Hi - Need a quick reply panicking here!!

[sketchin]

Hey, i'm not going to lie the reason i found and joined the forum is because i have a question though i'm sure i'll stay as i have just gotten the tattoo bug. Here it goes: I have just had my first session on my second tattoo this was 6hours (yup 6hours with like two cig breaks) now i was told to leave the clingfilm on until tomorrow morning. As i left the tattoo looked lovely but now about 6 hours ago. Now it all looks completely fucked, the clingfilm is still on but it's like all the colour has blended, seriously it's looking very very black and yeah like i said a fucking mess.

I have a neo-japanese dragon on my calf this tattoo was so beautiful not 100% finished i will probs need at least another 6 hour session maybe 10 more hours.

Is it just because i've got them clingfilm on it looks messy or should i be worried my skin just rejected all the ink and i have now fucked up my body and will probs have to get some major cover up. Looking through the clingfilm it really does look a mess and ruined. I'm praying it's just because it's still damp because it hasn't been aired and washed yet and after than will look like it did when i left the studio.

Please could someone give me an answer so i can stop panicking and get some sleep. Seriously this is only my second and my first was a small very simple one (Red hot chilli peppers logo if anyone is interested). Seriously im never new to tattoo. Could someone please reassure me it is just because the tattoo is just still wet, leaking some white blood cells and a bit of the ink which hasn't absorbed is just mixing a little due to it being wet?

So much thanks to whoever can answer me the question seriously i wont be able to sleep until i know it's fine!

- Sketch

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Now i'll introduce myself once im not stressing like a madman!!

[Mush]

You're going to be fine. Just leaking plasma and blood. In the morning remove the clingwrap and wash thoroughly, all will be right in world.

[sketchin]

You're going to be fine. Just leaking plasma and blood. In the morning remove the clingwrap and wash thoroughly, all will be right in world.

OK. Thank you. I was hoping i didn't just sit for 6hours straight for my tattoo too be fucking messed up lol. The artist was pretty impressed with how long i sat for, i paid for a days work so i was getting my moneys worth haha! This is gonna be a pricey tattoo, at least for me. I probable need another 10hours on it. I love it so far, i won't give much away until it is finished which sadly wont be until next year as i need whats done to heal then i'll do another 6hour session.

If they went longer i'd stay longer though lol, i do however know getting too much done at once isn't a great idea. At the end of the day it's an open wound and a big session can put your body in shock. I would post up my Red Hot Chill Peppers tattoo but it isn't fully healed. I got fluff stuck to it when it was scabbing and have one scab on it still, not too thick but thicker than i'd like but i wont pick it.

Also anyone have problems with ingrowing hairs, is it best to just leave them in case they contain bloody puss or should i get some tweezers and pull out the hairs then wash the tattoo?

Anyhoo a little about me like i said i would introduce myself once i'd carmed down a little bit. I'm very new to tattoos though i have been thinking about the ones i have / working on for a long time. I wanted the Red Hot Chill Peppers logo on me ever since i was like 14 and im 20 now. And i've been thinking about getting some traditional 90s Japanese stuff done for over a year. I really admire Ed Hardy's work, specifically when he moved to Japan and started doing the Japanese tattoos, i actually saw a very good documentary about him a while back wish i knew the name as i'd love to watch it again.

- Sketch

[bongsau]

Don't stress, that tattoo is in the skin. It isn't going anywhere!

I remove the bandage after 4hrs post-tattoo and hop in the shower to clean it off.

I personally don't like cling wrap, it keeps your clothes clean after the tattoo but it traps a lot of moisture. But really every tattooer and every tattoo-receiver has their own methods and routines for healing.

Don't mess with the ingrown hairs, unless you want to experience folliculitis, it sucks. If you're getting a lot of them I would refrain from your aftercare product i.e. moisturizer and dry heal.

Leave the tattoo alone. The mortality rate from getting a tattoo is very low, so you'll be fine.

