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Day 1 of 2 down with Chris Crooks in Belfast. We did the lower left leg, tomorrow upper leg to tie into the backpiece. Will keep you posted.

Just booked my second Tattoo at Dead Presidents Lounge in Albany. Will be getting a modified Sailor Jerry as a memorial to my grandfather who recently passed away. The banners will be changed and he’s going to move the ship up and try to get the full ship in. It will be on the back side of my forearm. I attached the reference picture and a picture of the 1st piece my artist did for me.

It sounds like he only was asking 3k because you were impatient and wanted him to work on a Sunday, unless I misunderstood? That said, the price is the price. It's up to you if that's worth it or not. "Too much" is an opinion. If you want someone more expensive to do the tattoo, it's worth waiting and saving up money to have it done the way you want it, imo. A different artist can always touch up something later, but I would just embrace what you have, which is solid. You risk ruining it by having someone else get their hands in it.

Get the work you want the first time and do your research BEFORE not AFTER diving in. I would stick with the piece as is and respect the artists work as it is or was done. Also good work ain't cheap and cheap work ain't good so make your decision based on what you want not what you want to pay; save the beer money and buy the champagne I always say.

Your guy's work is alright but it isn't as detailed as some of the other portfolios you linked to, which is probably why he can do it in 4 hours and they can't. If you don't want tons of detail, that's fine, it just depends on what you're looking for. In my opinion, those last two you linked were the best artists out of the bunch for what you want, but it's all up to you and what you find aesthetically pleasing. I also personally think it's kind of silly to look elsewhere or pay extra just to have it done by someone as soon as possible. If you like your guy, stick with him and wait until he can do it. It's only a few months of waiting out of your life, don't go with someone you don't like as much or pay double just because you're in a rush.

Hey Folks- I am a filmmaker and tattoo enthusiast. I've been going to the Greenpoint Tattoo Company in Brooklyn, New York for five years now and the owner (John Reardon) and I have always joked about Parks and Rec set in a tattoo shop. Well, we made it- albeit in web series form. It can be seen here for free: Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 There is a bit more information and a binge watch version on www.inkincshow.com. It stars a few other tattooers and plenty of weird clients. We really wanted to stay true to tattooing and expose some of the more annoying things artists deal with on a day to day basis. I hope you enjoy it.

Full back finished and back of legs in progress over 6 trips. Each trip is 2 consecutive days of tattooing, on average 7 hours per day.

@Acedia W H O A ! Amazing. You are tough!!

Wow this is amazing Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thats so sick! How long does something like that take? How long sessions do you have?

Day 2 down. Here's a quick video of the progress, I'll share some pictures asap. I'll be flying back in during the summer to get the colors in. http://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5a4d38dcaf92c/VID_153460411_221435_639.mp4

Well, everybody is different and every time can be different. I didn't have much pain doing my first chest panel and even less on my second one. The first time I had work done on my stomach it was awful, the second time, it was nothing. I've heard about how awful the back is for some people, but other than the love handles, I had very little pain getting my back done. At one point I almost fell asleep. I've found that after the endorphins kick in, it's much less painful, so you'll be OK.

Awesome!

Yes, people do it all the time. I wouldn't only because the skin is going to be really sensitive the next day, but there is no reason you can't or shouldn't.

So good! Sent from my Le Pan TC802A using Tapatalk

First you say he said 4 hours, then you have an appointment for 5 hours, then you agreed to 2 sessions of 2-3 hours which could be 6 hours, then back to 4-5 hours max. There is a lot of difference between 4 hours and 6 hours. You really seem all over the place here. Throw in OCD and it is a recipe for disaster. My opinion is forget about fixing it later. I think you are as liable to make it worse as you are to make it better. Get it done right the first time. Pick an artist, don't be in a hurry, make a decision and don't second guess yourself. I still don't get what the rush is??

That's between artists. Some things non-tattooers don't need to know, we just trust and respect the artist and the craft. We don't talk about trade secrets on this forum for that reason.

^ I'm going to take a wild guess and say that wasn't done in a shop. The overwhelming majority of tattoo infections come from the person administering it, especially in the case of tattoos given outside of a clean shop, or within the first couple days of having it when the skin hasn't scabbed yet. By this point, your skin has probably made enough of a protective barrier to ward off infections. I would just give it a good rinse after you're done so any sweat doesn't pile up on it and make the scabs slosh off. You want to leave the scabs alone until they fall off on their own. I would suggest, as I do with everyone, decreasing your lotion. I only use tiny dabs of lotion maybe once every few days to make myself more comfortable as the tattoo gets dry and peels. That's really all the lotion does: it moisturizes to reduce itchiness and cracked skin. Your body can heal itself just fine and sometimes too much lotion can delay the healing process.

