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I would start a thread about it.

Thanks for all the work you put into this site to keep it running, @steve1461686340.

Getting my back done in a couple of months by Chris Garver .. trying to figure out exactly what i want.. Kinda difficult only because this may be my last one. Also because I have most of the tattoos I like already like.

I sent him an email and he replied right back. He said "no worries man. They are super fun to do!" This guy is really nice and a solid clean tattooer. I will be sure to post pics when it is done. I am stoked to say the least.:D

Finally, after a handful of attempts over the past four years, managed to book in with Guy Le Tatooer. Going down to Toulouse, and his (by then) newly opened studio, in the end of march to get my lower belly tattoo. Very happy!

Just updating to say that I decided to go with it. I had an unhealthy relationship with my ex in which I would make every personal decision about my appearence or otherwise based on his approval and opinion, and I lost a lof my self-respect (and independance) that way. This is something I have made changes to ever since, and while the dymanic had definetly changed for the better with my current partner, I decided that I really didn't need his approval for something I really wanted. In talking to him, I realised that he was a little nervous about the change, but I have changed things about my appearence since we've been together that he has been suprised about, but quickly loved. So, in short, I got my crystal, and he will still love me because I am the exact same personbas before (with a little more colour). @Coloredguy just adding to say that I'm sorry for what happened.

Mikey Holmes Instagram

My latest and greatest tattoo on my left knee, Had a very personal battle getting this one almost tapped a couple of times. Artist is WT Norbert so stoked to have him working just down the road from my place

I'm sharing this so you can get a grasp of how quick the procedure is, for those who are wondering, and to showcase some of my skills. This client is heavily modified and has decided to change their look in order to facilitate further modifications. This is the first pace on half of their face, we treated both sides during the same visit. Most full removals will require 10-12 treatments over a one and a half to 2 year period. The white "frosting" that appears immediately after the the laser is water vapor, a byproduct of the laser tattoo removal treatment. Within 10 minutes, this fades and is not a burn or blister. In the left hand of this video is a hose, it's a cryo-chiller, a device that blows extremely cold air onto the skin before and during a treatment to help reduce any short-term swelling, a common side effect. It is not a vacuum. What you see here was filmed in real time, showing just how fast tattoo removal treatments are.

Progress on my skinny ass. Been a long break since last time due to the tattoo studio moving premises - Back to regular sessions now so hopefully some more updates coming! Looking to finish the whole thing by summer. The sessions never get any easier... By Mark Armstrong, Sacred Art tattoo studio, Manchester UK.

Teacher? Did your artist go to tattoo school ?

When me and @Pugilist went to Electric it was on one of their walk-in Saturdays, and they do everything. It's rad. I got a vajra sword from Tom Yak, the next tattoo he did was a sergeant's chevrons. We lined up before the shop opened to make sure we could get a spot, and it was really cool because the shop gets all kind of people wanting all kinds of stuff, from people who were specifically going to Robert Ryan to get his stuff, to names, flowers, standard walk-in tattoos. I was talking with Tom about it while I was getting tattooed and he was super into tattooing like that and just giving people good tattoos. I got the impression that even though some of the tattooers there are pretty well-known and that people (like us!) will travel to go there, that it's the good local shop and it's just where you go to get tattooed if you live in the area. Instagram really skews things. I've been tattooed at some really fancy big-name shops and even there very few of the tattooers there exclusively do "their style". I've read on here about tattooers who are super hard to book and will only work in their particular style, and then I've seen these same tattooers in the shop doing simple script on the ribs and that kind of stuff. The internet isn't real life.

I did ask him that but it seems like he's down to do whatever. Might go with a battle royal but want something more readable. Maybe just a dragon and eagle.

@Scott R, HAHAHAHA! Well mine as well because I do start a back piece tomorrow! :D

I always give a courtesy shave. I come in ready to rock.

