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Well, today was the day! What a long, but great day! It began a little before 11:00am. I was the first one in Triple Crown Tattoo with Scott Ellis (most of the day, there were 10-15 people there, and at one point six artists were tattooing simultaneously). He had been working on a few designs based on the sleeve length I wanted. Over the week between today and our consultation, I had decided to ask him to put the dragon's head somewhere on my arm instead of with the head in the more traditional chest area. I was a little worried to be asking for this, as Scott has a relatively new sleeve with the head in the center, and the last thing I wanted was for him to think I was trying to copy his own tattoo. Luckily, when I got there, he informed me that the last several dragons he had done had the head on the chest, and he was dying to do something new. Perfect! His sketches had just what I wanted. It was a really good sign. However, getting it right took some time. Using thin paint brushes, he created the design over four separate layers. The dragon's head had to be moved several times, and the unique swirl of the dragon we decided on what difficult to get right without looking like the head was plopped onto the center of the body... but Scott is a perfectionist, and after a lot of erasing and revising, and then relining, and revising, etc... we were finally done with a design ready to be inked at 2:40. With only a few short breaks, it took a lot longer than I expected. But the result is something that works specifically with my body as opposed to just slapping a template onto my arm. I love it. Here is a quick snap of Scott somewhere between layer 2 and 3 of sketching on me: I haven't had a tattoo in nearly 20 years, so I had no idea what to expect from the pain, especially over so many areas. Tattooing in the ditch was no treat, but not as bad as I had come to expect from reading. The outside of the elbow lived up to expectations. But the worst was around my collarbone, where any wincing or tightening of my face would risk pulling the skin under his needle. And there was one spot on my chest where I could clearly feel the vibration on my pec, but the pain was in my neck. I could have sworn at the time he was tattooing my upper-middle neck. Long story short (yeah, right), we finished up the linework a little after 5:00pm. I am absolutely thrilled with the result... and was getting tons of compliments on it by the many artists and clients in the shop throughout the day. Here is a front shot: It is a little difficult to see from this angle and with only linework, but the dragon's body actually goes out the back of the head and swirls up and around the shoulders through the clouds and comes out belly showing under his head before turning again towards the end of the sleeve. It makes a little more sense visually if you can see the back. I also have the dragon clutching a pearl with his talons on the back on the sleeve and will actually be filling the pearl with a significant flower logo in the next session. Overall, a fantastic day. I couldn't be happier that Scott got all the elements I wanted into the design, was able to keep it very traditional, but also with a great deal of uniqueness built just for me. If any readers are in Austin, Triple Crown Tattoo on Chicon Street (right around the corner from Franklin's BBQ!) is a must-visit.

