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my 7yo nephew: "Uncle Eric, why do you have a Chinese guy on your back?" "Uncle Eric, do you have a tattoo on your bum?" "Uncle Eric, I'm gonna get a tattoo like you. Like a Metal Mulisha tattoo. Or maybe Fox Racing." ...don't worry kiddo, Uncle Eric will set you straight when you're old enough ;)

btw, my mom got her first tattoo relatively recently. She was 73.

Did you not look at the drawing or stencil before the tattoo? Placement and size are more the responsibility of the the person getting the tattoo. I'm not saying to to beat anyone up, but if you are planning on getting more tattoos, it is vital that you communicate with your artist.

Had dreams all night long about my session in two weeks. Every time I woke up, I'd go back down and have another dream. I'm getting excited - flying out to hang with mom in SF before heading over to SJ. It's getting real!

Many of you may have seen this but here's an update from Needles and Sins.

Already mentioned in the london convention meetups thread but i figured i'd post here, all booked in with Tony Hundahl for Friday the 25th. Not set on the design yet but it's gonna be something hand sized to fill a gap on one of my legs. Probably. Maybe.

Flight booked and all three artists confirmed (Rico Daruma , Mike Rubendall, Horikitsune) Time to buy convention tickets :)

Here's a pic. Left fresh, right healed. [/img]

In the beginning I always had 2 or 3 pictures of different images I wanted when I went to the shop, I've always let the artist choose which, how big and where to put it.. He will never copy the image as is and will add his personal touch so an idea is better than a demand IMO. Now I just walk in do a little talking and let Tycho do his magic, he knows what is best (and I never got disappointed)

Ugh, the next post is a pic and a request for a cover-up. :-(

It is entirely possible for your body to be allergic to titanium, believe it or not! Anodized titanium can also be problematic for some people. 'Turning' jewelry is not actually good practice, even though a LOT of places still recommend it -- it tends to rupture the forming fistula. And although saline is great for cleaning, if it's over-used, it can be very drying (as you might expect, given its composition). Could've been any number of things, honestly -- tough to say without experimenting, but I can certainly understand why you wouldn't want to go through that kind of discomfort for very long! It sounds very uncomfortable. :( It could be that your body is hyper-sensitive to foreign materials in it, but I don't think that would happen with tattoos. Ink is not a solid of the same variety, so the immune response will be different...but, I think the small 'test' suggestion is a really good one. (For whatever it's worth, I've had mild trouble with some red inks, where the healing is prolonged in those spots, but even then everything turned out alright...it was just a slightly rougher heal for me. From what I understand, this is not uncommon, so no need to panic!)

Usually i'd be around for the whole weekend but one of my best friends is getting married on the Saturday. How selfish of him!

I'll be there on the Friday. I have a session with Henning J in the late afternoon. It will be my fourth year in a row and I can't wait. So if you happen to come across a pale Scottish guy getting his ribs hammered from 5pm onwards on Friday feel free to say hello to help me take my mind off the pain.

i continued a tattoo on hip. it was hard :/ I waited this session two year and very happy now ) It will be one tattoo in next time we connect these birds =)

I really, really don't enjoy being asked to participate in conversations that begin with "so I just bought a tattoo gun online."

Some of you have already seen this, but we finished my back yesterday. Some of it is still fresh and angry, so I'll get better pictures when it's healed and settled in. Dave Cummings at PSC Tattoo in Montreal did this. Dave is the man, get tattooed by him.

Well, I guess it really depends on your version of "worth it" :) I've only had one session, and it wasn't too bad pain-wise and the blisters looked WAY worse than they felt. I am happy with the progress so far. I haven't told many people I am getting this done just because people feel like they need to tell me that I'm wasting my money - yeah no kidding I made a mistake, thanks! :/ I know other people feel like you need to live with your mistakes, but again - it's my choice. But if I can get this tattoo removed or covered up with something awesome, and it makes ME feel better - isn't that what matters?

