another newbie

[polliwog]

Hi everyone.

I'm from outside of Boston, MA and recently got my first tattoo. I will probably have many questions but will try my best to answer them pre-emptively by looking through what's already on here. I work as a bookseller at an indie bookstore. I'm a woman, if that matters.

To begin, I'm wondering if anyone else on here has hypermobility-related issues and, if so, what effect hypermobility might have when it comes to how a person's skin handles ink. Considering that my joints are naturally more flexible than most (I'm not at the Ehlers-Danlos end of the spectrum, but I can do the creepy bending-one's-thumb-to-inner-wrist thing and tend to hyperextend my back), will the connective tissue in my skin potentially make me more prone to blowout and other problems? I tend to discolor easily after getting a cut, though my scars don't usually raise. My tattoo experience so far has been that I've healed quickly and lost virtually no ink after removing my bandage (as in, I wore a light t-shirt to bed the night after being tattooed over a largeish area of my upper arm and woke up to a still-pristine shirt), but some of my linework is a bit mushier than I would prefer. This was not an issue that I had noted in my tattooer's portfolio work, though I doubt I have as practiced an eye as most of you all. I'm not totally upset about this, but I was wondering if it might have anything to do with my particular biology. I also made the potential mistake of using glycolic acid lotion on my arm several times in the lead-up to my tattoo in an attempt to exfoliate well, and, while I could find a lot of information on using AHAs to fade tattoos, I found little about AHA use prior to tattooing. Unfortunately I don't have anything capable of taking higher-resolution pictures than the lousy camera on my laptop, but I'll try to get a photo soon.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I'm a bit of a nerd...

[polliwog]

Here's one of the least shitty of all of my shitty laptop photos. It's based on a Charles Rennie Mackintosh watercolor sketch and the partial coloring is intentional. I feel a little self-conscious posting something so simple when faced with all the amazing tattoos on here.

[Amok]

Actually simple tattoos are often best.

[Graeme]

Hello and welcome. How recently did you get the tattoo? I ask because it's really difficult to judge things like "mushy" linework until the tattoo is healed and settled in a bit. I know that when I've had healing tattoos that sometimes lines look like a bit of a mess, like they're blown out, but they're totally fine once the tattoo is healed.

[Sneaken1]

Welcome aboard Polliwog. I agree with Amok, simple works. Don't get me wrong there are some incredible complex pieces but those are usually done by incredible artists. Simple tends to read well from a distance.

Graeme is spot on, let everything settle down before you stress out over it. My first one bled ink a lot but turned out fine, and my second set didn't bleed much ink at all. There are a million factors that could play into it as well. Diet, hydration, location, ink color, technique, etc.

Keep in mind getting a tattoo is injuring the skin so some bruising and inflammation can happen.

Peace,

Ken

[Gregor]

Wow CRM cool !

[polliwog]

I got it done a little under 4 weeks ago. It's still a little dry and itchy and textured, so I'll definitely give it a bit longer before I consider cleaning up any lines. Thanks!

I do like how it reads from a distance & think all changes from the original drawing were the right ones!

Simple but slightly weird is pretty much my aesthetic. I think well-done realistic and Japanese tattoos look great on other people, but I could never wear them.