What's your longest tattoo session?

[Iwar]

My first session ever was about 8 hours in Switzerland with Filip Leu. It was a half sleeve and chest panel. We finished the entire arm in SF two years later in about the same time. My upper thigh with Shige was another 8-9 hour session. Thank God I live in a town with Bob Roberts! I do two hour sessions now.

I just took a peak at your profile gallery, and you have an insane collection of tattoos man. Leu, Roberts, Shige, Rassier... Thanks for sharing pictures and joining the community!

Great squidpants by the way! ;)

[Duffa]

@dronemaster @Iwar speaks the truth - those squidpants are spectacular!! As is the rest of your collection. Any chance of seeing photos of your Japanese sleeve? And welcome!

[username1]

Been averaging 7 to 8 1/2 hour sessions recently on my back piece. I think I have about another 26-30 hours of work left. I have paid the lot out to my artists (with a good tip at the end), so I have maybe 3-4 more sessions to go. Will go 8 hours each time as long as he is game and also if he can also feel fresh doing it. As soon as he gets tired, we have stopped. We have 2 week breaks between jobs.

The first 6 hours is okay. At about 6.5 hours in, for about a 20 minute window, seems to hurt like hell and then, that last hour or so just flies past and it is over...

Once my back is done, I have a small job I want on my feet an that will seems like a 20 minute job after the shit I have been through above...

[peterpoose]

I just did 12 hours on my last below knee tattoo. The actual tattooing was fine but the ankle healing was really bad. Couldn't even touch it for like a week.

[Gregor]

The more I get tattooed the less I tolerate it . I'll sit for as long as it takes but I think I heal better over multiple sessions

[fourtotheflush]

I know - no marathon, but 2.5 hours yesterday.

[else]

@fourtotheflush did you put pictures up yet? I wanna see! :D

[fourtotheflush]

No, I'll have one up tomorrow.

IPad is much more difficult to post pictures from.

[carmen1979]

8 hours is the longest I've sat, but we did take some breaks, so it was probably more like 7 hours of tattooing. Kinda sucks but I live about 5 hours away from my artist, so I can't reasonable go up for just a couple hours of tattooing. I feel like my tolerance is going down..but then I've been getting bigger tattoos , so I guess it's normal to hit some sort of limit. Once I'm done with my sleeve I'm working on I want to take a nice break. Although I do keep coming up with new ideas, so who knows how long a break I will get!

[penguincomp]

First tattoo and it was a full sleeve, 6 hours on Thursday, 6 hours on Friday. Flew home Saturday morning.

[peterpoose]

First tattoo and it was a full sleeve, 6 hours on Thursday, 6 hours on Friday. Flew home Saturday morning.

You did a whole sleeve in 12 hours?

[fourtotheflush]

@fourtotheflush did you put pictures up yet? I wanna see! :D

I just put this picture in my gallery.

[else]

@fourtotheflush I love it! That's so sweet to have those footprints!!

[ben stone]

the longest tattoo session i took was 6.5 hours from Theo Jak at Infamous in Stockholm, however the longest session i did was 10 hours in the back of New model army's tour bus in a hotel car park in Warsaw in 1999, i was sat on a beer crate and our bus driver was draped over the cling filmed sofas in the back lounge as i tattooed a full back cross and scroll on his back, this was only the third tattoo i had ever done and i did it all with a 7 liner, he was one tough guy THEN four days later i put some clouds over the top of the design in a hotel in Paris

[peterpoose]

Got me thinking lol

but this is pretty crazy :)

Longest tattoo session ever in the world. Glen Keizer Paul Blackhall

[Bardun]

I had my longest session yesterday, 7,5 hours, many of them on inner bicep, that was painful. It seems like my artist does not like to take breaks, so I had to ask for 5 minutes after 4 hours:p Happy to day, got a lot done so my sleeve is almost finished after 40 hours all to gether (have about 3 hours left I think).

[tatB]

I had my longest session yesterday, 7,5 hours, many of them on inner bicep, that was painful. It seems like my artist does not like to take breaks, so I had to ask for 5 minutes after 4 hours:p Happy to day, got a lot done so my sleeve is almost finished after 40 hours all to gether (have about 3 hours left I think).