UPDATE: Well, today was the day! What a long, but great day! It began a little before 11:00am. I was the first one in the shop with Scott (most of the day, there were 10-15 people there, and at one point six artists were tattooing simultaneously). He had been working on a few designs based on the sleeve length I wanted. Over the week between today and our consultation, I had decided to ask him to put the dragon's head somewhere on my arm instead of with the head in the more traditional chest area. I was a little worried to be asking for this, as Scott has a relatively new sleeve with the head in the center, and the last thing I wanted was for him to think I was trying to copy his own tattoo. Luckily, when I got there, he informed me that the last several dragons he had done had the head on the chest, and he was dying to do something new. Perfect! His sketches had just what I wanted. It was a really good sign. However, getting it right took some time. Using thin paint brushes, he created the design over four separate layers. The dragon's head had to be moved several times, and the unique swirl of the dragon we decided on what difficult to get right without looking like the head was plopped onto the center of the body... but Scott is a perfectionist, and after a lot of erasing and revising, and then relining, and revising, etc... we were finally done with a design ready to be inked at 2:40. With only a few short breaks, it took a lot longer than I expected. But the result is something that works specifically with my body as opposed to just slapping a template onto my arm. I love it. Here is a quick snap of Scott somewhere between layer 2 and 3 of sketching on me: I haven't had a tattoo in nearly 20 years, so I had no idea what to expect from the pain, especially over so many areas. Tattooing in the ditch was no treat, but not as bad as I had come to expect from reading. The outside of the elbow lived up to expectations. But the worst was around my collarbone, where any wincing or tightening of my face would risk pulling the skin under his needle. And there was one spot on my chest where I could clearly feel the vibration on my pec, but the pain was in my neck. I could have sworn at the time he was tattooing my upper-middle neck. Long story short (yeah, right), we finished up the linework a little after 5:00pm. I am absolutely thrilled with the result... and was getting tons of compliments on it by the many artists and clients in the shop throughout the day. Here is a front shot: It is a little difficult to see from this angle and with only linework, but the dragon's body actually goes out the back of the head and swirls up and around the shoulders through the clouds and comes out belly showing under his head before turning again towards the end of the sleeve. It makes a little more sense visually if you can see the back. I also have the dragon clutching a pearl with his talons on the back on the sleeve and will actually be filling the pearl with a significant flower logo in the next session. Overall, a fantastic day. I couldn't be happier that Scott got all the elements I wanted into the design, was able to keep it very traditional, but also with a great deal of uniqueness built just for me. If any readers are in Austin, Triple Crown Tattoo on Chicon Street (right around the corner from Franklin's BBQ!) is a must-visit.

Update Well I went ahead and got it started. Had my first session just over a week ago - 5 hours of work done with bout 8 hours to go. No reaction to the tattoo whatsoever. Orchids for my daughter, and my son said "dragon". So spoke with the tattoo artist (all credit to her for the design) and this is the result so far https://www.instagram.com/p/BEMEXAUSiTs/?taken-by=coralie_cabibbo_tattoo Not finished yet, but I already love it

My back in progress by Adam Kitamoto @ ten-ten tattoo

got this sacred heart from joe nickley almost 2 weeks ago and this from chris kline at the scranton convention this past weekend andddd yesterday i made an appointment with bert krak for next month while he's at old soul!

Hi there. I joined LST in hopes of learning more about tattoo design, so, when I get my first tattoo, I can be confident it will be one I'm happy with. I'm especially interested in biomechanical designs, as I'm planning on getting a tattoo to celebrate getting my engineering degree. I look forward to learning more about tattooing and making some new friends!

Hey all, I recently got my first tattoo inked and I'm really really happy with it. I was hell confused on what to get tattooed, so my tattoo artist suggested me a Maori tattoo. I fell in love with the design and it's look. I read through the internet that maori tattoos carries some unique meanings and symbol. There are various types of Maori designs and it's significance. Can someone pls tell me what kind of Maori design it is, the one I got tattooed? Sent from my SM-N920C

not digging this season i guess i wish the show was different i think the skull challenges are way more interesting than the tattoo challenges on this show its become a typical train wreck reality show which i guess at some level i'm attracted too:o

@Naiemh is how to mention - use the at symbol and username good post - yeah - in a way you cant escape the 'meaning' connection you might not always be able to articulate in easy language but the connection with image, idea, content like you said - is generally revealing though the meaning could be secondary in nature like spinnng the tattoo wheel your choice might not primarly reflect an interest or attraction you have to the piece but it would maybe represent - your spontaneity and free spiritedness btw havent done the spin the wheel yet but a local shop has 80$ flash wheel def want to give that a try would be fun imo anyway... - - - Updated - - - @Naiemh is how to mention - use the at symbol and username good post - yeah - in a way you cant escape the 'meaning' connection you might not always be able to articulate in easy language but the connection with image, idea, content like you said - is generally revealing though the meaning could be secondary in nature like spinnng the tattoo wheel your choice might not primarly reflect an interest or attraction you have to the piece but it would maybe represent - your spontaneity and free spiritedness btw havent done the spin the wheel yet but a local shop has 80$ flash wheel def want to give that a try would be fun imo anyway...

