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Big reveal in the wild. Diving in the Maldives. On this trip, I saw several of the creatures on my back, which was pretty cool. The response from my dive buddies was overall pretty positive, and it changed a few attitudes towards tattoos. I had been chatting with three of the women before I let them know I had done it, and unrelated to my tattoo, they all spoke down on tattoos, including the "Why would someone do something permanent - your tastes will change over time" and the "What will it look like when you get old?" Sigh. One of these women really liked it and said it was the best she had ever seen, and she is in the medical field and has seen a lot of bare skin. A lovely woman from Austria was just in love with it and gushed about my "sea" that I can take with me. :-)

Congrats on your new tattoo. I wouldn't do what you are thinking. It sounds like you are considering covering a lot of real estate on your back just to connect two tattoos, and a color trail would be boring. This tattoo stands on its own just fine - no need to mess with it. Instead, think about a completely new tattoo on your back. The back is a huge flat surface and it would be a shame to eat up some of that great room with a long filler. My $0.02.

The client will blame the artist every time, but that doesn't mean that the client is right. If anybody has experienced any differently I'd like to hear it, but for every tattoo I have, every tattoo my wife has, and every tattoo I've ever seen happen, it's always been the customer who has to give that final okay before the tattooing starts. If a stencil goes on that has spelling or grammatical errors, it is ultimately up to the client to catch that. I'd really like to hear, for once, a client taking some responsibility for getting a bad tattoo.

I don't blame tattooers here. When I've been getting tattooed and have seen people in the shop getting text tattoos, the client usually has to write down the text they want and that's what they get. In any case, the client always approves the drawing and the stencil before the needle hits. People get the tattoos they deserve.

healed sleeve upload image

Are we taking inventory now? Okay, I'll play. 3 daggers 4 skulls 6 roses 7 girls 2 tigers 4 snakes 2 severed heads 2 hannyas Might be forgetting something, but I'm not in the mood to undress and stare at myself in odd positions in front of a mirror right now. Fun thread though!

Booked in with Eddy Deutsche in a couple weeks at Marius Meyer's studio, and I'm getting a small one from Grez at Blue Arms Tattoo in May. So pumped that more and more great tattooers decide to visit Norway when they're out traveling.

I don't really understand the point of this thread - I mean, surely we can all agree that good spelling is pretty important if it's on you forever, but it seems weird to aim it at the tattooers on a forum founded by a tattooer? Pretty sure most of the cringeworthy mistakes that circulate on the internets are on people who needed it pointed out to them after the tattoo happened. Also, the good spellers stand out from the bad in almost any profession. I was having this conversation with a co-worker yesterday...

Looks good. Totally thought you meant you were going to get webs done on the sides of your head.

I received the tattoo so I figured I share a pic. Will re-post when it heals. Got it done on Friday night. This was taken at the shop. I was bigger then I expected but very glad with the size. Omitted the rays around the head and had an idea about a halo but I decided to leave off & revisit later if I change my mind. Thanks to all who shared thoughts/opinions etc whether you liked the idea or didn't. ( or whether you like the tat or not lol )

So it's been a couple of months since I last updated the progress on my back. The shading sessions are just so much nicer for me than the outline. I think I May have even fallen asleep at points during the session in January. There was no chance of that this week though as the studio was pretty cold despite the heater just next to the bench. I ended up putting half my jacket back on the side that wasn't getting tattooed. Anyway enough rambling this is how it is looking now: p.s. @SeeSea your back piece has come out great. Congratulations.

Bit of a long break from LST but I am still alive and slowly chipping away at my backpiece. Had a decent break from tattooing over xmas which was great but back to the grind now. The snake has taken quite a while but almost finished now. Each scale of the snake has 3-4 different shades of green so has chewed through some time.

I have been lurking this place for a bit, and finally registered to post in this thread. My boyfriend of 4 years has no tattoos, and absolutely no interest in getting any. I am currently working on a full sleeve and have a few other tattoos, and have a goal of pretty heavy coverage. He likes my tattoos, and appreciates good ones, and has no issues whatsoever with me going so far as to having a full suit. This isn't really much of a problem, since we are already somewhat opposites in a lot of ways. He is an accountant, i'm a designer and am taking classes for animation. I am the daring one, he is the cautious one. i think tattoos just fall onto my side of the relationship. with us, it works. that being said, I HATE IT sometimes. I can talk for hours and hours about a certain artist, or an idea I have, or just a love for a certain style, and he has nothing to say back. I save pennies for large work while he saves up for a house. He is understanding about the art/tattoo world, but he just doesn't get it. Just like when I draw something, he appreciates it, but it just doesn't feel like we are connected when I am creating art, or getting tattooed. I wouldn't want him to ever be there with me getting tattooed, and he does not ever want to be either. It would be a waste of time. It is incredibly frustrating not being able to really share my passion and feel like he understands my passions. this is not his fault by any means, it is just the way it is. and is probably the reason i look to things like online forums about tattoos ..... I am also very attracted to heavily tattooed guys, which he knows, but its not necessary for me. I do wonder that as I get more and more into the community and get more and more tattoos, that we may drift apart. But i doubt it. we don't share all of the same passions but I guess that is not mandatory to be in a happy and healthy long term relationship. I kind of like being the heavily tattooed one. phew. nice to get that off my chest. thanks.

