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Picked this one up from Marc Nava at the London tattoo convention yesterday. Such a nice guy and i had a great time being tattooed by him. Really wish i was at the convention today/tomorrow as there seemed to be a LOT of artists taking walk ups that had time (Frankie Carracioli, for example, was in the booth with Marc and didn't do a single tattoo on Friday, at least not by the time i left around 8pm). Bumped in to a few LSTers too, wish i knew their names here but it was a pleasure seeing you all, even managed to stumble across my main man @Iwar when i was literally on my way out of the convention.

Got this one shot done by Chad Koeplinger today! The chest was way more painful than I thought it would be!

Got this done by Chad Koeplinger today! Really happy!

I got tattooed by Chad on an "easy" spot (outer thigh) and didn't have bruising even though I'm a big wuss and bruise easily. If you really want to get tattooed by him, you should!

Hi there. The skin in that area is quite thin and delicate, and that tattoo is in there. There isn't really much to be done unfortunately. You could try to find a skilled artist to re-outline it in white, but that will not likely accomplish much for you. A shadow in white will just make the whole thing seem bigger still. I recommend you just accept the tattoo as a reminder for where you were in life at the moment you got it, and move on to the next one.

Yeah, this has been coming up a lot. Calls for caps lock I think. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DESIGN YOUR OWN TATTOO. YOU SHOULD NOT DESIGN YOUR OWN TATTOO. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Please don't get that. Tattoo artists are professional artists who specialize in that medium, if you choose a decent one, they'll be able to design something that will look great and still get across whatever message you want. In general, I discourage people from getting words on them, unless it's a bold font. Words tend not to age well, plus you're going to have a lot of people grabbing whatever body part you get them on and twisting you around to read them. It's bad enough when people want to see what an image is, they're extra nosey about reading words for some reason. I would encourage you to think of an image that represents what you want. Images usually look better as tattoos and you don't always have to be so literal about what you're trying to express. Whatever you do though, you don't have to draw what you want. Maybe find some examples of the style or elements you like and bring in the pictures to the artist to help steer them, but they can (or should) be able to handle the drawing portion.

Less is more. I mostly heal dry now out of 1) laziness and 2) convenience. I just put tiny dabs of lotion on when the itching is so bad I can't stand it any more, at most once a day and seriously like a pea-sized dab or less. Your body can take care of itself at this point, there's no need to keep it clean once it starts scabbing and flaking. Any lotion you might put on is pretty much for your own comfort.

Man i don't envy you guys at all, i got a one shot from chad on the back of my forearm and it sucked. Great experience with Chad but he's definitely the most heavy handed guy i've ever been tattooed by. Saying that, i don't envy the experience but i absolutely envy the work!

Yes!!! Awesome!! Have my chest done by him and I will agree it was BRUTAL! Congrats on doing this in one shot!

Hi and welcome,do you mean you regret not having the whole tattoo done in white ? because if you had it would look like total crap by now,personally I would stay away from white other than used for highlights. anyway,IMO any good artist could easily enhance and renew that tattoo by adding some to what's already there,re-hit the black a little,maybe add some small color flowers and a little bit of feminine vines. my wife has an ankle tattoo that didn't look just right and we went to a better artist and she added some cool little things to it and retouched the color and it looks great now.

Next week is the Moncton Hub City con and it turns out John Gray (@sourjohn) is going with Sailor Jerry Swallow. Super stoked. Going to get him to put this rad Spaulding geisha in my forarm, a diamond girl on my bicep, and hopefully this german skull guy on my arm somewhere. (off his coworker Dave's sheet)

Inquiry sent to Todd Noble for a little fun tattoo while hubby and I are in Boston for the Bosstones shows in December. Bosstones and tattoos, yes please!

The horses... or the boobs? :)

@Rob I, you've got something really similar to what Chad did for me in the same spot, except mine is a panther and rose. The first line he pulled basically knocked out a whole leaf in one go and I was like on the inside but trying to look tough, I thought he was never going to lift his machine. I want a new tattoo so bad but I'm going to be going through a minor financial crisis soon and I can't. I'm just going to live vicariously through you guys and people on Instagram.

Some more on my flowery critters sleeve. This was taken before the addition of a big bumble bee right on the side of my elbow below the Freddie the frog. The bee is taking some healing but should be good for a photo session next time. Going to finish up round the top at the next siting and do some more filling in elsewhere. Some butterflies coming soon too. I can't believe how much I love it. Can't stop looking in the mirror :)

If it's any comfort, he's also ridiculously fast!

