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My latest rescue (actually, took almost a year and a half.) 1972 Triumph Trident T150V.

Yes, that's not abnormal for work that's less than 4-6 weeks.

Hey, new poster here. After years of planning (and saving!) I finally started my back piece this week, with Nick Mayes at North Sea Tattoo in Scarborough, UK. I asked for 'the Kraken thrashing around in the sea while a flying saucer tries to beam it up'. The design did not disappoint! As for the session itself, even at a relatively short 2 1/2 hours of actual tattooing, it was pretty tough. As others have said, your body doesn't get used to the pain like it does on a smaller piece. The needle is always on the move to somewhere fresh and so every line feels like the first. I'd say most of the back was an 8/10 pain, with one or two areas only a 7, but a couple were a good 9.5, namely the love handles, lower back and butt crack (that one is like some whole new type of pain!) We will be doing 2-3 hour sessions every month or so, which should keep progress moving well. As for now, I'll leave you with what we've done so far, and will keep you updated. It's an honour to join this legendary thread!

No - I'm just talking about how the ink will tone down from bright black to flat, dark grey.

Drawing a good tattoo is not the same as drawing a picture on a flat piece of paper. Why do you think that a tattoo artist would be unable to understand you and get frustrated, but you could find someone other than a tattoo artist that would be able to do it? Sorry, but that doesn't make sense. Tattoo artists are used to people describing what they want. Find a good artist and work with them. You're going to wear this forever, don't worry about cost. It will cost far more to have it lasered off if you don't get what you want.

Yep, healing is 4-6 weeks and it'll be months before the ink fully settles in and the blacks aren't quite so dark and bold. Everything will tone down a bit.

It takes 4-6 weeks to heal, it's really best to wait until then. It will likely lighten as it heals. Welcome aboard!