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James Cumberland made me this Kirtland warbler sitting on a rowan branch:

First vivid hair color yesterday. Still doing doubletakes when I see a mirror :) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If it's your first tattoo, don't use the numbing cream. Rib tattoo is intense, but being your first you won't know any differently. So take the above advice above about preparing your mind and body for the tattoo and you will be fine! If you really are a bit anxious, have a shot or two of liquor to calm your nerves and take it like a champ. Numbing cream is becoming more popular and accessible these days. I'm talking about the high concentration shit that makes you feel nothing, not a light bactine spray or some booze to take the edge off and get you through the hump. People want the tattoo but they don't want to work for it. I don't agree with that because part of the spiritual power of the tattoo comes from earning it, a rite of passage. I do think it has its place for some of the very challenging spots to keep both you and the tattooers momentum going on a big tattoo session. Also, FYI if a strong concentration of topical anesthetic cream is applied incorrectly i.e. left on for too long, too much on the body it can be absorbed into the bloodstream and toxic to your system. You risk a trip to the hospital for health complications. I've heard several stories like this where too much is used and next thing the session is cut short and buddy's in a taxi to the hospital cause his vision suddenly went blurry or the heart starts beating irregularly. Tattooing isn't supposed to be a sunny time on the beach, it is raw and unapologetic and to many of us that is what the beauty and attraction of what a tattoo is. My $0.02

Yin Yang Spider (actual size) Drawn-on and tattooed by Jonny Murdoch

One tattoo artist's opinion, although certainly a revered artist. Using numbing cream is like buying the Son's of Anarchy vest and going around pretending you're a bad ass; well, maybe not THAT bad. Clearly I'm an old fart, but I get sick of everybody wanting everything to be easy. It's one of the reasons we're raising a generation of pussies; nobody wants to earn anything. I guess I'm more of a Jack Rudy "It's a good thing tattoos hurt" kind of guy - http://www.ocweekly.com/news/jack-rudy-on-tattoos-stigma-and-why-its-good-they-hurt-6459877.

@SStu As I was about to hit the send button I thought about posting a pic of the car...but the lack of coffee clouded that thought. Here it is: A 1996 BMW Z3 Roadster. I'm the original owner - ordered it in April of 1996 and took delivery of it (actually my wife did because I was deployed to Bosnia at the time) in Germany of November 1996.

Spent the last 6 days on an annual trip we make to the mountains of NC with a bunch of car-loving friends. We stay at a great Inn located on the Blue Ridge Parkway and drive the local twisty roads, head somewhere for lunch, drive back to the Inn, put up the keys and have a few adult beverages, dinner and then do it all over again the next day. Sunday was my 62d birthday - our day to start the drive home. We opted to stay on the Parkway as far north as we could - the weather was gorgeous and everything is in bloom, not to mention the spectacular views. We jumped off at Roanoke and then headed to where we stayed overnight in Lexington, VA. On the way in, we stopped at a craft brewery in Lexington and had a beer. It was a perfect birthday...despite the fact that I'm feeling ancient...spent with the love of my life. Cheers!

Welcome to the forum! You've made a bold and beautiful jump into the world of tattoos. Congratulations!!! Got my first and second at age 61 - now I need to figure out what to get next.

We are a pretty friendly bunch here that are passionate about tattooing and we're generally very collaborative.You're first two posts were a bit harsh, IMO. You want to add a Gemini symbolism, correct? Do you want color or stick with black and gray?

The artist is Christy Alexander at Blue Flame Tattoo in Raleigh, NC. thank you for the terminology clarification. Patti

Right foot nearly superficially healed. Ready for more tattoos, but it'll be a while. Had to replace my vehicle since it was totaled. Oh, surprise life expenses, how I dislike you!

Hey guys and gals. I'm new to the forum, so apparantly this is the place to pop by and say hello before starting to post elsewhere. I'm a tattoo lover from Norway, I have 2 pieces so far, and in august I'm hopefully getting inked for the first time in seven (!) years. Which leads me to my question... Ok, so I have a condition called Samter's Triad, it's completely harmless although annoying, basicly it's asthma and nasal polyps. To treat this condition I take one 300 mg pill of Disprin each day. Disprin is an NSAID, and also works as a blood thinner. I heard recently that getting tattooed while taking blood thinners is a big no-no, which when you think about it makes sense due to the risk of extra bleeding . I was not on these meds when I got my other tattoos, but I dont remember bleeding much at all. Also when I get a cut or whatever nowadays, I dont think I bleed more than anyone else does. I am really stressed out now, because I also heard that most artists will refuse to work on you if you tell them you use these types of meds. I called my doctor but he was busy and havent called back yet, I also think he has no clue when it comes to getting tattooed. I'm not really worried about bleeding, my main concern is that maybe the healing process will take longer - and worst case scenario: will it heal properly? The last thing I want is to go the rest of my life with a damaged tattoo. I am getting this tattoo! Going off the meds is one option, but then I may have to spend one week in the hospital getting the treatment done again, and I dont really want that. Help! Has anyone else been tattooed while being on blood thinners? I will be on these meds for the rest of my life, and I am NOT done getting inked.

