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I've been lurking here for a solid 8-9 months now, not heavily tattooed, just getting started. I'm working my way down one arm right now, but due to being a grad student, it will be a while before I'm finished. Started with this by your own Mario Desa back in November: Got this Dietzel flash from Nick Colella in March: Also have a little Sailor Jerry butterfly that I got from Mario on the same day as the gypsy, but I don't have a picture of it. Sorry if these aren't as recent as stuff people normally post, but I wanted to contribute.

It's probably better you didn't. It was a really bad idea for a tattoo and you would have looked stupid, oh fuck I didn't mean stupid I just meant you would look like a douchebag.

Starting this next week.

I guess I don't care to the point that I wouldn't even consider myself atheist, agnostic or anything else....

Got a little sailor jerry anchor on my arm by Jeremy Sutton. Met @Perez , drank free rum, and saw oliver peck. Today was seriously rad.

First off- congrats on your decision to get tattooed! It's a big personal step and I'm glad you've decided to bring the entire internet full of strangers into that decision-making process! I was a little upset when you suggested we weren't living up to our potential. Frankly, it reminded me of the many times I'd heard that statement from parents, teachers, and employers. But I'm a lemonade from lemons kinda fella, so I decided to take your statement as a challenge and present you with my concept of your tattoo idea. I've spent sometime playing Draw Something (up to my first color pack!), so I have some experience with bring people's words into artistic reality. So here it is- don't worry about paying me, it's about paying it forward :D

From my recent trip to New York Tattooed by Bailey Hunter Robinson on Saturday. And this one on my titty. Done on Sunday. Tattooed by Eli Quinters at Smith Street Tattoo Parlour, Brooklyn, NY.

Please can we have a thread, area, whatever, to move the increasing number of posts asking for free advice from people who are bored, scared to visit a real-world tattoo shop, attention seeking, lonely, stupid or whatever? I'm not adverse to giving free advice, hell, I can even be nice to people sometimes but it's getting a little cluttered in here. The signal/noise ratio is getting harder and harder to manage or respond to without sarcasm. Reading 'Tattoo 101' is getting more and more like hangin' out on the wrong side of the reception desk on a busy saturday afternoon and less like an interesting or stimulating discussion between people who love tattoos and tattooing. Sorry if I'm pissing on anyone's parade.

My work here is done.

so glad i no longer believe in religion. my mom is very religious. she once said to me, "i know for a fact that there is a god." to which i asked, "how can you be so sure?" her response was, "if there were no god, how could you explain mountains?" i fucking kid you not.

That's cunning... I like it.. Next time someone in our house is complaining about the amount of appointments I am making for tattoos I will explain, calmly, that whereas we used to figure appointments on an annual basis we are now working it out on a monthly basis. Hence, every four weeks, the slate is wiped clean - obviously. I can see how this plan will necessitate me selling the contents of our home in order to fund it, but at least I'll have badass tattoos when I am sleeping on the sofa. If I can't find a buyer for the sofa, that is.

WOW, I think this type of thread is a reason alot of top tatttoers only drop in on occasion at LST

Since you are looking for advice I will offer mine. Whether you like it or not that is up to you and I don't need any critiquing on the advice provided henceforth. First, it is your first tattoo so it is a big deal to you. I get it, I was there (we all were there) at one point. While it does seem like a big deal now, afterwards you will look back and realize you over thought it. Second, set expectations correctly. You are getting tattooed, and images do not translate from paper to skin very well in my opinion. One is a 3-dimensional living organ, the other is a 2-dimensional piece of paper. I did not fully comprehend this until after I got my first tattoo. Third, instead of researching on the internet go out into the real world. A lot of people (me included) relied heavily on the internet, magazines or "friends". While researching is a good thing for sure, it is only the start of the journey. You are only at the very infancy of your tattoo journey right now. Find a shop in your area (or out of it if you are up to it) and go there. Fourth, talk to a real live tattoo artist. If you want the best opinion on getting your first tattoo, the person that would be applying it is bar-none the best person to get advice from. Even if you talk to a really good artist, this doesn't mean all that much unless he is putting on the tattoo. Tattoo artists are a varied bunch, simply due to them being human. They all have their own style, limitations, ideas, and imaginations. This is the reason people are saying "Just do it already". Fifth, when people say they don't work for you here, it's because they don't work for you. Instead of firing off insults, first look at it from their perspective. You joined a community of people and without adding to the community you just fired off a question. This question has been covered time and time again. I personally have learned much from this forum and it has answered questions I never had in the first place, making me a better informed customer. Posting up a question without any bit of due-diligence researching is rude. I find it similar to walking into a clubhouse and shouting "HOW DO YOU GET KILLER TATZ?", instead of mingling with the club members and learning, after which you can formulate a proper question. Finally, you have insulted members of this community. You responded similarly to a child not getting their way. You asked for an opinion/advice and did not get the answer you wanted so you resorted to uneducated responses, insults and general ass-hattery. If you follow my advice that is great, and I hope it helps you on your way. If you continue to throw "internet temper tantrums", please just keep it to this thread as I enjoy the rest of the community discussions too much as they are without random insults. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you just failed to see through the sarcasm and "rib poking" to see there was an abundance of advice offered, so this is why I forumlated this response in almost novel form.