My Kings Ave NYC experience was similar to @suburbanxcore and @CultExciter . A few artists were accommodating walk-ins between appointments. The 21 year old girls getting wrist initials and rib feathers had the pleasure of seeing me get my ass tattooed.

Its It's You're Your Yore There Their They're To Too Two For fuck's sake, your clients will be wearing this their entire life. It. Matters.

This topic came up in the shop the other day, I'd like to get some perspectives from tattooed folks who live in other areas of the country and the world. It was Friday, I had just gotten to work and it was just me, Carlos, and Sean that day. Our 14th anniversary party was the following day and the shop had just painted 10 sheets of over 120 original designs for people to come in and pick from at the party. Between expressing our excitement about getting to tattoo fun designs all the next day, and mentioning how glad we were that it was so busy this January after a slow December, we got to wondering! How does a shop full of flash affect the flow of business? FTW is located at the very tip of North Oakland, just a couple of blocks south of the Berkeley border on Telegraph Avenue, which runs all the way down to Downtown Oakland. We are just across the bay from San Francisco, and in Alameda County alone there are over 200 shops. 200 tattoo shops! Is it a coincidence that the 3 busiest shops in Oakland, one of which is ours, is a street shop with flash, paintings, and classic tattoo iconography covering every inch of space? The bay area is undeniably changing. If you are looking for a place to live in the bay area, asking rent changes on a monthly basis and it's definitely not going down. With the sudden and dramatic influx of money to the area, it seems as though tattoo shops are gentrifying as well, becoming more like salons and art galleries, and less like street shops. With that being said, there is still a very large population of lower-income working class people who I would easily say are still the majority of folks here. Anyone who has worked in a street shop is familiar with what the "money makers" are as far as designs go. Usually, you will make a lot more money in a day if you tattoo several smaller designs over the course of the day versus the regular hourly for one or two longer pieces. Largely speaking, unless you are a known name in tattooing and booked steady, walk-ins pay your bills. So as tattooers do, we catch up with our friends in other shops from time to time, often inquiring about work and whatnot and it seems like most people are working by appointment these days. This was our theory: Are gallery shops losing walk-ins on account of image? Do the blue collar people of Oakland go into a tattoo gallery and feel intimidated by fine art on the walls and think that nobody working there wants to do their tribal armband or kids' names for them? Are street shops more relate-able and comfortable for people who aren't necessarily looking to get a sleeve done? I'm not saying that either way is right or wrong or even that my thoughts on this dynamic is totally correct. A lot of business comes from the internet for most tattooers here and now more than ever is it easier to be tattooing the subject matter and style that you're interested in doing, for that I am very grateful. Is this something that you have experienced or noticed? Looking forward to hearing other perspectives.

After I had 7 laser sessions I finally could get a cover up I wanted. I booked in with rob Richardson months ago when he opened his books. This is what I came back with after 3 sessions in a row full days :).. I will post healed pics later and if anyone wants to see the before pics let me know! Iphone camera used nothing fancy. hope you like it! adult image sharing

Covering up will do the trick, as long as the clothing you use provides protection. Many T-shirts let light through, and a wet T-shirt is SPF 4! I've been surprised looking at the shirts I own. I wear UV clothing for bright sun situations or when I am outside a long time. In the picture I attached, the ThinkBaby product is a sun block (mineral-Zinc/Titanium based), the other two are sun screens (non-mineral based), to use your terms. I did a significant amount of research to understand the chemicals and minerals and their effects on UVA and UVB, and sometimes I use one versus the other. Block if I don't care if the skin is white/hazy and if I need protection immediately. Non-mineral based requires some time for it to become effective. I started the thread below last year, and around pages 3 and 4 I included research I had done into the chemicals used and why some entities (e.g., Consumer Reports) rate some higher than others. If you'd like to continue chatting about sunscreens, we can take it over to this thread. Thanks for the question! http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/5584-sunscreen-sun-vacation-threads.html

I am an audiophile... As long as I have music or the shop is playing good music... I am mentally checked out :D

Shit!!! I knew that was going to happen haha

At the risk of sounding like the grammar police, you're*

Was that deliberate? :)

I don't see how Brittany/Brittney is another discussion. There's no room for artistic interpretation with any script. A SPECIFIC name/word/saying is important to the client so they should be able to write down exactly what they want. You also only listed English words. If artists aren't expected to be translators, why should they be dictionaries and grammar textbooks? It'd be ideal for artists to spot errors, but clients shouldn't make them in the first place.

