Hello from London

[omeletta]

Hi everyone!

I'm German, in my late thirties and live in London.

I've got nothing to show I'm afraid as I've got no tattoos as of yet. But I recently realised that all the reasons that kept me from getting a tattoo so far don't seem that valid for me anymore…so I started to do a lot of research and ended up lurking here.

Pretty amazed by how much nice and cool stuff is out there. I think I'm mostly into neo-traditional stuff and I've absolutely fallen in love with one particular artist (well, her work, of course) who turns out to be as far as away from me as possible, argh. Looks like it may be a while until I actually get the tattoo I'm dreaming of right now.

I guess in the meantime I will continue changing my mind ten times a day about whether to get something else sooner and if so, what to get ;-)

[OutOfIdeas]

I can help! Get a big tiger on your ribs, or a huge snake there, or a tiger/snake combo. Or just a big ol' eagle on your chest.

In all seriousness, welcome! Who's the artist that you've picked?

[beez]

Get a panther!

[Graeme]

Welcome! Have you looked into who attends the London Tattoo Convention? It might be that you don't need to travel at all. In any case, London has many pretty damned incredible tattooers so I'm sure that if you decide to get something sooner you'll be spoiled for choice.

[omeletta]

Get a panther!

Haha, thanks for the suggestions! Not sure about the eagle on my chest I have to admit. I'm actually female, so it would have to go either above or below my breasts...hm...maybe a bit too crazy for a first tattoo, or for me anyway. I'm just starting my journey into the tattoo world ;-) Was rather thinking something palm to hand sized on the lower leg, above the ankle.

And a panther had indeed crossed my mind of course!! It's fun to toy with different ideas though.

The artist that really made me go "yay, that's it!" is Emily Rose Murray .

Unfortunately she is based somewhere near Melbourne and says on her tumblr page that she won't be travelling until 2016. I think her reason for not wanting to travel is her little son which I totally understand as it's also why it's unlikely for me to go anywhere that far anytime soon, oh well.

There was another thread here recently where someone asked about artists in London which has been quite helpful to read for me. In fact, I have seen sooo many nice tats by now that it's getting harder and harder to decide what to go for. I guess that's part of the fun and why people just keep getting more and more ;-)

I will check out the London Convention but think I might feel slightly out of place attending as a 'plainskin' (or whatever you want to call me)...

[SeeSea]

I will check out the London Convention but think I might feel slightly out of place attending as a 'plainskin' (or whatever you want to call me)...

Go. No one knows that you do or don't have tattoos under your shirt/pants. I was nervous when I went to my first one, too, by myself, before I got a tattoo. Just go and screw feeling like you don't belong there. As for "plainskin" I think that's not a nice phrase, and I think that several people around here feel the same way about the term. Don't read into that. You are lucky with all the artists around you! Have fun with it!

[omeletta]

Go. No one knows that you do or don't have tattoos under your shirt/pants.

Good point. Hadn't quite considered that. All 'the media' normally shows from these type of events are people that are fully tattooed and pierced and whatnot. Certainly sells better than people who might or might not have tattoos under their clothes. I will keep this in mind.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and encouragement, it's much appreciated!

[Joe Shit]

Welcome! Emily is in a class by herself with the style she does.I second checking out the London Convention.And a lot of the artist that attend usually work as a guest artist at their friends shop in London before or after the show.Here's a few artists that do some nice girl heads..

Instagram

Instagram

Instagram

Instagram

Berlin has a lot of excellent tattooers..

Instagram

Instagram

Calina Hain - News

[RScottReese]

Welcome. I just joined the forum myself. If you're in London, Frith Street Tattoo is a great shop. I was tattooed by Jordan there; an excellent artist and super cool guy. I've seen posts on the forum by Stewart Robson and Valerie Vargas, who also work at Frith Street. Both are world class artists.

I wasn't aware of the artist you mentioned, Emily Rose Murray. Thanks for posting the link; her work is stunning.

[kylegrey]

Have you seen Claudia De Sabe's work ? Also she's in London , ironically the other artist that springs to mind is Uncle Allan who's based in Berlin .

https://www.facebook.com/claudiadesabe/photos

Conspiracy Inc.

[RoryQ]

I think that artist's work reminds me of Lars Uwe / Lus Lips from Berlin... Uncle Allen also sprung to mind, like Kyle said.

I don't know where he's tattooing now (could be Into You), but Steve Vinall's work seems to draw on that. He's been tattooed by Uwe so I guess there's a link.

Maybe worth looking at Inma at The Family Business too- she does something a little more her own but it might appeal to you.

There's probably others doing that neo trad (?) style in London if you look around a bit. Such a rich city for tattooing.

Lars Uwe

http://www.loxodrom.de/galerie/lars/

Steve Vinall

http://www.into-you.co.uk/london/steve-vinall/

Inma

http://www.thefamilybusinesstattoo.com/artists/inma-lasgambas/

[Joe Shit]

Bjorn in Berlin does that styel@ Instagram

Adriaan does too.. Instagram

[omeletta]

Wow, thanks for all the tips guys! Quite a few names I hadn't heard of yet among them.

I've been travelling all day and ready to hit the sack now but I'll have a closer look tomorrow.

As for the lady head, I've come to the conclusion that I have to reserve it for Emily. I know myself well enough and I'm sure I'd always compare it and see how it's not quite the same if I got another one.

So I'm now concentrating on finding someone and something else to get first, hehe ;-)