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I always look forward to the start of the month because it means another 3 hours of work on my back, and another step closer to completion. This session I just could not zone out at all. The whole thing just hurt. On the other hand we have now basically finished the background and I'm stoked with how it's looking.

Generally twice a month was realistic for me for multisession pieces like my chest, ribs, legs. Getting tattooed is a delicate balance: of finances (save up in advance), time off work (bank your vaca/sick days), time to heal and recover (sched around your activities and commitments while having your body feeling raw w/ limited mobility), and most importantly time to enjoy life (I enjoy the masochism of tattooing my body haha). For my leg it was 1-2 x a month for a couple months. A Leg has roughly double the surface area or an arm, keep that in mind. I would recommend sittings every 2~3 weeks, if your tattooer's schedule works that way. Minimum once a month. Any longer gaps than that and you run the risk of being an unfinished statistic. It is best to keep a routine and frequency, it gets you and tattooer focused on getting it done. The best and most efficient way to get a big tattoo, don't f*ck around get it done in a timely manner! Also consider - find your equilibrium of how long you can/should sit. I don't sit for more than 4 hrs, but that is me personally. I can and I have, but sitting a marathon session just makes it harder on my body to heal and bounce back and keep up with the rest of my lifestyle. Tattooing the body is hard on the immune system. So keep healthy and keep that in mind if you are planning on long and/or frequent sits. Don't be a statistic, there are too many unfinished sleeves that get shown off in the summer. If you can do an accelerated schedule and are starting right away, you will likely be fine for summer but caution that a tattoo may be superficially healed in a few weeks but it doesn't really settle in the skin for about 6 months in my experience. Best is to get your tattoo work during the winter months aka "tattoo season" so you are good to go for the summer sunshine... But this is coming from the Great White North (Edmonton, Canada) where we get like 9 months of dry -30C cold and then 3 glorious months of summer. Yeah, we were colder than friggin Siberia and Mars (WTF) at times! Like hell I want to be peeling, wearing pants and shirt, hiding from the sun fun when I finally get to come out of winter hibernation! The only healing I want to worry about is my sunburn (on non-tattooed skin hehe). But hey life happens and it's always moving forward (well hopefully for ya) so you do what you gotta do. You want this kick ass big tattoo now or do you want to kick it by the pool in the summer? Eh there's always next summer ;)

Today I commiserate not about my scaly raw feeling hot-crossed-bunz...but about the look of confusion my wife gave me when she walked into the room and saw me applying the A&D all over said bunz. Awkward....lol!

Welcome to the forum! It does look like your artist used the other tattoo as a reference for the outline. The good news is that she did put a nice tattoo on you. Art theft isn't cool, and if you expected to get a fully custom tattoo then you have a right to feel a bit cheated. As for what you should do now? I don't think confronting the artist is going to be worth your time. I'd say to do these 3 things: 1. Don't get tattooed by her again 2. Do that "some more research" before you choose your next artist. 3. Get a bunch more awesome tattoos!

This guy who used to work in my building had both sleeves done by Jose. They were real smooth.

Man, I forgot about this thread! I was just talking to someone last night about how I need to take some time to read some fiction. Been OD'ing on some native non-fiction over the last six months: Like a Hurricane The Journey of Crazyhorse Russ Means' autobiography Where White Men Fear to Tread and Vine DeLoria's Custer Died for Your Sins All really great and all just gave me momentum putting together the Warriors Fund show.. But now, I need a fiction break. Or at least a Bukowski break..

super cool dude

Eddy Deutsche cover/blastover from a couple of weeks ago in Oslo (Marius Meyer studio). It was such a fun day, so cool! Also met the legend Carson Vester. He told us some crazy stories! Who said he had lost it? New: Old:

Some more pics!

Here are a couple of pics from yesterday's session with Tim Pausinger at The Pearl.

