Leaderboard

Spend yesterday afternoon in the chair of Jan Willem (@janwillemtattoo) in Rotterdam. Drew a Peony on my elbow ditch with this as the result: Pretty stoked on the end result!

sometimes we forget that getting tattooed involves a little leap of faith in the outcome a little bit of balls if you will shit can happen even with great tattooers lines can blowout some ink might dropout you could scab and scar fall off your skateboard get bit by a dog struck by lightening so in the end - you do your research get your tattoo and move on with your life time, skin, cash permitting you do that shit again and again

Sounds like you are not a constipated perfectionist! Too bad. If you ever need lessons in hesitation, procrastination or general paralyzingly uncertainty, look me up!

Lol. You've just described me. The good news is that tattoos might just cure you from that, once you find artist(s) whose work you are comfortable with. Or else you'll be spending the rest of your life second guessing yourself and/or in laser removal I guess :D. I'm actually looking forward to my future tattoos since I'm now at a point where I'm starting to feel comfortable with just picking a loose subject matter/style and letting the artist run wild with that, rather than having to have the whole tattoo planned inside my head (or on paper) by the millimeter.

@Tiresius so who'd you book in with i enjoyed checking out the work being done by those tattooers you identified in your original post i say if you want to get some funky watercolor design then get it dont worry about 20 years, 10 years - listen - you're only promised today - so go get your tattoo and enjoy it - who knows where your tattoo journey will take you - you may end up becoming attracted to a variety of styles and designs - who knows good luck - keep us posted now go get tattooed!

Some of the visual impact of that tattoo has to do just with knowledge of color theory, i.e. putting complementary colors, like orange and turquoise, next to each other. But yes, that's a fresh tattoo. A lot of styles that are popular on the Internet right now (like virtually everything featured on Buzzfeed) really depend upon the tattoos being fresh in the photographs. We don't know what that tattoo will look like in 10 years; certainly the colors will be much more muted, and some might fade faster than others. If you look at an actual bound portfolio in a shop, look for healed examples of an artist's work. I've gone back to local shops a couple times now so that the tattooer can take a photograph of a tattoo that I've healed. The livedinttattoos Instagram account is also great in terms of giving you an idea of the variety of ways a tattoo might age. I do sympathize with anyone who feels like they don't have access to a lot of healed examples of good tattoos in person because virtually nobody I hang out with regularly is interested in tattoos. Another good option might be to go to a convention; you'll certainly see all kinds of lived-in tattoos there...

Got the background done for my zombie pinup tonight. I've been waiting a while for this, so I'm kind of excited! Stole this picture from the artist's instagram. The others I took myself so they aren't too great. Can't really get the whole thing in a pic :)

@Tiresius getting tattooed has cured me of a lot of that too, like @Kurgana says. Well, helped a lot anyway. It's not really my cup of tea, but this guy does a lot of stuff along the lines of the style you like. He uses what many people here would probably consider 'enough' black but it's absolutely not traditional https://www.instagram.com/thedavidcote/

Went to Seven Doors Tattoo in London yesterday for a drawing session. Had to bring the little one (their suggestion, as we had trouble finding a good date)... So I haven't actually got a new tattoo yet, but my son got two! A butterfly and a crazy design from Deno. Both put on by Yutaro who was really sweet to him. He's very proud now and thinks they are super cool :-)

@HettyKet, who did that incredibly rad stomach tattoo! Love it!!! @polliwog from my experience, every spot that was a bad spot suddenly disappeared once i tattooed over it. It's really strange because i definitely did not start getting tattooed with the idea that I would take control over my body image or whatever. I definitely had this horrible feeling like what the hell was i doing to myself, why wasn't i more mature, how dare I mess up what little beauty has been given to me, blah blah blah - i mean I went through every part of self-recrimination there was (those thoughts are only a little part of it!). In any event, what happened was that though I was terribly nervous about finally getting tattooed, and thought every person in the world would judge me as an uggo trying to be pretty (i do NOT think like this now but I'm just saying I had a really fucked up point of view over a decade ago!!!) (my parents were super judgmental of other people which is why I thought everyone thought that way!! also told my sister and i to lose weight constantly - seriously, if you're parents please be kind to your daughters when they are 10 and under (and over)) - once I started getting tattooed regularly all of that stuff just fell away. (tattoo = jedi mind trick?) (also we are talking about a time period that spans two decades soooo) TL;DR - there are no bad spots once you get them tattooed.

As someone said, skin is skin. That hasn't changed, no matter the "technology." Just keep that in mind. :-)

@Tiresius hey good luck - found Thys on IG you'll notice here that most of us favor some form of traditional tattooing but hey whatever works for you - how is some of that no outline watercolor stuff gonna age on YOU - hey only one way to find out right - anyway - our tastes tend to evolve as we get deeper into this thing so keep an open mind and enjoy

Here is Amy as she heals. Taken today. Also scheduled my next tattoo for August 12 on my other calf. Woohoo! Excited.

Here's pin-up Amy. Taken today, so she's pretty healed.