Nearly a year ago I moved away from the City to start a new job in quite a small Town in a fairly rural area, there are a few shops around here but most are pretty poor quality and most of the work you see is black and grey "Footballer Sleeves", Tribal and really tacky "girly" tattoo's with little to no Colourful Traditional or Japanese work on show. Anyway since starting my new job and until last month I've managed to keep my arms covered up by wearing long sleeves, not that I am hiding anything but it's generally how I dress when I work. I also like to keep my private life to myself at work and knuckle down at so getting Tattooed had never really came up in conversation. Recently though the weather has improved a lot so a few weeks ago I went to work with a short sleeve shirt and some of the reactions and questions were priceless. "Do you keep getting them touched up? My cousin got Tattooed a few weeks ago and the colour has already faded and your Tattoo's are older and still so bright!" "Those snakes and wolf are they some sort of Hells Angel thing?" "That Indian Girl on your arm what does she represent?" Then came the awkward moment when one guy showed me his really shitty tattoo on his leg telling me I should go see his Tattooer and that he would do me a good price If I mentioned him, as usual I politely told him I'd check him out and that his Tattoo's were real nice.

A crazy old dude came up to me in the street a few weeks ago, he was pointing out his wrist to me. He had a tattoo on the top of his arm and so do I, so I started showing mine thinking he was looking to talk tattoos. Turns out he was just trying to do the universal signifier for 'do you have the time'. I guess Decoratedskins say the darndest things too. Haha.

The other day I went to my favorite Chinese restaurant (I'm kind of a regular, the workers usually make small talk with me). I was wearing a dress, and the lady at the front counter approached me and touched on her arm where my butterfly tattoo is and said "Beautifur! Butterfry?" We had a broken English conversation where she asked where it was done and implied a lot of the tattoos she's seen come into the restaurant are pretty bad. Tattoos transcend all languages. :)

This is why I have tattoos I can cover. Once I got over my need to please everyone at the ripe age of 30, I realize I dislike probably 2/3rds of people I meet.

"So you just up and made a major life decision without any second thought about it?!" - my dad after seeing my chest plate LOL he was pissed... poor guy. too conservative to think rationally or openly at times.. i'd love to respond to that with "...pray hard" i'm torn between being a pacifist by nature and my desire to wear art of which holds a negative connotation to those who believe in such things..

hahahaha that reminds me of my cousin, his first tattoo when he was 14 (also done in some guy's kitchen) and his mom took him b/c he wanted one sooo badly. My brother looked at it and said "jeez, how many Doritos did you have to give the guy for *that*?"

Disgusting, I hate religious zealots! I Had an older man approach me the other day and asked WHY I did that to my beautiful skin. I told him I had waited my whole life for a beautiful piece and I love it. He then asked about when I get older like 40 and changed my mind.......I answered that I'm 43 and I'm quite able to make permanent life changing decisions. BUT Thanks anyways. It's funny though, that he would feel so uppity about my work since he had been panhandling before I walked up. I also had another man ask me what my tramp stamp said. I said excuse me...1 I'm not a tramp and 2 I don't have any tramp stamps. He answered It might help you get pregnant. :( WTF? Oh then last night, Hubby and I were getting a beer at a local pub when some skezie guy started talking to me about my work then started stripping to show me all his....He then asked about hourly wages. It didn't bother me since he didn't ask how much it cost. I told him....He said HOLY SHIT! I NEVER pay more than 40 an hour and my guy even does it in my kitchen....I smiled and walked away quickly.

This! I've also had more than a handful of weirdos say "I'll pray for you" or something similar. This always makes me glad I have several devil tattoos and the wanting for several more.

I agree with @DavidR this guy sounds like he was more interested in being demeaning towards woman in whatever way possible than he was in your tattoo. What a sad scary person.