This seems to be one of those topics that doesn't have one "right" answer because there's such a variety of experiences and opinions. It makes sense now why the internet had so much conflicting information! I ended up shaving two hours before my appointment and haven't had skin irritation of any kind so far.

Some more thoughts: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/3433-tattoo-shaving-ingrown-hair.html Shaving in other threads: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/278-good-client-behavior-page27.html

Thanks for the feedback! When I think of it that way, you are correct, it would be a waste of space. I will focus on the hummingbird idea instead :)

7 skulls, 2 reapers, 3 panthers, 2 snakes, 4 girl heads (2 with butterfly wings), 7 daggers (4 being on 1 tattoo), 2 devil heads.

I have 11 skulls, number 12 is being finished in two weeks. I can't really explain why, other than skulls make great tattoos that look like tattoos.

Just downloaded this, really cool so far. I can't wait to see more traditional artists added, but just FYI it's going to be your fault when I'm broke all the time now. This is perfect for me as I constantly travel around America so now I can always find where to get tattooed. Thanks!

Rhode Island? Ron Henry Wells.

Thanks for that usinterior heads up. I also hooked up mypubliclands and usgs off of that follow. I am @trouthunter15, I post hobbies and occasional kid pics.

so far these are the repeats i have: 2 dragons 2 roses 2 daggers 3 skulls 3 snakes 4 hannyas and will probably end up with more skulls, another dragon, and another snake.

some spots were okay, some were bad, and some were really bad.

I appreciate that you asked me if it was okay before texting me an ass pic. You are a gentleman.

Here are the results of the first session with Rubendall at the Kings Ave Manhattan shop: I have a few more pictures to share but I want to organize my thoughts and write a little blog entry to post along with those photos.

You never mow another man's lawn.

I would nix the tear drop and spiderweb...IMO it makes the design look goofy and will date the tattoo...non-sensical with theme of Victorian-JC...my opinion though. I echo @Graeme's sentiments about a strong traditional looking JC design...but it's your body, so if you like the design, you like the blue spiderweb, go for it. It can mean whatever you want and that meaning can change over time. It's your tattoo, so you own the meaning :) Ice cream cone...the only design that gets a pass for tattoo on the face.

Yep, I agree with xcom. I always get ingrown hairs, and haven't found anything that helps. My thinking is: if I try and shave before, I'll get ingrown hairs the day of the tattoo. If I let the artist do it, then they don't show up till they're done. Seems the better option to me.

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'd rather have my ribs done than to revisit the fatty area on/around the hip bone/waist - ouch! No butt/lower back/knees/etc for me yet, but damn if I had to choose between ribs and that hip/butt area, I'd take the ribs every time.

I thought it was Poe. It looks a lot like him to me.

Not a street shop, per say, but last weekend I was in Kings Avenue getting tattooed, and Zac Scheinbaum was cranking out walk in after walk in while I was there. It was nice to see someone that you'd think of as kinda having a style and typically be booked in advance just doing names and script and Stars of David and treating it just as importantly as the bigger/custom one he was doing when I left.

I can only speak for myself,but I like a street shop that also does custom work,and is filled with good flash.I'be been getting tattooed for 24yrs.and back then you just walked into a shop and got tattooed that day.I think 90% of the tattoos I have were done on a walk-in basis.I did just check out a shop in the city that had no flash on the wall,and the artists portfolios were on an iPad.It just didn't feel right to me.It was almost to futuristic looking inside.But I also like the mostly custom shops they have in the city like Kings Ave, Invisible,& NY Adorned,where they have their elaborate drawings hanging up at their station.I personally don't like to wait months to get an appointment with an artist,but I know for bigger pieces,and backpieces it's inevitable.I think since your working in a blue collar city,that your shop will be fine.I'm from Trenton,and the shops in the city do mostly walk-in traffic,and are doing fine.I like the fact that you can still walk-in to a shop and get a good tattoo that day.Tattooers like Mike P. Who did my koi,and has been tattooing since 1976 on a walk-in basis are the dying breed,but he's still going strong,and has a website now.. Designs by Michael Angelo - Home