Hi all. I'm Patti. For at least 20 years I've wanted a tattoo. Between worrying about the pain and not knowing how to find a good artist, I never got any ink. A couple of months ago I met a guy who had two awesome colorful sleeves. I asked him who and where his artist was, and he gave me her name and the LOCAL shop where she works. I sent her an email telling her my idea and asking if she'd be willing to consult with me. I figured if i never heard from her, it would mean the universe was telling me I wasn't supposed to get a tattoo. Surprisingly, she contacted me and we set up a consultation appointment. Once I got the nerve to walk into a tattoo shop for the very first time, we had a good discussion and agreed on a design and placement. I knew she typically had a 5 or 6 month wait list, so I knew I had several months to work up my nerve. But, she had had a cancellation for a slot THE FOLLOWING WEEK! I probably turned pale, but I decided to put on my big girl panties and accept the appointment. Getting my first tattoo was the best thing I've done in years! I sat for 2 1/2 hours. The pain was a lot less than I expected. I did say "Ow" inside my head a couple of times, but I stayed perfectly still. I love my first tattoo, and I got the first part of my second tattoo two days ago. The first tattoo represents a panda that I took care of on a volunteer trip to China. He actually sat cross-legged when he ate so that he could recover any crumbs that fell on his lap.

Welcome!

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for your response! I live in Nagoya, Japan and all of the above work was done here as well by the same artist - Sabado. I intend to go back to him to add more. I would be willing to move to get some work done though as well.

My dreams come true!! I'm now a TOTM winner :) Merci à tous! and thanks Alix Gé!

He's not being a douchebag. I don't know what your first post even means I have no idea what that is supposed to be, but whatever it is, it is awful. Don't tattoo yourself. Go to an artist.

When your first post is this, don't expect to be taken seriously. I kind of just said not to put anything else around what you have. If you aren't happy with a tattoo, adding more stuff around it rarely fixes the original problems you had with it. It just makes the problem tattoo bigger. Again: if you don't like what you have, laser it or cover it. Do your zodiac one somewhere else, but be creative with the subject matter and let an artist come up with a cool concept for you. What you have now looks poorly done, so if you ACTUALLY did it yourself, go to a real artist. If you went to an artist and they did that for you, don't go back to them.

Details? @SStu You don't have your ribs done? I'll admit that I'm shocked! Oh, and you will be fine. I bet that you won't even notice. <evil grin> Seriously, I bet that you'll get through it better than most. Have a great session!!

I have so many questions. First of all: Are you for real? Next: Do you already have what you have in the drawing? Did you do it yourself?! I'm referring to when you say "I did the tattoo on my forearm..." What style of gemini design? Where? Do you have pictures of the actual tattoo? I don't like the sword design. I just find it aesthetically unappealing. I don't think it would make a great tattoo. And adding more stuff around an already not great tattoo usually just makes both worse. If your tattoo looks like the drawing, I'd say either cover/laser it if you're unhappy with it or move on and get your gemini symbol somewhere else...although I'd advise against that too. I think it's way cooler for someone to get a tattoo of the animal their zodiac represents instead of just the symbol. You're kind of lucky that yours represents twins, think of all the cool things you could do with that: you could get two tigers fighting each other, two identical daggers...the possibilities to represent your symbol are endless.

Starting my 1st side piece with Pauly Lingerfelt tomorrow evening. Ugh.

1 = Certainly not 2 = Sure, or a combination of the black and grey 3 = almost anything Japanese inspired 4 = not cluttered if it's done right. As with most design questions, a lot depends on finding the right artist. Where do you live and/or is traveling an option?

I wasn't trying to be snarky, either. Just wanted to give you a heads-up. :-)

Hey welcome! That tattoo looks great! "Ink" is one of those slang terms that is widely used to describe tattoos... outside the industry. You see it used on TV a lot, and by people who are tattoo novices (not shaming!) but it isn't used that much in actual tattooing circles, except as kind of a joke. I really like your panda. Who's the artist?

Thanks, Ginger! I'm so glad I found this forum. I think my friends are tired of hearing me talk about my ink, and I'm far from tired of talking about it.

Thanks for the welcome, Dan. Yes, I'm a believer in the addiction phenomenon. I've already booked 3 more appointments for later this year. I'm working on a sleeve to include additional animals I've volunteered with. My second tattoo is a Suri alpaca I worked with in Peru. It's good for my budget that my artist is in high demand. And I'm finding that I enjoy the process, not just the finished art. I love your Joaquin Phoenix quote.

hi and welcome,congrats on finally taking the plunge. fair warning though,it's a real addiction LOL

Got back from a holiday in Jamaica and upgraded my tan. Dragon Ball by Scott Rusnak at Lucky Strike Tattoo, Edmonton, AB. FYAH BUN came pretty close to passing out on this one, stressful spot for both me and Scott, but we did it !

