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I live in a hot climate and have a lot of tattoos, so they are going to show. I do have a couple of strapless maxi dresses that I like to wear, because I love how my shoulder caps look and to see all of my arms and back connected, because usually they are broken up by my more standard clothes. I am not looking for attention, or comments or questions. A few weeks ago, I had a man catch my eye while I was trapped in a grocery lineup and I thought "oh no"; a gentleman, perhaps in his early sixties, strode up to me. He leaned towards me and quietly and confidently said "Your tattoos are unique and beautiful, you are a picture of elegance" and walked away. I think this is the kindest and unexpected thing a stranger has ever said to me.

Second session today...3 hours background shading on one side. Thats 8 hours all up so far. Good times !

Hardly anyone is naturally good at anything. Someone who's observant or has a lot of manual dexterity might be more INCLINED to be a good artist, but it still takes tons of work. You don't see all the time someone puts into improving their art, so you assume it comes easy to them. I've been making art for fun since I was about 11 and decided I wanted to be able to draw pretty pictures, and I'm FINALLY, 13 years later, getting to the point where I look at something I made and think "Hey, that's not too bad." And I'm not even doing it as a career, imagine how much more work it takes for a professional artist with higher standards. In my opinion, being able to draw well is the foundation for a good tattoo artist so you can never excel without mastering that first step. Practice, practice, practice...

We went to Omaha for a couple days to shop, take the kids to the zoo and there's a waterpark at the hotel. So. We're shopping-I had a racerback tank on. I had...I dunno, I quit counting/keeping track, SO many people-mostly women, come up and ohhh and ahh over my tattoos! Seriously-three times alone from the door of Spaghetti Works until we walked to our table! Every store at least one person randomly in an aisle, plus waiting for dressing rooms, plus every check out line, plus every time we were outside walking to another store. It was insane. My husband had to keep turning around to walk back and look for me b/c I'd been waylaid, talking w/someone about them! He's like "Good lord honey, they are *drawn* to you today! You're like a rock star!" It was pretty crazy. I quite liked it!

Prettyyyyyyyyy pumped about this one, not gonna lie. Yesterday: There's a vid too: https://instagram.com/p/5075TDTBNR/?taken-by=greggletron By Greg Whitehead at Scapegoat in Portland, as usual. My thigh feels like a wobbly hot water bottle today, and I don't even care. :o

Got this from Chad Koeplinger last night in DC. Sorry the pics are shitty, it's still really swollen and bruised.

This was the most painful by far (inside of upper arm in that nice, soft, tender white meat). But, I found my "happy place" and made it through with only interruptions for potty breaks (for both of us) and once for me to work out a bad leg/foot cramp that I was afraid was going to make me move under her. In the long run, it only took about 2.5 hours under the machine. This is the first I have had to lay down for, and that was different. She was able to get a cameo of the youngest daughter added, and will add one of the oldest when I get a better photo for her. I'll post a pic when its healed better. Right now, it's still very touchy when the shirt brushes it but still good enough that I could ride the motorcycle to work today. The most important thing - the youngest daughter saw it when I got home, and even with it still bloody she liked it!

so being a guy here is my .02,I love showing all my tattoos and I love the attention and I enjoy talking to other tattooed people and plainskins as well about my tattoos, maybe I'm a little crazy,but I am a very outgoing person and I will go up and comment or start a conversation with other tattooed people anytime anywhere, if they are friendly great ! if not,I just walk away, I also enjoy comments or questions from plainskins,IMO that's good for us tattooed people so that maybe the plainskins won't think we are all ex felon axe murderers, I wear shorts sandals and t-shirts as often as I can,which is every day ! LOL I even wear shorts and short sleeve golf shirts for work,the weather here in nor cal is pretty mild.

Yes @LizBee! - I try to keep my staring...um...casual, hoping I'm not too obvious. :) I know people hate being stared at. And I know a some people here say they hate being asked about their tattoos, but I see something cool, and I really want to look carefully and talk to them about it, ask them who did it, and give them a compliment. On the street I usually don't say anything but at a convention I feel better about asking people about their tattoos. More of an accepting atmosphere there. - - - Updated - - - @iowagirl That's where I want to be - In a mindset that I can like the attention. I already know that when I'm in a situation where I'm not going to be recognized by anyone like when on vacation, I really like the attention that my tattoos bring. It really makes me feel special. - - - Updated - - - @Tornado6 @LizBee - I’ve seen tattooed ladies with one-shoulder tops, and I really like the look, especially if you have a large piece on a shoulder or upper arm - it really features it. It also looks very purposeful, makes a statement like "I want to feature this tattoo!" I’ve always liked some asymmetrical looks (for years I've worn four earrings in one ear and one in the other), but since my half-sleeves are equal, the one-shoulder look sort of relegates the other side to “second-class citizenship.” But I guess It could still work for me. It would show the whole picture on one side, and just give a hint on the other.