I rescind my previous post. I just realized you're the guy from the other thread. go overanalyze everything and get butthurt when no one on here tells you what you want to hear. or, just maybe, set your ego aside and realize that @Dan S just gave you the best advice you're going to get from the internet

Thanks for gracing us with your presence again. Just because you didn't get the advice you wanted, didn't meant it wasn't good advice. Some of us went out of our way to be courteous and helpful when faced with an obviously misguided poster. Here's another piece of advice: Go fuck yourself with a barbed-wire dildo. We still don't work for you.

When it comes to the existence of a God, I don't know, and I don't care.

Did you then proceed to explain plate tectonics or was I the only little asshole that used to throw his limited knowledge of science into the religious argument with Mom? Worst mistake she made was getting me a library card. Personally, I know there are forces that are greater than myself like natural forces, the universe, energy and mortality, but if there's some greater plan, I can't understand it outside of my own experience. When I meditate, I use words like "God" and "Jesus to focus my attention outside my day to day crap, because those were the words I learned from childhood to understand 'the spiritual'. I have these mental pictures of what that looks like, because I'm into imagery, but I can't say my idea is is the 'correct' one (although I'm close to positive Jesus didn't look like Kris Kristofferson). So that's my belief system in a nutshell; I'm not totally sure how you'd label that.

Taken from the Temple site by Mr. Nice Guy himself.

I find out if you just ARE, you can get most out of stuff. If sonething makes you change your beliefs or "lack" of them, the you just adapt. I will quote the brilliant late Richard Feynman And I have been a HC atheist, but not anymore.

(Raises hand.)

I've actually been slowly moving to the "less is more" approach and have been getting much better results. No saran wrap Aquaphor for only the first 2-3 days Lotion it only as needed But I was the ever living shit outta it with burning hot water 5 times a day Never healed as cleanly or as fast with this approach.

These are my favorite threads to go through.

BAH! I'll try attaching it

@slayer9019 , your patience in writing that post was quite commendable. it's sad that the patience was more than likely wasted on him.

Anyone thinking of giving advice may want to read this thread, also started by the OP; http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-101/2140-anyone-care-help-tattoo.html Particularly this:

REPOSTED Wrazz, you live in Chicago, here's a thought. Go on down to Chicago Tattoing COmpany on Belmont just west of B'way, and take a look through the flash, paintings, script samples, and so forth that they have there. If you see something remotely interesting, you could start there, or ask to speak to one of the artists, Nick Colella and Mario Desa, Mike Dalton, they're all outstanding, and I'm sure they'll work with you to come up with something you'll be proud to have.

No gods, no masters.

NOW he tells me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best blog, fully backed.

3 days ago + another 4, thats a week so should be pretty much healed and not an open wound anymore. Just wash it after race.

Anvil, meet hammer.

@eisen777, hell yes! just played that unwound album yesterday! if i didn't know better, i'd think that you and @CultExciter were stalking me...haha, since it seems like a song/album gets posted within a day or two of me playing it. some of the best stuff from the 90's that no one really has heard of either.

My back outline got pushed up. I start it next weekend with Chad K. Looks like my next 2 years of tattooing is going to be all this big work im starting this year.

Here is a picture of the tattoo I have from Zach. He has a better picture of it on his website. [/img]

Co-sign! And welcome to LST.

I give you the original Ronald Macdonald. I know this is a picture thread but. Scary shit...........

welp, in that case, i'm gettin this one for myself!! 2 scoops of REJOICE!

that banner is totally going to catch on fire

i just read this, I meant to articulate that LST has some of the top tattooers participating and would possibly participate more if people on the interwebz didnt make them want to shoot themselves in the face

Get an Eagle fighting a knife wielding monkey

heres an article on tattoo tux Baltimore sun 1991