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Enough already. @j144, if you don't tone down you attitude and language you will be banned. @oboogie, namecalling has never de-escalated anything. This right here is the kinda shit that every forum in the world is riddled with, but LST used to be nearly free of. This thanks to the respectful and reflected tone that dominated throughout our member base. How about we try to get back to our roots, educate the best we can, or just don't reply to posts we don't agree with, and let them die out. Not groovy, man... (Sorry, I just re-watched Easy Rider)

That may have been me. It was actually at Saved in NYC and there was a woman there wearing a top with a low cut back and she had a Kiku backpiece that was incredible. I want to say it was of Kannon, but it may have been of another goddess. Anyway, that back was super influential in making me go huge and bold on my own back. As as far as regret goes, it can be complicated, but koi and cherry blossoms is a timeless design, you want a great size and placement for it, and you're going to a world-class artist for it. I'd say you're as good as you can be.

The best tattoo you can get is two animals fighting. Unless you get three animals fighting.

Halfway there by Chris Stuart in Charlotte. Great tattooer, great shop, great experience [emoji2] Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

by Gus at Olde City Tattoo in Philly

pain is a great tattoo topic i think - i enjoy discussions about such things - but its hard to find people in my daily that would be able to have discussions like that - anyway - ribs were just all out the toughest for me - 6 and 3 hour sits - oof - to me that first ten minutes of linework sting are the toughest though - then i mellow out for another hour or so - but ultimately - after 2-3 hours i'm good - most of my recent pieces tend to be in that time zone - which is cool - though recent some good size pieces were even quicker as i have been getting tattoed by some pretty quick tattooers lately

yeah good points @marley mission i've also have had rough heals on my thighs. i like your comment about front row action. when I got my first couple of tattoos, I thought meh what's the big deal, it doesn't hurt! Then I got my ribs tattooed and I can still taste that salty single tear when he hit me with the shader (after lining). My tattooer's like c'mon buddy not even hitting ya that hard with the shader lol. Ah memories. I long for the younger glory days when tattoos "didn't hurt". I guess I got all the big stuff out of the way now. But I still have the tops of my feet and armpits, and damn I am terrified - especially of the feet. We say that all people are born with X number of tattoo credits. The more you get tattooed, the more tattoo credits you spend...and the more that shit fucking hurts !!

Yup, three sessions deep with Tim Lehi.

What, did you get a free bowl of soup with those tattoos?

I'd request a BANHAMMER, but this is pretty good toilet reading, so please continue...

fish

I recently got this incredible peacock from Luke Jinks at Cloak and Dagger. The picture I pinched from his instagram page also shows a glimpse of a Bert Grimm sun I got from Nick Mayes when he guested at Frith Street back in March.

@rayray115 awesome first post and good choices. don't second guess yourself or Kiku, you got this ! ps don't worry there is no text in your tattoo haha

Look for fresh and healed photos. Most quality artists will try to take pictures of both because they're proud of the way their tattoos have healed. If they don't have any healed photos, I would be skeptical of how well their work ages. When evaluating pictures for technical skill, look for things like blowouts (looks like bruising, it's when ink goes too deep and spreads), straight lines, confident lines that aren't shaky, well saturated color, and well composed drawings (aesthetically pleasing, easy to tell what they are, etc). All that aside, no tattoo will ever be perfect. You might see some mistakes here and there if you look at it critically enough. I think most of us here that have more than a couple tattoos have at least one with an issue. I have a blowout, I have a couple spots of missed color, etc. Honestly, sometimes I like an artist in spite of some technical mistakes just because his tattoos have character or his art really connects with me. I don't worry too much about going to the "best" artists, I just go to people I like who I want to work with so I can come out with some badass art that I want to look at every day! As long as there's no egregious mistakes and you like what this person is turning out, I would go for it.

Isn't this the same thing you posted about in another thread where you said you wanted to go no bigger than 8 x 8? Good luck getting a phoenix in that size. Seriously, good luck.

