweat pants and two hoodies on backwards, with a camisole at my waist because he was working above my waist today. And fleece gloves. But the clencher was a heating pad. I tied it to the post that connects the face rest to the chair and leaned against the heating pad with my chest and stomach. It worked perfectly! That and the tea kept every single shiver away, and I finished up in much better shape after this session than my other shorter ones. Even drove 90 minutes home at 5am. Yay! Take THAT, damn shivers!

Congrats on surviving a full 8 hours. Any pictures to share yet?

[SeeSea]

Congrats on surviving a full 8 hours. Any pictures to share yet?

Yeah, let me get some from my guy. Nothing is done yet, but you can certainly see where this is going now. Oh boy I have tattoo hangover right now. I know, bitch bitch whine whine.

[SeeSea]

Okay, this is just a first pass - nothing is done except maybe the sea snake but there are no highlights or shadows for him yet either. On the right, hidden are two unfinished clownfish in an anemone. He'll keep laying things out to get the whole design before he goes back to finish each part completely. Next up will be some fish and coral on the right, and in the middle will be the deep blue with some shadowed critters in the distance. Kinda frustrating that nothing will be finished until everything is finished at the last minute!

FYI - This is a sea scene made from a number of pictures I've taken while diving. The sea snake I chased all over the bottom trying to get a close-up of him, only later to find out how poisonous he is! Oops! And I just love my eels!

[Bexter]

Okay, this is just a first pass - nothing is done except maybe the sea snake but there are no highlights or shadows for him yet either. On the right, hidden are two unfinished clownfish in an anemone. He'll keep laying things out to get the whole design before he goes back to finish each part completely. Next up will be some fish and coral on the right, and in the middle will be the deep blue with some shadowed critters in the distance. Kinda frustrating that nothing will be finished until everything is finished at the last minute!

FYI - This is a sea scene made from a number of pictures I've taken while diving. The sea snake I chased all over the bottom trying to get a close-up of him, only later to find out how poisonous he is! Oops! And I just love my eels!

So happy to finally sea (hur) this. It's absolutely beautiful.

[Synesthesia]

About 4 hours of shading. Outlining is rough for me, about 3 hours of lining and I'm done. I'm not sure I could do even a medium sized tattoo in one session. :( That's okay, that just means I can get tons of little ones. :)

[radiofreejenn]

I'm supposed to get a cover-up that will last 5-6 hours. I figure after 4 c-sections I can handle a good amount of pain these days.

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[William Coty Siegert]

About 4 hours of shading. Outlining is rough for me, about 3 hours of lining and I'm done. I'm not sure I could do even a medium sized tattoo in one session. :( That's okay, that just means I can get tons of little ones. :)

That's my theory as well. I just did about 2.5 hours of outlining on my back and only made it about half an hour of shading and had to tap out. 3 hours is my limit.

[scubaron]

For me, 4 hours. The 1st 2 hours is not a problem. The 3rd hour is not fun. The 4th hour really sucks. I seem to tolerate outlining better than shading. Could be because shading is hitting the same spot over and over, or it could be shading is usually later in the session.

[Mick Weder]

Whether one sits an 8, 4, 2 or 1 hour session, it's still time under the machine in my book. Every hour is painfully earned.

[Colored Guy]

That's my theory as well. I just did about 2.5 hours of outlining on my back and only made it about half an hour of shading and had to tap out. 3 hours is my limit.

I'm in the 3-hour range lately too.. then I'm done. I'd rather break the work up into a couple of sittings.

[hellbunny]

5.5 hours is my longest sitting, followed by a 3.5 hour sesh a month later, wasn't too bad the first sitting, the last half hour was a killer but we really wanted to get a certain amount out of the way....but I tell ya what, the second sitting, finishing up the shading, background and highlights and going over my elbow...I wanted to tap so bad.

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[joakim urma]

6 hours I think, side of thigh. It's fascinating how the body works, I found the last half hour almost unbearable but up to that (save for the first 10 minutes when I am always wondering why I am getting tattoos to begin with) it was quite enjoyable. But after 5,5 hours it was like hitting a switch and everything felt horrible, probably my storage of pain sedative hormones just ran out. That's cool to me and part of the tattoo experience, getting to know how pain works

[Zillah]

7.5 hours for my koi. I thought I was going to suddenly throw up after about 5 hours but a took a bathroom break and it passed.

[idyllsend]

4hr45min-ish. Just a small hand sized thing on the back of my calf. Done by an apprentice, thus the length. Almost tapped out twice, but I just wanted it over with.

[dieselkat]

Last Saturday, I sat for 5 hours for a tattoo on my outer upper thigh. My longest sitting previous to that was 2 hours. But I went to a guy who's 3.5 hours away, and I really wanted to get it all done. We took a break after 4 hours, and we shouldn't have, because the entire last hour was KILLER. But I love it, and it was totally worth it!! (Not loving the still sore peeling mess though...)

...So apparently I don't know how to upload a picture. It's in my album.

[Euchlid]

6 hours I think, side of thigh. It's fascinating how the body works, I found the last half hour almost unbearable but up to that (save for the first 10 minutes when I am always wondering why I am getting tattoos to begin with) it was quite enjoyable. But after 5,5 hours it was like hitting a switch and everything felt horrible, probably my storage of pain sedative hormones just ran out. That's cool to me and part of the tattoo experience, getting to know how pain works

exactly. For me, the first half an hour is total balls because my body has not produced any lovely adrenaline. I like to sit for 4-5 hours, anything after that and my body doesn't like it at all. My last session was just under 5 hours, and it was great because it's also the first tattoo I've been able to start and finish in one sitting (other than a tiny 15 minute hibiscus on my foot).

[mattwallace24]

I sat for 6 hours yesterday completing the outline of a polynesian style 3/4 sleeve. The first 3-4 hours was ok. The last hour or so was pretty miserable. Any strategy I had to deflect or cope with the pain was out the window. I'm sure it was probably due to the duration of the sitting, but doing the outline on the upper inside of my arm and my elbow pretty much sucked.

The bad news is that I'm going to complete the shading (it will be black only tattoo) today. Arm is feeling better than expected this morning, but not looking forward to another 5-6 hours. However, that is the price I pay for wanting instant gratification and choosing a highly respected (and in demand) polynesian tattoo artist that is not only 5 1/2 hours away, but in another country.

[SeeSea]

@mattwallace24 - that's a tough haul, but driving and sitting! Make sure to post pictures!

[JimmyS]

i did a 5 hour session outlining a full sleeve a couple years back, from what i can remember it wasn't so bad, but now i can barely get through 2 hours.

[1eyel3ft]

I just sat thru about 5 hours on my side but there was a short in the wire so it took a little extra waiting. Which is just as bad for me. But i did about 7 hours on my chest and stomach. It all hurts the same, after 3rd hr. Except when they say alright almost there.

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[scubaron]

All my tattoos are black & grey. Don't know how people deal with big color tattoos and all the shading. Outlining is tolerable. Feels like a sharp knife cutting a thin line. Shading sucks. Feels like a fork constantly rubbing back and forth. Guess I am a wimp.

[William Coty Siegert]

Three hours on my ribs last week and two and a half on my back yesterday. I know I am a wimp. 3 and out!