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Somewhere between 5 or 6 hours of outlining today with Sam Warren. He ended up going just the tiniest bit bigger than I thought he would, but I am so stoked to get this started. Oh, and this goes into the dreaded butt crease, which had me seeing stars.

I had a knuckle tattooed last weekend just to see what it was like. That's something you really, really gotta want to do. :eek:

300-350$ is not a lot IMO for a tattoo.

I have never seen a thread for this anywhere on the forums, but sometimes I see a tattoo somewhere and it makes me go OH MY GOD THAT IS SO AMAZING and I want to share it with you guys, but since it isn't mine, I can't put it in the Lowdown thread. So, I thought I would make a thread for posting pictures of killer tattoos that don't belong to us, just to share them and 'oooooh, ahhhhh' over them. ...As I type this I'm realizing that probably 6 out of 10 rad tattoos I see on instagram turn out to belong to somebody here, so maybe this is redundant, but oh well! If it dies, it dies. :) And I'm going to contribute something, because my regular tattooer just did a thing that made my eyeballs pop out of my head, and inspired me to make the thread in the first place, because I needed people to squee about it with. Picture on greggletron's instagram and, video: And here's a video.

Hi, I called myself rustyrider here because my horses name is Rusty, and I couldn't think of anything else. Haha I'm 56, I got my first tattoo at 31 - I think. I have a few tattoos here and there. I decided to join because my friends don't understand my love for tattoo art, and I want to be able to 'talk' to more people who share the same love.

Long story-- I wanted to get it in 2013, then I started doing paperwork with my recruiter, who said "don't get any tattoos, that will make this harder." Then it took me until 2014 to get to boot camp. I wasn't going to get it on leave after boot camp, because there was no time. Since it's a memorial tattoo, I didn't want to get it without my other siblings. So I didn't get it at my first duty station (and there was only one tattoo artist within an hour and a half drive anyway, and not many more in two hours). After my first unit I was at A school, and I could have got it then, but life was busy enough with school. Then I only took a week of leave before my next unit, and again no time. Then I got sent somewhere with 1 (seasonal) tattoo artist within a three and a half hour drive, and again my siblings unavailable. (Note: There are now two tattoo artists. Yay.) This is my only leave between now and August at the earliest. I've been procrastinating for going on three years since I made the decision that I actually wanted the tattoo. So I just said "fuck it" and pulled the trigger. Which yes, is a lot of factors completely unrelated to my tattoo design, artist, shop, etc. Probably foolish of me. But it WILL end with me actually having my tattoo, so there's that. That would make sense. They were initially saying I would have to come in, talk to them, and make the deposit just to make the appointment. They let me do it all over the phone when I said I was coming in from Alaska. I'm not sure if Bethesda counts as a military town, though. I mean, sure, the Naval Medical Center and Walter Reed are there, but it's always seemed more like "Pricey DC suburb #164/50 billion" to me. To everyone else, thank you for the rationales. They do make me feel mildly better. I'm a cheap SOB, so I'm still kind of uneasy, but on the other hand... when someone is sticking needles in my skin to make permanent artistic alterations to my physical appearance, being cheap seems like an AWFUL idea.

really to be honest I think the pricing is fair because if work is quality it will not be cheap.

my friends have no tattoos.They don't get it,so I don't show them mine.

I had a traumatic injury early last year, and while recovering, I went in for a sternum piece. It was so weird that I felt NO pain. I think the connections in my brain were screwed up. I hurried and got 3 tattoos quite painlessly. Unfortunately... It didn't last.. Lol

The deposit has a lot to do with the amount of time spent on working up the design prior to the appointment, and also to reserve your spot. This shop, being in a military town, may suffer a high rate of no shows, which eats into the bottom line a great deal. You're coming from a long distance and your plans may be changed for you, so they might charge a higher deposit just because of that. It isn't an easy business. That said, it is normal to be second guessing yourself, nervous, have dreams/nightmares prior to getting tattooed, so don't feel like that's any indication of a problem, but look carefully at the pic above. That is not an exaggeration. Some things should be "reassuringly expensive"

Aw, come on stinkybutt. I want some of that sweet $20 tattoo action. I'm in Homer, tc. And I have faith in the trip, just not sure about the tattoo experience. They didn't give me an estimate on time, and it didn't occur to me to ask... I spent all my planning time looking at different shops and portfolios and completely blanked on pricing. Marley, I looked at a bunch of shops (online) and went with one where I liked all the art they had posted and I saw good reviews-- Bethesda Tattoo. My schedule for my week in MD wasn't as flexible as I'd like, so I was basically down to whichever artist was available when I could come in. A guy named Christian.

