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Some updates on my sleeve from today. Here's the Jizu and Kannon from a month ago: And the green on the dragon from today - underbelly and flames in July.

by Chris Smith - Neptune Tattoo in Neptune NJ

Welcome @Kaykay Can I assume from your tattoo that you're in Milwaukee? My recommendation would be to go into a good shop and ask about your options in person. I would recommend either Cornerstone Tattoo because Julio Avila does very good, very solid tattoos, or Solid State tattoo because both Jon Reiter and Josh Howard do excellent work. They'll be far better able to let you know what is or isn't possible for a coverup than strangers on the internet who pretend to know a lot more than they actually do.

I love Dan Innis' work sooo much, @El Dolmago Your sleeve is looking amazing.

That interview is truly great. I think we would all have worse tattoos than we do if it wasn't for Bill.

The Interview with Bill Baker by Tattoo Artist magazine has some really interesting history in it - Bill's been behind some of the great shops and mentored others who have opened great shops in Toronto, Hamilton and Vancouver. http://tattooartistmagazineblog.com/2013/10/28/bill-baker-interview-part-1/

@LizBee, I agree it was probably a joke. Maybe a little insensitive or maybe just a bad day for you, but it doesn't sound like it was meant to be hurtful. On the subject of families and tattoos...my mom has begrudgingly accepted that I'm tattooed and will continue to get tattoos (even after I called her right after my last thigh piece's session saying "OH MY GOD, I'm so exhausted, my body's going into shock, I'm never getting tattooed again" and then I got another one a couple weeks later ). The other day though she actually suggested getting some kind of flower underneath my traditional butterfly. I made fun of her for a while afterwards for "giving her permission."

Some of you saw this on Instagram already, but my stoke cannot be contained. Fudō crab from Eddy done today at Lifetime in Denver. Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Some more work on my arm ...

Just got my first tebori from Bunshin Horitoshi. Tosi is a great guy! Highly recommended. I went with something classic and simple for my first japanese tattoo

He's been really great - building this sleeve over the last 3 years has been an excellent experience all around.

It was a medium brown. I was told the detail would be more crisp after it scabs and peels to.

i think this is a fair question and I suppose you can call it whatever you want ! full backpiece describes your goals. if you are extending from the chest down the front torso/sides than i think claiming bodysuit is fair. but...my $0.02 you see it a lot on instagram now a days - like fresh sleeves and an empty torso claiming #bodysuit or bodysuit-in-progress. it's pretty lame. it's just a tattoo (and an unfinished one at that). it either is or it isn't. those that feel the need to go around and tell everyone and #describe how tatted up they are...probably aren't. the whole thing and magnitude became very real to me when I went to a tattoo convention and stripped down in public next to checkerboard man to get a photo. the reality set in on where i was at with my years of steady progress. before that moment it was just A LOT of tattoo. and it still is ! that a bodysuit isn't a trivial thing - many people have many tattoo, but there are very few who have and will succeed going the full distance. it is not an undertaking to be taken lightly. and there is no finish line to my tattoo suit, it is and will be ever evolving and will be finished the day I die. it requires a lot of time, money, patience and dedication to complete any larger tattoo, not just a bodysuit. good luck with your plans

I think it would be easy to underestimate how important he's been to building Canadian tattooing and showing how to run a great shop - plus he's just a super sweet guy.

I hope my grandma (who is otherwise very open minded & has always supported me and any decisions I've made) comes around like your mom @Synesthesia. I've gotten three relatively large visible tattoos over the past year after being "tattooed" to a lesser extent for over 17 years, and after each one she goes like "but you don't really NEED to get any more now, do you?". Actually, I still haven't dared to tell her about the latest one :D (we live in different countries so we don't see each other often apart from Skyping). I joke with the hubby&kids about getting a tattoo of her telling me I don't need any more tattoos lol. It will be a fun visit back home for my brother's wedding in August I guess :D.

My wife and I got small matching tattoos in the early 1970s (and we are still together! ), and I added to mine few years later, but it was still tiny. I wanted more, but wasn't quite ready, so got nothing. Eventually I discovered Japanese style tattooing, and although I knew that getting a body suit was out of the question, I still wanted a Japanese style piece. But still I didn't get anything. I finally realized that what I really wanted was a body suit. It took me until I was in my early sixties to make the decision, and I'm soon starting on a back piece, butt/upper thighs, partial sleeves, chest panels. Related question, sort of trivial I suppose. When does a large tattoo big enough to be called a body suit? When I describe my plans, I use the awkward "back piece, butt/upper thighs, partial sleeves, chest panels" description. It would be easier to just say "I'm getting a body suit" or "partial body suit." But my forearms, legs, and most of my chest (except for pectoral areas) won't be covered. I respect the people who have gone for full neck to ankles coverage - true body suits, and I don't want to falsely represent my self compared to these awesome people.

@marley mission - that is sweet!!

