I hear you! My shoulder tattoo was much larger but a lot easier to cope with than my arm. It only got painful towards the end.
My husband got a portrait of our dog
I had this done yesterday. Picture is a bit wonky; it's harder than you'd think to get a decent photo of your own arm!
It hurt a LOT more than I was expecting. Was really painful from start to finish (3 hours). My husband was tattoo'd at the same time, in the same location on his inner forearm and he sat like a rock, not a peep from him
I have a lot of things in progress now and I'm finally starting to see some improvements. I've never been more proud of my work. Here's the most recent paintings I've finished, both in acrylic.
^ My first ever attempt at a dragon and second ever Japanese inspired piece. It's soooo much harder than it looks.
^ My biggest painting yet, done on 18"x24" paper.
Just had 4 hours on my sleeve Gavin did an awesome job reworking the lower half. Hopefully finishing all the black next time. Normally I eat and nap after instead I've been at a kids party still wrapped up. Thinking of doing shunga in my armpits because I've got the space.