Hogrider

I have a spot by my collar bone that itches if I don't use coco butter on it regularly. I would try that or vitamin E for a few weeks and see if it helps.

These people don't think it through when they get the tattoo and don't think it through when they want to get rid of the tattoo. Why would anyone pay for laser removal if these creams worked? My one problem with the article is that I've never heard that 27% of people with a tattoo want it removed; all the numbers I've seen are in the 18% range.

There's not a whole lot of middle ground with tattoos. You either have them or you don't. And most people either like them or they don't. My wife likes my sleeve, but I had my back outlined last week and it's taking her a while to get used to that (me too).

I just started my back piece last week and got the outline done in one session. One week in - who knew that a tattoo on your back would ITCH while healing????? :cool:

Tell them that if your 15 year old daughter approaches you about getting a tattoo, you'll sit down with her, smoke some weed and talk it over! :-) Be sure to take a pic of the look on their faces. Then tell them that when you need parenting advice from a judgmental ass-hole, you'll call them.

I wouldn't call them the blues, but when I first got my sleeve outlined to the wrist I had a "holy shit" moment. I had my back piece outlined yesterday and when I got home I had another "holy shit" moment. Not buyers remorse, just a "I can't believe I did this" moment. That's turned into a "fucking A!!!" feeling this morning. :-) Now if I could only stop looking at them every time I pass a mirror ...

First session with Jessie Tseronis from Sakura Tattoos in Winchester, VA. We were going to do a Kapala Skull but when I showed up he suggested this. I'm a "go with the flow" guy and I'm glad I did.

If I was Netflix I'd give him a free lifetime subscription to keep it covered!

I don't know about England, but in America you can put a no-compete clause in an employment agreement. I've signed several of them myself. I don't know why you couldn't do it for an apprenticeship. However, since I don't tattoo and have no plans to start at my advanced age, I really don't have a dog in the fight.

Me too. You've got that killer tibetan skull from Chad Koeplinger, right? I'm thinking about getting a lady head from Nikki Balls from Tattoo Paradise, I thing Chad works there too.

Kool! I was apprehensive at first since I've seeni so many bad ones, but I looked at a bunch of the ones he's done, plus he did my sleeve and chest panel so now I'm stoked.

Holy shit! That is incredible.

OK, this guy needs to go on some FBI watch list!

I think it's pretty easy to tell. i was kicking around ideas with my artist. I could tell he wasn't excited about a Koi back piece, but when I asked for suggestions, he got very excited about a Tibetan skull. He was so excited that I got excited and now guess which one I'm getting?

I wish I hadn't seen this. I love her stuff, and now I need to get a tattoo from her.

I'm always conflicted on stories like this. On one hand, nobody likes to see someone get an abomination like that on their body. On the other hand, how much thought went into this before he ran out and got the tattoo? He probably spent more time deciding what shirt to wear the day he got the tattoo than he did on who would put the tattoo on his body that he could potentially have to wear for life.

Thanks. Some great recommendations so far!

I would like to get a recommendation for an artist to do a Japanese back piece in the DC and surrounding area. I looked on the forum and viewed the profiles of some of the recommended shops in this area, but didn't really find anyone that thrilled me. I found someone I like, Josh Egnew at Three Kings, but would prefer not to have to drive all the way to New York. However, my prime concern is getting a good piece of work, so I'm somewhat flexible about how far I go.

Note to self - do NOT read this forum while eating lunch!

They give you a good, hard bitch slapping. Don't worry, no one ever moves again :-)

Just curious how other people decide what to get and where to get it. I finally finished my sleeve and chest panel. This was easy; I just told my artist I wanted Japanese and let him do whatever he wanted. I've been going round and round about what to do next. We had mapped out a second sleeve (verbally) then I thought about a Koi from about 1/4 of my back around to the ribs, which turned into a Tibetan skull, which turned into a Tibetan skull back piece, which turned into a Tibetan skull and Koi back piece. I was kind of on the fence about all of these ideas and it finally clicked into place; a full back piece Tibetan skull with Koi on my ribs. I know many consider the Koi really overdone, but I like them. I was just interested in hearing how other people decide what and where.

I think that second one is Michael Ballard from Full Throttle Saloon.

I've watched my tattooer set up when I've arrived early, but he doesn't make any effort to involve me in the process or explain what he is doing, although he would if I asked him. Asking about sanitary procedures was part of what I did before I decided where to get worked on. Once my decision was made I never gave it another thought ... Odd since I'm such an anal retentive ass-hole about most stuff!