@marley mission love that!

seriously? don't skip the game !! i'd take the patch off before you play. you will be fine ... just wear a clean shirt between your skin and your stinky hockey gear. that's the only thing i'd be worried about with respect to infections. the tattoo isn't going anywhere man. and on a side note...you guys and your 'derm'

Tattoos can take a bit of getting used to! I was kind shocked after my first few, loved them but, well it's a big change and it can take a while to catch up. It's surely quite sore too. That's never pleasant. Try to relax and don't obsess. If you really, really hate after significant time has passed then there are plenty of options. You'll probably love it by the time it's healed

The classic girl head / web images were surely inspired by the circus sideshow spider ladies? Here. I don't know who drew the first flash though, or when. It's often not possible to track these things right back. But, you can see ladies / cherubs (not sure which) on web, although not enclosed by it, on the feet and ankles of Stella Grassman. All her work was done by her husband Deafy. Photo is from the 1920s. If you're after something a little less 'dark' than variations on the classic design often are, and are wanting to add flowers too, you might want to consider something along the lines of this lovely by Virginia Elwood. Ladyroses are a classic in themselves, of course, the combination of the two works really well, I think. That said. I prefer to hand over a bit of reference and let my tattooer get on with the drawing, rather than give too much specific direction about composition though. Am not a fan of giving other tattooers work as reference, but I can see why you want to. Have you had your consultation yet? Never had drawings in advance of the day myself either, BTW. He'd be happy to make changes if it wasn't 'right', for sure. Hasn't be necessary yet mind. In other news, this, is image absolutely dying to be turned into a tattoo. (from either Punch, or the London Charivari, November 1867) Edit - Agree that it's not a stupid question, @jadore. Not at all.

@LizBee that sucks, but from how you describe him it's quite likely he was just joking... Hope so!

They say it takes 3 months for colour to show absolutely true. I've plenty of full colour tattoos and experience has shown that to be about right, for me at least. You'll be able to get a better idea of the final shade after a few weeks though, once the tattoo is under the skin rather than on it, IYSWIM. The changes are subtile after that so you might not notice any further change on something that's just line work. Any chance of a photo @Pier0445?

I actually did several laser treatments on my back before I tattooed the shit out of it. It didn't completely rid all the hair but definately thinned out my Sicilian heritage. A nice strong bold tattoo is no match for body hair. I still have to buzz er down every couple of months to get that fresh clear teenage boy kind of look. Its fun too to shave out parts of tattoos to pop them. Weird? Who cares ! Now if only my wife would ok a tattooed head and so I could solve an opposite problem !

I've not been getting tattooed for that long, 2 and a half years or so. Had about a year of (mostly) monthly appointments which was lovely, but it's been 4 to 6 months between times since then which feel like huge periods of waiting. So, in an ideal world of unlimited money and free choice of appointments, I'd love another year or two (or three) of monthly sessions outside the summer months. Same here. Feels like it helps them retain their power or something.

Thats a badass Tattoo!

So my wife got in on the Chad Koeplinger world tour when he was at Aloha Monkey in Minnesota. Obviously I'm happy for her but also I am a little jealous.

Got the pig to go with the chicken from Chris Partain.

fun spur of the moment tattoo from Jesse Calderon, 2nd year apprentice at Modern Times Tattoo in Spotswood, NJ. Young, talented, determined and super cool tattooer. Was also the first time that I was getting tattooed until 3am. Cross that off the bucket list ;) Fire Ant Attack

Todd Noble did a Percy Waters girl for me and I took a really bad photo of it (sigh). I love it, though.

I've been with my guy for 26 years - over half of my life. I was always crystal clear about my desire to be tattooed. My husband doesn't have tattoo's nor will he ever. But let me just say this...my tattoo's are proving to be better than Viagra. Huzzah!

I got this little one shot eagle yesterday at the Quebec City convention from Trevor McStay. It wraps a lot because it takes up most of my thigh so here are a couple of pictures.

@jdberetta, dude, you're being a dick. Just stop. You feel very strongly about this product (for some weird reason) and other people feel very strongly in the other direction. Such is the nature of forums. No need for sarcasm or petulance. I agree with the majority that this product is stupid. Tattoos have always been permanent. If you can't handle the idea of it being permanent, maybe you shouldn't even be entertaining the notion of tattoos. This idea just exudes entitlement. You want to be able to say you're tattooed without living with it. It's spitting in the face of everyone who suffered for their tattoos (being judged, ostracized, etc) and everyone who grew old with their tattoos and lived in them. It's disrespecting the entire history of tattooing. I firmly believe that everyone who gets tattooed should suffer in some way throughout their lives because of it. You suffer to get it, and you deal with the negative consequences that come with being tattooed. I'm not saying non-tattooed people should be spitting on us everyday or anything, I like how the population has warmed up to them some and made it at least a little more acceptable. But you SHOULD encounter at least a handful of people in your life that negatively judge you for being tattooed or hate you for how you look: those are learning opportunities everyone in life should know how to deal with, it teaches you about the concept of sacrifice, and they give you a chance to learn to love yourself in spite of what others might say. There's absolutely nothing to be gained from this Ephemeral crap on that nearly spiritual level because there are no consequences. And jdberetta mentioned people getting tattoos lasered off as being similar to this: it really isn't. That costs time and money and is (allegedly) more painful than getting the tattoo done. Most of the time, the best you can get with lasering is just getting it light enough to get covered. It's not an easy way out like temporary tattoos are. I hope most artists (and people getting tattooed) laugh people out of the building coming to get this done. It's just so wimpy, WAY more wimpy than just saying "Hey, tattoos aren't my thing, I don't ever want to get one."