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stop looking at it so close, it looks great ! let it finish healing and enjoy it.

Finished my upper arm this weekend at the Richmond convention with the (holdout) inner bicep area. Thanks, @darcynutt! She did the outer/shoulder portion of it last year at the convention, and I booked her Saturday to go ahead and finish all the way around. She made it look like it was all done at the same time, and I'm thrilled. She once again used my own aquarium fish in the design.

Looks fine! Remember that it's a tattoo and not a drawing on paper - skin is a much trickier medium to master and things like that are common. I'd suggest trying not to worry about it. Maybe check in with your artist in a month, but there isn't a whole lot that needs to be done so soon after the initial appointment.

Chris Anthon put put this Fudo Meow-O on me. I love him. That is all.

Hi everyone, I've been lurking for a while and finally decided to join. At the moment I have only one tattoo (just got it 6 days ago) but plan on getting many more. I like mainly American Traditional (Sailor Jerry) tattoos.

Not really sure where to put this so Ill just put it here. Sorta related to my Fudo Meow tattoo. This is Chris Anthon tattooing me at the Hub City Expo 2 nights ago, taken by the local news paper.

If this was the artist you have most of your work from I'd say stop asking us and ask him/her. Say you admired the tattoo and placement and wondered about getting something similar.

Time for some shading touch up on my eagle/flag - in the chair at 4 on Thursday afternoon. Woo hoo!!

Great meeting you there, and it was cool to hang out with you and Mark!

It looks nice. You're over thinking things.

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i would be patient until your tattoo is healed, sometime blow out and stuff can die down when your healing process is complete!

When I first read this thread, my initial thought was "how doucehy to copy someone else's tattoo that way." Then I realized you weren't the first... and now I think it's even worse. If you want that tattoo, that's your business. But as you can see from the above photos -- finding the original artwork is far less important that finding an artist who can properly pull it off. Some of the above are really bad.

The start of my geometric sleeve, going back for more next Wednesday!

but i think this is the original image you are looking for

Japanese dragon sleeve by Scott Ellis is finished!

Got this from Chad back in July at Inksmith. My only complaint about the tattoo is that he didn't start until about an hour and a half after my scheduled appointment, and he even made the comment about being known for starting tattoos late...he was basically just shooting the shit in the shop, so it wasn't like he was finishing up someone else's tattoo. Other than that, it was a great experience and he's a really cool guy to talk to. I'm planning on moving up to Chattanooga next year and was a little concerned about finding a tattoo shop in the area...when he informed me that he was opening one in Nashville next year, I was elated.

@a_beukeveld nice ones ! Jon Gray is the man ! Chris Anthon does some sickies too. cheers

Thanks everyone. I do have a tendency to over-analyze everything. I do love the tattoo, tiny imperfections and all, and look forward to getting many more from the same artist. I think the best way to stop stressing about this one while it heals is to plan future ones

I have a similar design (conceptually) with potted thai peppers on the outside of my calf. I'm happy with the placement but of course it will depend on how big you want the tattoo and how big you are. Could make for a pretty cool tattoo.

it's a cool design for sure,you don't want that exact tattoo unless he hasn't done that as a tattoo yet,but it's a good base to show what you want. a good rule is "go big or go home",anyway,go bigger than you think you want,you will appreciate it later. on " inside of my heel/ankle area " IMO it would be too small.

It'll work fine. Its a nice design. Talk to him about your concerns with placement.

Yup.

Update: Redness and swelling all gone now (started improving last night, 48 hours after) and I emailed my artist, who assured me that this can happen in the upper inner arm, especially after having been worked on for so long. Now the tattoo is healing normally under my trusty layer of Tegaderm (that has been on the whole time, since a few hours after getting it done) and we're back to what I'm used to. My poor boss (a surgeon - we see so much MRSA and other difficult infections) was CERTAIN I had a terrible infection and was terrified for me yesterday, insisting I start antibiotics, but I reassured him, and now he can see it is fine. Cool thing is he's getting an education about healing tattoos from me, since he has zero understanding about any of it, lol.

Nice!!! I don't see any areas that need touching up. Those little bits of "blowout" will 99% likely fade away to nothing. I Love the tattoo. Enjoy it. Don't worry about the tiny stuff. It was made by a human not a robot. Nothing here to worry about!