^ It's hard to give anyone a ballpark estimate because it all depends on your artist's level of experience, location, how you sit, if they've done work on you before, etc. Generally, anything above $100/hr is probably to be expected for a decent artist. Again, depending on where you're looking and what your definition of "decent" is. And generally anything less than $50/hr means walk out of that shop as fast as you can. There's some artists in NYC that charge $500/hr, it's impossible to tell anyone what the "normal" amount is. But a lot of artists also charge more by the piece (how well it suits their style, how excited they are to do it, etc) so that makes it even more difficult to give someone an estimate. I just recently got tattooed by Chad Koeplinger and we settled the pricing by him asking what I'd be willing to spend, and my answer was what he charged me since we both agreed that was reasonable. There's so many different methods of pricing tattoos it's really impossible to say to anyone "A tattoo should cost between this much and that much" which is probably why it's frowned upon to give out numbers. I just always brace myself for the worst when it's time to pay. :) But I've never felt taken advantage of when it comes to what I paid, and I actually think most of the time I was undercharged, so I compensate by tipping well. In short, they ain't cheap.

Whatever date you get the tattoo...your first at that...will become significant in it's own right. I got my first tattoo on May 6, 2003...a week after my last university exam, 3 days before my birthday. May 6th is now a really important date for me which I celebrate every year. Just this last May, I broke my 200hr mark on the anniversary of my first tattoo 12 years ago :)

I know. These tattoos are left arm tattoos. My right arm is for a composed, single piece half sleeve, if I ever find the right artist. I did find a few dresses that do go the other way, and there are always the adjustable halters too. I've never been a fan of strapless before, but I could see myself doing it now.

I'll be seeing Tim Beck in September. This is my first real wait for it appointment. (Not that six weeks is such a long wait!)

I just bought a new dress to show my arm. I learned that most one shoulder tops show the wrong arm. Darn, should have planned that when I started... I spend a lot of time covering up for work, and covering up from the sun, so it is fun to have a dress that will show all of them at once.

Single-needle rose from Mr. Downtown Oakland in a week in a half! Very excited. Very, very nervous.

I'm on day 5 with my newest addition and the peeling is in full swing now. I actually had to wear a long sleeved shirt today to work because it looks so nasty. Every time I move my arm at all I get fruity pebbles flying everywhere, I like to gross out my boyfriend with them. :) Today's also the first day with zero pain, no more rawness or bruising (I had some pretty insane bruising around my elbow that I thought would never go away).

Holy immune response, Batman. I knew 'tattoo flu' was a thing, but I had never been more than tired/cold/hungry after one. I had the works last night, though. Body aches, chills, plugged sinuses/post-nasal drip, upset stomach, mild fever. A hot bath really helped, and so did staying warm under the covers, but oh, man. That was gross. I thought I was going to have to extend my stay. Much better this morning, though! Some coffee/OJ and breakfast will get me home. I can't imagine traveling on a plane or driving a long distance feeling like that, and I know people must have done it. My hat is off to you.

Thanks @suburbanxcore, @ItsNewport, @polliwog, and @CABS. I had a lot of fun doing that, even though it was kinda weird to just blast two dozen photos of myself all day. It was really nice to revisit all the times I got tattooed and the stories and experiences that went with each piece. And the kind comments from people like you all (and others who I don't even know through LST) really had an impact on me. @Iwar has started something great, and I already have several ideas for people I want him to feature in future takeovers. :) - - - Updated - - - You saw my bedroom tribal post, right? ;) And I didn't show all my tattoos in the takeover, so you can just assume the ones I didn't show are terrible.

Got some work in Saturday, but life has been crazy. Wanted to post this up. Detailed in the hair, and sank some color into the top oni. The pic makes him look very bright but the colors have cooled off nicely and now have a deep tone to them. We spoke about detailing him up more next session with either a patterned robe or doing more in the body. Either way I'm on board. EDIT: just to put it in perspective, the horns are colored white that's how red I got I always love the way the tray looks at the end when all the colors are laid out and all is said and done. I thought this concept would make a really neat print. If there is some rule about not showing these details let me know and I will remove it, but I thought it would be a fun share. Hope you guys like it, and I have 2 sessions coming up so maybe we can close in on this project.

Todays happy news is that I'm getting a hand size tattoo by Rico Daruma in London at the convention. It's going to be a good week end

This was last Saturday's progress on my back. We're getting close. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hello all, So I haven't put up any progress shots on my back for a couple of months. In all honesty it was a lot of cherry blossoms. Anyway after the weekends session at the Bristol Tattoo Show I thought I better put up a full progress shot. Apologies for the slightly blurry pictures these were taken with my slightly rubbish little compact digital camera. I'm stoked with how it is coming along though now and am super excited to see it coming together with the colour in the dragon over the next few months.

Placement is, in my opinion, the hardest thing about tattoos to understand, and it is also often the factor that distinguishes good tattoos from great tattoos. This probably isn't the most satisfying answer, but I think to really understand placement you need to look at real tattoos on people because pictures, especially the tightly cropped Instagram photos that make up most of what we look at these days, really give no sense of placement. Half the time you can't even tell what body part they're on.

