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done by steve bryne at rock of ages in austin tx.

Each person's journey towards getting a tattoo is different. Some people may get a piece of flash on a whim, some are serious collectors, others go for a whole body suit from one artist, etc etc. Like what others have said, we can't tell you what to tattoo on yourself. You will learn that through self discovery and exposing yourself to different types of art (most importantly, tattoo art). Education of the different styles (American/Japanese traditional, new school, neo traditional, etc) is important if you want to be more than just a tattoo spectator. It's not essential; you don't have to know how your car works or what the parts are called to take it to a Mechanic. You will just run more of a risk of getting ripped off or getting something you didn't want. What we CAN do, is point you in the direction of some awesome shops/artists.

I really like this comment, and if this hasn't happened for you yet, don't worry and keep looking, whether it's at tattoos, other types of art or whatever reference moves you. And then let your artist take it from there. There really is no rush. I think I might know how you're feeling in that some spots might bother you more than others (even if, like me, you are largely blank) - for instance, I feel a little weird with the back of only one calf done. Sometimes I feel a pressure to work on that area next. But I'm going to sit on it for a while and get other tattoos elsewhere.

Next day after Victors pieces :) Thigh piece, around 14 hours over 2 days and it was brutal, my leg is swollen double the size lol 15 hour drive tomorrow, yay!

My pug the day I got it done, first tattoo :)

@MsRad hasn't posted on here in a while due to school business. Anyways, she got engaged today! Congrats!

Got this lil guy on my wrist a few weeks ago. This dragonfly was a memorial tattoo to remember my mother who passed away on July 3, 2014. Made by Shawn O'Connor (Timber Tattoo, Nelson BC) while he was back in Edmonton visiting at his old shop (Ink Machine). I really love getting tattoo from Shawn. http://shawnoconnorca.blogspot.ca/. Check him out if you want to take a trip into the BC Kootenays. He really takes the time to optimize placement, which is especially important for me now that I am really filling up. Some of the brightest colours in my tattoos are from him. Fits very nicely, the colours are healing very vibrant, especially the blues!

me and my girl made a daycation to the netherlands on saturday and i got this from jelle on my left food (Instagram). we also had some frikandel speciaal with fries, stroopwaffels and vla.

Second session today with my buddy Iain Mullen on his collaboration with Rudy Fritsch. Beyond happy with how this is progressing. We did the lines with two machines almost 2 months ago and I had gotten used to seeing it that way. Now with some of the black in I am amazed by seeing it come to new life again.

Also, if you're thinking of getting something Star Wars themed one day, I hope you've checked out this thread. Tattooers designed these; they look better than some vaguely tattooable picture you could find through Google and it takes the pressure off of you to find the perfect image, though you could bring in printed references. Hope this helps.

These just jokes homey. Bottom line is this. No one here can create the idea for you or tell you what you need to get. The main words of wisdom I can convey is "let go." Tattoos are made by other human beings. They are rarely ever perfect and rarely ever exactly what you thought they would be. But VERY often, they are even better. Just find a tattooer who makes really nice tattoos, in a style you really like, convey some of your thoughts, and trust that they will give you something you're proud of.

There is nothing elitist about what I said above. You're looking for something that all of us look for when thinking about tattoos we're going to get in the future: we all want that moment when we stumble across some reference or come across an idea that transcends being something just cool to look at and becomes something that we want on our skin forever. Nobody can help you with that. You need to find that thing that moves you.

Ok, so my sleeve is almost done... I sat with Mat Clarke of Midnight Moon Tattoo last Friday for about 4 hours...whatcha think??

Go talk to a tattooer about it.

Getting tattooed by Adde Ramstedt tomorrow. Tibet style dagger on the lower arm. Been wanting to make this tattoo for 2 years so I'm stoked it's happening finally

@smiling.politely is on point. Tattooers can be pretty busy people (I don't know the person you are going to, but, for the sake of argument). A lot of the time they are not able to draw up your design until a day or two, or even the day of. Again, echoing what I said earlier, you might need to let go a tad. I'm very early in my career but I still typically don't work on a drawing until its time to do it, because its hard to spread energy around.

