Gregor

This +1

Been tattooed by Rotary and Coil , both feel like having a vibrating needle dragged across my skin. Got my first dotwork tattoo though recently and it didnt hurt at all and healed superfast.

This +1

Nathan Kostechko
Instagram

I think @smiling.politely and @irezumi pretty much nailed it. I just wanna throw out one other piece of advice that you can take or leave, but that I have found helpful.
Pretty much like.. you don't owe anyone your time or talents. If someone wants to pay you for them then get on it, but don't ever feel obligated that you have to go out of your way to draw or tattoo anybody for free. I have found that more often than not, the people who expect a hookup or free work are usually my friends. It's just kind of a bummer because if you like something enough to wear it on you forever, wouldn't you want to support the person/friend doing that for you? The only people who I will ever give the hookup to are loyal clients who have already paid me good money and let me do some fun tattoos. In those situations it's good because, in a sense, you are looking out for each other and it's a two-way street. But more often than not, if you give someone an inch, they will probably expect that inch over again even if they don't try to take a mile.

What these guys said. Getting tattooed is meaninful in itself, there's no need to force meaning onto a tattoo. Usually it just means that the strength of the tattoo is compromised for the sake of meaning. Don't get hung up on your idea. A good tattoo has everything to do with the skill and experience of the artist you go to. He or she will be able to design you something that's going to look good, that's going to fit well on your body and will age gracefully with it. The best idea in the world will never make up for poor tattooing. Money isn't important. This is on you for life, go to the best person you can. Pick up extra shifts at work or sell things if you have to. It will be worth it.

Here's my opinion:
1) It's been stated pretty explicitly that cost is not something to be discussed publicly here. If you're unsure, check out some other shops in your area and get a feel for what the hourly rates are.
2) Take the quote out: it's on the middle of your back (if I'm interpreting your sketch correctly) which you WILL regret later if you get into the whole tattoo-thing long term. That is prime real-estate. Also, the images you've chosen probably represent what you are trying to say anyway and the words will ultimately fall-flat in time (my opinion).
For what it's worth, I agree with the author of this article regarding text on the body (you might not!):
The Letter of the Law: Laws for Lettering and Tattoos | Occult Vibrations
2) I think both of the images could be stronger if placed elsewhere. I would put one on each upper arm. I think the kite-girl could be really cool in the right artist's hands, but I don't think the image is big enough to be a side-piece. Again, that's prime real-estate if you decide to get something larger in the long term.
3) Instead of feathers, why not something like a phoenix or bird-of-paradise or peacock? I think those animals tend to make for a stronger image.
Good luck!

Sixth session, almost done! By Grez. Said goodbye to my old and very odd lower back tattoo yesterday, too.

Had a big session on my back by Marius Meyer.

2 cardinals and a blue jay with flowers
By Matthew Stella of Old Town Ink
Done Yesterday 2/1/14

Mario Desa put this Higgs flash on me last night at the Philly tat con.

Hey, so that's the only decent picture I got of my sleeve in its current state. Done in Beijing. It's been fun so far!

Wolf head from Mike Aul, pretty killer
capture

Got this super-awesome psychedelic-multi-eyed-alien-tiger colored in and finished up yesterday (black is healed). Flash and Tattoo by Theo Mindell at Spider Murphy's. Pretty stoked on this lil' guy!!
You can check the pretty colors on his instagram:
Instagram
Or check out a crappy-hotel-room shot attached! What's that saying someone said around here about Tattoos being tough to photo because there ain't no lens that can capture the magic? Totally true in my experience....

update! @Mike Panic @YOMONEY
below are pictures after two pico sessions; right before going into my third session today.
laser time was considerably less this time considering all my shading's gone so there's less area to go over. really bummed about all the hyperpigmentation though.
so after being less than impressed with the results after my first session, i insisted my dr. to really burn this shit up (he had strongly advised against the settings i requested but i wouldn't have it any other way) so for my neck, he went from 3.7mm to 3.2 and 3.7 to 3.6 for my sleeve and wrists. results were amazing but left me with some scarring on my neck. so this time this is what we did:
neck: 3.5mm // 2.08 J/cm2 // 10 hz // 2 minutes
sleeve and wrists: 3.6mm // 1.96 J/cm2 // 10 hz // 27 minutes
total pulses: 2208
for the red on Poison's face and lips, we use YAG
you can probably tell the first photo is what my Lady looked like before i started treatments. :(
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I think its entertaining . Its not pretending to be a show about the bestest tattooers or anything like that. The people in the shop are really affable. Its bubble gum for the brains . Far better than the "tattoo nightmare" type shows they are showing over here , channels in the uk seem to have a fixation for showing tattooing in a really bad light , gypsies , and poor people . Its depressing.

bryan burk dark horse, los angeles

It would have been Jeff Hanneman's 50th birthday today.

Its the approach that's off putting. Not here nor on the survey site is it stated with any clarity or purpose what the intentions of the study will be. Its a study for a univsersity paper, not a middle school report.

@deadsp0t and @Graeme you both make valid arguments. However, when I clicked the link, this student states that she is an undergraduate Junior. This is not a dissertation, this is some bullshit project probably for an Intro Psych class. At least, that's all I can gather from the severe lack of information. I also did click through the survey, but not submit my answers to see if it is statistically sound (It's not). Give me a survey with a foundation in real research when you're in a PhD program doing a real dissertation, and then maybe I'll participate. ALSO, if you are doing a dissertation or thesis or something for Grad school, then you SHOULD go out and interview tattooers/collectors. You should immerse yourself wholly in the topic, so that you can create an informed measurement of the culture and perceptions of tattoos. To me, I equate it to not studying the brain (it's structure, physiology, etc.), but going ahead and conducting cognitive tests on subjects anyway.

Nobody is entitled to have anybody participate in their research. If this poster was an active and contributing member to this forum, was getting tattoos, had experience, photos, and stories to share, then posted that she was taking this course and wanted to do this particular assignment about tattoos and could we help her by doing this survey, then maybe I'd be willing to help. Doing what she did, however, by coming here and asking us to take a survey with no indication of who she is, what her research question is, what her interest or involvement in tattoos is...what does she expect? If she ends up with shitty research because she doesn't understand what she's trying to study and how to approach it, that's on her, not on me or anybody else here for not participating.

I took the survey, out of consideration of what @deadsp0t said. That said, the survey was far lacking in it's ability to gather information from anyone who isn't getting tattooed for the Google/Pinterest flash reasons. I left a comment in the final page informing Charlotte as such, in what I felt were blunt, yet polite terms. I mainly did this so she would see it, because there's a good chance she won't be part of the discourse here beyond one or two posts.
"Try to go out into the world of tattoos. Go to tattoo shops and learn a bit. Perhaps, even get tattooed a few times as part of your research. Anthropologists should immerse themselves in a culture to learn about it, right? I encourage you to do the same."
(not all of what I said, but a short selection that summed it up)

Yeah I didn't join this forum to do surveys. However, if you have some tattoo stories or pictures, I'm interested in those.

Read these threads:
http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/initiation/3459-hi.html
http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/initiation/3468-apology-my-tattoo-study-thread.html
If you're going to come here and ask for something but not contribute anything you're in the wrong place.

If you don't go in expecting much, which of course we didn't, the show can be kind of funny. We appreciate the dry sense of humor of the British piercer, especially. Good show to fall asleep to. As much as I'm sure it is staged like all tv is--it still pretty much captures the essence of Hollywood and Venice.