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Greetings! I've been lurking for months, and figured maybe it's been long enough to start getting creepy. So, here I am, all registered and introducing myself. I'll try to keep it shortish (I tend to be long-winded in text). I've always been fascinated by tattoos, and got my first one as a gift for myself just after my 18th birthday (very conservative parents - no way would they sign off earlier). It was done by a popular local shop and I was pleased at the time, but it did not age well (as no small lettering in another language will), and I got tired of translating it for people pretty quickly. Lesson learned. It was on my right shoulder blade, and I got two more done before I stopped tattooing in my early 20's. My then-boyfriend/now-husband is not a big fan of tattoos. Jump forward 20 yrs, and my husband encouraged me to go ahead and get another tattoo if that's what I wanted. I think he realized I wasn't just going to stop thinking about it. I warned him that if I started again, I probably wouldn't stop, and still waited until my 40th birthday to get my fourth tattoo. That was nearly 2 yrs ago, and I've gotten five more since (plus my first one covered up, so six), with an appointment for another tomorrow. They make me happy. :-) Here are the most recent pieces (all on my forearms except the snake/quill, which is on my right outer calf)...tomorrow I get a lace/rose piece of some sort (won't know exactly until I get there) for the opposite side of my skull cameo forearm. I'm pretty excited to see what the artist (Andrew Hauck/Ghosts of Grace Tattoo Collective) has drawn up for me! Thanks for letting me join - nice to "meet" you.. .

this is not really the place to do school projects . go get your first tattoo and then you will have an experience to take the survey about. there are probably other online discussion forums better suited for your survey.

Hello my name is Mark and i am looking for Some advice what to do whith my left sleeve because i don't know what to put on THE remaining area.

baby's first blastover BLACK SCORPIO Started the 2nd layer with tattoo no.42 made by the one and only Shawn Hedley at Champion Tattoo in Edmonton, AB, Canaduh

Long term lurker like most I'm sure. Shelled out a date with Jason Kundell for some leg work in February.

Wrong thread / wrong site / good night

Today was a pretty good day thanks to Kurt Melancon at Leviticus in Minneapolis.

We had an issue with the site this am so had to roll back to an earlier backup - we lost any posts that were made earlier this am - sorry about that.

Welcome to LST! Nice looking work you have there - who did it?

ah the ol' Rule of Nines ! thx for bumping this thread ...i estimate I'm at least 80% ... checkboard man claims 95% ... i dunno you tell me on a side note...i started my 2nd layer yesterday ! so to answer the original thread question, nah I'm not bummed at all the closer i come to "completion", it isn't bittersweet at all. In fact very much the opposite. Now there is another dimension and this stage in my tattoo project and that is new layers and density. The more I get tattooed the more I realize that my tattoo project/journey is not at all about the finish line but about the moments/events/tattoos along the way - just like life...yes, birth and death but life is about living - the events and moments in between.

i dont know what you should put but have fun with it :) i got some gaps on my arms too - ditches and elbows and some smaller spots i'm gonna just keep chipping away i myself like a little negative space in there kinda dislike when people go stars and dots to 'sleeve it' anyway - looks like you got some cool stuff already enjoy the ride!

I understand that there was a problem with LST and they had to restore forums from a backup, so some posts from yesterday were lost. Sooooo....I'm going to repost something that I thought would be useful to people here.... I found this diagram while looking for methods for estimating % of tattoo coverage. It is used by medical people for estimating burn percentages. What I found interesting was that if you are totally covered except for head, neck, hands, feet, and genitals (as in a traditional Japanese body suit) you are "only" 75 percent covered. People will say things like "Oh, I'm about 95% covered." But that would mean (for example) that everything was tattooed except their face, which is pretty unlikely. I guess that when we estimate coverage we tend to exclude the head and palms and bottom of feet from the estimate. @mtlsam commented on my original post that probably percentage is generally based on "tattooable area" and that the folks with traditional Japanese full suits are entitled to say they are totally covered. I agree with the concept of "tattooable area." If my plans for a Japanese back piece (including butt cheeks and upper thighs + partial sleeves and upper chest) reaches fruition, I would be at about 35% using the whole body as a basis for calculation, or about 45% based on the % of "tattooable area" approach.

beyond recommending a shop or artist there is not much advice we can offer. sure we can say place it this way or that way, or make it this size or that size, but at the end of the day these are decisions you should be making with professional tattoo artist.

@sophistre i just spotted your back on IG.... m-i-n-d-b-l-o-w-i-n-g!!!!!

Pictures would help - but have you gone back to talk with your artist about it? That's always the best way to go when you have an issue - it will be much easier for him/her to make a recommendation than us.

YES! Here's mine from Theo Mindell, Spider Murphy's tattoo, healed:

Third session on this demon samurai by Nikko at the Bay Area Tattoo Convention

Let's keep this momentum going! My panther vs. snake by Bailey Hunter Robinson. This tattoo just celebrated it's 5th year looking out at the world. Done in one sitting with about 4 hours of tattoo time, while Bailey was still in NYC. This was my first big tattoo, and I'm still stoked on it everyday!!! Play on LST.

ok - I'm gonna be first to enter with my Robert Ryan Mandala Leopard which resides on my stomach - hopefully the leopard can qualify as its the closest thing to a panther that I have - no hard feelings if it doesnt meet the qualifications - done at Electric Tattoo in Asbury Park NJ - if you havent been tattooed by Robert or been to Electric - well...you're missing out - luckily I live only short drive from the shop - anyway - here you go...btw - this tattoo also made his awesome book - The Inborn Absolute :)

do you have an artist in mind? that is much more important than choosing the perfect google image/ stock photo to use as reference.

i dont like the shadow. keep it simple. if we are using google image as reference i would get something more like this: also make sure you go to a good artist or it might end up looking more phallic than you want.

Aldo is finally healed, love it :D

I was staring at this when it came up twice today on instagram, and of course it is on an LST member!!! Awesome, you are very much winning today :)