It would depend on how that tattooer works. Personally, if I have an appointment booked, I try my best to get it ready, with or without a deposit (although after lots of no shows, I recently began requiring it for folks I don't know). That being said, contact them sometime this week, ask if there's any progress, and whether or not there is, go ahead and book an appointment. Most tattooers seem to work better with some kind of deadline, even if it means they prep it the day before or day of, rather than getting lost in the stack of other drawings and/or outside projects they may have.

Something that Morpheus said to Neo and can easily be applied here, "But I can only show you the door. You're the one that has to walk through it."

The newb doesn't know what he wants aaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahaa. WE ARE SO FUCKING LOCAL Y'ALL.

how do you feel about text? Maybe something like: "I like Batman, Stars Wars, and The Matrix. But not necessarily in this order. Right now Batman is #1 but it is possible Batman could drop to #2 or #3 based on how good or bad the future Ben Affleck Batman movies are. I am also a fan of wearing bracelets. This might be obvious if I am wearing bracelets as you read this but I mention this fact here in this tattoo just in case I am not currently wearing any bracelets and you were wondering if I would except a bracelet as a symbolic gesture of friendship."

Been on a wait list coming up on 2 years for a tattooer in my city. Received an email invitation to come down to his studio and get traced out measured up for my backpiece! This tattooer is super low-key, off the radar, underground but is known as THE best, most precision tattooer in town. This man has kept the mystery in tattooing for me since the beginning. He did my first tattoo, my first big tattoo and did my sleeve in his private studio. So it will be a big milestone coming up for have him make a back tattoo. (Sorry folks, I'm withholding his name until the project is underway, don't want to jinx anything!). Really looking forward to the experience and excited as the backpiece will tie in all my existing tattoos as a full bodysuit over the course of the upcoming winter. Tattoo season is upon us!!!

You are in Tampa correct? Visit these guys: http://www.redletter1.com/ Chris Reed at Red Letter 1: Jeff Srsic at Red Letter 1:

Starting my chest with Jason Phillips at FTW this week.

People work they way they work, but what I like about focusing on one area is that you end up sending most of the time getting hit with a shader which is a lot more pleasant, relatively speaking, than four or so hours of lining.

Ok I'm just going to write something short about my back piece in progress since I am healing after the second session now and feel psyched about it. Since I first started getting tattoos I knew that I would want to get a back piece. I figured I'd wait and let the idea evolve over time, save up enough money and start doing it on my 30:th year. Two years ago I got tattooed by Iain Mullen for the first time and since we've done something like 6-7 tattoos and they are among my favorites. We also became friends and I usually stop by the shop at least once a week to hang out and talk with him and the other guys. As time passed I decided to give him my back when the time was right. However last autumn I went down to Italy and got tattooed by Rudy Fritsch at his shop and felt like he'd make me an amazing back piece instead… Eventually I told Iain that I wanted the two of them to collaborate. I was a bit uncertain if he would be up for it but the next day when I came in to pay for a tattoo he told me that it was on (!) About two months later it was time for the first session. Up until this date I had not seen the sketch or been allowed to make any wishes about what the tattoo was going to be. I put my trust in them and I am very happy that I did. The first session was two hours with both of them working simultaneously on me. Rudy starting low on the left side and Iain up on my right shoulder. I found being laid face down on a massage bed, having only the floor to look at and no visual way of telling when or where the pain was going to hit… this was the most psychological challenging thing with the whole session. I've gotten some pretty rough spots done before but this was the worst two hours I've had to endure when it comes to tattoos. Two machines are not twice as bad but still a lot worse than one. I'm happy that they both work quick but it also meant a lot of brutality when it comes to long lines being nailed into my ribs in fast succession. I tried to zone out and focus on the breathing but that only made time slow down more, I could not think of anything else. Second session was this thursday, I sat up on a gym bench and me and Iain were talking the whole time through and it was such a walk in the park compared to the first one. I feel good about having had that experience anyway, it was special.