As everyone else has said, it looks great!! Remember that it takes at least 6 full weeks for your skin to fully heal after the trauma of tattooing. Let it happen. Also, remember that your tattoo is unique to you - an imperfection, even very small ones like you've pointed out - just make it truly yours and a one-of-a-kind. We have a totally custom-designed house - a one-off designed by an architect and then custom-built. There are a few imperfections that cropped up along the way....and we love and celebrate each small "ooops." I think your artist did an amazing job. By all means talk to him about your tattoo...and I wouldn't hesitate to have him do another piece, if I were you. Be proud of your eagle and flag!

Aesthetically speaking, there is too much going on. I mean, you have multiple languages/alphabets in one tattoo. There's no clear idea or theme here. Also, what is that scary looking monster face?

My first tattoo is a traditional eagle with American flag. Planning on adding smaller tats around it though. So much wasted space

Heel, sure Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I recently read about this white tiger,. His name is Kenny and he's an inbred, he also has an inbred brother called Willie. Search for Kenny the inbred, its a good read if you are interested in animal rescue etc.

3\4 sleeves for me, although they are somewhat pieced together.

So about the bun-twitching.. honestly, my best bet has to been to just keep it clenched. Sounds dumb and hilarious, but that's all I've been able to do to keep it from jumping up into the needle. Kahlil and I have had many laughs about the rogue jumping asscheeks, and he said he basically had to keep the muscle contracted the entire time to keep it steady as well. Hope that helps

@LizBee So beautiful!

Heather Bailey did this one for me a few months ago. Inside the upper arm is a fun area.

Jon just knocked these out on my arms last night. Really stoked. I felt so sick that day, so Im glad I was able to power through it. Just chugged apple juice and soda to keep myself concious through it all. Thankfully arms are easy spots for tattoos, and my arm was asleep for the diamond lady because of the awkward position, so it didnt hurt that much. Getting a Fudo Myo-o cat by Chris Anthon today. Will post photos latter.

Not a big fan of the no outline tattoo. Conventional wisdom is that they don't age well. Something to consider. If you tell us where you live maybe we can suggest someone in your area. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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.

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!

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

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.

The koi and dragon is a great image. There is a Chinese legend of The Dragon Gate, where the koi that ascends the waterfall and reaches the peak is transformed into a dragon. In Japan, the koi repressents hard work, dedication, and confidence. The koi s a symbol used on Boys Day, in hopes that your sons would be like the koi. The koi swimming the waterfall and being transformed into a powerful beast repressents over coming obstacles in ones life and attaining greatness and success through hard work and dedication. The dragon ascending into the heavens repressents success in life. I think you should have the koi on your forarm and dragon on you upper arm. Its a beautiful image, and great story. The hannya repressents anger, jealousy and sarrow, and can be used as a symbol of change, (usually paired with maple leaves for this reason) a repressentation of the full swing of human emotion, (sarrow and mourning to bitter hatred and jealousy) or the dark side to something that was once beautiful. As far as motifs go it doesnt really fit. Id leave it out of your sleeve and get a seperate one-point style hannya elsewhere on your body. But this is just my western impression of the info I have. I encourage you to do your own research. I can see the tattoo now, with the koi on the forarm paired with rocks, water and sea grass, transitioning to the dragon on your upper arm paired with clouds and whirlwind. Really beautiful.

I have always liked both. i really like the "flash style" with some unique filler. but nothing that takes away from the individual pieces. this is a cool idea with like fishscale filler. (not my tattoo)

I've got a few to add to this thread:

Lets go with a few more what the heck: Becca Gene Bacon at The End is Near in Brooklyn with the fish rose morph. Becca is really nice and hit homeruns daily. Rob Ryan with the Hand of Glory and Mandala Big Cat at Electric in Asbury NJ. Rob is a super fast and as nice as they come. Steve Boltz with a flying fish at Smith St. in Brooklyn. What a great shop and Steve was filled with great conversation. I thought it was the coolest thing sitting down and having lunch with Steve after the tattoo. Gotta get back to Smith. Sheila Marcello with this flying lady head on my collarbone. Sheila rocks. Electric in Asbury. Rob Ryan again at Electric with some fish mandala knee magic. Lastly I traveled to Maryland to the Wheaton Tattoo Paradise shop to get this fiery eyed lady from Chad Koeplinger on his 50 state tour. Got to meet a lovely LST member as well. A blast of a day (though way too much of it was spent in a car lol). Anyway - love these picture heavy threads with cool tattoos so...lets keep going.

I love that traditional work! My next will be some version of a traditional eagle.

Not on me (I wish!) but I couldn't resist posting this here. https://instagram.com/p/2XMZmTnXSj/