Hands On

A great thing about this forum is that there's plenty of topics that have already been covered. To make it easy for you, here are the results of a simple search for the word "removal": https://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/search/?type=forums_topic&q=removal

My gem tattoo collector item - Original photo of Thom DeVita's hand on skull, taken by Mike Malone.

not to worry! the LST community has been here to let people know that their new tattoos look fine, they just need to give it time to heal, and that they're not going to die.

how'd it go? got a pic to share?! 😃

so, can we get a picture of this thing or what? too many words and not enough images! 😀

i tried.

Something a little different (i think). Let's share our tattoo related paraphernalia!! Here's a start... I got a couple masks from Chris Brand, a wooden hannya i scored at the Alamedia Point Antiques Fair and a pet rock painted by Jondix. I got more, but I'll show you mines if you show me yours. "Show me what you got!"

i'm curious. Did the artist use a machine for the back end or was it hand poked?

i'd be impressed if you could grab your martini with your toes and take a sip. impressed... and slightly grossed out maybe.

"It's psychosomatic. You need a lobotomy. I'll get a saw."

agreed... the tattoo is looking good for 1week and if it helps ease your mind, it's a good looking tattoo! it's gonna look awesome once it's all healed. i've never experienced stabbing pain during or after a tattoo. it could just be that the thick scab on the planchette is pulling at the skin when you move? your doctor may not be tattoo savy, but i'm assuming she's savy with the human body, in that she completed medical school and earned her degree. i grew up with calvin and hobbes and the line from the middle row, 3rd block came to mind (in jest!). 😃

The tattooer's bedside manner might be something worth mentioning. Tattooing fast and clean is good for everyone. It might hurt like cuss as they're ripping through your skin, but at least it's not long and drawn out! I appreciate when the artist is sympathetic (or empathetic) towards the client and works quickly, makes you laugh or feel comfortable to ease the pain, checks in to ask how you're doing, wipes gently, etc. This is all part of the experience that can make it bearable if done right or horrible if done wrong. I had one artist who paid great attention to detail, but so much so that he wiped and checked his work after every tiny line. By the end of it, it felt like he was dry wiping with sandpaper! This also added to the duration of the pain. Even writing about it now makes me cringe.

this is definitely a problem chad will never have. i'm gonna venture a guess that the outline of your entire front took less than an hour?!

Awesome! May we ask who your appointment is with and what you're planning to get?

i dunno any traditional styled pieces that represent family. elephants? gorillas? an eagle across the top comes to mind... sort of like a protector, i guess, aside from being a quintessential badass traditional subject matter. perhaps the little things can represent different family members. you can always run ideas by your artist as well... what does the artist like to tattoo?

I got this Filipino tribal collar/chest from Melissa Manuel at Humble Beginnings in San Jose, CA. I feel so much more complete! This is how it was lookin' before, after the two chest pieces from Walter McDonald.

i must say, this is the first "different" topic i've seen LST for a while. thanks! We can all agree that getting tattooed results in both a product and an experience. For me, the experience edges out the product, just slightly. I guess this is because I'm picking a tattooer whose product I've already vetted by viewing their portfolio of prior work... I'm going to them coz I know they do work I dig. This way, even if the experience is bad, the tattoo should be good. But if you don't already know the artist and didn't meet with them beforehand, you have no idea what their personality is like or how the experience will be. Tattooing involves a lot of exchange of energy. If you get a good piece of art that was put on with bad energy, you feel that more than skin deep and it sticks with you. Granted, if you didn't do your homework and you got a bad looking tattoo from a good person, looking at that bad tattoo could potentially bring you down. But that's more of a self reflection on you for choosing a bad artist and not due to the artist being a bad person. I feel like i'm rambling, but hopefully you get my point. 1) I've recently gotten into searching random cultural instrumentals to listen to while i work. This came after a conversation with a Jewish friend of mine... I mentioned that I listen to traditional Filipino tribal percussion and he said it's like my klezmer. I had no idea what that was, so I looked it up and BOOM... my new genre... traditional cultural instrumentals. I like having background noise that doesn't have lyrics that tend to distract me. So far, I've looked up music from Peru, Thailand, Japan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iceland, Hawaii, and Tibet. More to come! 2) I've been living in the Bay Area for almost 20yrs and have become a fan of the Warriors... but I feel like the Bay has been spoiled and didn't deserve this title. - I appreciated how the Raptors played and think Kawhi deserved it after the Zaza foul a couple yrs back. - Canada deserved it too, with all their fans sitting out the in cold! Good for them. - I'm a fan of the game. Some super interesting trades so far this off season! - I wouldn't mind Kawhi repeating with the Clips - LA vs LA is going to be MADNESS. - I hate Chris Paul and I'm glad he got traded to OKC to hopefully wither away.

@Gingerninja well... i'm never going swimming ever again. thanks! 😳

😉

I agree with all that has been said already. My advice for a collector at a convention would be to get tattooed as much as you can afford by artists who are visiting from out of town. You have all year to get tattooed by local artists.

thanks for adding the pics for our reference. The forearm tattoo has a lot more intricate and delicate detail... the linework looks to require a bit more precision than your upper arm. Those are some cool lookin tattoos and will work well together. you're collection will be coming alone nicely!

welcome to LST! you're correct that every artist's process, rates, etc are different and the amount of detail and coverage in the piece can have a big impact on how long it will take. the artists may also be quoting on the high side, to make sure you bring enough dough, then charge you based on the time it took them to complete the piece. again.. artists all work and do business in different ways, so it's hard to tell. artists also work at different speeds, so charging by time might not even be a great indicator. some pics of your previous tattoo and the reference pics of what you're looking to get on your inner forearm could help us provide a bit more insight.

I got this one last week from Lukas Speich at XXX Tattoo in Lucerne, Switzerland. I stole the idea from a story that Yoni Zilber retold from Bill Salmon, in a Podcast... there was a dude who saw someone's tattoo and said, "That's a pretty cool tattoo. I got a tattoo also, but mine's a little cooler." He showed the tattoo and there it was... a little cooler. 😉😉 I chose the classic Igloo Playmate, but the wording was too small to tattoo. So, I asked Lukas to add a little Swiss flag and he went with a red cross. It's kinda funny to me, as it now looks like it could be used to transport an organ donation.

😂 you looked familiar, but I wasn't sure. You also seemed to be well into the pains of a chest tattoo. Looks dope!

@Dan I thought i recognized you! i was sitting right there at the Raking Lights Project booth! I think your hair got longer and my hair got shorter. 😁 I went on Sunday only and refrained from getting anything too expensive. Chad was trying to sell me some original pieces, but I couldn't pull the trigger. The best thing I got was a zine from Jason Tyler Grace.