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Don't know who the Cheyenne Randall guy is who runs it, but nice stuff. ☜Shopped Tattoos☞

People prefer and are more comfortable with different methods. Nothing wrong with that.

From Kim Saigh's instagram, progress from Saturday...maybe one more session to go:

It's not unusual for a professional to charge for advice and opinions. Especially if that advice can save you money or make your life more pleasant in the long run. Quotes for various jobs are often free when they lead to more, higher paying work. Many professions are purely advice based too. Leave it alone. An extra-thick black arm to the star does not make it look better. If you're planning on getting more tattoos near it, if they are of a high quality, eventually you won't notice the wonky star.

"What are we? Pirates or pen pals?" There is no standard. Do what works for you.

Something that bums me out sometimes about the culture of tattoo "collectors" is a preoccupation with being a "cool" client, i.e. someone who seems "down" and who the tattooer hits it off with. I wonder if this is maybe where these kinds of anxieties come from. Fuck that. You sound polite and respectful, which is probably how most of us aim to be in most customer service situations. That is how I try to behave in most of my day-to-day dealings too. Beyond that, I try not to worry about whether or not I am "cool", or anyone's fave. That shit gets a bit too high school for me. Also I am not cool.

I posted this in the latest tattoo lowdown a couple of months ago when we got them, but me and my wife @Pugilist got matching tattoos (again) in December. Chris Hold at Sacred Heart in Vancouver did them and they're from Doc Forbes flash because what else would you get as a souvenir tattoo in Vancouver? Mine is on the left, hers is on the right.

*Hugs*

This is my latest from Nick Colella at the motor city tattoo expo. Pretty fricking sweet.

I wasn't trying to say don't use this or that someone is wrong for doing so or anything like that; pretty sure I did say it seems like a decent product. The word gimmick was not used in a negative light or intended to be taken in a way as negative; just that some methods that have always worked over time still will. And I'm the first one to say that everybody heals different with different methods. I've skinned the cat 20 different ways and they all work. Some are better with some people than others. Perhaps music media was a poor example; media has decreased in sound quality with each new advancement in technology for the sake of making it convenient. Analog tape is still the best but the most impractical. I wasn't trying to make it sound like this is worse because it's newer.

Whoah that was pretty quick @Graeme! Yeah I should have some on here, gimme a minute to figure out how to put them up. - - - Updated - - - They're all pretty healed and hairy but here goes.

I'm worried y'all are not joking.

I would ignore this tattoo it for now. Maybe see if you can get any of your unused "deposit" back then save up some money and seek out some higher quality artists. It may take a couple months before your have the time and money but you will be much happier with the results. It would be insane to keep returning to an artist after you lost confidence in their ability to design and apply a quality tattoo.

Go talk to your tattooer dude. You can draw on yourself with Sharpie all day, and we can give you advice (definitely get a panther) but you should really just talk to the person who can physically fix this.

Funny, I was just thinking about this recently. I have a bit of social anxiety, and am pretty awkward in general, so I think when I started getting tattooed by more widely known people I cared about them really liking me more than I should have. Because they were people that I really admired, you know? I don't recall resorting to overly blatant name dropping or anything desperate like that, but I definitely remember their opinion of me being a concern in my mind. I use past tense here because I'd like to think I've moved past that--as long as I'm courteous, I'll sit in silence if that's how I feel, IDGAF.

"I use being a woman to my advantage...especially because guys are dumb enough to do what I say." Direct quote from ashley. Fucking ambassador for feminism right here.

(Mine is obviously the best one.) ;)

Finished these ones yesterday. @Scott Sylvia did the skull on the right, Freddy Corbin on the left. These were done over a week and a half. It was a fuckin honor to be tattooed by both. Fuck sorry about the size.

Hi i'm Jake, 24, I'm from a small town about an hour outside London. I've been getting tattoos since I was 18 but have only been seriously getting into it in the last 2 or 3 years thanks to this site helping me to understand good tattoos. I have mostly smaller tattoos at the moment, but I'm working up to getting some bigger stuff. I've had the pleasure of being tattooed by Chad Koeplinger, Valerie Vargas, Eli Quinters amongst others. I'm also going to be travelling to New York next week and have appointments with Steve and Dan at Smith Street. Thanks for reading and I look forward to meeting some of you.