Yeah, Chad has that special touch, but always so worth it. I remember him saying that he thinks his tattoos will last longer because he gets more ink into a given line than your average tattooer. Maybe that's why it hurts so good. The bruising goes away as Rob said. Get something from him! It's a club worth the entrance fee.

You WILL bruise. But that goes away and it's totally worth it pics attached were from my latest from Chad on the inside of the bicep. Taken the day after and under tegaderm.

Thanks! So glad I'm done! Thanks! No worries! Chad is also super fast! That's also part of why I chose him to do my chest piece. Great guy! Thanks! Yes, that's the price to pay! Luckily I don't have to do it again!

the heart with the key and banner was my first tattoo,I got it in 1985,(I was 26)it was for an ex-wife with her name in the banner.it was flash off the wall,that's the way it was back then. and a couple other stupid choices from a while ago. .but now it's all nicely covered up ! :)

That would certainly be one solution to the problem of women getting chestpieces. Rather than fight the boobs, I should embrace them.

Thank you so much guys for all the advice. Think I'm going to just either just live with it as it is (I don't hate at all just would prefer for it to be a bit more delicate) or laser to lighten and have a little more work done with a good artist. You've all definatly put me off the white! As you say pictures on the Internet are not a good gauge to use.

Thank you for the quick answer.

I think it comes down to these as your options: 1) Laser it completely - Takes a lot of sessions to completely remove, which can get expensive and painful. Might not be TOO bad for something that size though. 2) A couple laser sessions to lighten it and then a cover-up - Gives you more options to work with after you break up some of that black. 3) Cover it as is - Unless you want a bowling ball or a tiny panther, it's going to need to be fairly large to cover it and not look like a cover, at least palm sized...and you would probably need a lot of dark colors to cover all that heavy black. You can have an artist look at it and see what they think might work, but be prepared for it to be much larger than you might want. 4) Add some vines and frilly stuff like @Dan said - It's only going to make the tattoo bigger and might still not give you the look you want if it's the backbone of the tattoo that you seem unhappy with...adding to it might just give you more to dislike. It's up to you though to decide if you want a complete overhaul or just some minor changes. Be honest with yourself about what parts of it, if any, you really like and want to enhance. 5) Get awesome tattoos elsewhere on your body and/or learn to love what you have - Sometimes trying to fix stuff just makes it worse and the best option is to just live with it and laugh it off as a dumb mistake. Surrounding it with awesome work takes the focus off it. Maybe not an option for you if you don't want to be a more heavily tattooed person. In that case, just try to accept what you have if lasering or a cover-up is really not an option for you. Whatever you do, I would not suggest adding white anywhere. It tends to get yellow/brown with age and I think it would just muddy up the tattoo more. It isn't going to stay nice and crisp like Instagram always shows it looking.

more of my cute 9yo sweetheart

yep,I bruise like that on my upper arms and thighs.but like you said though,no biggy,it goes away.

very nice,I like it,I have been considering a chest piece lately.

This makes me second guess getting tattooed by Chad, I take on trauma so easy that I frequently say " I bruise like a peach". That Tattoo is seriously good though. Beautiful and tough man, that is a tattoo to be proud of.

@ItsNewport that is fantastic!!!

@Vix35 have you seen this lady's white tattoo recently? White does not last well on its own, and honestly in my opinion will eventually look like a scar or some sort of skin issue. If you dislike your tattoo and don't want to cover it with something MUCH larger, you can opt to have it lasered off. Expensive and painful. Or do what dan suggested. A very good idea in my opinion

cover it with a full sleeve by a good artist.

Stock up on your Dial Gold now. FDA has banned most anti-bacterial agents, saying they are no more effective than regular soap and water. They want clinical trials, which of course will drive up the cost, to prove any of them. Hand sanitizers next. I like Walmart foaming soap which has triclosan, one of the banned agents in it. Think I'll buy a few gallons. May be no more effective than bar soap, but is easier to use and makes less mess at the sink.

or USE THE EFFEN SEARCH FEATURE! That drives me crazy when someone wants to be spoon fed information that has already been discussed to death. Go do your research and then come back and ask some intelligent questions.

Hi there, this forum is going through a bit of a shakeup at the moment, so instead of giving you a smart ass remark, I will try to steer you in the right direction. My first suggestion would be to tell us where in the world you are. That way people can recomend good shops and artists near you. That is your next step, go talk to an artist whose portfolio you like. Have them create a design for you. What you draw is rarely going to be a good tattoo. Let them help you make a good decision.

