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Well, some of you pals already know, but it's relevant, so I'll tell you all. I put in my resignation at my day job so that I could be at the tattoo shop more often. It's a big scary step, but you gotta start somewhere. Also, I quit drinking after being a lush for the last 10 years. Onwards and upwards folks.

Favorite quote: "...over time I learned how to draw and tattoo a koi fish without it looking like a chopped off penis with a human eye and sprinkles, or a dragon so that it didn’t look like a barfing sock puppet, or a woman’s face so she didn’t look like a man, or lettering that didn’t look like it was done with your foot!" I feel so bad for someone when I see one of those koi penises.

"Fear of a flash planet" http://tattooartistmagazineblog.com/2012/08/01/jojo-ackermann-fear-of-a-flash-planet/ It's been posted before, but reposting it is easier than rehashing the argument about the role of flash in helping people get good tattoos. And Jo Jo Ackerman makes it better anyway :) Classic or modern flash that is tattooed however many times (that army of crawling panthers) just isn't the same as someone copying what is clearly intended as custom work...

The other day when I was getting into my car, I reflexively pulled forward getting in so I didn't rub my healing back against the seat. Except I had my touch-up session 2 months ago and my second-to-last session-from-hell the beginning of January. (My penultimate session - I never get to use that fun word!) Sometimes in the shower I turn around so the water won't blast away at my healing back. Except I had my last session 2 months ago. Sometimes my back itches and I resist with great difficulty scratching my healing tattoo and end up slapping it instead. Except it's already healed. You get the idea. Okay, so it's not quite phantom pain, and yes, some parts of the tattoo are still healing under there so some itching is normal, but after 20 back sessions over a solid year, I'm finding that several unconscious behaviors have wormed themselves into my daily life. I definitely don't slouch back against chairs as much anymore. I wonder how long this will continue. I'm just amused when I catch myself being overly protective of something that's just FINE. :rolleyes:

@Suiren - i love your tree :) I think it settled nicely. - - - Updated - - - Are you kidding?!? I LOVE your french-fry bird!

Wore a bra today finally for the first time in a month. Yay!

gently patting dry a tattoo that has been healed for months/years

Sounds like you've got your aftercare under control. I imagine that you're just seeing a part of the natural healing process where lines blur and ink/dead skin lifts up and eventually peels away. Welcome to the forums! What's your other tattoo?

Yeh mines a right old mush mash of styles and quality! I'm lucky in that apart from the word destroy on my arm both my sleeves are good. I was about to get destroy covered by the lovely Lucy Pryor at in2u in London about 15 years ago...when Alex binnie stepped in and wouldn't allow it saying you shouldn't cover tats and that there a history of your life. I have a lot of stupid tattoo's that I got for stupid reasons or to commemorate acts I commited but as the great man Alex binnie said there a map to the history of your life. Even tho I'm pretty sure Alex can't stand me haha... I used to be that kid who would come in the shop off my nut and talk non stop ;)

Thats for damn sure! I am in my middle 40s and just getting started with the big tattoos. Our skin may be a little less smooth, but we know what we want a whole lot more clearly! Lol.

I'll also point out that legs, at least for me, heal slower than my arms becuase they have worse circulation. It took about three weeks for mine to go through the peel-flake cycle, compared to a few days to a week for my arm. I extended my aftercare expectations, let it dry heal with twice daily washings for most of the first week, very light a&d at the end of that week, and lotion around the middle of the second week on. Just what's worked for me personally.

Unless mama is Ronald McDonald this one ranks right up there!

@tywalters Thank Obama?. :D

how about hell under the city with satan's head as a center piece on forearm or cross section of the earth below the city!

@Dan Oh my god. That face. The dogs, that is. Perfection haha

Welcome to the forums. Semi-new, myself. Post back with updates in the coming days/weeks with updates? I'm interested to see how it turns out.

Part of me wants to jump in and automatically say that i'd find a new artist (not to say that I wouldn't) but that area of the body can be pretty hard to get used to tattooing from my understanding. My wife has two hand tattoos. Line work wasn't difficult for the artist to get down, but getting the color to stick was. But based off the line work and such alone for these, I would probably start searching around for a new artist, myself. I like the ideas, though.

Judah Helsel at Mid-Town in Erie, PA. Just got this on me!

I think they look like "hand poked" tattoos, which are their own style, and are kind of a big thing right now. I would not change them. They're kind of charming if you look at them in that light. Some day, you may decide to get your hands tattooed. These little designs should not be too much trouble to cover up as they are now. I'm afraid if you try to go in over the same lines, you'll get scars that will be harder to cover. Unless they are really driving you crazy every day and you hate them, I'd concentrate on getting more tattoos in other places. Experiment with different artists if you'd like. You don't sound satisfied with your prior experiences. It should be fun and you should come out with an end product that makes you happy to look at. There are probably some line issues with this bird tattoo. I know there is a perspective issue with the french fry. It also rides a little too far back on my leg. Can I pick it apart? Yeah. Do I love it? Yeah! It makes me laugh, and I like showing it to other people and havning them laugh too.