...I can't believe this thread has been dormant for 6 months. Last night we went to a wedding. I wore a little black dress with thin straps so the top third of my backpiece showed. I had my hair up. Overall, I got positive reviews or no comments - it was very cool. However, "Jackass" (as he was come to be called), came up to me at the bar. Picture 60 y/o paunch, light pink button-down, partially untucked - all the guys were all still wearing suit jackets. Partially in the bottle. So he is chatting me up and then sees my tattoo. Him: Wow, I just saw your art. It seems like the entire back is a "new thing." The first time I saw one was when we took our son to a dude ranch in Texas and a girl had one. It was quite alluring. Me: ::eesh:: Him: So this was probably more than one session? Me: Yes, it was two. (Actually, it was 20). Him: So, how is your Hepatitis C? Is it under control? Me: Excuse me? Him: You know, your Hep C. And your Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B? Me (deadpanned): Everything is under control. Him: You know, I ask, because you had more than one session, so there was more than one needle. So you have to keep it under control. Me, (skeeved out and walking away): It's fine. So I tell my friends, and we all get weirded out. Shudders. So anyway, later in the night, I want to go back to the bar and get a drink for me and the Hubs. But Jackass is there talking with another guy I don't know. But I go up anyway and talk straight to the bartender and order. Him to buddy: There are a lot of women in those same little black dresses. They must all shop at the same store. Me: ::Stars straight ahead:: Him (announcing into the air): Well, I guess no one heard that. Me (walking away with my drinks): I'm sorry, it must be my Hepatitis C showing. Him: Excuse me? Me: IT MUST BE MY HEP C SHOWING. Him (huffed up and offended): I was just being concerned. ?!? Super shudders. Eeeeesh. One of my girlfriends said I should have rubbed my arm over his and "gotten my Hep C all over him." But I was too skeeved out to even consider touching him. I hate people who play these little word power games. I have to come up with a few more standard answers to assholes. Happily, I did get the chance to smack him back down.

This is fantastic advice. My thighs swelled, but nothing remotely close to how swollen my lower leg tattoos were. I think you'll be fine. And have a blast at SOG (one of my favorite shops) and SF (my city)!

From @monmoncats a couple weeks ago... https://instagram.com/p/1BJPmbxR2g/

@SeeSea, I remember during one past session, the Shop mentioned that people were no longer allowed to go into the work space unless they were being tattooed. It was a City ordenance rather than a shop rule. That said they may be cool if your mom popped her head in for a couple minutes. As for me? Yeah Monmon cats or cat heads in the arm pits. Actually it's the only space left. My torso down to my thighs is reserved. That leaves only my hands, neck, arm pits, and my lower left leg open. I'm kind of keen on leaving my neck and hands un-tattooed, and for whatever oddness, kind of like wanting to leave my lower leg open too. Hmm, I suppose I could get the lower part of my front done "gobu" style where inner thighs are open. I could then get him to do my inner thighs perhaps. But hey, if Beaux Brady can get his arm pit done by Horitomo and survive, I can hope to do so too! Ha ha!

That's exactly what I told him then. Grandma didn't have a problem with it, so he left it. He isn't taking the wedding photos and Sister is immensely proud of her tattoos, so she's planning to leave them in the photos. She figures that our body art is part of us - why hide or erase it, when everyone knows it's there?

Sometimes I think it's the opposite - that they frown on people with tattoos, but YOUR tattoo is okay in their book so you are somehow the exception to their negative opinion.

So I have been away for over a week on vacation, no internet. Logged on today, saw that there was a bunch of posts in this thread, and started to catch up. Got halfway through @mmikaoj 's post and decided to leave it until tonight after my son's soccer practice. While there I was talking to my buddy's wife, who apparently hasn't seen me in shorts since December. So I proceeded to answer just about every single question on here - pain, cost, meaning, where, why, etc., etc. Started out like this: Her- "Whoa, when did you get that?!? Me - "December" Her- "What's the meaning??" Me - "It means I have an awesome panther on my leg. With a sword. And some roses." Her - "Oh, three roses! For your wife and two kids. Me - "Uh....OK" I felt like the conversation was happening because of this thread.

Re: cost. Almost everyone has asked me this question and very few people know I am working on a full back. It makes me uncomfortable, even from friends, and I don't have a pat answer yet. But the other day, without even thinking, I replied, "Yeah, it's more expensive than going to the movies." For some reason, that shut down the question with a little laugh from both of us, but in a way that it was clear I wasn't going to share, conversation was over, without being rude or making them feel like a jerk for asking (my friends, after all). Not sure I can explain that, but it was a positive thing and I think I'll try that one again.

