Dr Benway

I can see it but imagine that is because I'm logged into flickr (?).

The way my cat was sniffing my fresh tattoo this morning, I absolutely agree with you that they would love to chomp on us.

I spent a few hours at Frith St on Friday as Valerie did some more work on my sleeve. It was a really good session and it was fascinating seeing the tattoo building up and some of the gaps being filled. I don't really want to put images up whilst Valerie is choosing to hold off from uploading custom work to the net - I will let her decide if she wants to post watermarked images when the sleeve is completed. However, I don't think she will mind me posting a small detail of a skull. She did this 'free-hand', no stencil or tracing or even an image - just some sharpie lines from memory and then she just tattooed it on. Unfuckingbelievable. By the way the attached image is about the same size of the actual tattoo itself - the detail is incredible. I call him Pablo. He's my new amigo.

Fuck yeah I was.

Quote of the year so far.

I love that front-piece. It brings to mind this recent back-piece (in progress) by Stefano at Frith St:

Sometimes pictures are better than words. This should settle the debate about owls. An 'in progress' from Chad Koeplinger: Instagram

I think that just blanket judging owl tattoos as 'hipster' or trendy is giving way too much power to the sort of people who get stupid or ironic tattoos. Owls are a pretty timeless subject for a tattoo in my opinion, and transcend the comings and goings of fashion, unlike a ham sandwich, or an ape in a tuxedo riding a penny farthing.

I got my first just last month so I sympathise. When there is a big build-up it starts to seem like it will never happen. There are a LOT of posts on this board about after-care, however I would urge you to take the advice of your tattooist. Ask them as many questions as you need so that you know what to do. There is an entire board for Tattoo aftercare on this forum, but for now this thread may be of use: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/32-best-post-tattoo-care.html In terms of preparation, I think the consensus of opinion is to not drink alcohol, to get a good night sleep, and to eat a decent meal before. Bring some water and a fizzy glucose drink just in case. Again, quite a lot said about this on various threads on this forum. All the best with the tattoo.

Last night I dreamed that I sunburnt my forearm and all the skin fell away in a big hard lump, including my tattoo. I bandaged the hard dead skin to my arm in the hope it would re-attach whilst knowing it was fucked. I don't know what it means other than perhaps I want to have sex with my Dad or something. Or I am worried about getting sunburn on my tattoo. One of the two.

My Grandfather told me that his tattoos were a secret code to other fishermen and sailors, like a weird sea-faring Masonic thing. I was with him in a pub in Dublin as a kid and someone bought him a drink. He claimed it was because of his mermaid tattoo, but the guy probably just owed him. Might have file this one under 'bullshit my grandfather told me'.

This can't be real? The guy's comments just seem so obviously like trolling to inflame and get attention.

I've seen Maxime mentioned only a couple of times on this forum, but I thought it might be a good time to give him some love on this thread, as he is due to do a stint at IntoYou this month and February. http://mxme.tumblr.com I have a LOT of time for his tattoos, which are in the same area as Tomas, Hooper, Duncan etc, but he also has his own way of doing things. He also publishes Sang Bleu and by all his accounts is just an all-round sound guy. I love that eagle skull tattoo.

Where did you hear about that? It's interesting, and it explains why people get addicted to it, and also why the freaky dream thing might not be a myth. I have sleepwalked regularly since I was a kid, but it escalated when I crashed off the vegan wagon.

Too many stories. I was vegan for about fifteen years and when my non-vegan wife and I got together I would raid the fridge for cheese in my sleep, and in the meantime get up to all sorts of nonsense. I would lay books out in patterns on the floor, speak in an Irish accent (which I haven't done since I was 5) and also draw weird pictures. There's tons more......maybe one day I will start a thread. More sleeping tips - washing your feet is relaxing, but the best way to go to sleep is to read something good, but not too good. Cormac McCarthy is too fucking good for me to read before sleep.

I envy you so much. I'm a proper sleep clinic case - last year they had me wired up with pipes up my nose and hard drive strapped to my chest. I can't sleep and when I do get off, I sleepwalk. I've done the freakiest shit. My poor wife.

Back on topic, melatonin is very useful for me, and decaffeinated is pretty good too. An open window, even in the winter, is absolutely essential.

Welcome Ben - I'd love to see the work you have by Joao - and what a thrill to get some Shige tattoos.

I felt I was parodying my own tendency to ask newbie questions in quite a self-aware way, but it WAS derailing (I was sympathising with Patriot Ink) and I know that it is the last thing our generous webmaster needs. Otherwise it will turn into a useless forum, and there is already too many of them. To broadly agree with your post, I did spend a LOT of time researching tattoos before deeming it necessary to join a forum. On one occasion I spent two full days in London just going to loads of studios going through work, taking notes, and trying to learn. In fact, one of the best experiences was the chat we had in about 2008 when I was hammering studios learning and asking questions in as least an annoying as possible. You generously spoke to me about the intricacies of my design idea for about half an hour, and helped me come to a decision about two different tattooists I was researching. Then you booked me in with Valerie. But the weeks I spent researching and visiting studios in London, Brighton and the Midlands was FAR more useful than the hours I spent online. In fact, just spending time at IntoYou in Brighton a few years ago while my wife was tattooed by Adam Sage ended up being one of the most formative and useful experiences I ever had. Three hours reading books, magazines, and looking through work, but most importanly talking with the incredibly helpful 'receptionist' was far more practical and helpful than months spent online. Which brings me back to the thead: I have found Total Tattoo to be the best and most readable tattoo magazine. I don't know how useful it is for experienced tattooists or long-time enthusiasts (although judging by this thread, it is well regarded) but it was very instructive for me. It taught me a lot about the difference between shitty and good tattoos and did not try to fetishise tattoos as some kind of cyber-culture alternative lifestyle. They did pieces on both Duncan X and Valerie that I thought were well-written, and continue to showcase some really good international work. In conclusion: Total Tattoo.

Apologies for more off-topic: I completely agree about threads turning into FAQs, and I was being tongue-in-cheek/non-serious, and had no intention of posting that question. I have been looking online about the phsyical effects of tattooing which is interesting to me but probably not to many other people, so I certainly would not have posted the question here. Thanks for your info which I certainly didn't expect. Some other tattoo forums are really difficult to use due to the volume of newbie questions, but in general I haven't noticed many know-nothings asking ill-thought out questions on this forum, although of course I am very new to this. I certainly spent MANY hours going through threads on here before asking questions.

God bless you man! I feel a question brewing about how ink interacts with the dermis over time, and how the skin reacts to being tattooed, so I will probably spunk my credit away before the day is through.

I was going to start this thread today, so thanks to you I still have one dipshit newbie act still in the bank.

Hi there and welcome. Agreed - it is *definitely* the best tattoo forum. In fact, to my mind the only one worth participating in. North California eh? That means you are only a drive from SF and Blackheart. Nice.

Yep, I'm a paleface ginga ninja. I'm so pale I get moon-stroke, especially tonight. My wife is also a redhead and our tattoos seemed to go through a very similar process of healing, and looked much the same. There were points with the flaking when I started to wonder if my body was just kicking out all the ink. It will be three weeks tomorrow, and the black is starting to become very vivid as the skin heals over. It's the best bit. Lovely tattoo by the way!

I got through the first 20mins of that pish and couldn't take anymore.