Your overall look as a tattooed person

[taylorn]

I think you make perfect sense. It's definitely something I'm considering when I get my second tattoo.

[joakim urma]

I wrote in this thread not too long ago about how balance in which parts of my body were tattooed was important to me. Now I've had one of my feet tattooed and one side of my ribs tattooed, as well as half my knee tattooed, for quite some month without feeling the need to "even out" the balance by getting the respective side tattooed.

I kind of like it, looks spontaneous and organic. But I am still planning to get the whole body (almost) done.

[scubaron]

I am new to tattoos, started 6 months ago. So far I have single tattoos on each calf and each shoulder/upper arm. One more single tattoo going on my thigh next month.

My body and wallet need a break. I can see possibly adding more single tattoos and linking them or adding background/filler, down the road.

Currently my "look" is single tattoos as decoration. I don't plan on any sleeves or extended coverage, but I imagine many people say that at the beginning.

[HaydenRose]

I don't plan on any sleeves or extended coverage, but I imagine many people say that at the beginning.

YUP! Years later have multiple sessions booked to fill up my arm...

[Dennis]

Recent shot with the Flatmo sleeve completely healed! :D Visiting a friend who just got a bull terrier puppy!

[ThatGuy]

I've only just started to get some big work done. Will aim to look fairly balanced as far as arms and legs go. Most likely won't do anything other than classic traditional, but who knows...

[Mick Weder]

I was watching a tattoo doco ages ago and the interviewer was talking to this suited dude outside a convention about his choice of design.

Old mate says, in the beginning a lot of thought went into design, placement and meaning...now it's just all about the coverage man.

I was really able to pick up what he was putting down with that statement.

I know what I like, but long gone are the days where I'd think too much about it.

I have been with some pieces, but like when we were looking for a large feature to punch in the inner right thigh, tattooer says, how about an evil looking monkey playing a banjo swinging a whiskey bottle from his tail sound?

Whiskey swilling monkey it is.

I always knew as a young boy that a heavy suit was designed for me. For me it's not quite the design, it's going heavy.

In saying that but, when I see the most awesome work through these threads on fellow LST members, the work just blows me away and constantly think how I'd love to be able to start all over again. ...hold on, nah fuck that! It hurts too much :)

[misterJ]

I was watching a tattoo doco ages ago and the interviewer was talking to this suited dude outside a convention about his choice of design.

Old mate says, in the beginning a lot of thought went into design, placement and meaning...now it's just all about the coverage man.

I was really able to pick up what he was putting down with that statement.

I know what I like, but long gone are the days where I'd think too much about it.

I have been with some pieces, but like when we were looking for a large feature to punch in the inner right thigh, tattooer says, how about an evil looking monkey playing a banjo swinging a whiskey bottle from his tail sound?

Whiskey swilling monkey it is.

I always knew as a young boy that a heavy suit was designed for me. For me it's not quite the design, it's going heavy.

In saying that but, when I see the most awesome work through these threads on fellow LST members, the work just blows me away and constantly think how I'd love to be able to start all over again. ...hold on, nah fuck that! It hurts too much :)

I'm no where near that free spirited, but now that I have been going big I do agree with the sentiment. There are about 200 things I would love on my body. so I am assuming any combination of them would make me more than happy if done well.

[keepcalm]

Glad to see this thread still popping up every now and then!

I'm getting a big piece on my right thigh in September; that'll keep my legs asymmetrical. I kind of want to get something on the back of my left elbow so I don't look quite so symmetrical from behind (right now each of my shoulder blades are covered equally). Booo, symmetry! Haha. BUT I haven't ventured down either arm yet, and that'd be a big step for me, so still pondering. Found an artist I would LOVE to give some highly visible real estate to, though! He's in Germany, and I'll be there this fall. Coincidence? I THINK NOT

[hellbunny]

I'm unbalanced, with one tattooed arm and one not, but I will be getting my clean arm tattooed later in the year...the style in which it will be done will be totally different to any of my existing work, the reason being I will be seeing my favourite Australian artist who I have followed with stalker like enthusiasm since the beginning of her career (and a time when I wasn't even old enough to have tattoos).