The fastest guy I've been tattooed by is Chad Koeplinger. He did basically my whole inner bicep in under 2 hours, and a good chunk of that time was bullshitting about movies and stuff. If he had just hunkered down and done it without talking to me and everyone else in the shop, he could have banged out the whole thing in like 30 minutes. Personally, Chad is one of my all time favorite tattooers and I was thrilled to get anything by him, so the time really wasn't a factor to me. I will say he was also the single-handedly most painful guy to tattoo me, and he does have that heavy handed reputation. The very first line he pulled was basically an entire leaf to my rose in one go and I thought to myself "Holy hell, I don't know if I can take this for very long." His lines are loooong and he goes hard. I'm not sure if that's due to his speed or just the way he does things though. In your case, I would be skeptical about anyone getting that black packed in that well and all those details in 4 hours. I think he could lay the ground work in that time, but I imagine you'd have to do another session to get in the kind of details you want. Especially since chest tattoos are notoriously painful and you might have trouble sitting well. That said, some guys with a lot of experience and confidence are just quicker. Whatever they're comfortable doing to get me a good piece is fine by me. Ultimately I don't think speed matters, it's just about the work itself. Any links to their portfolios?

So, Garver only books a few months in advance, just saying. :) Mike is a little longer but see if you can get in at Pagoda convention in August which is SO MUCH CHEAPER than NYC! O'Donnell only books a few months in advance, too!

If you have been satisfied in the past why would you worry about not being satisfied this time? You've got someone who you've worked with, you trust and are satisfied with; what is the big hurry that you can't wait until he is available? I don't get the whole speed thing; either he is good or he isn't. I don't know, maybe I'm missing something here.

So I don’t know if it was a good idea reading about the pain of getting the back tattooed😬😬😬 however mine starts this Thursday!! wish me luck 😬

As 2017 is ending soon I'll post a final pic of the progress we made on my dragon backpiece this year. First session was march 31st, 7 sessions overall with about 22 to 25h so far. Probably won't be able to keep that pace up in 2018, but let's see how it will turn out... Best wishes and happy new year to everyone

Really stoked. I had a consultation on Tuesday for my second tattoo at Enso Tattoo in Columbus, OH. Went great, really looking forward to it. He said he prefers to keep sessions to 3 to 4 hours and that mine will be 2 or 3 sessions. From what I've read, my artist is no nonsense and puts in a good hours work. Waiting to hear back for my first appt. It's going to be a color half sleeve asian tiger on my left arm. Below is the reference print I gave. Looking forward to posting pics of the progress.

I can see the progress but it’s on my back so don’t see it every day.

I finished my back 9 years ago and it hurt like a bitch. I prefer the traditional look anyway, but they tend to go a lot quicker too. Which is always a plus. Richard Stell did this in only two sessions. The first one was about 4 1/2 hours and the second was 10. Picture taken 10 minutes ago...

Here is a shot of my back all healed and settled. Started and finished in 2017. Done by the one and only Eric Perfect in Philadelphia, PA.

Howdy everyone! I've been lurking since March. I found the LST forum when I was planning my back piece. The back piece experience thread and the ladies thread were instrumental in my prepping and planning - I especially appreciate the insights of GingerNinja! So thank you GN and everyone else on this forum! My favorite style of tattooing is blackwork and I look forward to being completely covered someday. I'm starting with places that stay covered at the office [emoji12] and will move on from there! I just finished my back piece Saturday and will probably move on to one of my legs by next winter. This was done by Hira Lupe at First Class Tattoo in NYC. I'm not putting my butt on the internet [emoji16]so here is a side view: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As of yesterday! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

whoa, you folks weren't lyin! The back is tough! I was disappointed that I was only able to sit through 4 1/2 hours. It was done by Ian Lutz who tattoos in Denver CO. He was in my hometown (Pittsburgh PA) guesting at a local shop, so we were able to start this project on my turf. Next sitting is in January at his shop, World Tattoo. LOTS more to go, but excited for the journey. Also...the outline on the love handles?!?! HOLY HELL! I never knew pain like that existed lol i have my inner thighs/feet/chest all done and i didnt think pain could get much worse but WOW!! i could have almost passed out when he was hitting those spots. I felt like such a baby!!!