Yeah, okay, you almost fell asleep in the easiest spot you can get a tattoo and you've already said you get small ones. Go read the "least painful place to get a tattoo" thread and see how many people say shoulder or upper arm. You've had a whopping two tattoos, one of which in a universally easy spot, but want to talk about a high pain tolerance and say that not all tattoos hurt. Come back after you've had more experience and see how your opinion changes. I thought mine hurt a lot in certain spots, but then again, I was sitting for 7 hour sessions and covered a huge amount of skin. You'll probably come back here and say your slightly-larger-than-hand-sized tattoo in a relatively easy spot of the thigh was no problem. Two people already said certain aspects of the process suck more than others but your tattoo probably won't even touch on those because of size and placement. Not sure what else to tell you.

sorry folks these photos are too big, don't know how to resize down, i've been having probs linking urls from the 'gram, I've got a little choice spot above the skull. i actually think i might blast over the nonsensical skull. who knows what yet. and here's the wraparound OllieXXX whale in better view:

hey there welcome! the thigh is pretty manageable pain-wise for a tattoo. certain spots like closer to the knee, towards the butt and inside will be a bit tender. But a 5x6" tattoo is a pretty easy one-shot sit. have you considered going bigger? the thigh is a great spot for big full tattoo. also, colour does NOT hurt more than black and grey, a common misconception. its not the ink that makes it hurt, it's the needles penetrating the skin. lines will feel much sharper than shading which uses a a larger, spread out needle cluster. I do suppose it takes a few more passes to really pack in colour ink into the skin vs soft passes of certain grey shading. it all hurts like a son of a bitch, anyone who says otherwise is lying!

I find your lack of accountability... revealing. It is so sad to see someone continually shit all over themselves while blaming everyone else for their situation. Grow up, get over yourself and your angry attitude, and just maybe you will learn that you get what you give.

I had never heard the term tattoo collector until I started watching Youtube videos about tattoos, and one of the people said that they were a tattoo collector. I thought/think that is a very stranger term. I always just thought of people as people with tattoos.

That sounds like a great choice of artist and subject. It's normal to be apprehensive--I get the jitters every time I make an appointment. I haven't been lucky enough to see any of them in person--there was discussion on here about seeing a backpiece of his at a convention and being blown away by it--but based on pictures and videos and stuff, I absolutely love Kiku's tattoos. You've saved up and you'll be able to cover your first tattoo pretty easily. I'm hardly an authority and am admittedly biased because I want to get tattooed by Kiku someday, but it sounds like you've got this.

These are great for sports in the sun. I'm an avid golfer, and I'm also pretty obsessive about sunscreen and re-applying it regularly throughout an 18-hole round. Even with regular spraying of myself, I still get color on the parts of my skin that are outside the sleeve. This is really damaging to a new tattoo (I'm only 17 days into the second stage of my sleeve), as well as long-term. So I can vouch for the UPF protection standing up as advertised as 50+. I also wear the sleeve a lot when I do long drives, as my left arm is just in the sun, whether the window is down or not. Since getting my sleeve started, I've been hyper aware of noticing others' arm work... and I have seen so many faded/aged tattoos that probably would have benefited from more sun protection, especially in the early stages. The only negative I would add to my review is that the sleeves will stretch out approx 1/2-3/4 inch if you wear it a lot (I've worn mine a ton during healing). It's just enough to make the sleeve a bit loose, but not enough to justify going down a full size using their sizing chart. Since the product uses tactile grip to stay up instead of tension like many other brands, it's not a huge problem for walking around... but for golf, I do need to tug it up every 5-6 shots. This occurred after 5-6 times of wearing the item for long periods of time (4-8 hours). I am thinking about getting a forearm-only version to try out, as my shirt cover most of my upper arm. Still, even with the negatives added, I would still say this is a great product. A must-have for certain employment situations, and a great way to protect a new tattoo during that initial 4-6 week period when the peeling is done but your tattoo is still super-sensitive and the outer skin is still rebuilding.