I remember being a teenager and seeing BloodSugarSexMagic album, with all their tattoos and being like HOLY SMOKES you can do that? My mom probably wished she never bought me that cassette haha

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...and get some rest bud. Six hours getting drilled by a machine is hard on the body (i just read that back to myself and it yeah sounds funny lol)

[marley mission]

love the chili peppers - saw them in concert oh about 20 years ago

feeling old now

good luck with the new tatt

dont panic

keep calm and heal on!

[sketchin]

I remember being a teenager and seeing BloodSugarSexMagic album, with all their tattoos and being like HOLY SMOKES you can do that? My mom probably wished she never bought me that cassette haha

Haha, definitely my favourite album, though i do love Live in Hyde park, just because of that 14min guitar solo ;D

I think the logo makes such a good tattoo, i was going to get it on my wrist but it's on my right inner ankle, i love the placement. This Japanese tattoo i'm getting looks killer already, my artist loves me lol because i was happy to sit for 6hours straight and he says he rarely gets someone like that so he never really gets to see his tattoo take shape in the first session. Line-work is definitely the most painful part i think. But i manned through it, partly because if im paying for a full day im staying for a full day and im impatient lol. I wanted to at least get the line-work sorted so you can make sense of the tattoo since it won't be finished till Mid-late January at the earliest.

I'm going to assume you have ink, if so what was your first piece?

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...and get some rest bud. Six hours getting drilled by a machine is hard on the body (i just read that back to myself and it yeah sounds funny lol)

I wish i could but i suffer from quite bad insomnia, i haven't slept in two days anyway... I did have a rest last night. Laid in bed for like 5 hours trying to sleep so i wasn't fully wacked out for my appointment. But yeah right now i'm wide awake even though i'm on valium and sleep deprived. And it's 1:07am.

[SeeSea]

Welcome! Yeah, my first tattoo ever was a god-awful looking mess through the cling wrap when I woke up the next morning, fried and exhausted from a 4am finish time. The ink was all greens and blacks to begin with, and it freaked me out a little. As @Mush said very eloquently, all will be right in the world.

[bongsau]

I'm going to assume you have ink, if so what was your first piece?

St. Christopher on my shoulder, about 12 years ago

[sketchin]

Didn't get to sleep until about 5am which wasn't great but i did sleep which i know is very important with healing.

God my leg looked black sooo much blood and plasma, when i took the cling flim off it was sooo thick, quite nasty. What rinsed it, dabbed dry heated up some Bepanthen (makes it a bit less of a thick consistency and makes it much easier to apply) rubbed it into my tattoo and re-wrapped it. I know my artist said i didn't need to but i think i will do this for another 2 days. Obviously replacing it each time i clean and cream up my tattoo.

I didn't really want to post my tattoo until it finished, hmmm....

[Graeme]

I would suggest that if you have limited experience healing tattoos, follow the aftercare instructions your artist gave you. Unless he explicitly told you to rewrap the tattoo, don't rewrap it.

[sketchin]

I would suggest that if you have limited experience healing tattoos, follow the aftercare instructions your artist gave you. Unless he explicitly told you to rewrap the tattoo, don't rewrap it.

I was going by what my stepsister suggested she has experience with tattoos. Last tattoo i got from him i done exactly what he said and i healed pretty well, there is still a slight scab on it though everywhere else i fully healed.

Also every now and then it just suddenly kills for a few seconds then goes. This normal? Im relatively new to tattoos and this one is rather large too. Whole calf.

[bongsau]

yeah your fine

your leg likely ballooned, especially from sitting a longer session. once the swelling subsides those aches will disappear (Rest Ice Elevate) and then you can welcome the itch haha

[sketchin]

yeah your fine

your leg likely ballooned, especially from sitting a longer session. once the swelling subsides those aches will disappear (Rest Ice Elevate) and then you can welcome the itch haha

It has a little. Can't wait until this heals up then end of january going for my second session again im sitting for 6hours, then i will probs need at least another 4-6hours. Expensive things tattoos aye.

