DavidR

I'm where you were twelve months before writing this; untattooed and about to take my first baby steps into a new world. But that first step is a doozy. I'm not unblemished, I have my scars. My skin tells the story of my life but its development, for want of a better word, has been gradual and I'm comfortable in my skin, metaphorical warts and all. But getting a tattoo is a very different kettle of fish. It will be a sudden and significant change and if I have any regrets, I will have no one to blame but myself. I'm confident that my time spent here has been time well spent and my first tattoo will be a far more positive experience than it would have been had I never registered. But, despite countless hours of research, I've only found two artists, one half way around the world (Greg Whitehead) and the other all the way around it (James McKenna), that I would feel 100% confident in handing my skin over to. Your Greg Whitehead tattoos are special, both individually and together. Few people would ever have the opportunity to build such an impressive collection. You set your other artist a very high bar and unless he were very talented indeed, it was unlikely that his work would create in you the same euphoria you felt each time Greg put down his machines. You don't give the impression that your new tattoo is anything other than solid work. I think that as your arm fills out, it will take on an aesthetic of its own and your scorpion will play its part in that. As the first step on a new adventure, I suspect you'll look back on the experience with fondness and learn to love your scorpion. Please let us know if you're feelings towards it have changed. And post a picture :)

Hi Ugly and welcome to LST! Post some picks! I know the folks round here will be just as keen to see your old work as well as your new.

I realise I'm quoting a four year old post here but when I read that, I thought clunge was a verb. I was like "How does one clunge?" I'm amazed that after 48 years on the planet, I'm still learning new ways to say vagina. Ham wallet was another recent addition. Again, courtesy of this board. It really is very enlightening on so many levels.

Mors Tattoo Here's one I snagged off his Instagram:

Something a little bit different.

Dammit @sophistre, you're killing me! Is it possible to die of arm envy?

Why do you gotta? If you're not thrilled by the idea and your artist isn't thrilled by the idea, isn't that all the answer you need?

God, I'm so horny right now!

Oh yes, a morph! I love me a morph.

My second thought was also a frog or a toad. My first was a snail with big tits but that's just me. Can I just say @sophistre that your arm is just gorgeous. I am insanely jealous!

Hi and welcome to LST. For more information on Williamsburg, check out this thread.

@Northsider Good luck to you too. @Beans That's awesome! I agree with you about LST; the support here is incredible! Thank you both for your support. Don't forget to post pictures of your sleeves in the latest tattoo lowdown thread.

Deep breath... I've just sent an email to https://instagram.com/samuelebriganti/ requesting an appointment. Hopefully things will go better this time around.

For what it's worth, my experience of this board has been the same as yours. I learned more about tattoos, tattooers, my role as a client, styles, what makes a good tattoo (and a bad one), and what I want in terms of my tattoos from reading four threads on this board than I had in weeks of flailing about on the internet. When I do finally get inked, I know that the quality of work I get and my satisfaction with it will be vastly improved by having found this board. I too like to see old threads resurrected when the new post continues that thread. When the new post does not fit perfectly then I prefer to see a new thread lest the old one get sidetracked. Having said that, I feel that tattooing is a topic with depth but not a whole lot of breadth; it doesn't need that many threads and I think the board is the better for it. I do not feel that this board has a lot of threads and I find things easy to find. The search function could be better but that's the case for the search function on every board I've ever frequented. While I'm new, it does feel like the board is undergoing a population explosion at the moment and a lot of new threads are being created by newer members. Maybe the guidance that all new members are given as part of the registration process could point them to a sticky listing the high-traffic threads and some guidance as to which thread common post-types are best suited to. TL;DR: Don't start a new thread unless you absolutely must.

I can't get enough of this dagger by Tony Nilsson. I'd definitely have that on my arm.

Or just "CAST ME GENTLY." That would fit nicely in a scroll with an image like the one @Synesthesia suggested.

I'm not going to add much to the thread here and this certainly won't count towards my tally of "thoughtful posts" but since I don't get to call someone a bell-end very often (unless I'm talking about David Cameron), I'll bite. The guy's a bell-end. Send the OP a PM offering to discuss it with him privately and leave the thread alone. Also:

You don't mess about, do you :D

My copy of "These Old Blue Arms" arrived today to kick off my tattoo book collection.

Welcome to LST! Let's see those tats!

Hi Gianni, welcome to LST! You might find this thread useful (although it is quite old and no doubt at least a little out of date).

Hi Dario and welcome to LST. It may or may not have a meaning. Even if it does have a meaning, it may only have a meaning to the person wearing it. A lot of people that are new to tattoos try to cram as much "meaning" as possible into their designs. I certainly fell into that category when I first started thinking about getting tattooed. It's a great way to tie yourself in knots and in the end, you often end up with a really contrived idea. Hanging around here taught me something really important: tattoos don't have to have meaning. Once I realised that, I started thinking about designs just because I liked them. Contrived tattoo with meaning: I want a tree with the names of my kids hidden in the bark and instead of fruit, I want pink diamonds hanging from it to represent my mum and dad and I want one of the diamonds to be crying because my dad's dead. Non-contrived tattoo without meaning: I want an eagle!

@jen7 I just saw your back piece in the latest tattoo lowdown thread. I thought you said you were fat ;-) My $0.02: Our body image problems are just that: ours. We don't see ourselves the way others do and they don't see us the way we do. I'm a stay at home dad and the people I spend my time with are all women. If I ever wrote a blog, it would be called "Drinking Coffee With Other Mens' Wives." They're all in their thirties, fourties and fifties and they all have kids. I think they're all gorgeous but I know they wouldn't agree with me. I often joke with them that I have low standards because to me, all a woman needs is good personal hygiene and a smile. For my part, I'm 6'2" tall (good) and weigh 280lbs (not so good). I'm pear shaped so while I have broad shoulders, I have an ass the size of Venus and a gut you could surf. Even when I lost 77lbs a couple of years ago (all since regained), I still had to buy my trousers from the right-hand end of the rack. It's not the body I'd choose but my friends all love me. Love the skin you're in and get tattoos if that's what you want. Don't reward yourself for losing weight; most diets fail and what good does it do to deny yourself something that makes you happy? Get them now; you might get hit by a bus tomorrow.

Holy fuck!

Finally got around to reading the intro posts after front-to-backing all 750 pages of the Latest tattoo low-down thread and yours was a doozie! Welcome to LST!