I did much research before deciding to do my coverup. After watching television shows showing what could be done, it was encouraging while at the same time, you don't want to trust just anyone. As great as the internet is, I have seem far too many bad cover ups although many were simply amazing. My first attempt at research was disheartening as after asking several shops, I simply got too much conflicting information, people simply too eager for business, or simply my gut telling me something wasn't right. Finally I saw some coverup work on a tv show mentioning an artist from Dallas. After a quick search I found that he was a few miles from my house. At this point I went to his shop, but he was on the road. Talking to the shop manager and explaining my situation, I mentioned that if possible I would like to do a Captain America tattoo. Once I said that, I was quickly able to set up an appointment with the owner/artist. Although very high in demand, apparently if you are wanting something that they want to do as well, I have found that artists can shift schedules if there is a type of tattoo that they want to do. Fortunately for me, I later found that the artist was a much bigger superhero fan than myself. Over the next month, I spent wakeless nights admiring his work and many of the comic stuff he has done and spend many hours downloading comic images trying to conceptualize what would work for the coverup. My consultation finally came and after asking me what I wanted, I kind of hesitated with questions as to what my limitations were. His response was, not to worry about it, just tell him what I wanted and he would make it happen. So, I gave him my top 3 comics. We set an appointment and I left trusting him to come up with something. It was kind of crazy committing to something without knowing what exactly I was going to get until I showed up, but I trusted my instincts and research. I was straight up blown away with the results and feel I learned quite a bit along the way. - Older tattoos are better candidates for coverups than relatively new ones - Non-recognizable shapes are easier to cover than geometric shapes I don't know why some artists try to just go for the simple black out with no detail, like a panther head. You do not necessarily need to go darker for coverups, blues rock! - You should anticipate going at least 2x the original size. Bigger is better - Detail will help draw attention away from the orginal tattoo, so some slight detail show through - At least for me, the skin where the old tattoo was scarred and bleed a bit more than fresh skin. These area scanned more. Anyway, if anyone has any questions, shoot away. PS.. I was still a little bloody on the yellow lines, but you get the results.

Welcome @fortnightofwar! Don't overthink it. It's a nice, simple tattoo design, it's on you and that's what matters. I'm sure I'm not the only one with a bird or a tiger head. Or an eagle, octopus, shark, panther or hotstuff. And I also have a lion that is somewhat similar (but it is a flyin' lion). But it's on me and that's all that matters.

I think you may be a bit late with this message.

first tatt on the neck...dang...cool - welcome

this guy!!!! definitely a great choice man. considered trying for the next time me and my family go to PR.

My son is due July 23!

@beez's ongoing Diamond Club collaboration is one of the coolest tattoos I've seen on here. I would love to hear about how it has evolved since it began, if you feel like posting about that sometime.

In Qld, Australia now, it's common to be refused from venues for having hand, neck and face tattoos. Especially on the Gold Coast. The way I see it is that these venues are mainstream. Fuck mainstream. Never wanted to mix with them fuckers anyway. Give me a dingy blues club any day of the week.

Today I found out I am having a boy and I want to get a tattoo to celebrate the moment. I was thinking of a traditional elephant and baby elephant? Something classic and simple.

Marius Meyer backpiece bonanza. Me and @Kai Eirik Espedal

Sorry to be one of those nerds that instagrams his food, but this shit is the bees knees. Good life choices.

Awesome and wish me luck people. Just applied on becoming an Adjunct (Part-Time) College Professor. Hoping things work out so I can quit my current job and focus on getting my MBA degree.

Met with Carlos Torres in Paris after the convention to finish this little side piece. Fuck me this did really really hurt!