Personally I prefer it when the artist takes few or no breaks at all because it always seems like it hurts more after taking a break longer than a minute or two.

[username1]

7 hours today, 7 hours tomorrow and 7 hours on Friday.... we are going to break the back on this back piece and I just do not want to suffer anymore. Just want it over and done with.... my artist is talking to me about a set of sleeves to go with the back piece but I told him today, give me a year or so off, as my kidney area and lower bum is going to need that time to recover after today's pain....

[Mark Bee]

The longest I've been tattooed is about 4 hours. That included a ten minute break. I was pretty "jangly" by then. I don't think I'd want to do longer than that in one session. Of course, if I were visiting a shop in another town, or was being tattooed by someone who wasn't going to be available again soon, I'd suck it up and do a longer session.

[Pacem]

Last year I did a few sessions that were 3 hours long. The longest session I have ever done was just short of 4 hours, 7 or 8 years ago. I was done about a half hour before he stopped. It's a pretty detailed dragon and the outline took awhile, but filling in the colour afterwards was what irritated the most. I'm guessing because the arm was already swelling? Is that normal when people are adding colour in a single session? The reason I ask...

I'm getting from my elbow up thru my shoulder and top of my chest done next month. I've only had one guy do any of the work on me currently, and he was up there and age, and last year literally had to take a break every 20-40mins and the 3 hour sessions sucked cause I'd just get into it and they'd he'd need a break. The new guy I am getting work done by, has assured me that he can get the outline done for the whole piece in about 3 hours and ideally if I can sit for 5 maybe 6 hours, he should be able to get all the black and shading done too. Due to the size and what i've experienced, i'm curious if 6 hours will be enough even. Then after that its just a buttload of colour over another session or 2. It was 7 years ago I did the 4 hours and that sucked, but i'm wondering if it was the colouring in on the same day that did that. Last year, the 3 hours a at a time wasn't too bad, but the stop and go was what made that suck.

So a question for people that have sat down for awhile, or that this following question may apply to... when having a fairly large outline done, was it easier to sit longer then to sit for a smaller piece w/outlines and colour in less time then a big outline?

Also, any tips for preparing for a longer session? Usually I make sure I am not hung over. I have a good breakfast an hour so before, and I would just bring a lot of gatorade or water and drink a lot the whole time.

I'm pretty stoked about the new tattoo so I just want it done as fast as possible and because of that I'm preparing to go as long as possible the first day.

Lotta rambling in this post, thanks for any replies, lol.

[Colored Guy]

Personally I prefer it when the artist takes few or no breaks at all because it always seems like it hurts more after taking a break longer than a minute or two.

Once you break stride, hard to get it back sometimes. Late in a long session, short 30-second breathers are good though.

Rob

- - - Updated - - -

Last year I did a few sessions that were 3 hours long. The longest session I have ever done was just short of 4 hours, 7 or 8 years ago. I was done about a half hour before he stopped. It's a pretty detailed dragon and the outline took awhile, but filling in the colour afterwards was what irritated the most. I'm guessing because the arm was already swelling? Is that normal when people are adding colour in a single session? The reason I ask...

I'm getting from my elbow up thru my shoulder and top of my chest done next month. I've only had one guy do any of the work on me currently, and he was up there and age, and last year literally had to take a break every 20-40mins and the 3 hour sessions sucked cause I'd just get into it and they'd he'd need a break. The new guy I am getting work done by, has assured me that he can get the outline done for the whole piece in about 3 hours and ideally if I can sit for 5 maybe 6 hours, he should be able to get all the black and shading done too. Due to the size and what i've experienced, i'm curious if 6 hours will be enough even. Then after that its just a buttload of colour over another session or 2. It was 7 years ago I did the 4 hours and that sucked, but i'm wondering if it was the colouring in on the same day that did that. Last year, the 3 hours a at a time wasn't too bad, but the stop and go was what made that suck.

So a question for people that have sat down for awhile, or that this following question may apply to... when having a fairly large outline done, was it easier to sit longer then to sit for a smaller piece w/outlines and colour in less time then a big outline?

