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Not every cool design or style makes a good tattoo. - - - Updated - - - the land of entitlement in the age of narcissism. I got tattooed as a "fuck you" to society. It's still why I do it. No matter how many folks try to water it down.

I'll agree with Graeme, Yann is well known in Mtl and does good work in his style. You shouldn't sweat it too much, when you friend gets tired of this piece he can still get a giant solid black panther blasted over everything. Third time is the charm they say.

Booked in with Bert Krak and Eli Quinters on the Saturday! Mad excited about it, just gonna see what i like the look of on the day.

After about a year of injuries and a slow return to running, I started my 14 week plan for the Philadelphia Half Marathon today. I haven't hit the track in quite a while, so it felt good to get out there and knock out some 600s. It's a pretty conservative plan so I probably won't come too close to my PR from two years ago, but I'll just be happy to get through it and to the starting line healthy.

Most of us have been there before. Stay positive. Even a few spots of ink loss become less obvious after a few months of settling into the skin.

Kyle Hollingdrake who tattoos at the Okey Doke in Toronto wrote a thing about a specific design website, parts of which relate to the matter at hand:

Your sarcastic remarks are not appreciated. Please let me engage in quality conversation about quality tattoos without further tattitude from you mister tatty mctat pants.

Hi all, I'm a self confessed tattoo virgin currently planning my first tattoo down here is sunny NZ. I've wanted a tattoo for a while but to be honest I've found the whole journey a little intimidating, I feel I hit on what I really wanted about 12 months ago and I've spent that that time NOT getting that tattoo in order to make sure it's something I really want. In the meanwhile, I was inspired by reading Magpie Hall (and NZ novel about tattoos) and Bodies of Subversion (a fantastic non fiction book about women and tattoos)... I'm a librarian, can you tell? Anyhow, I've found it quite hard to find quality advice around tattoos, not being part of the typical tattoo crowd (though I'm starting to learn there's no such thing). Looking forward to tapping into the gold mine of info on LST!

My poor butt! You can see the beads of blood already forming on the lotus on the left side. Butt is finished. Not much left! I swear this towel was clean before we started. And I got to add a new color to my stained fundoshi. Purple!

I live in Montreal and I see Yann Black's tattoos around a fair bit. They are 100% not my thing, but it's solid work and you can read his tattoos from across the street. Style and taste is another thing but I think for what his tattoos are they're well done.

Just wanted to say thanks again to those that gave me advice - two days work now done and I feel very sore, but happy. Found a bra that could go into a halterneck, which was perfect for my back today, and I have just tucked my vest strap into it.

Not one dagger, rose, panther, snake, or eagle on that first page. PASS

Kristen, Watch this, and listen closely to what Chris is talking about (especially around the 2 minute marker). Hopefully it will enlighten and educate you a bit.

I see what you did there.

You mean tattoo artists, "tattoo design" websites are a scam and a "tattoo designer" isn't a thing.

A tattoo enthusiast has tattoos. You're a tourist at best.

Man, that is one sweet back piece!!!!! Thank goodness we only have one ass, that is too much pain to try to endure again!

Just booked Jimbo @ Blvd Tattoo Co. for Saturday to do my outline. First tattoo ever...

the half is a great distance but there is something about the full - the pain of the finish - being there and sharing that with others something special about it i love as you approach the halfway point in philly - that band of crazies in costumes dancing it up anyway - i have also done the NJ @ jersey shore 2x and AC 1x nothing compared to a bigger city marathon like philly i think baltimore will be fun too i also have my eye on a few for the spring (cincy, pitt, DC) i already have NJ in the book again but looking for a 2nd also have an eye on some ultras - i know i could gut out a 50K but these guys (and girls) that do 50's and 100's crazy stuff - maybe one day

@marley mission Nice! I did the Philly full three years ago as my first marathon. It went pretty well, but I made a lot of the first timer mistakes. Haha. The next year I ran the last half of it pacing a friend who was doing his first. It's a nice race for the most part. I wanted to do the full again, but I don't think my base is where I want it to be, and I'd end up just being unhappy with it. I figure the half would be a nice return to racing. Good luck there and in Baltimore! I've heard that's a nice race. @cutlexciter When is the Richmond marathon? How's your training been?

get it my dude!

@ThatGuy, your back piece is really amazing, I'm surprised you don't just walk around with your top off anyway ;)

[emoji106] Never a truer word spoken

Anything really, but don't just post for the sake of posting. Provide something of substance. Dig through old threads. There are a lot of good, long-running posts on here. Ask questions. Provide commentary with something more than "cool tat!" And welcome.