[bongsau]

Good tattoos aren't really that expensive in comparison to what I see acquaintances spend on motorcycles, travel and cocaine.

[sketchin]

Good tattoos aren't really that expensive in comparison to what I see acquaintances spend on motorcycles, travel and cocaine.

True, but im not in work at the moment and im about to be going back into college in September too. But at least i'll be going with this phat tattoo lol. Worth all the money no doubt just im paying £350 per day which is about 6hours. Pretty much the same as all the local / slightly non local studios i've spoken with but to me at least it' not a cheap thing. Though im happy to pay to these guys, they are really safe. Fuck they're in my home town also so it's nice to support them. And we do a lot of the same things if you catch my drift.

[sketchin]

I'd love to maybe just start a thread about this but i can't yet (i'm on about African tattoos). There may be a thread on this subject already but i'm going to post here anyway; at least a few people are watching this thread.

I haven't been able to find any real African styles, only scarification, anyone know any links / styles i could look at, specifically Ghanaian?

Anyway it's pretty damn late (early) in the UK i need to rest.

Peace.

- Sketch

[SeeSea]

Well, you are almost to your official 10 posts. You can post in other threads as well. I don't know the answer to your question, but it sounds like a good conversation so yeah, make a new thread about "African Tattoos" or something like that, and it might end up being a thread that lives for a while and collect information on the topic over time. If you create a thread with a more generic or personal title like "help me with my tattoo idea", it likely won't live beyond your specific question, and that would be too bad for future people looking for the same information on those types of tattoo.

Get to sleep!!!

I just woke up too early and have a session that doesn't even start for another 15 hours and will go likely 6 hours, so I'm gonna be in your boat about 24 hours from now on the exhaustion side. I hope you were able to sleep.

[sketchin]

Well, you are almost to your official 10 posts. You can post in other threads as well. I don't know the answer to your question, but it sounds like a good conversation so yeah, make a new thread about "African Tattoos" or something like that, and it might end up being a thread that lives for a while and collect information on the topic over time. If you create a thread with a more generic or personal title like "help me with my tattoo idea", it likely won't live beyond your specific question, and that would be too bad for future people looking for the same information on those types of tattoo.

Get to sleep!!!

I just woke up too early and have a session that doesn't even start for another 15 hours and will go likely 6 hours, so I'm gonna be in your boat about 24 hours from now on the exhaustion side. I hope you were able to sleep.

6hour session what i like to hear. Is that kinda the limit most artist are willing to do, at least ones with sense?

Also the only reason for my thread title was to put my mind at ease so i could sleep. And i will definitely start that thread, wish i could do it now. I'm going to have a ganders through the forum a little bit before i hit the hay.

Went for a walk today just to get out a bit, big mistake, went a little to far. My leg started to hurt so to make sure i didn't 'stress' it out further i had to limp about a mile / mile and a half now my other leg is aching lol how counter-productive i am!

[SeeSea]

Every session and artist is different. Mine average about 5 hours. Sometimes shorter or longer based on what both of us can stand or we reach a good stopping point. If someone is traveling from afar then sessions can get long and/or multiple days in close succession.

I used to think going long was a goal, but quality is more important, and if that means some shorter sessions even if you can stand to sit longer, then so be it.

[sketchin]

Every session and artist is different. Mine average about 5 hours. Sometimes shorter or longer based on what both of us can stand or we reach a good stopping point. If someone is traveling from afar then sessions can get long and/or multiple days in close succession.

I used to think going long was a goal, but quality is more important, and if that means some shorter sessions even if you can stand to sit longer, then so be it.

Yeah i guess that makes sense, to be honest i know of people getting longer than 6hours sessions but yeah that was how long the artist felt he could work for well, i literally said "look im happy to sit here as long as your happy to work you're the one doing the tattoo" i reckon i could have sat there at got it finished though, impatiens helps ;D