Full vs half sleeve considerations?

[jen7]

I currently have a half sleeve (upper) on the left, and am planning a Japanese koi piece for my right. I was toying with the idea of going for the full sleeve instead of half for this one.

Anything I should consider in making this choice beyond the obvious ones of cost and coverability? I know near the elbow sucked on my half so I am a little wary on that.

I am interested in your thoughts and experiences.

I am a gal, if that matters. My forearms have very light blonde hair if that is a consideration too....

[Hands On]

if you're already considering it now, you'll only consider it more once you have two half sleeves.

elbow is bearable.

gender doesn't matter.

light blonde hair doesn't matter.

do it! (you're talking to LSTers here).

it's a big jump to the forearms, if you don't have any visible tattoos. there are other threads about this that you can find with a quick search.

if you get a full sleeve now, the artist can make it more cohesive and have a fuller vision rather than moving down to a full sleeve later and tying it together.

[jen7]

Its true.....i want it, but hesitate because I will need to buy a new work wardrobe. Sigh....time to play the lottery.

[Hands On]

ahh. there's always an argument either way, to just keep getting tattooed!.. ;) if you're ready for a half sleeve now, you can start that process and slowly build that wardrobe while the half sleeve is in progress. by the time the half sleeve is done, BOOM!.. full sleeve work clothes are ready to go.

be sure to consider what you'd put on the lower sleeve to add to the koi on the upper half. the right artists are able to make this addition appear seamless and might even be able to give you ideas of what you could add. you might even add something different on the upper half and put the koi on the lower half, if you can hold out that long.

[jen7]

I was going to wait until retirement to go past the elbow, but I am starting to think it's close enough!

[Synesthesia]

I'm making plans (distant plans) for my forearms now. I have a couple tattoos on my upper arms that stick out past t shirt sleeves anyway, and since that's most of what I wear, I figure I might as well go for it. Once I looked at things from that point of view, forearms seemed like a no-brainer.

[Graeme]

When I was planning my left arm I had a lot of reservations about going down to my wrist so I was thinking 3/4s, but I was also thinking of what I could do later to extend that down to my wrist. I ended up going down to my wrist and I'm happy that I did because I ended up with a stronger tattoo than I would have if I'd gone for less coverage initially and then later extended it. I don't have a job where I need to cover my tattoos, and in situations where I do need to cover them, short sleeves still don't work with half sleeves. I know it's slightly different with women's fashion because there are more options, but if you're already tattooed near your elbow, chances are you've already limited yourself in terms of clothing if you need to cover them.

How much a tattoo is going to hurt should never be a consideration.

[jimmyirish]

I spent a long time agonising about whether to go to the wrist or not and I do regret slightly not just going to the wrist right off the bat. As others have said, if you remain interested in tattoos and don't live or work in an extremely prohibitive environment chances are you will want to extend it later on.

On the other hand I'm a firm advocate of not doing anything that you are not comfortable with-if the idea of going to the wrist causes you anxiety then don't do it til your sure, if that means a slightly less cohesive overall sleeve then so be it.

[JAllen]

If you're going to do a half sleeve now but want it to be a full sleeve later, you will need to plan it accordingly. Like if you do a koi on your upper arm then you have to think that everything below it will be in water.

[pidjones]

Yes, consider asking the artist to design the koi with an eventual full sleeve in mind. Then when that rich aunt dies....

[soraya]

I was going to wait until retirement to go past the elbow, but I am starting to think it's close enough!

I look toward retirement to open a lot of tattoo doors for me. I'd love 3/4 or full sleeves. Heck, I'd love to be totally covered, but just not realistic. Sigh...Someday?

[jen7]

I am already partially retired, so it's time. The trick will be convincing my spouse.

[soraya]

My husband likes my tattoos and supports me in getting more. But he does caution me to think carefully about moving below the elbow. It is a big step, and really changes the cover-up equation.

[sourpussoctopus]

What about holding off on extending the sleeve/starting a new 1/2 until you're sure, and getting tattoos elsewhere in the meantime? Legs are pretty easy to cover, there's plenty of room to play with, and most spots don't hurt any more than the arm (in my experience, at least). You could go full squidpants and no one at work would be the wiser :)

[Colored Guy]

I was going to wait until retirement to go past the elbow, but I am starting to think it's close enough!

Going for the pistons & crossed checkered flag neck tattoo the day after I retire.... so go for it!

[Patrickkinder]

My wife always tells me that if my tattoos would keep me from being employed by someone, I wouldn't be want to work there in the first place. Go all the way and find a career that won't look down on it!

[Noobink]

I'd say go for the full sleeve, honestly

[ThatKidChris]

If your still on the fence about it but highly considering it I say let ur artist know and at the very least he can finish and position the bottom of the half sleeve to be easily extended to a full sleeve whenever you are ready to make that leap? Good artists can do exactly this.

[slightreturn]

Full sleeves look a lot better in my opinion but at the end of the day it's your decision 

[Dan]

On 8/24/2015 at 3:33 PM, jen7 said:

I currently have a half sleeve (upper) on the left, and am planning a Japanese koi piece for my right. I was toying with the idea of going for the full sleeve instead of half for this one.

Anything I should consider in making this choice beyond the obvious ones of cost and coverability? I know near the elbow sucked on my half so I am a little wary on that.

I am interested in your thoughts and experiences.

I am a gal, if that matters. My forearms have very light blonde hair if that is a consideration too....

IMO it really does not matter,a full sleeve is an ongoing long term project,don't make a choice now,the thing you should consider is if you do  will this  work with what you want  to continue on with  later ? do you have a common theme you want to do ? plan ahead !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  if I could do one thing over again,I would have thought farther into the future.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Dan

[Hogrider]

Just go full sleeve from the start. As for the elbow, my artist looked at me and said, "I'm not going to lie to you brother, this is going to hurt." And he wasn't lying. The hurt is for a few minutes (or hours), the joy lasts a lifetime.

[Dan]

2 hours ago, Hogrider said:

Just go full sleeve from the start. As for the elbow, my artist looked at me and said, "I'm not going to lie to you brother, this is going to hurt." And he wasn't lying. The hurt is for a few minutes (or hours), the joy lasts a lifetime.

personally I didn't think my knees and elbows were all that bad.My inner thighs were by far worse than my elbows and knees.Even the tops of both my hands were not too bad.