I 100% agree with you marley (how can I mention someone?). All of my tattoos have a meaning to me, but this meaning was not the reason to tattoo them. I mean, for the first one the meaning came before doing it, and it was one of the main reasons to tattoo it (the lotus flower), but for the other two tattoos, the meaning came after tattooing them. The main reason I tattooed them was because I loved the design and the artist, not the meaning, even when I can find meanings for them if I think about it, as they aesthetically represents me. The meanings were like an extra bonus, as you said :D For me tattoos are, above all the rest, an aesthetic decision, as make-up, plastic surgeries, etc. As a psychology student, I learned so much about non-verbal communication. Not just gestures, also the information you give to others just with the way you look. A person will not think the same about a tattooed person than a non-tattooed person. With your tattoos, you're giving a lot of information from you to people. Tattoos are a huge choice to express yourself. As people express themselves with make-up, with clothes, with gestures, with button pins, we decided to express ourselves (our thoughts, our feelings, our ideologies, whatever), with tattoos. Because we all are social beings.

we could derail this thread a little and discuss an interesting topic assigned tattoo meanings and their importance to the collector cause i'm in the camp of believing that you dont have to connect to the assigned or known meanings attributed to an image to enjoy it hey bonus if you do - but i dont think its essential especially when you are purely attracted to the artists work and style from the 'gut impact' perspective thoughts?

It seems like a maori man with a moko. A moko is what you get when you, as a maori man, grown up to an adult. Moko = face tattoos, as the tattooed face in your arm. That's all I know about it, hahaha. Nice design, congrats!

curious what you learn here about the design i dig it though

Few more pics for better view Sent from my SM-N920C

Pure hot rod. 355 Chevy, 4-speed, etc.

you're off to a bangin start jr making all these quick senseless posts cant wait to see whats next slow it down make a post when you got something purposeful to add - - - Updated - - - you're off to a bangin start jr making all these quick senseless posts cant wait to see whats next slow it down make a post when you got something purposeful to add

Sorry, clicked "save" accidentally halfway through typing it all up. Should work now.

I popped in to see my artist Josh last night, and I got this. I've loved Prince since I was a kid, so it seemed appropriate. #musicnerd

I love John Lennon, and he sometimes used the name Dr. Winston O'Boogie.

My best friend has this awesome chest piece, could help inspire yours.

Funky frog courtesy of Eddy Deutsche. Picture stolen from him. He pretty much read my mind. It's really angry here because inner thigh tattoos are a dumb idea.

I'm inking tatts all day with my tat gat. Zapping Sacred G on underboobs, tramp stamping tatts on canvases, guns buzzing... I'm an inker. Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

I vote for a Jesus head with a dagger through it.

the latest term that is being used way too freely ..."Gap Filler" Dear tweeners on Instagram: I'm sorry if you can fit a palm sized tattoo in between 2 other palm sized tattoos it is not a "gap filler". It's a tattoo. It's just a tattoo in between some other tattoos. /endrant

I frequently have un- or barely-tattooed coworkers discussing my "ink" or "tats" with me. Those terms, or variations thereof, make my skin crawl. I think because it implies a familiarity - a "tight bros from way back when," if you will - that they very clearly don't have. Maybe I thought to much about it. That being said, I enjoy saying "zaps." I think I'm using it in a tongue-in-cheek manner, but I imagine that doesn't make it any less obnoxious.

If you draw them, and you give someone else in your shop your drawing to do the tattooing, is that a Squid Pro Quo?!?!?!?! - - - Updated - - - Hate to tell ya this, but records have been called vinyl's ever since they were the hi-tech ticket. I wouldn't say, "my inks", but I would say "my ink". I imagine that's a prime no-no, but it was/is common usage in the Chicago area.

My dental hygienist caught a glimpse of my wrist the other day and said, "What's your art?" I should've said, "Romance!"