Session #6, 3.5 hrs, 22.5 hours total. Completed the blackground yesterday on my Shaolin backpiece after a really intense session. This was the heaviest session in my 12 years of getting tattooed. Inside the crack and underneath the butt cheeks, down the back and insides of the thigh. All the way. It really comes down to mind over matter. The pain was very sharp and the skin is very different in that nether region thus a spectacular array of sensations. But moreso it really messes with your mind to get tattooing in that very private and sensitive area, doing your best to be loose (not too loose, wink wink haha) and relaxed while your mind is frozen at what your body is undergoing. I'm still feeling mentally scrambled the day after. Unbelievable experience, some very serious tattooing. You really have to let your inhibitions go and have full trust in the tattooer. Steve really helped me push through and said I did really well with the sit. Really learned a lot about myself through the vulnerability of this session. I was chewing down on a towel for the last 30 minutes. But I did it. Exhausted and spaced out afterwards and now I've got this swollen black ass, shit-my-pants shuffle walk happening, at least for a few days. All the way! me-"I can do this" steve-"You are doing it man!" me-"I'm doing this!" steve-"You did it!" I've been sitting fairly regularly so I'm going to take it easy for a bit to heal and re-calibrate. Off to Jamaica in April to relax as my alter-ego Ras Colouring Book on the beach. Then a couple sessions in May to blast in all the colour and patterns and saturate some of the black again. This was a milestone tattoo session for me as well. I hit my 201st hour of total tattooing on my body over a 12 year period. I'm wearing a full body of tattoos now, all pieces new and old interconnected neck to ankle. But I left a few choice silver-dollar sized spots to tuck in a few mini collector tattoos ;) And the Ramones kicked on as I crossed the 200th hour marker...

@Mark Bee you can't seem to go wrong at The Pearl! Love seeing your already impressive collection grow. - - - Updated - - - I can't believe I haven't posted these here! I got my butt snake colored in at the beg of feb. Basically I got home from my tattoo trip, and my dog had a big sudden health issue that had to be dealt with STAT! So I didn't even think about it. Pics attached. I'm booked for more at the beg of Apr too!

i flew out to london over the weekend and rich hardy did the second session on my back :)

i flew out to london over the weekend and got this from lee knight:

I feel like i should move to Canada. Seems like the Canadian members here just know how to live life.

I popped into The Pearl today and had a couple of little fillers in and around my right knee. My lower legs are really filling in nicely, and I've made a stab up into the thighs as well. I was speaking to Tim Pausinger today, and we are going to get back to work on my back-piece in the summer. It will be nice to have that beast taken care of.

once more into the ring... by Matt Dunn Rabbit's Den Milltown NJ 6 hours on da ribs reference art by David O'Keefe not the best pic - about 2 weeks healed edit: i think this pic is showing sideways - i made the change and you can see it rightside up if you tap the pic again - anyways...cheers

I've been holding out on posting pics online of my Shaolin backpiece progress. But now the 'blackground' is just about complete and the time felt right to share my progress. This is 5 sessions deep, about 19hrs and we are getting some wicked momentum. Tattoo is being made by Steve Batt in Edmonton, AB. Thank you all for your LST kinship through this experience!

Thanks @TrixieFaux and @El Dolmago I think she'll get over it too. I gave her a big hug and reminded her that she didn't -really- have a normal mummy anyway. She said, "oh, yeah..." Heh. I reassured her that just because I was getting an upper arm tattoo didn't mean I was going to suddenly pick her up from school in a tank top (because that's not what I normally wear). I also printed out for her the koi design I'm getting and asked her to colour it for me. Now she's really excited and wants to show the tattoo artist her colour choices ;)

Aw, poor mommy! Kids are so honest with what they are feeling in the moment and they don't hold back, do they? It's a good thing...but hurts sometimes! It's a good chance to ask her what's normal anyway and what's so great about it? The most normal looking mom may spend her time behind closed doors screaming her head off at her kids, who knows? It probably has more to do with change being scary. You're going to look different. My daughter kind of freaks out every time I change my hair. I told her, I've been dying my hair since I was 13, I'm not going to stop now...change is fun, you'll get used to it. And of course she always does. Then I change it again. Your daughter will get used to your new tattoo! She just needs to learn that having pictures on your skin doesn't change who you are and realizing this can help her grow up to be more open minded. Haha, I just asked my 6 yo daughter for fun, "Stella do you like tattoos?" She goes, "Nah, I don't wanna get one." I laughed and said, "But do you like them on others?" She said, "Yeah." Then she went to jump on her trampoline.