This convention is run by Villain Arts. Check out their website for the artist attending list and look for a quality artist in the style you prefer. I like the convention atmosphere but it's not for everyone. I got tattooed in Baltimore at the 2010 convention and got stuck there in a blizzard for two days. Artists were giving tattoos away because 60 percent of the appointments were canceled due to the weather. There are good possibilities that you could get a walk up tattoo from a good artist, however the most sought after artists usually book up in advance. Also just because an artist is there doesn't mean they are good at their trade.

my next tattoo is going to be a rose / snake situation, from steve boltz

A couple of recent ones of our dog and cat.

hey- just wanted to share that i've been going through similar stresses. I'm 26, been getting tattooed since i was 22. my mom really hates them, my dad doesn't seem to mind too much. my solution has been to just not show them when we are visiting (this isn't hard for me to do, as i haven't gone below the elbow yet. i can conceal everything with long pants and a t shirt.) i get stressed out about it at lot, and sometimes i feel guilty about how my mother might react if she knew about each new tattoo i get. but that fades. and really, even despite all the great things your parents have given to your life, it's your body and your choice. life can be a trying pain in the ass, and if tattooing is something that helps you stay enthusiastic, then just do it because it really isn't hurting anybody.

Kimmie, I have sensitive skin my self, but I let the artist do it. Ingrown hairs will happen if they are going too... regardless... I have try everything in the book and I always get a few bumps here and there but nothing that I go "oh fuck".... Some here have gone through some intense procedures before going in... I avoid that... I had an artist advice against applying anything on my skin prior to the work... At any rate good luck! My appointment is tomorrow so I know how you feel right now :)

I hear lots of people around my age (29) refer to themselves as '80s/'90s kids. I usually take it to mean "the decade of my earliest pop culture-related memories" or something like that. It means that people 5 years younger than me are in grunge-retro bands even though they were infants in 1991. - - - Updated - - - Can we bring back "totally tubular?"

Ooooh they are all so cool but that Horse!!! I love myself a good horse head! It's really great! <3 - - - Updated - - - I love "bae". Second only to my love for "boo". I'm not kidding. What exactly does everyone mean by 90's kid...like born in the 90's or old like me?

Tom Beasley is great. He isn't heavy handed and he is fast. He showed me a lot of the tattoos he got from Ed Hardy. I will get more from him for sure Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm always polite. This guy is going to be grinding on my skin!

A brief update here: @Pugilist was spending some time with her mom yesterday (who still doesn't know that either of us have any tattoos at all) and she was trying to push Anna to get me to cut my hair because I "look like a bum". Then she said that at least I don't have holes in my ears. Oh, how little she knows.

Third vote for Jondix at Seven Doors!!!

ok ok - now I know this is the heavyweight division - the best of the best - major league back pieces - epic sleeves from legendary artists from around the globe - tattooing black belts - you get the picture - but I figure - you only live once - so here is my first ever entry into one of my favorite monthly threads.... Whatever...by Jamie Sawyer outta Immortal Ink in Clinton, NJ

Honestly, it would be way cooler if you got a regular Jesus. In my opinion, that illustration already looks dated. Getting a more traditional Jesus head is timeless.

I'm just here to point out the hilarity of motsimus' comment followed by the comment in Myles' signature.

Here are some recent ones for me... Got this guy from Alan Berg Started this with Mat Welch and snagged this Bert Grimm horse from Miguel Olascuaga

As a bunch of other people here have already said, breathing really makes a difference. Or at least for me it did. I try to get into a rhythm with slow, deep breaths. I have about 13 hrs worth of work on my ribs/hip, and I kept on telling myself that if I drew a sharp breath, or if I wasn't breathing in a predictable way, it would screw my artist up. I'm not really sure how true that was, but the fear was enough to keep me breathing steadily pretty much the whole time. And when it got pretty painful, that thought kept me concentrating on my breath, which distracted me from the pain. It was less of a "zoning out" and more of a zoning in - thinking about how even I can make my breath, and how smooth I can make the expansion and contraction of my ribs with my breath so that there were no "rough edges" in my breath cycle.