You were the one who asked for downsides, those are the downsides. The cost is not negligible, for a large studio of full time artists it would be insane to order enough for everyone to use for every tattoo. Plus you have to use cling film for a variety of other things anyway, surfaces, chairs, armrests, spray bottles, you always have some very close to hand, it's always there, its much more convenient. It sounds like you are a lobbyist for one of these companies!

Industry standard? It's not because if you ask the thousands of tattooers they will all tell you different ways of how you should handle your aftercare. Do what works for you.. If you don't think this product is for you then don't use it!!! HAHA!! Anyway I think it's not used by more shops and artist is because it is more expensive . I think it's worth it because at the end of the day touch ups can get expensive for various reasons. Any aftercare can be messed up by human error so go by whatever you like. This tread is for those who are interested in using it. Feel free to take our advice or move on and not use it. Plain and simple.. - - - Updated - - - I wouldn't exactly call this a gimmick just a different way to approach aftercare. So far I haven't heard anything negative from users that I know. I'm sure someone has something they don't like about it but that is with everything.

I hate this kind of thing.

I'm out! It was nice to meet you all though;)

feels like i've got chicken pox...last session I had, OllieXXX stipled the rest of my torso gaps, added filler on the eel on the side of my knee, touched up a leg tattoo he did 3 years ago and added a smart ass hot stuff. healing four parts of the body at the moment and i've got another session coming up next week. jesus christ. then i think i will be good for this season, going to start my backpiece after getting my sunburn on this summer. so what to get next week? i had booked an appointment with one of my favourite local tattooers Shawn O'Connor (The Timber Tattoo Company Blog) since he is moving away from Edmonton to Nelson (which rules because I love road trips to Hippy Country, Canada). Thinking about getting a bad ass panther...is there really anything to think about there?!? My wife is away this week which means I don't have my rational partner to talk me out of doing something ridiculous, like adding blue balls onto a muscle sex panther tattoo. It's going on my inner thigh, seems only appropriate to add some innuendo.

^Like the above said, ask your tattooer about fixing it, for sure. Also, as far as other people's suggestions to "get more tattoos". That's pretty solid advice. In the event that your tattooer can't fix it, and you don't want to go through laser treatments and cover-ups, adding more tattoos around it can help a lot. A regular poster on here @TrixieFaux I believe has a similar tattoo and added around it rather than covered it up and it's a good example of how well crowding out a less-desirable tattoo works.

Nice one buddy!! I am in with Valerie on Monday - I'll say hi if our appointments overlap!

Haven't posted in quite some time but i've just booked an(other) appointment with Frank Carter on monday to fill in some space i have on my right forearm. Probably gonna be something knifey, which makes me happy. Bonus happy points because monday is my 30th birthday, i've always thought the best presents are the ones you buy yourself!

As for awesome things, @DJDeepFried and I saw the Dalai Lama speak yesterday at the Forum in LA. It was great. He's a pretty charming human. (Sorry, old news if you are on our Instagram.)

Man, this is one of the raddest threads I've stumbled across on here, so much inspiration! I'm re-enrolled in college and I'm totally nervous. I have been interviewing a few local tattoo artists for some research I am doing for a children's book, which has been really fun and interesting. I am also recently stepping back in to the dating world... totally like riding a bike, including the falling down and getting back up again. What else? I quit drinking 4 months ago to see how my life would change, so far it's been pretty good. Definitely more productive! It can also be a little challenging to find new ways to be social. I am excited to make new friendships and explore my beloved city outside of a bar... haha. Suggestions??

Looks nice but what will it look like in twenty years? Who cares what it will look like that is awesome Peter.

Maybe we'll make it out again for round 2! @Graeme

Sorry! Random... but HOW does this thread have 103 pages? ...:confused:?????

While I was in Germany for Carlos not so long ago Dmitriy Samohin was there also so he had the chance to finally take shots he wanted of the whole sleeve healed. I am guessing he didn't want to touch contrast or anything to show how its healed so they are raw shots with nothing added :) Here they are for who is interested in professional shots rather than my own shit ones :)

If you're willing to go to LA to get tattooed, I'd suggest checking out Tattooland. Chris Brand, Stan Corona, and Mike Suarez could all give you a great tattoo. I'm not sure all these images will work, but let's try this: Chris Brand: Stan Corona (kind of wanted to find a picture of a dragon he's done, but this backpiece is just too good to not share): Mike Suarez: Personally, I wouldn't worry about things like waiting lists. You might have to wait, you might not, but it's far more important to get the tattoo you really want.

