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I may just be looking at the site through rose coloured glasses this past week, but it seems to me people have been giving good and friendly information of late. Just today I think we may have saved a woman from an instagram white tattoo of doom. Go team LST! +1 for cat healing. Derm to cat licks = no scabs and no flakes!

@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.

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.

No one ever must get any tattoo, well at least outside of Russian prisons. So if you are going to get someone's name make it bold as hell because you love you mom or kid that much!!! Or delicate and beautiful, just saying don't get a name thinking you may want to cover it one day, that's just dumb.

This. All day long: this. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well what else am I going to do with my time at work but read tattoo forums!

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.

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.

more of my cute 9yo sweetheart

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

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.

I do not have the experience to offer advice on the type of tree, but I offer my sincere condolences on your loss. I will say, though, that going with an image that speaks to you makes more sense than any advice we can give. Certainly, find an artist who has the ability to transform your feelings into art. I had a similar experience with my last tattoo. As I looked at various designs, one kept pulling me back over and over - it was that one that I gave to my artist and then talked about how it could be changed to reflect my personal feelings. If you do that, it will have deep meaning to you....and that's who it needs to impact most, IMHO.

Ok so it's been a few months now. Do I get some photos of an awesome tattooed belly to perve on or are you still deciding? Don't leave us hanging.

@mtlsam thanks man , your comment really gave me a peace of mind.

Maybe both actually.

huge new sign in front of a local shop LOL,it is as big as it looks,just about the size of that car.

@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

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.

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!

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

Exfoliation.

Better - let the cat lick it off!

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 ! :)

not so much about what kind of tree, but more about what artist has done tree tattoos that nail what you want to look at forever. Especially in that location.

If punches could damage tattoos, the UFC would be out of business.

When my wife and I met in the late 1960s, we had no interest in tattoos. We were still dating a few years later, when articles about tattooing started to pop up in magazines and newspapers, and I was becoming interested. I struck up a conversation with her about it, and she jumped in, suggesting that we get matching tattoos. I had started to think that tattoos on women were rather attractive, so I thought it was quite cool that she wanted one. But I was also quite shocked, because (I’m embarrassed to confess here that I thought this) I didn’t think she “was the type of girl would would get a tattoo!” Today, she has four tattoos, I stayed at one + some background added a few years later, until I recently started planning a back piece. Today I look at those first tattoos on me, and on her and I smile. Its hard to explain. They are still there over 40 years later, after everything we have gone through, a constant. It really means something. And I’m glad she was “the type of girl who would get a tattoo,” because I still do find them quite attractive on women, and it has been sort of “icing on the cake” for us. Looking back, I realize it was amazingly serendipitous that I connected with a woman at that time, when tattoos were pretty rare, who would want to have tattoos, even though tattooing was not on the radar for either of us when we met. I feel kind of lucky. It is hard to imagine not being with her. But if something were to happen to her and I had to form a new relationship with someone, I’m tempted to say that she would have to be tattooed, partly because I find that attractive, but also to understand me, and why I want a back piece. But at my age, there are not a lot of tattooed sixty-something ladies out there, and relationships are so much complex than that, that I’m not sure it is realistic to put that kind of limitation on choice of partner. Comments here reinforce that plainskins and tattooed folks can have great relationships. ... and @Gingerninja - Like Viagra? Yup...

Thanks. I'll post pics as we go. I figure, if it aint broke, don't fix it. He's a great guy and I love his work.

Sorry if pics are huge (although I don't think dog pictures could ever be a problem), but my boyfriend and I adopted a dog recently! Her name is Maggie, she's a terrier mix. Her owner was going into a nursing home and had to surrender her to a rescue. She's very sweet and very lazy.

Recieved this from Dave Cummings at the Montreal convention. He did an amazing job.

I'm catching up on unread items and just saw this. Awesome with a capital A.

my wife is not a member here yet,so I am posting this for her,she's my low tech babe,I will see if she wants to join here,she loves tattooes but she doesn't really do online forums at all, she has an appointment with Alycia Harr at Classic Tattoo in Grass Valley for a hummingbird & flower piece on her right lower leg,on October 10th.

Made an appointment with Darryl Hart at the Montreal convention for saturday. Going to put this nurse on the lower half of my calve. Every tattoo Darryl does looks amazing healed so Im really stoked. Hes so fast and light handed too.

Oh! i was considering a swan so that where my tummy sticks out it might look like the breast of the bird pushing forward. ( and then getting the swan wings to fold over my back.) I was thinking my sticking-out tummy might never bother me again :D

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

@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

i've got a few skulls repeating big catheads too, i'm about to get my fourth i guess...but something on it's head and something in it's mouth and something around it...so different... i said i wanted something else first but them mentioned the cathead thing and he sounded like he preferred to do that so...

I've got lots of repeats. Skulls, animals, roses, lady heads, and probably more. Hard to keep track. I think repetition done well looks great.

I wasn't into ladyheads for the longest time. And now, I totally want one.

ladyheads

I'm nailing the flower theme with roses. I only have one skull but have a sugar skull of my boxer but want more skulls. Did you all see the skull peonies that Rubendall posted the other day? Yeah, I want some of those!

I think I have more roses than I can count. A few snakes. Amazingly, only one skull.

I have many skulls and many chrysanthemums and I want more skulls

You can never have enough skulls....Or Pin-up's...And flowers..

fish

This is a piece by Justin Weatherholtz at Kings Avenue. I saw it in person. Basically, this client had an acne issue and went to a dermatologist for an acne treatment shot. Problem was he turned out to be allergic to the medication and it scarred up the acne pretty badly. Justin tattooed in the scars and used the texture of the scarred skin to create an almost 3D effect. The blacks/greys in the water....that's scar dimpling and cavities that got filled in.

Thanks for posting those photos @HettyKet and @MadeIndelible, I too have cutting scars that will eventually get covered up, so happy to see it worked out so well for you. Did you notice any difference in healing the over the scars vs. the rest of the tattoo?

Tattoo over cutting scars from when I was a teenager and in love with a cutter. The tattoo was done by Ron Henry Wells. He said that as long as the scars were over a year old, then it was fine to tattoo over them. The tattoo only covers a small area of scars, but it healed really well. The scars are flat.