@hogg yeah mon a fix up! (That would explain why I've never received a PM lol) - - - Updated - - - This is our rasta taxi driver Cappa and our tattooed pal Ali, they linked me with the latest in Dancehall He accompanied us out one night. Nobody stepped to me that night! Pretty rad though to be ballin around the town blaring dancehall from a dropped gold speckled Honda Civic!

If I may... hand tattoos require someone who is skilled with this area of the body. I can think of a small number of tattoo artists who I'd trust with tattooing my hands. In other words, don't let just anyone tattoo you - doesn't matter what people say. If I listened to what people (non-trusted LSTers) said to me about "great artists", whooeee, I'd be a mess. This forum has a preference for Traditional and Japanese tattooing, be mindful of this whilst here. Take your time to learn to identify what good linework and tattooing is - there is a huge difference between a fresh tattoo and a healed tattoo. You should be looking at a tattoo artist's portfolio and checking out what the healed tattoos look like. Healed tattoos, to me, indicate repeat business or that the person who got the tattoo wanted to show the tattoo artist how much they loved it. Big tattoos can be girly too. Tattoos don't have to be small and with fine lines in order to be feminine. The smaller and more delicate the work, the more skilled the person doing it should be in my opinion. You (and others here) may feel differently, and that's fine. Squirming while getting tattooed can also result in messed up lines. Even so, no matter the tattoo, go to the best of the best. Is going to Amsterdam an option for you? There are lots of great tattooers in Amsterdam.

On this very forum, I've seen more black panthers than the 60's era civil rights movement. :D

:confused: So both arms, a chest piece and the back too. HA, I dont think I wanna stop at the arms. I really NEED something to at least balance my lower arm. Im thinking peonies

Thanks for the responses my question on how artists might react to questions about sanitation practices. There were some helpful responses, and unfortunately several were unhelpful. Thanks to @cltattooing and @Hands On for helpful responses. I feel better now about asking questions now, but thanks to @cltattooing, I am going to reduce my list, and use my eyes to look around during my initial consultation. I’ll will be polite and will try not to sound like a know-it-all. By the way, my apologies on the Hep C vaccination question. I was wrong, no such thing exists, as some of you pointed out. I was working from memory, but I rechecked my source and found that I was wrong - they were referring to Hep A & B vaccinations. There was a “trust your artist, they know what they are doing, and you don’t” theme in some of the responses. While I understand that point, this is a health issue, with possible bad consequences and to me it is not enough to “just trust.” Tattooists are in a service industry, and we customers need to be comfortable. I know that the best artists are maniacs about sanitation, but the customer has to feel confident too. This is a process that borders on minor surgery, yet in many locales it is unregulated, and we all know there are bad eggs out there. So I think it is fair to ask questions - politely and respectfully (thanks @cltattooing). I work in a field (not medical) where every new client asks questions. Most are questions that I have answered a hundred times before. I keep reminding myself that they don’t know, it is all new to them, and need to feel comfortable with the situation.

Aye, thanks! I wish I caught Simon Erl while he was at Spider Murphy's, that piece is rad. You have some tattoo's that are my favorite from those folks, like the tourist alien and wolf head. Cheers! - - - Updated - - - Funny, I was just admiring your photos earlier today. I like how you tied all of the japanese work together. Also, very jealous of your Robert Ryan tattoo. You saran wrapped it for 4 days? How often did you take off for wash and to let breathe? Thanks for the advice, I'm intrigued.

This is my first post in the General forum and I'm pumped to have a consultation for my back scheduled with Horitomo, in May. I have a ton of ideas and probably just as many fears, but I'm going to do my best at allowing Tomo to work his magic. Looking forward to the journey and appreciate all of the support in this online community.

Yes and I wouldn't again. Things got...messy. Sweat enough and the adhesive wears off. Soup city.

I'll answer your questions, I think they're important questions and not outside the realm of reasonable inquiry. While I do think that a veil of secrecy is important to the artistic and technical aspects of tattooing, this is stuff that the customer should know about especially if you are concerned about your health and safety. In my opinion, the quality and transparency of your sanitation practices should be comparable to that of a physician. The information I am about to give anyone reading this right now IS NOT LICENSE TO GO INTO YOUR TATTOO SHOP AND SARCASTICALLY GRILL THE TATTOOERS ABOUT SANITATION PRACTICES IN A KNOW IT ALL MANNER. BE POLITE AND RESPECTFUL OR SHUT THE FUCK UP. Also don't take my word or anything you read on the internet in blind faith. This is how I keep my customers safe: Saran wrap, drape sheets, and dental bibs covering every surface of my workplace including station, armrests, and massage tables. Anything that I touch during the tattoo will have saran wrap, barrier film, or tape covering the surface. I use stainless steel tubes which are scrubbed with a detergent and then autoclaved for 60 minutes inside of sterile pouches which have steam indicators on them to let you know that they have reached the appropriate sterility temperature. I use single-use stainless steel needles which have been ethelyne oxide gas sterilized by my supply company, also with an indicator strip. Every part of my setup is single-use and disposable except the tubes which are autoclaved, the soap bottle which is autoclaved, and my machines which are wiped down with a hospital-grade antimicrobial chemical. We perform weekly spore tests on the autoclave to ensure that it is sufficiently killing all of the nasties. Once my supplies are disposed of, I also spray and wipe down my entire workspace with hospital grade antimicrobial chemicals according to cross contamination practices I have learned and am tested on according to my Blood Borne Pathogens certification that I am required to update yearly. I have been vaccinated for Hepatitis A and B, although no vaccine for C exists as of yet. I am also licensed to tattoo by the Alameda County Department of Environmental Health and will gladly show you my paperwork for both my license and BBP certification. I have been asked by customers in the past to explain and demonstrate all of this information and to me it is never a hassle because I am doing my part to keep myself and my clients safe, and I do not want to tattoo someone if they are uncomfortable getting tattooed by me.