@jadore those soos guys are great, looking forward to seeing that one Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

If you have proper winter gear, bone-chilling cold is okay. Those -40 days are brutal, sure, but there aren't many of them in a year. They can be endured. Whereas with the heat there's only so much you can take off before you start getting into reverse Hellraiser territory.

YES! Can't go wrong with Tiger and Snake. Have one of those in progress myself... That's gonna be awesome.

The obvious, a butterfly and a bee.

@InkedMumma Ron Wells 2011/2012 Carolyn Le Bourgeois (@cltattooing) 2014, picture taken today Nick Colella 2011, picture taken today Some of my favorite tattoos, still. The knee ditch was hell, but other than that, I had really positive experiences for all three. Sorry about the photo quality on these, as all I have to take photos with is my iPhone 4.

Hey, @otisc! Thanks for posting this review. I play summer league kickball with my office team, and I need to cover my tattoos from the sun while we are on the field. Bought a a full length pair and a pair of half sleeves, too. Appreciate the heads-up. Really like them!

lamps

@Throw Bones ribs hurt but definitely go for it rodney took 6 hours - one sit, bill took 3 and yeah - ouch

lets see if this worked this time!

Rose of No Man's Land by Chris Ayalin- Liberty Tattoo, Seattle Parrot, Panther head/Rose by Dan Pryor- Seven Seas Tattoo, San Diego Eagle by Phil Hatchet Yao- Master Tattoo, San Diego, Snake by Alfy Iglesias- Seven Seas Tattoo, San Diego

Percy Waters crane/lady by Tony Nilsson at Blue Arms Tattoo

make that your status :D

The worst spot I've hit so far has been behind the knee. And then when I saw the tattoo it wasn't nearly as far up there as I thought it was while it was happening.

I am off today too. Hmmmm... I wish I didn't have plans.

Tomorrow at Black Heart (Tuesday 5/24) Scott Sylvia is taking walkins (flash only) to benefit one of their employees who's doing the AIDS Lifecycle ride. instagram link

Welcomej144, You seem to be a bit agressive off the bat. This is not a site where we really go for that. Chill out, look around, contact some artists. Good tattoos come to those who wait. If you just want to have a few people tell you what you already seem to be thinking, then I think you have your answer. No one here has your tattoo, it seems pretty specific, so talk to those artist's helpers and see if they are into it.

im not questioning his creativity I'm saying his work seems more geared/focused/best with animals and skeletons and humans and it seems like carlos is more into doing big pieces like a big horse or a big human instead of a bunch of smaller pieces on a sleeve, ya know? i like josh duffy though, i feel like he'd be great at coming up wit the design but it sucks because i like carlos realism better lol. the only thing that weird with carlos is it seems like he only posts like 1 piece a week on instagram. so it makes me wonder if he only posts his best work or if he actually only does like 1 piece a week. i was also looking at this kids work https://www.instagram.com/gabrielink_art/

You find experts in anything you do. People generally get excited about what they like and want to appear very knowledgeable. And with tattoos they also want to appear tough - "like I sat for 10hrs straight", I hear this brag statement so often for the most unsubstantial tattoos it is nauseating. I'm like, good for you that must have hurt! But when it's obvious they got grey lined, then lined, then re-lined again and then delicately grey shaded I'm like suuuure bud that must. have. hurt (your pocket) ! But whatever, I know what's up with my tattoos and my tattooists and what it really takes to go the distance, so good for them. I guess my peeve is people asking about your tattoos. They don't sincerely ask about your tattoos. Nobody gives a shit about your tattoos. Maybe I'm being a little melodramatic...but 90% of the time being asked about your tattoos is simply the unsolicited invitation for people to just talk and show off their own. It is a penis-measuring contest. People love to talk. And love hearing themselves talk. And perhaps I'm no different. I mean really I post here at LST often because this is one of the very few outlets I have (aside from the tattoo shop) where I can wax about tattoos and my experience with honesty (and feel like I have an audience haha). So peace to the LST cats for reading my words, whether you reply or care. Or you can just scroll past, who cares! There is a lot of ego and attitude in the tattoo scene. So perhaps the lesson for me here is to ask people about their tattoos (in person) more often when i do see something cool or fresh. Everybody has their own story to tell. It's all good though. Just keep getting tattooed because you enjoy it. Enjoy it for yourself. The people who truly are ass-deep (literally) into tattoos no what's up and will keep the culture thriving, pet peeves or not.