This was done late last night, still needs a little finish work. The reaper is clutching a human heart, homage to my close call last October.

Yeah don't use cream i used it once and felt like I'd let myself down after, tattoos hurt end of dont be afraid to take breaks, but keep them short quick toilet break and a drink of water, also talk to the artist during I find that really helps and yeah eat right nothing that will give you gas nothing worse than holding in a fart or a burp when your in agony

forget the numbing cream ,get the tattoo, you already said it,especially being your first one,feel the pain,embrace it,earn it. make sure you follow a good pre-tattoo preparation. -------------------------------------------------------- here is what I do. sleep good and don't drink alcohol the night before (or the day of), pre-hydrate the day before and day of and while being tattooed,(water or Gatorade) eat a good non greasy healthy meal right before getting tattooed, bring candy (I bring M&M's and Skittles) to eat during the tattoo(the sugar will keep you from passing out),I also bring a banana,beef jerky, and a few cold bottles of water in a little ice chest(no artist has ever minded me doing this,as a matter of fact they have liked it). keeping up body sugars,potassium,and electrolytes will help to keep you feeling good throughout the process , get yourself mentally in a good place.in the days leading up to and during the tattoo. ask for a few 5 min breaks to stand up ,stretch,and get the kinks out. turn the ringer on your phone off this all helps me have a better overall tattoo experience,and the artist will appreciate it too

I don't know how true this is (would be interested in people's opinions) but I was told by my tattoo artist that numbing creams make you tap out a lot quicker as you haven't been mentally able to get used to the pain getting gradually worse so when it hits you (when the cream wears off; generally after a couple of hours I believe) it hits you like a tonne of bricks and the pain seems a lot stronger. I had my first session of a medium/big shoulder piece a couple of weeks ago (going back next week to have it finished) and managed to last 4 hours. He reckoned I'd have had to knock it on the head as soon as the cream had worn off if I'd used it but he might have just been saying that to make me feel better haha as I was embarrassed at having to make him stop and got a bit tearful

I haven't posted in a while, but I got this done by Topper in Philly earlier today. So happy with it. This is my first highly visible tattoo on my forearm, too.

Session # who knows now, but coming to the end. 36 hours to get here. One more sit to finish a tiny bit of colouring we haven't done and to hit a bunch of the background to smooth things out. Scott wanted to darken the big wave over my ribs to something a little closer to the lower one. It's gonna be weird not having this to work on anymore, but at the same time I'm so effing relieved. Gonna be healed for summer and for the crazy shop party--boo yeah!

I wouldn't do anything to this tattoo man, looks great. Who is the tattooer?

not what I did,but what my wife did,she made this for our bar(in our house)

I also stopped riding a motorcycle for the safety reasons. I was stationed out in Oklahoma when I had my bike and "Bubbas" thought it was great fun to slide up alongside me and then edge me off the road. And, there are way too many distracted drivers....and deer here in northeast PA. This was way back before cell phones in 1983.

LOL glad that's not you ! LOL and I had many bikes over the 30 years I rode, no bike right now here was the last one I had

@Hogrider Holy shit, the way the tiger's chest is matched up with the folds of your knee...

this nice big one wasn't too bad, way better than ribs...

I am by no stretch of the imagination even half as tattooed as most of the people here, but even my personal experience has taught me that all of these things are really individual and there just aren't any rules about it. Examples: The tops of my thighs didn't hurt, really, but the outside, over the IT band, hurt like a sonofabitch. All of them healed REALLY well, though -- no scabbing, not really any pain, and they barely even peeled. Contrarily, most people's complaints about where they've been tattooed on their backs, the worst spots, were not the worst spot for me; mine was in a weird spot between my shoulderblades -- not even the bit in the crease of my butt/thigh could compare with it, and that was no picnic either! My back has also taken a shockingly long time to get to a 'settled' heal state, where the lines aren't super raised, too...it's all just depends on the person. Trying to predict what anybody else is gonna feel seems like a fool's game to me. Plus, some people just do not feel pain like other people do, and that is science fact. Anyway, this thread is about thigh tattoos, so here are mine! I'm including a healed pic of the one that @cltattooing did on me, too, since I don't think I ever sent her one! It's very difficult to take pictures of your own thigh tattoos without warping them.

yeah good points @marley mission i've also have had rough heals on my thighs. i like your comment about front row action. when I got my first couple of tattoos, I thought meh what's the big deal, it doesn't hurt! Then I got my ribs tattooed and I can still taste that salty single tear when he hit me with the shader (after lining). My tattooer's like c'mon buddy not even hitting ya that hard with the shader lol. Ah memories. I long for the younger glory days when tattoos "didn't hurt". I guess I got all the big stuff out of the way now. But I still have the tops of my feet and armpits, and damn I am terrified - especially of the feet. We say that all people are born with X number of tattoo credits. The more you get tattooed, the more tattoo credits you spend...and the more that shit fucking hurts !!

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