Brought a drawing to Sacred Tattoo today with plans for getting a walk-in, after meeting the shop owner a week or so back. Niño was kind enough to redraw my doodle an this is what we came up with. Great way to celebrate the last few months of living in Oakland. Pic lifted from Nino's Instagram. Also, I visited Umami Mart and saw @CABS and that Felix and lady head in person. Great to meet you, Chris. Thanks for the directions to The Trappist!

A lot of times, many of these big shops we all admire and respect do tons of walk ins. They just don't post it on Instagram. Tattooers typically post stuff they want to do more of. Robert Ryan was telling me he does walk ins at Electric all the time.

Awesome pieces here! I'll chip in with mine. Done by Markus Lenhard in Berlin, I'm a sucker for flow and asymmetry :) Still work in progress. I loved the experience, Markus is one of the most interesting and cool guys you'll ever meet.

Caffeine is bad before tattoos?!?! That explains why I died yesterday. - - - Updated - - - The minute I read this, I was in the middle of asking for my first tattoo break ever. I then proceeded to grab headphones for the first time ever (thank god for bad rap music, OT Genesis saves the day). I felt like such a traitor to my own beliefs! Ribs are no fucking joke.

Yeah, it's crazy what a difference it can make...Scott Sylvia and Paul Dobleman are the guys who do this for me. I have very little recollection of any "gettin' tattooed" sensation with either of them because they keep such good company. - - - Updated - - - YEEEEESSSSSSSS!!! Lotsssaaaa tattoooooos!!!

The more I get tattooed, the larger my idea of "a lot" becomes, in regards to coverage. As in, it takes more and more coverage for me to consider someone heavily tattooed. So im gonna keep working on your plan @Graeme cause so far im getting better. Maybe by the time I'm ready for neck/hands, in 30 years or so, I'll have it figured out.

The real trick is to just get tattooed a lot. You'll figure out eventually what works for you.

Panthers and roses is an unbeatable combo.

Here is a pretty long discussion of the use of painkillers. http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/1534-use-painkillers.html It varies across the board what people choose to do, but don't try anything new for a session. Most would recommend you work through ways to deal with it rather than drugging/boozing up. Take Advils or Tylenols - whatever suits you. It helps with the inflammation and a little pain. I watch movies for the first couple hours while I can still maintain some sort of attention span. Often animated movies or action/adventure - stuff that doesn't require a lot of thought. The animation stuff can be really immersive to get your mind off your troubles. After I can't deal with that, I listen to music through headphones or sometimes listen to what he is playing. When it just really gets bad, I have a playlist that is headbanger stuff, or stuff I have queued up for the last couple miles of road racing to get me through the finish line. Often in a session, I end up purposely trying to zone out and separate myself from my body - recently my eye caught a screw in a light fixture and I stared at that screw for about an hour. @BrookR70 is right - you can't fight it. You have to make your mind not allow your body to flinch. You must get yourself comfortable so that whatever part of you is being tattooed can just hang or lay like dead meat. Then you mentally disconnect your mind from that part of your body. I know, it sounds kind of trippy, but it is a dissociative technique to deal with pain. Some folks talk about concentrating on the pain itself - focusing on it and "owning" it. That generally doesn't work for me, although sometimes I've been able to ride the pain when I can get a handle on it. Sometimes a phrase comes to my mind and I turn it into a mantra and just repeat it over and over. Once it was "you got this you got this you got this ......." Yes, like @OutOfIdeas and @Ducky15568 suggested, deep regular breathing is key.

My strategy is to play dead, like I'm being mauled by a tiny bear. So far it's working.

Been trying to keep busy painting lots of things, having a slow start to the year but slowly turning that around. Here are a few of my latest efforts.

stop here :)