Getting a big tattoo has really changed my view of my skin health. I've got several bottles of good quality SPF 50 everywhere and several UV 50 shirts, 2 UV hoodies and coverup. And now that I am thinking thigh, I've found myself slathering lotion over other parts of my body in preparation for possible new tattoos! (You know, because it's an addiction and all...) No, I'm excited to wear my tattoos! - - - Updated - - - I get the standard "does it hurt" and "how much is it costing" and I have no idea why people think it wouldn't hurt. Are they assessing your degree of masochism? Secretly thinking you deserve it? (Rhetorical...) I was on a diving vacation a couple weeks ago and there were three distinct responses. We were diving with the same group of 13 on the same small boat. I wore a rash guard all the time and no one saw the tattoo until the 2nd or 3rd day, so people got to know me as a person. A nice couple our age who'd traveled the world teaching English were so interested and curious (we were diving, my back is an in-progress montage of underwater photographs I've taken) and we talked about the different critters and how a tattoo like this progress. Very nice and completely accepting. They have no tattoos. There was another group, three of whom had small tattoos, and they either didn't say anything and treated me the same - one told me a guy she knew was getting a full suit and was to be featured in a book. She was cool and open. The other group was a family who initially was friendly to me. The dad and I are in the same profession and somewhat muckity-mucks. I could possibly have been a useful contact to him. Then when I showed up at the (inside) tiki bar wearing only a bikini and showing my tattoo off the first (and only) time, the father came around the back of me to look at the chalkboard menu above the bar where I was sitting. My husband told me he stood there for a good 5 minutes staring at my back while pretending to read the menu. After that, they didn't talk to me for a couple days, but a couple of them (including the dad) warmed up to me somewhat after being stuck on a small boat together and having to realize I was a real person. Interesting to see the reactions.

"Tattoos are not an addiction; they are a collection. A tattoo collector is just like a conventional art collector who buys a painting, hangs it on the wall, and then moves on to acquire the next, unique piece. Tattoo collecting is a spiritual pursuit, while addiction is a physiological need. Addicts repeatedly take the same drug over and over without limit. A tattoo collection has variety, and it has an end. Once you collect the whole set, you're done." -Horiyoshi III Side note: I also have a Hello Kitty. It was done by my fiancée, is about an inch and a half wide, and took her about an hour. It's just lines, aside from color in the bow and nose. She was really trying.

I really don't like the term "plain skin".....seems derogatory in a way..... Like we are really that much different.....just because we chose to alter our appearance or something! Anyway..... I don't even realize I am tattooed anymore.....I always think maybe there is a stain on my shirt or food in my teeth.....LOL! Stares or comments don't bother me much anymore......and yeah you do hear some really strange things come out of peoples mouths BUT I have also heard some of the same things come out of people who are less tattooed than others are too! - - - Updated - - - Okay....funny story....maybe a little off topic though.... I had a girl I was dating come to visit me several years ago.....she was moderately tattooed! She told me at the airport she was sitting there and everyone seemed to be staring in her direction.....in fact so much so that she was seriously thinking about asking why everyone was staring at her so much....."Haven't you seen a tattooed woman before???"....is what she was thinking! Then she realized........she was sitting under the Television......LMFAO!

Too many to list! Most recently .. 'But you were such a pretty girl Holly' :rolleyes: and from one of my older ladies who's nails i do 'You're never going to meet an oil baron and skip off happily into the distance now are you dear?' On the whole i have to say most of the comments i get are pretty positive. In the early days of becoming visibly tattooed I was really conscious of being stared at especially by older women... now though i don't even notice!

I tell the straights nothing. Even genuine interest, it's not for them to understand in my book. I keep my answers aloof, don't tell them where I go, don't even try to educate a clean skin as to why. I consider it prying into my business. I don't pry into theirs. Keeps a bit of the mystery alive too.

You will look no more "ridiculous" with tattoos than anyone else! Get tattooed, get what you want, fuck the world. I don't tattoo so I can't answer your questions about working with skin and placement but I can't imagine it's that much of an obstacle. @Shawn Porter posted a video a while back on his OV blog, an awesome awesome Dave Lum video, where his shop helper -- a woman -- was talking about how she hated her legs and her butt. How she was self conscious and never thought she'd get tattooed there, but once she did get some coverage on those areas, she loved them. Maybe the only big folks you're seeing with a significant amount of work have some not-so-great tattoos.. or maybe you're just freaking out cause you've only got one so far. But if you've got the itch, you've gotta scratch it, and everyone else can go to hell. Truly. Apologies if this was too strongly worded.. I had the night off, some beers were consumed. The only people I don't like with a lot of tattoos are dickheads regardless of their tattoos.

Heres Josh Arments backpiece referred to by Scott elsewhere on here and rendered by Bob Roberts -crazy cool!!