I think a lot about the other areas of my body, I would love a full back, but always struggled with the concept that it would nearly always be obscured by some kind of straps.

Unless I just get around topless. :rolleyes:

[bongsau]

i just want to look like Walt Disney threw up all over me :cool:

[Euchlid]

I started out with stuff on my back, telling myself it was all I would ever want. Haha then I started worked the desk as a shop so that went out the window. I got a snake and a rat on my calf in 2005,and I love it as it's the pattern on my ball python(who died a few years later). So it's meaningful for me, but it means I cannot sleeve my leg. I decided that sleeving only one leg with a cohesive design is not for me.

So my current tattoo plans are to cover my legs as much as possible without making it look like I'm trying to tie a bunch of random tattoos together into sleeves. I started with a big thigh piece and will get a complimentary one on the other side when I have enough $ to do it. I love that this idea leaves me with the option of getting some smaller pieces as filler as well.

I walked around with one 3/4 sleeve for years before getting the other side done in 2010/2011.i also have zero plans to tattoo my chest as it's not a look for me, and since I would like kids in a couple years I'm leaving torso real estate out of the picture for the time being. I want to get as much of my legs done before kids so it's go time! I'm trying to load up the piggybank when I can!

[mike456]

Do itttttt

[KBeee]

Old mate says, in the beginning a lot of thought went into design, placement and meaning...now it's just all about the coverage man.

I was really able to pick up what he was putting down with that statement.

I know what I like, but long gone are the days where I'd think too much about it.

I am having a similar experience. I started out with a lot of planning and it finally got to be unfun. So I took a break, picked a spot, gave a couple of different thoughts but mainly went with what my artist was into or most excited about. Somewhere in there I crossed some kind of line and accepted that I am well on my way to full coverage which carries with it it's own innate symmetry/harmony of balance. It's been freeing for me to just enjoy the spontaneity and surprise of how things turn out. In the face of the long game, spaces and asymmetry really don't bug me as much anymore because they are temporary.

[hogg]

I have always strived for balance in my tattoos. In fact, it's bothering me right now that I have both sides of my right knee open. Then again, as I start to run low on real estate, I notice every single blank spot.

Update: I filled in the inside of my right knee a month ago, and on Sunday, I'm having Ben Grillo fill in the outside.

[CABS]

Update: I filled in the inside of my right knee a month ago, and on Sunday, I'm having Ben Grillo fill in the outside.

So jealous Ross!

I just read this entire thread. I don't know why I haven't seen it sooner.

As of right now, I like balance. Not necessarily symmetry, but there's no way I could have just worked on one limb at a time.

As far as my "overall look" goes, in business attire nobody is the wiser that I'm tattooed. In shorts and a tee, it's pretty obvious. I still get shy around old people though. My initial instincts are to cover up with a jacket. But that instinct is slowly starting to fade.

I have a bunch of gaps that are totally bothering me right now. But I'm trying to abide by my self-imposed rule of waiting for a tattoo to heal before I start the next one.

[SeeSea]

In the face of the long game, spaces and asymmetry really don't bug me as much anymore because they are temporary.

Neat quote.

[Mick Weder]

Somewhere in there I crossed some kind of line - It's been freeing for me to just enjoy the spontaneity and surprise of how things turn out.

Back to kinda where it all started for us hey KBee.

I think when we all make that decision we're going heavy, we think we must put a lot of energy into it, over thinking, complicating it, when the only complicated part is really being steered in the right direction, then it all just falls in place.

I love that. Just doing it easy, enjoying the experience again, the vibe, the smell, the sound.

On that, how could one sit in a shop with all rotary machines working? The silence wouldn't seem right.

[XOXO]

I've mostly been a lurker for a few years, so 'hi' everybody :).