I've taken on an apprentice. I'm 12 years in and do not feel like I could've or should've taught anybody before this. First, a little shop background I work in an small isolated area that is expensive and inconvenient. You can't drive in or out and while we have some of the modern conveniences, like costco, we do not have a lot of things, like art supply stores or fast food restaurants. I bought the shop almost two years ago from the original owner, who moved back south. I did not ever expect to take on an apprentice. I also did not think I'd work alone for a year and half straight. I thought I'd make the shop the best I can and some one would slip right in to that glass slipper and it'd be sweet. Well, nobody did. A few artists expressed interest, but costs, inconvenience and ever gloomy weather killed the deal every time. Sometimes the tattooer would be pumped, but their significant other couldn't hang with living a borderline "village" lifestyle. So I worked alone for a while. I wanted the best for the shop, so I didn't turn down anything and worked myself silly. I got a sweet eye twitch out of that that has finally went away unless I'm really tired. So after talking to enough artists about why they couldn't make the move, I started to realize that I may have to grow my own. I took on one of our shop's regulars as counter help. How do you get to work at a tattoo shop? I wasn't looking to hire a friend as I've seen that go bad, so I hired someone that I had built a professional relationship with already, because they were always at the shop getting tattooed. Once I saw that he was doing a good job and began to notice that his other plans (school, etc) starting to fall to shit, I realized that I may be able cultivate a mutually beneficial apprenticeship. It wasn't that I didn't want to mop, or I wanted my ego stroked or I wanted to try and get an extra $15,000. We talked a lot about his future and future plans before we entered in to this and if fulfilled, he will contribute back into the shop for several years as his obligation for having a place to learn and a person to learn from. It was understood that he would not be tattooing for quite a while, it would be the slow road and that he's going to have to learn a lot of things that are other people don't, like needles, mixing pigment, painting flash, taking apart machines, making footswitches and all the other stuff folks with real deal apprenticeships learn. I'm trying to give him a combination of the apprenticeship I had and the apprenticeship I wanted. So far, I'm pretty proud of the little fucker. He filled a sketchbook of traditional designs cover to cover ( most tattooers I know haven't done that), put a machine together, rewired a footswitch, made needles and we've done an oversized split sheet on coquille. He studies a lot. He looks at good stuff. And while we have a pretty good generational gap, I'd like to think we've become friends. Being busy, isolated and working by myself made me feel like I was a little stagnant. He's into it and younger, so he looks at both my influences and shows me the stuff he's into. So it's not out of the question for him to introduce stuff to me, even at this point. When you have to teach, it makes you step back and present things to somebody else. That step can often make you put thought towards something that had previously become automatic. So, in that respect, I get charged up on shit again. That's the new blood factor. Overall, I hired a regular who was already familiar. Not a friend who will break my heart if things didn't work out right away. And I do feel as though there is a need for entry level tattooing at the shop here. That can free me up a little to do the best I can on the bigger projects for now. There is another factor that I don't know if it has been addressed directly (richard's quotes were closest) but yeah, it takes time and a lot of effort to teach somebody right. I'm invested in this shit now. I have a one year old baby and a wife, and I'm sneaking out in the middle of the night to teach him how to make liners at 3am on a friday night. Why would I ever do that for a stranger? I don't know if I could even hang in the same room with the person,let alone have to teach them all these pain in the ass aspects about tattooing in the middle of the night. Also, If I still tattooed down south, I would never take on an apprentice. There was just never a need. ps- I also asked the people who taught me if it was ok for me to teach someone. They looked at me like they had nothing to do with the decision and granted me permission, but the fact it, if those important people to me said no, I wouldn't have an apprenntice right now

A question for the tattooers: I live around the corner from a street shop. This shop has been around a long time by Montreal's standards...when there were only three tattoo shops in town, this was one of them. It's a first come, first serve, pick something off the wall, take a number and wait your turn kind of place, walls completely covered in flash, and they keep pretty busy there. I was talking with one of the tattooers there when I was out walking my dog the other day and he was saying that even though the winters are always slow for them that it's rare that there's a day when they aren't each doing at least one tattoo. Then he was saying that there are a lot of shops around where the tattooers can go days or even weeks without doing a single tattoo. They'll be at the shop drawing but they aren't making any money. There simply doesn't seem to be enough people getting tattooed to sustain the number of tattoo artists in this city. Stewart said that if Frith Street gave a chance to every person who walked in the door asking for an apprenticeship that London would have around 800 new tattooers right now. That is obviously not sustainable. Seth Ciferri posted something on instagram a couple of months ago about somebody in his area offering a groupon deal for tattoos with the comment that new tattooers would have to take second jobs if they wanted to make a living. So my question for tattooers is how is the saturation of tattooers affected you and your business? How has it changed over the course of your career?