I just got my first tattoo yesterday (23rd of September 2016) and I am really proud of it.

Checked in with my artist today - he agrees that I need a little touch up on the blue and red of the flag. Decided to wait for another two weeks of healing - the spots where I had scabs is still peeling as the tattoo settles in. No big rush - but I want to be fully healed before we head off to our vacation in November. So, I'm set for October 6th - just a 30 minute appointment to finish up.

Hi there, you've already posted a thread about your forearm roses which are quite nice. As was suggested there and here, go back to that artist and ask them. Or look at the many great tattoos that come up on instragram and get inspired. Then use words to tell your artist about what you saw. Let them do their thing with your idea. Also, a compass tattoo becomes feminine when you put it on a female body. Perhaps mention that you like a lighter line weight instead of a bold line.

My Grandfathers' WWII service serial numbers on each tricep after my first grandfather passed. They each pretty much raised me.

My first tattoo was a little broken heart with a small rose I got straight from a flashbook when I was 14. I was shopping for clothes in the city with my mom and mentioned I wanted a tattoo. We walked straight from the mall to a tattooshop and picked something out. The original was a normal heart, but I asked for a broken one because I was "emo". Later I had some more rose added around it when I was 16. And then a (really, really badly done) girl shooting herself through the head with crows flying out, behind it when I was 17. At 20 I finally got some sense and had the whole thing covered and started getting good tattoos. :')

Hey everyone, here's my latest tattoo, Joker :) It's two weeks old, so it's still healing (2nd phase of sking flaking) and a little waxy. Also, another pic with how the arm looks so far (half sleeve yeey). I'm loving it and can't wait for more!

This is Gunner. He's a dork. ♥️

My first tattoo was flash right off the wall and done kind of spur of the moment (I was 19). I loved it for about ten years and then decided to cover it up. I did a lot of research in the area where I was living at the time (this was now the mid-1990s, so the internet wasn't really a "thing" yet). I just did legwork. Checked out shops, portfolios, talked to artists. Found someone I was comfortable with whose work I admired. He did I great job. I've done the same kind of research for my most recent two tattoos, but the legwork started online and ended with meeting the artist in person, talking design, etc. I'm very happy with him, and very lucky that he works not too far from me. But I'm also kind of heading into a new phase here on LST and getting an even better education about what makes a "good" tattoo. I'm reading a lot, checking out the artist interviews, absorbing things. It's been a real education and I plan to stick around so I can become even more informed. Best way to find out what makes a good tattoo? Spend time with people who HAVE good tattoos!

Just stumbled on this thread. My roadblock is mental. I’ve spent literally decades (I’m in my 60s) debating whether to get a back piece and half sleeves, and finally decided to do it. I’ve selected placement so it could be covered in work and social situations, so very few people would ever see it. The only people who would ever see it would be my wife, and my best friend who I have known since childhood, and with whom I take occasional road trips, and we share a room. My wife needed to be on board for obvious reasons, but I felt that I needed to tell my friend so he wouldn’t have a heart attack when he sees me without a shirt in a hotel room. My wife was rather shocked about the size, but she is fine with it. But I can’t bring myself to tell my best friend. I’m afraid of his reaction. I have occasionally heard him say critical things about tattoos, and I don’t want hime to think badly of me. I know this is totally irrational. He has known me for life, and has supported me through thick and thin, but I just can’t bring myself to tell him. So that is my roadblock.

Wizards and Baphomets on big fat bellies are an excellent idea. Also vultures. Big flaming panther heads. Generally tough tattoos plus fat bellies =

I consider the roadblocks you describe @InkedMumma to be subtle nudges from the universe that more patience is required. I always accept such delays because I feel they are significant to the tattoo journey, as it were. I have had them (recently waited 4 mos for appt and 2 days prior artist was very ill and had to reschedule everyone, pushing me out another 3 weeks. Aaaaarrrrgh!) I took this to mean that it just wasn't the time. I am not a bit patient, but this "hobby" of mine is teaching me about it

I like the encouragement I'm hearing .. makes me want to get my belly tattooed now (instead of "once I lose 15 lbs"). Is it hard to tattoo on fat, though? Harder to hold it still?

I'd go to immaculate in Mesa, you might not see a lot of this type of stuff in their portfolio but everyone at that shop is a solid tattooer and should be able to give you something you would be happy with. Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

this is all i need to learn how to draw a bear. also worth noting is smile now/cry later bears