As far as my 'overall look' goes, I'm covered top to bottom. Sleeves on both arms, my legs are covered, stomach, ribs, feet, hands, fingers, neck, even palms. No head or face tattoos and I try to avoid getting a face tattoo. I have to admit that I have never been a big fan of back pieces for the plain reason that you can't see it, but as I'm slowly running out of real estate I strongly consider getting a back piece. Since I'm a big fan of American traditional, I'd love nothing more than to get a badass piece from Judd Ripley at Sailor's Grave :).

It all started when I was 19 and I got a lettering (which is now covered) and a bunch of stars (not covered) tattooed. As the years progressed, I got about 1 tattoo per year. At the age of 26, I started my left sleeve. I made the common rookies mistake and impatient me made an appointment with a tattooer who had time the following week. I wanted to get a fullsleeve as fast as possible and so I had an appointment with him every other week. I didn't really have a solid idea for my sleeve (I just gave the tattooer the word 'music'...), so I wasn't really happy with the outcome. As I started travelling a lot and with Instagram popping up, I began researching and finding new artists and booking appointments with these artists. The idea to travel to get a tattoo from a great artist hadn't occured to me to that moment. And now , I'm here covered in tattoos from a bunch of different artists from all over the place and I couldn't be happier.

About 98% of my tattoos are just designs I really like. Panther, eagle, shark, Sailor Jerry designs,...some are music-related (lyrics, potraits) and maybe 2% have a deeper meaning.

I live in Germany, so people are a bit more conservative when it comes to tattoos than Americans. When it's hot outside, I never wear short pants or skirts. As an American friend, who once visited me,put it best:"The Germans have a staring problem." It really is a pain in the ass, even though I live in a big city. I travel a lot and sure, every time I'm in the US, people stare too, but it's just different. Usually Americans come up to me and say something along the lines of "I really like your tattoos". I like the sincerity.

I hope I didn't get too offtopic here. Sorry for the rather long post.

[Mick Weder]

I'd love nothing more than to get a badass piece from Judd Ripley at Sailor's Grave :).

And a badass piece it would be. Anything JR knocks is fuckin awesome.

[SeeSea]

I hope I didn't get too offtopic here. Sorry for the rather long post.

No, cool. Thanks for sharing.

[pidjones]

Nice to hear something good said about America. It is a big country and many don't see how diverse we really are. Thanks! As far as areas you can't see - you could have a great photographer do a nice portfolio (probably free if you let them use it) and admire the work or buy a web cam and set it up to view yourself (you don't HAVE to put it on the web, you know). Actually, Germany is one of the places that I have enjoyed the most, what little I have had time to see (Erlangen and Kiel). I have found a general good will toward Americans there and in Italy that I did not see in Scotland, England, or France.

[marley mission]

so much space to fill - i don't anticipate being covered in a body suit or sleeved type of way but i can say that i like the idea of balancing coverage as i go - i only have a small area of 'no-go zones' and my torso area is on my mind for a few pieces in the future - i'm in a flurry period - for me at least - i've been able to put aside a little cash and i've got the motivation so probably looking to get a few pieces over the next few months before i settle and reevaluate

to those that are covered i give you credit - lots of dedication (and a bit of cash :) ) - love seeing all the work posted up on here

enjoy the journey

[LanaZellner]

This is the best thread!

This picture was taken a few months ago at my sister-in-law's wedding and I was immediately struck by how much I LOVE the way the tattoo looks with the flowers and the floral print dress. I would like my whole body to look like a floral dress one day -- Since taking this picture I've gotten a few more big flowery pieces and I am slowly inching toward the goal :)

[hatchettjack]

This is the best thread!

This picture was taken a few months ago at my sister-in-law's wedding and I was immediately struck by how much I LOVE the way the tattoo looks with the flowers and the floral print dress. I would like my whole body to look like a floral dress one day -- Since taking this picture I've gotten a few more big flowery pieces and I am slowly inching toward the goal :)

Looks awesome lana!

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