Hippie dippy alert (that comes partly from not yet having had a kid!): I kind of like the idea of my tattoos changing due to childbirth and other significant life events. They won't be perfect forever, and they shouldn't be, and so I will be happy for their transformation to be tied to my own.

Socks Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk - - - Updated - - - I'm tempted to see if that actually works logistically. Possible instagram post to follow.

This! I was trying to roll over the waist of work pants and then I couldn't button them and couldn't pull them down far enough below my tattoo without the crotch ending up at my knees! I found some really nice yoga pants that I am pretending are work pants and wearing them with longer sweaters :D I want to get a couple larger dresses - mine are tighter and I ended up sticking to the lining inside of one. It's at the dry cleaners now. Ugh. For those of you wearing tighter shirts or tank-tops to give some support to the girls - @HaydenRose, doesn't that gunk you to the shirt early on? And rub off flaking skin and any scabs later on? I can let the girls be free, but still need to cover things up not to advertise, so I have been wearing very thin and soft, cheap Tar-jay shirts a size too big. ("Tar-jay" is how we refer to the Target super store in our fancy snobby French accents. Target is a step up from Walmart around here.) That makes getting into the shower to soak off early on much easier. - - - Updated - - - We promise you get first crack when tickets go on sale, with all proceeds going to our new venture to design and produce our new product line: "Support the Girls in Style - the Perfect Post-Tattoo Bra Solution." Hmmm, I think I would buy this product.

Oh @Brock Varty :rolleyes: :D - - - Updated - - - The regular way to cover arms: tunic, cardigan, long sleeve t-shirt... An INTERESTING way: those tights sleeve thingies: armery Armery from Mary Portas - Mary & Charnos Armery - from Mytights (The armery idea was from another thread, too, the Tattoos in the Workplace thread, idea originally posted by um @HaydenRose was it???). Still have yet to get some but it seems like a good idea.

What a great idea! For my thigh I wore baggy short shorts and boyleg underwear. It worked really well as I could just pull the sides of the shorts up when we started getting into the top of the thigh/hip area. The boylegs gave me great coverage too as I wasn't comfortable to be in just underwear. I was also right in the middle of my time of the month, and my skin gets super sensitive (I can't wax or pluck eyebrows). Unfortunately I had been waiting 9 months for my appointment so I couldn't have planned it around this. Anyway, as it was my second tattoo and first major tattoo, I have no idea if it hurt more than normal as my first tattoo was done nearly 15 years ago. I'm having my other thigh done in about 6 weeks, same artist same placement and size, so I should be able to compare. I didn't realise how much swelling there would be and fortunately my work pants are of the wider leg variety so I was able to still wear my pants at work, they were just a lot tighter on one side, haha!

About the period thing...I have been tattooed while on it and it SUCKED. (But it really didn't suck anymore than the first few days suck anyway). Not only that, it was a two day session and focused on my lower back :/ But I'm kind of whiny when my hormones are in revolt, soo... But as much as it sucked, it was also okay. Ladies, if you can get through those miserable few days (I am usually pretty miserable!) then you will have no problem getting tattooed in addition to getting through through the tough days. If you have really difficult periods (due to endometriosis etc) then i would just wait and let your body focus on one thing at a time. But honestly, it ain't no thang. I also preload ibuprofen, echinacea, all sorts of goodness for my body when I know I'm going to be tattooed, anyway. My .02

Finally got some new stuff. Nick C Mario Desa Sorry about the size, I have no idea how to fix it though.

Alex Knierer