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My back. Finished with Chris O'Donnell. Couldn't be more stoked on it.

I was waiting to post this until it was healed up and haired over. Chris O'Donnell. Completed at Saved Tattoo, Kings Avenue, and Chris' private studio.

So the shop got this gem sent to our facebook yesterday...

I'm really just posting this to get my post count up haha. Apologies. I know most of you are into traditional here, but this was the first proper back I've done and I was fairly happy with it.

I'm tattooed damn near all over, and I can safely say that the ribs were far and away the worst for me. Way worse than the ass, spine, kneecaps, and feet. Listen to what Killercook76 says in the post above this one. All of it. But hey, you're 16, and as such, probably don't give a shit what a bunch of old strangers on the internet have to say. Signed, An Old Stranger on the Internet

I got to do my first dragon yesterday!!! So much fun, I really can't wait to do the color. I'm pretty sure we're gonna turn it into a half sleeve, so that's exciting as well. There are no words to quantify how difficult traditional Japanese tattoos are, hahaha.

Wow! That's the attitude that every great tattooer had when they started. I've never worked in a tattoo shop with Photoshop. I've never showed a customer digital mock-ups or proofs. I can show a customer a sketch and have them in the chair before I could even open the file in Photoshop. That's not 'cos I'm old and slow (I was a graphic designer for a decade before I was a tattooer) I use a copy machine % +/- every day. but sometimes it's much quicker, ant the end result fits better if I draw it on the skin with pens or markers. Nobody was born great at lettering but you can bet your paint-bucket tool that they didn't get good by tracing fonts or typefaces.

A tattoo shop without photoshop, the horror!

Thw whole "women have higher pain tolerances than men" thing is total balls - It has been debunked time and time again. Its just an urban myth due to the whole childbirth thing. Google it. What I have mainly found is that there is no correlation between men and women when getting tattooed - It's all about the individual. I have seen some women scream the house down and cry their eyes out for a very small tattoo in an easy area, I have seen some men sit and get their ribs and crotch carved up by a VERY heavy handed artist for eight hours without a single complaint. I have also seen some men who cant sit still for ten minutes at a time due to the pain, and some women who fall asleep because the pain just doesnt affect them in any way whatsoever. Everyone is different!!!

I have a yoneyama snake in my leg as filler, he also did a hermit crab/skull on the side of my knee. Two of my favourite tattoos! I usually never post my own tattoos but Williams work needs showing off

Little write up on this I saw on the TAM blog this morning Art Theft | TAM Blog

I agree with everyone here 16 is too young to get a tattoo.. Firstly the only people who will do a tattoo on a 16 year old .. not very good artist.. I would wait and save money to get a tattoo from only world class tattooers.. As far as the pain.. 30 mins aside.. It will not feel like a sunburn!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHA who ever told you that is full of ... Being your first tattoo you have no idea so i cannot tell you how it will feel but it is painful. Scale of 1 to 10.. Like a 8.9 lol.. I started out with arm tattoos .. those are like a 3 or so.. I completely understand you wanting a tattoo now.. it's not a good idea on so many levels at your age... Unless your parents are willing to pay for a decent amount of money and only go to the best tattooers/shops. Otherwise wait!

Why would an artist disrespect their client by letting another tattooer do that same custom design? Please let's keep this forum to real-life things instead of strange flights of the imagination.

Saw this on IG had to share here... Stefan Johnsson

It won't be long before craft breweries have kids standing in line for no-wage apprentiships, just like tattoo parlors. :D

@AriTattoos, I think I'm right in assuming that the tattoos in your gallery are by you rather than on you, since there are clearly some different people there. That said--and I'm not a tattooer, just someone who likes looking at and wearing them--there are some shaky bits there that you might want to look to. Maybe better off with a real apprenticeship. Certainly best not to just tattoo whoever will have one in the meantime. Even you said that you were doing well enough in graphic design. We don't all need to tattoo. Enough just to be really into them and get good ones. Like @SacramentoDan wrote, no offense intended.

Oh shit that's awesome!

I've got an appointment scheduled at my local shop on the 22nd this month. I'm already all geeked up and excited. I told my artist to come up with something cool Yoda inspired for my upper right arm. I can't wait to see what he comes up with. Upon finding out, my wife asked why on Earth I would get another Star Wars tattoo when I already have a Darth Vader one. I told her, "Duh, I have Vader, but I need Yoda to balance out the force." She just rolls her eyes. ;)

Ribcage really and truly, honest-to-Wotan, hurts. Don't do it.

Actually, about that "women have a much higher tolerance" thing - I have been researching an article about pain, how the body handles pain and how each person handles the pain of getting a tattoo. I have always heard the "women have a higher pain tolerance than men" trope, and it was a given as far as my assumptions pre-research - turns out it is not strictly true! Here are a few links with some information - prob best used as a jumping off point, but interesting and helpful, to say the least! Gender Differences in Brain Responses to Pain Do men and women feel pain differently? How Women Work I know as far as pain and tattooing go for me, I concentrate on my breathing and everything is fine. It becomes warm after the initial sharp feeling, and that's that. I actually started this research because the last time I was getting tattooed one of the artists said he couldn't believe how calmly I could sit regularly for 6 hours at a time. (Really it never occurred to me to do it any differently! Hah!). I responded with the "women have higher pain thresholds than men" answer, and filed it away to research. He said he uses meditation to get through pain, and he can sit for about 4.5 hours before he's done. Hopefully it will be an interesting article when all is said and done. If anyone has cool pain info, point me to it, please!

another Yoneyama:

I've found, in my experience, that the best tattooers are the nicest and most professional ones. Tattooers that have big egos and harsh personalities are probably just overcompensating for/grumpy about their sub-par work. Just my $.02.