There you go, fixed your post for you. Got pictures of the new tattoo? We'd love to see them.

I recently got a large piece done on my thigh, and just when I think I've plundered the depths of misery, we find a new level of pain with every session. First, the butt/leg crease. Then the back of the thigh. Mostly recently during a shading session, he was really grinding into the side of my knee, and bending my leg at a weird angle. That was the first time I ever thought to myself "Holy shit, I don't think I can do this." But I did! I think I went into shock from that spot, I was shaking uncontrollably for a while after the tattoo was finished. That spot in and of itself wasn't SO bad, but as part of a lengthy shading session, and combined with long, grinding motions into my kneecap, AND my leg being bent the wrong way made it a memorable experience.

So I think Kelly Edwards was having a little fun with me yesterday. He put the ink cap on the middle of my back... to use on the spot right below your tailbone, right between the top of where your cheeks start. Which so far has been like a rocket blasting off of pain compared to even the rest of my back. "Now... as I tattoo you, remember, there is an ink cap on your back. A full one. Do...not...move... And I promise, doing this hurts me more than you..."

This is why I love leaving deposits. Makes me feel like I'm paying less for my tattoo at the end of the day.

"I have XXXX to spend on this, can it be done fully and correctly for it? If not, could you give me a percentage of it that could be completed for that?" - should be acceptable. Actually, my favorite artist has an hourly rate, doesn't charge extra for design, and emails me her rough sketches. Maybe she is just super-nice, but this kind of customer service just won her best tattoo artist in our city. It is a business. If they treat customers poorly (and price-jacking is as bad as customer price-shopping) they had better be GREAT. And even at that, there are many great tattoo artists around you.

Like @exume said above, neither of those pictures you posted initially look like an ocean to me. I can see how they're supposed to represent an ocean, but they could equally be a desert, some kind of topographical map, a visual representation of radio pulses, probably many other things. That kind of abstraction and ambiguity is maybe fine for some things, I don't personally believe that it belongs in tattoos, but if you want something that is clearly and unmistakably an ocean, those ideas won't work. The thing about tattoos is that they tend to look a certain way for a reason. I'm not saying that you need to go out and get Western traditional or Japanese tattoos if those kinds of tattoos don't fundamentally move you and get you excited, but there are very fundamental design principles in those kinds of tattoos (and in other kinds as well, but we don't tend to talk that much about, say, tribal or black and grey here) that should be respected if you want a tattoo that is going to last. A couple that are relevant here is that 1) lines will thicken over time so if you have a lot of dense linework like in the reference images above chances are that they're going to bleed together over the course of your life; 2) the nature of skin is that it is going to age, your muscles will slacken, your skin will sag, etc., etc., and this is all going to impact how your tattoo will look. A well-designed tattoo is going to be drawn and placed in a way that will, to an extent, take this into account. I am not convinced that a design based only on very precise linework is going to age well. Stubbornness is your enemy when it comes to tattoos. We all get the tattoos we deserve.

I prefer to use the term "tatgallery" when describing myself, but maybe that's just me.

@else, I think you're on the right track. I think "collector" has at times been deemed holier than thou. To get good tattoos from lots of different people, and therefore think we are better than the people who just walk in off the street or are content with their local artist. Semantically, that is a collector. Obviously, that's all a farce and untrue if we delve into the motivation behind it. While, sure, I believe those people exist who get up on their tat-soap-box, I think the majority (like y'all rad kids here on LST) just like getting good tattoos and enjoy meeting new people. I am not comfortable with the title either. Even though, it's true, I collect on a certain level. I ain't better than nobody else.