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.

@peterpoose you are nuts. I can't believe how much you can tolerate. Butt and leg looks great.

Did you set the appointment? Or did you leave a deposit just for the drawing?

Let It Goat - Disney Frozen (Edition): http://youtu.be/A_DaizJnnJQ

its funny anomaly - but i have been a member of several enthusiast forums - running, biking, skating, paddling boarding, videogame, professional etc - you get the idea - and one thing never changes - there are always those who have the 'locals rule' mentality - and god forbid you don't agree with them or somehow cross the proverbial 'line of coolness' - then look out - classic internet bullying and trolling behavior - anonymity tends to bring this out in people - anyway - you did nothing wrong imo - good luck with figuring on a cool direction for your tattoo

You've heard of good ideas that were poorly executed...well to me this is the other way around. I found this when I was looking for Samoan/Polynesian arm/shoulder/chest ideas. Looks like he got a bra tattooed on. I don't think it would have been nearly as bad if he had've let a little more skin show through. Just too much black.

Poking my head up from lurking again to post here, because I'm excited. After my last appointment fell through (artist cancelled visit to the states), I tried to get a booking in with Greg Whitehead at Scapegoat, closer to home. Took 3-4 months (and a dropped ball by his previous assistant), but now I'm booked for Sept. 18th. He's been doing more traditional stuff lately. I'm not exactly sure what we're doing! Mermaid or fish and birds and flowers? Dunno, don't care. Gonna be a good time. :)

Odd question for a tattoo forum

First session, the next one we are going to salvage the owl if possible. Kemer at Superfly Tattoo, Leon Mexico.

If someone particularly loves an artists style then they are better off buying a piece of art from that artist in whatever medium the artist specialises in. It's like commisioning an artist to do a watercolour painting, and then taking it to another artist and saying actually i'd like this as an oil painting. It makes no sense.

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:

And this is a practice people should stop. I've photocopied something from a cellphone before. It was as fun as it sounds.

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

Was told I might fit in over here. Back piece done by Josh Damnit Classic Tattoo Upland CA. Took about a year and a half (slow and steady). Couldn't be happier with it. Tribute to cousin who passed.

Traveled from NY to SF this past weekend to skull and sword. Hungout with some of my favorite artists and what happened next is pure magic that only a stellar human by the name of Yutaro can provide. This is my Baku!

Rather than make a new thread, I figured I'd bump this one and ask if anyone's going this August (the 29th to the 31st). Since I am new to all this, I see quite a few artists I've heard of & like and a bunch more who I'm unfamiliar with.

Or keep feeding until it explodes.

Don't feed the troll?

Nope, you're ignorant because you're saying traditional takes no talent to create, and you're stupid because you're trashing a vast array of incredibly talented artists. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's shit. Trashing an entire style, and talking shit on work that artists have put their heart and souls into developing, for generations, is downright insulting to the art and culture of tattooing.

You know who was a hack? Picasso. His people don't even look like people! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You're a scratcher who doesn't like traditional? I think you came to the wrong website. I don't know how you supposedly lurked here for any amount of time and didn't figure this out, but you obviously did not get an idea of what this place is about. It's about being the opposite of you.

This would be so much cooler if LST was a bar, and some drunken idiot blurted all that out in front of the regular patrons. Hahaha.

Haha you went there So aside from the fact that you just insulted about 80% of LST's membership with that post, you should probably learn a little about the style you're bashing before you make such sweeping generalizations. It's fine if you don't like traditional tattooing and it's fine to feel like every tattoo needs to be a custom masterpiece, but I cannot emphasize how dumb it makes you look when you come to a forum with no sense of who it is you're interacting with and why people here like what they like. There are hundreds of pages describing the history and innovation behind traditional tattooing, it might have been a good idea to read through the forum a bit before posting. Also, just fyi, there are handfuls of traditional tattooers who can draw circles around portrait artists and vice versa. Style and skill have little to do with each other.

Lol, I know that's right. I have tattoos on my arm, back and now my ribs spanning 22 years and they all hurt...and each were well worth it!