It's not really nudity if it's fully tattooed. Which is my excuse for dropping trou in public places to show people my back.

@Graeme absolutely the experience level helps - i enjoy talking tattos with tattooers as well - or just sometimes listening as tattooers talk to each other at this point - when i get tattooed - most of the time tattooers want to see what i have and talk about what they have which is quite fun this is why i think its crazy that someone would want to wear headphones while getting tattooed - you're missing all the good stories

Here's the thing about pictures of tattoos on the internet: that may or may not be what the tattoo actually looks like. Maybe it looks like that. Maybe it's been adjusted in Photoshop or with some kind of filter. This isn't unheard of. For me, I'd rather see tattoos in real life, preferably settled in for a number of years before I determine who makes really bright tattoos or not.

pretty nice looking tattoo,I like it a lot.and you look great ! wait til you get to my age !(56) my skin is loose and getting wrinkly,but I am still getting tattooed and actually I am wearing more tank tops than I EVER have ! I am having more fun with my tattooes than I ever have as well.my wife and myself might be old,but we are fucking cool old people ! LOL

Oh, but I actually came over here because I'd linked to the thread and wanted to add my post pregnancy belly tattoo. Here

I think for most people this won't look like much has been done, but oh well! All of the black/shading, with the exception of some clouds we're going to add, is now done. All of the lining, too. We had to line two more dragon feet and I thought I was going to die. If I never see another liner that size again, it'll be too soon! So now we get to start color after this, and I can't wait. Greg Whitehead and all that.

Alix Ge added this awesome Hannya on my forearm

I've been talking to @steve recently, and we want to revive the Tattoo of the month contest (no shirt prize this time around though). We thought it would be nice to get some input from the LST community as to what the new contest rules and structure should look like. Discuss!

Hey, my Ipad does the same, only thing is that it actually HASN'T logged off like it would seem on the main page; as soon as I click on anything (typically "forum", any thread or "unread content") it shows me as logged in. No idea what's going on, but it's probably just another one of the joys of Apple ownership. The weirdest thing that has happened a couple of times is that instead of showing me as logged out initially, it appears as if I'm actually logged in as another user (different user names both times). Again it gets resolved by moving to another section of the page.

I'v booked with Thys at Fallen Heroes :) http://www.fallenheroes.co.za/artist/thys However, it's a long wait - nearly a year and I may end up having another piece done earlier, either by Bryan, La, (at the same studio) or both :o The piece I have planned with Thys is a detail from Henri Rousseau's painting, 'The Dream' and it's in memory of someone who passed away 2 and a half months ago. It seems to have triggered a tattoo-fever...

I can't comment on inks etc. because I'm not a tattooer. But, regardless of whether modern inks are more colorfast than old ones or whatever, skin is still skin. The matrix of tissue that holds ink particles in place doesn't stay static forever. http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/07/the-real-reason-tattoos-are-permanent/374825/

Justin Bieber head on the butt crack

Certainly, some artists are better at "saturating" their ink than others. That is probably the difference between your 1st and 2nd tattoo. Getting healed pictures will be tougher, as most artists never see a good portion of their work again, once it walks out the door. A healed picture can have a filter applied to it, too. None of this will assist you in guaranteeing a VIVID tattoo, of course - it just gives you as much info as the rest of us has . . .

Thinking of putting some badass fighting birds on my back, which is my other bad spot.

@Musashi yes, do go for it. I've made a good start on my belly and it looks so, so much better. The damage on the untattooed skin is less noticeable and I feel much better for it too. After two comedy-bellied pregnancies the skin was fucked. Crepey in places, stretch marks, weird stuff with the navel. I almost did't dare to get it out to see if it was tattoo-able but the women on the Ladies Thread helped me grow some ovaries and crack on with it. I think it was pretty hard work to tattoo, it'd probably have been quicker and easier if i'd been a bit heavier (like I am at the moment, the photo is older) but the colour saturation is even and consistent throughout. The textural differences are still apparent but much less obvious. This is a great thread and here's my belly

My 3 latest...

Who better than Chris Garver to fill a crucial spot on my forearm? I requested his rendition of a phoenix inspired by a line drawing in Ed Hardy's latest book, "Drawings for Tattoos." Aside from that, I told him to do it however he wants. I guess he wanted to make it perfect and pink. "Well... it's more of a coral." Either way, I'm digging it and I feel much more complete!

Took me way too long to post this. Got a pretty nice start on the chest by Chris Stuart in Charlotte back in early June. Hopefully get the rest finished at the Pagoda City convention. Couldn't recommend Chris highly enough. Great experience in the shop. He's since moved to his new place in midtown which looks awesome Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

So good! Dane is such a funny guy. When i was getting tattooed by Giacomo, he kept looking over his shoulder and telling him how much he fucked up and how much im going to regret the tattoo he was doing on me haha. Needles to say the tattoo turned out perfect ;)

Added this one tonight from Jonathan Montalvo. What a genuinely good dude.