Also, any tips for preparing for a longer session? Usually I make sure I am not hung over. I have a good breakfast an hour so before, and I would just bring a lot of gatorade or water and drink a lot the whole time.

I'm pretty stoked about the new tattoo so I just want it done as fast as possible and because of that I'm preparing to go as long as possible the first day.

Lotta rambling in this post, thanks for any replies, lol.

The way it was told to me was the 1st session is all the lining, shading which is mainly black and darker colors. Those can wipe into the lighter colors especially if its bleeding pretty good. When I had my forearm koi done last year, my forearm was really swelled up after the coloring was done.

I've sat for as long as 3 hours for the outline and shading. After being hit 6 zillion times with the liner, I'm done at the 3 hour mark. That for me is the toughest. I can cruise through the coloring session in comparison. Smaller pieces that can be done in one shot are nice, in & out complete & wrapped up in 2 hours. And I'm functional after.

Tattoo day... I make sure I get enough sleep the night before. Eat a little something before you go. I like to drink soda when I'm in the chair, the sugar helps me with that light-headed feeling. Anyone that can sit for 4 hours or more, great if you can do it. I'd have to be plenty stoked to sit that long.

[chuck chapin]

The longest i've sat for so far was with Cap at Timeless tattoo in 1999, he tattooed a candle burning on both ends on my collar bones with smoke trailing off around my neck just under the t-shirt line. It took about 7 hours, all single needle and 9 mag. Great experience, we just shot the shit the whole time and took minimal breaks. The pain wasn't bad but at the last couple minutes I started to black out. I let him know and he was like nah, you got it. . . Seriously man, I'm about to hit the deck... He just kept tattooing telling me that I wasn't going to pass out. Somehow he talked me through it. Afterwards we went out for sushi. It was a good day.

At the time i was working at a street shop and it was funny to hear the owner ask why I drove so far to pay for a tattoo when I could have got the

same thing for free from one of my co-workers. A fool and his money.

Nothing like a cool tattoo along with a quality experience. Still looks great.

[hgiles]

I sat for 9 hours twice when Dana Helmuth did my half sleeve/chest panel.

I could only sit for 3.5 hours (x2) for Chad Koeplinger when he did my rib panel.

My other rib panel was done in one sitting (7 hours) by Brian Bruno.

[InkCollector]

I'm usually good for 4-6 hours.

The hardest was three days back to back, on my left arm.

Last year, I moved from Chicago to the west coast, and the move happened as I was finishing a steampunk sleeve project with Larry Brogan; we needed three or four more sessions. He had a guest spot coming up in Grants Pass at Jeff Gogue's place (Off The Map Tattoo) so I booked three of the days. I figured it was a lot easier than flying to Chicago three times.

The first day was fine. We did 6 hours.

The second day was fairly rough, very tender. I felt everything. We did 5 hours, then went for pizza and beer.

The third day, totally brutal; my arm had serious swelling (looked like edema). It was painful from the first jab to the last. Larry really did his best and was concerned, but I insisted. From a pain point of view, it was brutal. In the end, it healed perfectly and there were no issues. Pain is temporary, awesome tattoos are forever.

I attached a pic of the upper part of the sleeve.

Won't do that again!!

[Brock Varty]

I'm usually good for 4-6 hours.

The hardest was three days back to back, on my left arm.

Last year, I moved from Chicago to the west coast, and the move happened as I was finishing a steampunk sleeve project with Larry Brogan; we needed three or four more sessions. He had a guest spot coming up in Grants Pass at Jeff Gogue's place (Off The Map Tattoo) so I booked three of the days. I figured it was a lot easier than flying to Chicago three times.

The first day was fine. We did 6 hours.

The second day was fairly rough, very tender. I felt everything. We did 5 hours, then went for pizza and beer.

The third day, totally brutal; my arm had serious swelling (looked like edema). It was painful from the first jab to the last. Larry really did his best and was concerned, but I insisted. From a pain point of view, it was brutal. In the end, it healed perfectly and there were no issues. Pain is temporary, awesome tattoos are forever.

I attached a pic of the upper part of the sleeve.

Won't do that again!!

Wow. Nice first post If I say so myself....