Hogrider

What does "refuses to let me grow as an artist" mean? He won't let you tattoo customers? Unfortunately it's his shop and his rules. If your teacher really feels you are ready, they should talk to the shop owner. Can you bring in friends to work on? It would seem that if you bring in business and show that you can do quality tattoos, he'd have no reason not to let you work on walk-ins.

For me the back, except for the love handles, wasn't bad at all. At one point I almost fell asleep. The stomach though ieeeeeeeeeeeeee! I'm not looking forward to the ass either.

Sadly, many people spend more time picking out what socks they'll wear to work than they do picking out the person that is going to ink them for life.

Way too inconsistent. Also, keep in mind, most artists only post their BEST work.

You know the ink goes UNDER the skin right? I wouldn't even worry about it, go and have fun.

Don't do anything. Of your original 5 tattoos, you've had two covered up and now you are looking to do even more coverups. This is just a recipe for disaster. Your skin isn't a piece of paper, you can't just keep erasing and starting over. Every time you tattoo, laser or cover up, you are traumatizing your skin and creating more scar tissue. I have two sleeves, back, chest panel and a piece that goes up my right leg to connect with my back/chest. Not a single tattoo has any meaning other than I like the imagery. Just my opinion, but a lot of that 'meaning' nonsense comes from watching too much LA ink and these other tattoo shows where people claim this big long sob story about why they are getting the tattoo. Take some time, a lot of time, before you do anything; otherwise you're just going to make it worse.

Step away from the tattoo!

You don't just cover over a tattoo with more ink. It doesn't work like that. In my experience you've got a better chance of making it worse than improving it. I guess you're just stuck with a great tattoo. Get your kid a coloring book. ;-)

It itches, am I having an allergic reaction? We could make up little sayings to help them remember: If you get it in a kitchen, it won't be bitchin'

It doesn't change a thing. Look up blowouts. Those thin lines of flesh color that look so nice and crisp on day one, may not look so hot down the line, especially if there are blowouts.

Just my 2 cents, but rather than just add something, think about where you want to go with your leg and think about it as an overall project. Otherwise, you could wind up adding something that could limit what you want to do down the line.

Just my opinion, but I think this is a terrible idea. The wrist area is really prone to blowouts. I think you'll wind up with a muddy mess. No reflection on your artist, I wouldn't let anyone put that on me.

Yes, if you use the search feature, you'll find lots of people with new tattoos that think there may be something wrong with them. It's why I think people should do way more research BEFORE they get tattoos. You've got it now, the only thing you can do is wait.

1) Your tattoo takes 4-6 weeks to heal. That's when you know what it will look like 2) You can't cause or prevent a blowout 3) Tattoos aren't perfect

A tattoo takes 4-6 weeks to heal. That doesn't look infected to me, but if you are concerned I would see a doctor. Is it hot to the touch? Does it hurt if you touch it? Is it oozing anything? Does it give off an odor? Those are signs of an infection.

I'm pretty sure you can't cause a blow out. You also can't prevent one and you can't fix one.

I would follow the artist's recommendation. I will say less is better. I think the biggest mistake most people make is putting too much of whatever they use on the tattoo. You just don't want it to dry out, no need to drown it. If you do some research on this site you'll find enough different methods to completely confuse you! I use a hot bath as part of my after care, which most people say is a big no no, but I've been using that method for 5 years and have significantly less discomfort and all of my tattoos have healed well with no fading. My artist learned that from Filip Leu, so that's good enough for me.

I never said that someone should worry about one single 5-15 minutes of sun exposure. What I said was that it's cumulative - increasing or increased in quantity, degree, or force by successive additions. How much a tattoo fades does depend on multiple factors, not a million ;-) but it would seem prudent to avoid the one that also causes skin cancer. It's funny how the people I know that avoid the sun almost all have nice bright tattoos and the people I know that spend a lot of time in the sun almost all have significant fading on their tattoos. Maybe it's just a coincidence. Did you know that you can get vitamin D from lots of sources other than the sun?

Ever hear of skin cancer? It's from cumulative exposure to the sun. And tattoos don't fade REGARDLESS of how you care for them. The better care you take of them, the longer they last.

Welcome. Do lots and lots of research. From reading what is posted on this forum, it's pretty apparent that most people don't. Find out what can go wrong so you aren't unpleasantly surprised. Make sure you get the best artist possible. Understand the limits of tattooing. Research aftercare. Good luck.

You won't know what it's going to look like until it heals. It takes 4-6 weeks to heal. If it's a blow out there is NOTHING you can do about it. Even the best artists can have blowouts. Calm down and enjoy your tattoo.

The whole 'don't take a bath' think is just a misguided tradition. I've been using the hot bath healing for more than 5 years and have never had an issue with healing or tattoos holding their color. My artist got the tip for Filip Leu when Filip was tattooing him.

Check back in a month. That's about how long it takes a tattoo to heal; 4-6 weeks. Tattoos are not something that you can look at under a microscope. Human flesh is an imperfect canvas. If you are looking for perfection, don't get tattoos. You can find something wrong with every tattoo if you look hard enough.

It takes at least a month to completely heal, sometimes longer. You don't know what it's going to look like until at least that long. No need for consternation yet.