Yes! Have done that twice now..my simple nautical star w/my daughter's name above it on my upper left arm has been integrated into a beautiful tiger/lotus sleeve. And more recently, the little outline owl on my forearm is integrated into my raven/jewel/roses sleeve. Had considered covering them but went with what the artists wanted to do. Couldn't be happier.

That's so true. I think the best heal I ever had was my first tattoo because the artist gave me a print-out of instructions and I followed them to the T.

For a full sleeve dragon tattoo, I would go see Bill Canales. - - - Updated - - - @Graeme that Stan Corona tattoo though.... THOSE PINKS. WOW.

Yes, no problems at all, 3-4 hours sessions.

Out of those three I would go with Bill.He does a lot of Japanese work compared to the other two. Alessio & Denny@ Avalon II Tattoo San Diego are real good with dragons. Japanese Style Tattoos at Onizuka Tattoo | Little Tokyo, Los Angeles CA some good Asian artists at this shop. Home - Small Paul Tattoo has a lot of experience doing dragons. Instagram

My first tattoo...the tattooer explained to me that he does his drawings the night before to keep the idea fresh in his head to make the tattoo (and this is very typical from all the tattoos I've received in the last 10 years). So I showed up on the day of the appointment, saw the drawing and asked the gentleman to redraw/fix a few minor details. By the 4th time he said "Look kid, I'm not going to redraw the Last Supper. You want a tattoo today or not". Best advice I ever got and one of the strongest tattoos on my body. Moral of the story, if you don't ask you will not get an answer. But if you ask for something nitpicky be prepared to accept no for an answer if you still want the tattoo. Unless you asked last-minute to add a penis onto your tattoo. Then the answer will always be yes.

@peterpoose Looks good. I really like the crown of thorns figure.

This thread has been pretty helpful. I don't really have enough tattoo experiences to speak on the matter, but idk we'll see when I travel to get tattooed by Dusty Neal. I hope I like the original design like all the rest of my tattoos.

Have you seen pictures of the skull octopus Yoni Zilber did on the author China Mieville? There are plenty of pictures of it around on the internet and it's rad. You're going to get a great tattoo.

100% agree. I think I'm more burnt out from traveling time than actual tattoo time. I have driven at least 50 hours to get a total of about 30 hours of work from O'Donnell (3/4 sleeve plus 1/4 add on) and Henning (1st session of a thigh piece). Sometimes its nice to day dream about getting most of my future work from a shop only an hour away.

I just got my haircut by my little sister, who is just about to graduate from cosmetology school. While her bad decisions in tattoo taste are, well, bad, she gives a decent haircut. I guess that's pretty cool. Also, I went to a Pallbearer show for metal homework.

Scott's was the worst. From what I can tell, the area in general is fucking horrible to have tattooed. Scott managed to finish the tattoo in a little over two hours. God damn it was fast. Freddy's was still miserable, but much easier to get through. @SStu here is a really shitty pic of the two semi-together. It's hard to get a good shot on both sides of the belly. (excuse the shitty tape marks).

Sorry for the poor phone shot but there is the progress...super stoked background finished up this past weekend. Added photo to full back piece thread as well. Mike

Awesomeness everywhere, @irezumi .

My home shops are NY Adorned and Kings Ave., so i'm not sure i'll have any skin left by the time i've run through all the options at those shops. I never realized how lucky i was to have those two in my backyard until i started coming here.

Awesome. You'll have a leg up on all the young kids. Motivation, work ethic, and paying for your own shit tends to keep things in perspective. I went back to school in my 30s and graduated last year with my BSc. in Computing Science. Try not to get mad at the kids' sense of entitlement. They usually had me speak at orientation, because I would lay down the polite version of "Nobody owes you shit, and no one is responsible for your success but you. Your profs don't care, they are here to do research and are usually forced to teach, which many of them hate (and it shows)." But, you know...with some jokes thrown in...Ahem.