Awesome, I always enjoy those threads. I'm not sure what the goal of the rules here is, and I realize my suggestion would likely create more complication and work, but it would be kind of cool if there were a separate contest in some way for large scale and one off tattoos. It just seems that the large sleeves and back pieces win so easily. Conversely, the big pieces win because they are super awesome and probably I'm just jealous. Thanks regardless, I'm looking forward to the next contest thread.

Yo! There will be an announcement regarding a new TOTM contest very soon! Stay tuned.

Me too. My 6.5 hour session required someone bring me a sip of sumpthin, but otherwise there is chat and mental relaxation techniques, and time is up before you know it. I discovered early on that when I tried to look at my phone or listen to music I had a harder time than just laying back and zoning out/accepting the sensation.

http://instagram.com/chrisadamek

I can see the headphone thing working,I try and "zone out" when getting worked on too,I put myself in Hawaii with my wife and my dog,that's my happy place.

so thigh tattoos heal like shit but its a great spot to be tattooed imo front row seat to the action not too painful imo and lots of size / placement options i have 3 thigh pieces lava lamp (which my wife calls my teenage girl tattoo :) fish in an espresso pot and a smoking frog have fun

Did some shading with Greggles today. Not even in the same league as lining, though anytime he gets close to that one area on either scapula I have to bite leather. That will probably always suck. But hey - since we focused on the upper body this time, I didn't have to be completely naked in public for a whole day! Bonus. I am finding that 4 hours is about the time that I consistently have my pain response start to fail. Tattoo flu every time.

Bump! Long time listener , first time caller, I'm Sinclair89 but feel free to call me Nathan First image is of me..not a pin up a haha! My Tattoo artist was drawing a thin line along the leg and it was a bit pain train 2nd image is the outline completed 3rd and 4th are fresh on on (under?) The skin shots 5th shot is it now after about 6 months with complementary batman slipper So basically I have always wanted a tattoo of a Pin Up girl but could never really decide what design I wanted. So why not design it on my wife? She's Scottish (I'm from Liverpool, England) so we went with the tartan mini skirt and bra, we had a sword at our wedding to cut the cake which my parents got engraved so the sword is based on that, and the long golden hair and big...ahem...are basically her, also comes with her little star tattoo. It's nice to have her with me whilst I'm out trucking up and down the UK all week ? This was all designed by Holly at "The Painted Ladies" in Liverpool.

Finished my full back piece last Friday. I plan to write something about the experience but need time to collect and organize all my thoughts. by Mike Rubendall at Kings Ave:

Today I learned that the posterior of my body is home to multiple portals to hell! Seriously, I kept expecting cenobites to show up and drag me off with hook chains. Whoever said the butt crease is magical sure knew what they were talking about. But the most surprising thing for me (and for Greg, actually) is that there were a couple of spots near my shoulder blades that actually made me burst into tears instantly! It was the strangest thing...it wasn't like I just bottomed out and couldn't take it anymore, it was a huge surge of adrenaline and emotion that felt completely involuntary. And just in those spots! We tattooed well into armpit territory and it was honestly a relief after those other spots. So strange. I would post the Instagram but I'm on my phone. :( it's on his page, though, butt crack towel and everything.

If I can offer some more advice, depending on how often you're planning on working on your back, invest in a good pair of boots or shoes before you start, because you might find money getting pretty tight at some point during the process and things like replacing worn out shoes or clothes become far less of a priority.

After doing a couple 5.5-6.5 hour sessions on my back and front this year I 100% agree that 4 hours is the perfect session length. Those longer session become a mental struggle. The pain doesn't necessarily get worse in hour 5, 6, or 7 it just gets really boring and difficult to let my mind drift off into a happy place. @sophistre my advice is to never go into a session too confident. Tell yourself the pain is going to be 11 out of 10 so when it ends up being 8.5 out of 10 it ends up being much more manageable than the horrors you were imagining. And on the flip side, when you end up having an easy session delete it from your memory because it will set your pain expectations too low for the next session.

...I just want to know what you were doing at a tattoo party and whose kitchen it was in.

Hello all, I very recently (Thursday, actually) got my first tattoo. I am quite pleased with it, an arrangement of an owl and flowers. It is a scar coverup, with the intention of making my arm something I'm proud of in stead of something to hide away. I've been hiding it for over 8 years, by the way, these are the first pictures featuring my left arm since then :) Added bonus? You can't see the scars at all. They're just gone. La, the tattoo artist, in fact used the deepest and whitest of them as highlights on the feathers and the beak, and many others are now bits of flower. It's amazing, how it feels to take something that you have been hiding for so very long, and to in one day, turn it into something you just want to show everyone. The idea is long in coming, with the owl being a reference to Minerva's little owl (and my love of nature). Sunflowers are my favourite flowers, and cosmos link to traveling along my country's roads. Mostly, though, it's because I find it beautiful. Fine line black and grey, with lots of grey wash that right now just looks dark, but that should lighten with healing (she said two weeks, maybe a bit more, to see the effect). This was taken the next day, so it's very fresh here. Done by the lovely La at Fallen Heroes Tattoo in Johannesburg.