Great thread, Carolyn. Here's my perspective as a non-tattooer: I used to live behind a street shop that's been around for a long time. I believe it opened in the early 80s, and it probably hasn't changed a lot since then. They don't take appointments at all, and it still runs by the old system where you come in, take a number, and you wait until you get called: you don't get to pick your artist, you get whoever is available next. They will kick you out for using your phone in the shop. The walls are totally covered in flash. There's some really cool stuff there. You can see Jack Rudy flash in the racks through the window, there's great Zulueta stuff on the walls, they have rad old Chris Garver flash, they have Greg Irons flash that the guy who owns the shop bought off Irons in person on the Queen Mary. They also have a load of Cherry Creek pinned up on the walls. Anyway, I became somewhat friendly with the tattooers there and I'd chat with them when I passed by while walking my dog, and what I'm going to say partly comes from conversations with them, partly from my own observations. One of the tattooers said to me at one point that in the four or five years he'd worked at that shop he'd only had one day that he didn't do a tattoo. The tattooers there have also lamented how business used to be a lot better before a million shops opened up. Once when I was there looking through the flash, one of the tattooers said that nobody who gets tattooed there--and their clientele is very much the "lower-income working class people" mentioned above--looks through the flash and wants things from it, they want stuff they've printed off the internet or have on their phones. I was getting tattooed a couple of weeks ago at another well-established shop, this one was one of the first custom shops in the city, and a woman came in wanting to get the bird silhouettes. They didn't have anybody available to do the tattoo at that moment, but they happily booked an appointment at a later date with her. The guy who runs this shop used to work at the shop mentioned above and even though he's well-booked out and does a lot of large custom work, he still has that real street shop demeanor and will do pretty much anything the client wants. He's not limiting himself to "his style". I've seen tattooers at a lot of fancy shops, including ones I've seen mentioned on here as having a particular style (this is what happens when you think that instagram is real life, kids) doing whatever walks through the door. I've seen shops really pushing to be more open to walk-ins, not only because it brings in money, but also because it makes tattooers more well-rounded and just better tattooers. Though, thinking about it, the walk-ins the more high end shops are getting, at least from what I've seen, are more of the script on the ribs type of tattoos. I guess when it comes down to it, there's a class issue at play here. From my observations, most shops still get walk-ins, but the people going to the fancier shops are better dressed.

I'm still relatively new at getting tattooed, but I've visited most of the shops in my area and this is what I've noticed. People walk in and all they want to do is ask an artist if they can tattoo XXX custom piece and ask how much it will cost. They never bother to look at the artwork on the wall or even pick up a portfolio. The guy I've been getting tattooed by runs a street stop. He paints his own sheets and has them hanging wall to wall in his shop. He says that at his shop, about 50% of his clients want custom pieces and 50% of his clients will take something off the flash wall. At the other shops, it's probably more like 75% custom/25% flash. One shop that I visited had hardly any flash and the guy told me he does all custom work. He handed me a bunch of loose outlines to look at. It's like their customers have one design in mind and don't care about anything else. I was checking out flash at a place that does mostly traditional pieces, and a guy came in and rushed right past the flash and portfolios and asked the artist behind the desk if he could do a skin rip, bio mech, circuit board of a guitar amp and then asked how much it would cost. The artist told him it was too much for a single tattoo, so he rushed out to find a shop that would do it.

I like this thought process Ms. Carolyn. It's something that actually affects me. I live in Virginia. For those of you less informed, it is does not qualify as the most "progressive" state in the Union. The tattoo shop I work at is in Salem, Virginia, which is the sister city to Roanoke, Virginia. I would describe this town as behind the times. I can count on two fingers the tattoo shops in the area that look like "tattoo shops." You know, flash wall to wall and on the ceiling too. I'm lucky to be in one of them. It's the type of shop I want to work at. But, like I mentioned, the area is a little behind the times and alot of clients are very enticed by the "studio" "custom-only" "leather couch and plasma TV" look. So, those shops are a little busier in the area, even though, they are still doing the money maker tattoos. In a lot of places, Virginia is not the only place, flash is being replaced by glowing smart phones and Google/Pinterest images. That's the new flash at these types of shops. My coworkers and I have joked that those shops should just mount iPads to the wall. But here is the exciting part. Clients who are discovering our shop, where the other three guys have been tattooing a combined 55 years, they walk in and say "Wow! This looks like a tattoo shop. This is so cool." I think, at it's root, tattoo shops that look like tattoo shops, will always be the common denominator. You can up the fixtures and the fanciness, but having those archetypical designs on the wall that speak to the human psyche, and the folders of black and white tribal, lettering, and even Tattoo Brand/Cherry Creek stuff will provide the best jumping off point for clients. Even Ed Hardy went back to having a "street shop" look after having Realistic. So all the shops who think they are breaking ground with a white-glove stark environment really are not. It comes and goes, as they say.

Here's it is fresh. I'll post more after it heals up. I had a great time and came away with a bunch of new music to check out too. Can't imagine having a better first experience.

I'm not sure if I ever posted a picture of my back when it was finished. Anyway, here it is. (found a better picture)

Welllllllll....if it makes you happy get another one, right?! Went and saw Paul Dobleman at Spider Murphy's last week...please excuse the inflammation Hope everyone is having a great New Year so far!

Cross posting from the latest tattoo thread, this is after session 1 of... i don't know how many... with Marius Meyer