It worked fine for me in Firefox in Win7. I suspect it is the Flash plugin that is giving your problems. BTW, interesting read!

I use Chrome and it worked fine with it, so it could just be a browser issue.

I doubt you'll answer this.... can you share some photos of your designs and the final tattooed result?

So pleased I'm all done with my back.

Adam hays did this on me.

Do any of the tattoo artists here have any stories about clients bringing in commisioned tattoo designs?

I don't understand why anyone would pay a "tattoo designer" for a design, and then pay the tattoo artist to execute it? If your tattoo artist is not a competent artist in their own right, then you are in the wrong shop. I'm sorry to say, but those designs that were posted were awful and not something I would ever put on my body. This reminds me. A few months ago, an old school friend posted on Facebook how she was in the process of getting a half sleeve designed. I was really excited for her. A few weeks later she posted the "design" on Facebook. It was fucking HORRID! She had commissioned an "artist" to design it for her, and it was a complete mess of tribal and unreadable text. There was no way it was going to work as a tattoo. Leave the design of tattoo up to the tattoo artist.

Kristen - please go away. You have nothing to contribute here. You don't have tattoos, you don't want them, and nobody here is interested in looking at your drawings except to make fun of them. Nobody here would ever suggest going to anybody other than a tattoo artist for a design, and what you're doing has absolutely nothing to do with this site's mission of educating people about good tattoos.

I'm trying to come up with something witty to say, but I think @Graeme and @BrianH have covered it... Being a highly respected/regarded tattooer/tattoo artist who creates sheets of flash that folks can choose from, then have individualized from there, that are based in sound tattooing practices and aesthetics, is simply wonderful and part of a long-standing tradition. I see no value in pre-made designs such as these. They are generic at best and cost the consumer more in the long run for something that a basic relationship with a quality tattoo artist should be able to accomplish. If folks think that this is the way to go, then IMO they should not be getting tattooed. And... fellow needle-phobe here - tattooing is totally not the same as getting a shot or blood drawn, and the "pain" is super temporary and no worse than menstrual cramps.

I'm sold.

So I end up paying more?

Do tattooers give a steep discount if I bring in a pre drawn design? You did all the hard work so they just have to do a paint by numbers, right?

Ladies and gentleman, he's back!

How much do you charge?

I'm a lefty. I've learned by watching and most importantly, listening. It doesn't matter where the sideplate faces or what side the desk is on. You just might have to move around a little bit more. I'm more baffled that your mentor told you to look online instead of figuring out what he/she should be doing differently on their own. Good luck! Or good luck?

personally I think that second link looks like a mess of random stars and lines... but that is what fireworks are. So, maybe it's great? I understood what yours was when I saw it immediately, I think you have some buyers remorse and cannot really admit that. This is how you should fix it :D http://38.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lswtybVsZk1qfp499o1_500.jpg

Thought I would throw in this little tatty from Kirk Jones.

so here is my contribution to this old thread. Done by Amy Kinsell from Modern Body Art UK. Done at the Cardiff Tattoo and Toy convention, the theme was Star Wars (at the con) so naturally I had to go with the same theme for my tattoo... :)

Dean Bloebaum at Infinity here in Portland made this one for me. He has a few cobras in his flash and I've always liked his skulls, so I said "Cobra-dagger-skull" and this is what he came up with. I'm stupid stoked with how this turned out. Edit: Even before the color was added I thought it was pretty cool.

So here's my super awesome lady head by Kim Anh Nguyen, done at the Montreal Convention last year.

You can lighten it up by disassembling it and drilling some holes in the frame. Voila, re-assemble and you're good without buying a new machine. Try it! I also am not sure you will sell that on this forum, no offense intended. I've never heard of this company before and they do not seem to be tattooers, thus making 2 strikes against them for myself and others. Good luck though.

Thanks everyone for the input and support! I just completed the sleeve this past Saturday. When I go in in a few weeks for the final final touch ups I'm gonna have him clean it up and tighten up the black around the edges as suggested. Here's a few pics of the final project....let me know what you think.

My back is in progress and last session I realized that getting one's back tattooed is like getting your ribs done all over again. I foolishly thought going into it... "At least my ribs are done. Nothing could hurt that bad." If I'd given it an ounce more thought and considered the anatomy involved I might have realized that ribs wrap from front to back... fucking duh! I told Scott we will be finishing this thing in 30 minute increments. What a cry baby I've become in my old age.