Thank you! Nautical themed...sleeve...squid pant what ever they call it now :-p I really wish I could've gotten a good run at it before my injury. I took the test three times with out knowing I had a brain injury, by the time they realized they missed it, I was already out of attempts. Pretty much lost approx. 9 months of memories. I passed my National registry practicals with flying colors, took two weeks off to review med math and parkland formula and the first week between that and my written had a ceiling and wooden Cabinet fall and break across the back of my head, neck and back while fighting a house fire. While I wish I could've completed it all, I'm glad how it played out, I doubt I'd be at the job I have now if none of that ever happened.

coffee tattoos...awesome... peanut butter tattoos...awesomer :p

OP you're anxious about this tattoo which is normal - especially since its your first but... you're asking the wrong questions the money is simple either you have it or you dont but the real focus should be have I done research on my chosen artist what I have seen in the portfolio (IG, in person, etc) that tells me 'this is gonna go well' thats the vibe i need to have when i set up a tattoo appointment there are plenty of good artists to choose from especially in the area you are heading to and with current technologies there's no excuse for failing check out your artist's recent work anyway - who you getting work from?

Tc3500 you'll be fine, it's all temporary and pain is such of subjective thing. I have an entire back peice and everyone one complained about the center of the back to me. For me it wasn't bad but what stung to me was the lower back hip area. I found it tender, so it's all subjective. Thankfully my guy liked to talk and we sat there laughing and bs'ing the entire time.

Here's one that's all ready healed, hairy, a bit dry and shiny: Chad Koeplinger made this at the Stockholm Inkbash in august this year. I wanted a meditating figure but not in buddhist or hindu style and send him a bunch of different ideas of present and historical cultures/religions to get him started. I was very happy when I arrived for the appointment and he decided to not draw one of my suggestions, and instead made this hopi indian in a thunderstorm. Also this is the first tattoo with tattoos that I have my body, and the first swastika. Happy about that

I used saniderm for 4 days after my recent tattoos. I removed the original wrap after 5 hours since it was leaking out. After washing with Hibiclens Antiseptic/Antimicrobial Skin Cleanser and air drying, I put on saniderm overnight and replaced it the next day with another saniderm after washing. It worked great and never stank or became infected. I use aquaphor after that until it is healed. The cool thing about membranes is that they don't stick to the inked sections of skin since it is weeping. Removal is a bit scary at first because it does stick to every skin break and gap in and near the tattoo. I slowly remove it in the shower and all is fine.

Thanks for mentioning that, @bongsau, and here's another pic of the person with the tattoo. This is a person who just sat for 6 hours or so in constant pain, hour after hour, but looking pretty dang fresh in the end, and you know why? A FUCKIN GOOD TATTOO! That puts a smile on one's face, no? Good tattoos are worth it, and you know it when you've got it! @CultExciter, speaking of Rodney Raines, this is his photo below, from his IG. He and Darcy have been collaborating on pieces lately and he was next to us the whole time working on an EPIC foo dog that would have been a major contender for the prize that night if he'd have been finished in time. He's a great guy and does awesome work himself. I was certainly in the presence of greatness that day. He threw in a suggestion or two here and there, so I'd like to say he has a little bit to do with this tattoo as well. Oh, and I think I need to march right out and get myself #1) more tank tops and #2) Platform shoes or stilts or something.

I just healed a sacred heart on the top of the inside of my forearm. I used aquaphor every day from the day after the tattoo was done until it healed. Took about 2 weeks. (but I have friends who say aquaphor heals them in a week) I lost some ink because I picked at it, but all the other areas healed just fine. Only thing is aquaphor healing is a bitch, as its always wet, so its very sensitive and tender because there is no scab to protect it. I got 2 tattoos the same day by the same artist, one healed with aquaphor and the other dry healed, and I had more colour loss with the dry healed tattoo. So aquaphor is worth a try if you dont mind the negative aspects of it.

@LizBee kick ass tattoo, kick ass post, thanks for a reminder why i show up here to hang at LST ! also wanted to add I think we are getting so accustomed to seeing these fresh tattoos framed on a smart phone, tattoos are so much more powerful when you see them on the persons with smiling faces. It puts tattoo in context with the wearers personality and creates bigger impact. Cheers and thank you for sharing :)

I saw this piece by Mike Rubendall a few days ago and every time I see it it still floors me. I think the thing that catches me is the head of that snake. The purple is crazy...

Jeff Zuck

by George Campise

Each first time I see this Jeff Srsic snake & peonies back piece, my jaw stays dropped.

This series of backpieces by Chris Brand fits nicely in this thread.

Nipple blaster. Ouch. Lango Oliveira at Skull and Sword.

I'm a sucker for a well-executed munewari, and no one does them better than Horitoshi: And my jaw hits the floor pretty much every time Brian Kaneko posts anything. Example: Same goes for Drew Flores. The head he's working on is also a nice reminder that tattoos can still be shocking:

recently found this local artist in my area, his name is Andre i dont know his last name but i will definitely be getting a tattoo off him after seeing these legs he did, Fucking mind blown!! also i believe they are based off a Rob Roskopp pro deck designed by Jim Phillips.

Everyone already knows this but Marius Meyer seems to melt brains on the daily ( well, mine at least… ):

This is the first tattoo I saw that made me go "Holy hell I need my torso tattooed right now". It blew my fragile little mind.