Mine goes in deep enough so that when I am standing normal, no empty butt crack skin is visible. That seems to be how Dana does all his backs. Also upon close inspection of my butt, I made the comment here that my wind bars are appropriately scalloped in that area. I'd rather not put my special collection of tattoo pictures on the internet. Just kidding I don't have any like that, but they're on my computer. Regards to social comfort, it's very awkward, but if your guy just plays it professional, you'll both finish with dignity still intact. Regards to body comfort, for me there were a few tweak spots where you can't help but twitch. It hurts as much as you'd expect, but it ends. I wish this was a bigger picture. I don't actually have a nice one of the heal product, so I stole this from Dana Helmuth's website.

Just over 10 years ago I made friends with this guy from Australia. We met in the emo (lol) chatroom on Soulseek. He moved to Toronto March 9th (a decision that had nothing to do with me) and we met up for the first time the weekend after that. As of April 4th we've been in a relationship. I've never been happier and more sure of anything in my life. Life truly is amazing at times. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here are the pics of the first session today. 6 hours of pain. Loving it.

This is my first (and not last!) skull, I guess it's traditional enough to fit in here. By Brian Via at Golden Ages. This was taken by him as soon as we were done, I really need to get some healed pics sometime.

Essentially healed tiger head from Tim Lehi. Done at the Summit Convention here in Colorado.

Well, I am no longer a plain skin gal. I made it 4 1/2 hours minus 1 potty break and 3 1minute stretch sessions. All while on the dreaded (.) and I now have the begenning of an awsome 3/4 sleeve. The worse part was the funny bone and under the arm pit. I think i may have been levitating about 6 inches off the bench the last half hour, but I never complained!!!!!! Im feeling really great about the session and I love my artists. Yay!

Welp, except for a touch-up sometime in the future if I need one, I am done. Still bruised and inflamed in certain places, so will post pics later. Absolutely the most painful session to date, I suppose because it was a hopscotch of smaller things all over my back instead of just grinding in two or three bigger areas one after the other. Whoof.

Appropriately posting this one on Easter. I got this one from Matt Arriola a few weeks ago at Spotlight. Photo stolen from his IG: For reference, it's on the back of my thigh:

@TrixieFaux @jen7 @pidjones @peterpoose + ALL THE LIKERS Thanks for the comments and likes people! The day after the session, one of the better (so I'm told) tattoo magazines of the UK took photos of the tattoo. I told them that I'm stoked that this tattoo even came into being, the beauty and power of it and also the uniqueness of the collaboration, but that it's actually on me that's just above my head (still)! I feel so very humbled and blessed to have this art, memories and experience. @Dumpleton No worries, happy to provide! The more tattoos you get, the more an empty back seems ridiculous ;) @sophistre Thanks! Actually this was the tattoo that finally made me totally comfortable with stripping in front of people I've only just met ;) I feel there's a certain type of social codes around tattoo people though, I'm not doing it around plainskins. @bongsau Thank you! Two machines is interesting indeed, an experience you can't have without having it haha.. Third time for me. I advise anyone to try. If you discover that you can deal with it, it gives some confidence for more crazy things. Hmmm maybe arm pits next?

Here is a picture to illustrate my awesome socks, which I have found to be vital in keeping me toasty.

Yeah this one always cracks me up. I still feel kinda bad for that person though.. A thing like this is allmost impossible to coverup. Maybe amputee it and hang it above the fireplace :p ?

Up to this day nothing can beat this for me

so today on Kauai we participated in the dog field trip program with the Kauai Humane Society today,they let you take a dog out for the day with an "adopt me" vest on and they supply leash/water/water bowl/treats/potty bags and we took her on a hike and to the beach all day today,her name is Jillian,what a cutie. we had a totally great day with her. It gives the dog a chance to get out of the kennel for the day and it exposes them to more potential adopters. Shelter Dogs on Field Trips | Kauai Humane Society . . .

Thanks for looking. In progress neo-traditionalish Japanese sleeve. Done by Shawn VanOven at the Shamens Den Binghampton NY.