Congratulations on splitting up with him. :eek:

I think that something everyone should strive for in their tattoos is timeless design. Fashion trends come and go, and it's highly unlikely that you'll have the same fashion tastes at 55 as you do at 21. If you want a tattoo to have a tattoo, go get something really beautiful that has strong imagery done by a talented artist. If you think you may have regrets, don't do it, flat out. The possibility of regret outweighs the short term satisfaction of the process. And research, research, research.

Don't get tattooed.

You really shouldn't be getting tattooed at 16.

When I met my (now EX) husband I already had a tattoo and he didn't have any. He decided to get one but didn't want me to get anymore as he didn't really like them on women :rolleyes: We have now split up and I have recently started dating again and had a brief fling with an old friend who has lots of tattoos. Tattooed people are more interesting naked ;)

Heavy hitters already this month... Done by Stefan Johnsson @ California Electric

Chris Garver Invisible NYC - - - Updated - - - not sure how to add a lager pic..

Just got this lady put on me this afternoon by Mina Aoki at Fun City. Now I just need to figure out what to cap my shoulder with and I can start filling in the smaller spots. Three hours out and already planning the next steps....

This is exactly why Grime told me to keep my back piece off the internet. I'm glad I listened to him. Copying flash is nothing like copying a totally custom piece made specifically for the client. You just can't compare the 2. I commented on that 3re pictures instagram and asked if he was proud that he completely copied another persons tattoo. We'll see what he says...

did this one recently tattooerman.com

I'm really hoping that this and some of the other recent intro threads are jokes/trolling and no one is this dumb.

Joining in with a blast from my past! I used to drink this all the time when I used to go out when I was young! It is about 20 years since I last had some!

Its clearly ethically wrong to tattoo someone else's tattoo art.... What needs to happen is some lawsuits. The 1976 Copyright Act states that any work for hire belongs to the person who commissioned it. Sorry to use Kristel as an example but since she is ripped off so often i find it appropritate: Let's say , hypothetically, Kristel Oreto tattoos somebody and we see the exact same tattoo on a reality show, her client can sue the artist who copied it. In my interpretation of this law, ( i am not a lawyer btw but I took copyright law in art school) the client owns all copyright rights to an original commissioned piece of art installed on their body and retains the right to sue anyone who uses it without permission. Now if the ripoff artist contacts Kristel's client and gains permission, then they should have legal right to reproduce it. Obviously that will never happen but according to the law, the tattoo artist does not own any rights at all unless the copyright is expressly written as belonging to the original tattoo artist, or if the tattoo was free it would not qualify as "Art for Hire" Now the copyright office in congress does not mention tattoos at all, but it is art and should qualify. ( in my mind =p )

and keep us updated on your adventure, including how your schedule evolves.

I found I lasted four hours on each session on my ribs.. I guess I'm a wuss because after 3.5 hours of so it hurt like hell.. haha

Also, on the sunburn reference - perhaps someone was telling you what a tattoo felt like after it was done? At times during the healing process can hurt pretty much like a sunburn and also peel like one. But the actual application of the tattoo is quite a bit more painful (and I've only had work on my arms - not looking forward to the pain from the large rib pieces I have planned to eventually get).

Because they did not pay for the original design. They are only paying for a stolen design to be tattooed on to their skin.

The price is the price, whatever it is. It all depends on how bad you want to get tattooed by someone. Just for the record, Chris Garver over Gogue all day every day in my world. I can respect what Gogue does and his artistic ability, but not the kind of tattoos I would want to wear, but again just personal taste. I think the best Gogue tattoos I have seen are on Nikki Kasper from TAM. she wears them well. What can I say I am a sucker for tattoos that look like tattoos.

Holy shit!! Thats so cool! I got a rose yesterday by Joshua at Peoples Art Tattoo in Copenhagen. The banner says mom in danish.

This is an original that I bought from Mark last year. I really want to get it tattooed, but that dude is hard to get time with when he travels.

The waiting in line experience: Only the first person in line "camped out", I was told he got there at 2am and the shop manager (Jen) hinted that his request was for something you wouldn't expect someone to go to Mike for. A few people arrived around 6-7am and then the majority of the line showed up between 8am and 11am. I got there a little after 11am and there was about 25 people ahead of me. I finally got to the front of the line at 4pm. Waiting in line was actually a good time. More than half the people already had work by Mike and were looking to extend half sleeves, start sleeves on the other arm, backpieces, etc. It was cool seeing Mike's work in person and talking with other people who are passionate about tattoos. I'm excited about getting my backpiece started and wish the first appointment was sooner, but the 21 month wait will allow to me research what I want more thoroughly (although in the end I will probably just throw a few general ideas at Mike and let him take control). Also the wait time gives me plenty of time to save the money for this huge investment. I also think I should use the long wait to adopt a healthier lifestyle so I can survive the 6-8 hour sessions I have scheduled. It will be worth the wait!

There's a whole section of this forum dedicated to tattoo designs, try looking in there. Go to a bookstore or library and look in art books. I know you didn't like people busting your balls about your tattoo, but getting good tattoos requires doing some work researching artists, looking at reference, learning about tattoos, art, and design and while this forum is a great resource and starting point, the onus is on you to do something with it. Nobody here is interested in holding your hand through the whole process.

No, but I've been enjoying Victor Farinelli's reviews of it on Tattoo Artist Magazine's blog! That show looks real bad.

Or maybe he's gonna put an N on that pinky then paint all his fingernails black?

Someone who i feel deserves recognition in this thread as his lady heads really define a generation is black and grey virtuoso Jack Rudy.His pretty doll-faced girls are so sweet yet savage at the same time upholding Tattoolands mantra "often imitated never duplicated " Particulary i love his big haired 80's girls which considing the period can hardly be remembered for it's style ,look better to this day .