scottyg

I appreciate all the feedback! I do plan to add more and more to my legs until they’re covered. I plan on getting my ferrets as Kamaitachi on my calf, my 3 shibas on my thigh, and many more on the other leg. To answer, the artist does great work I saw I liked. He has done monmon cats and other wonderful Asian inspired tattoos. He’s won awards for Asian inspired tattooing. That’s why I was really wanting to go to him. And haha hedgehogs can be very derpy. Mine sure was. I appreciate the help. I think the comments just really got into my head. 

we bought this new 2019 camper yesterday
https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/2019-Forest-River-Rockwood-Tent-Freedom-Series-1940LTD-5004668553?fbclid=IwAR34UwIoBHzGJj8BO4XJqnDjik8IFRGyuiY164c-IvHbh5iDEwgPK5nqGO4

Whoever said that is a jackass. They know nothing about tattoos and even less about being a decent person.
I'd leave the tattoo as is. I say this over and over, I think you have a better chance of making it worse than you have improving it. It's a nice tattoo. Did you see examples of the artist work that looked like what you wanted? 

Your tattoo looks just fine! You are also comparing it to work by Wendy and Tomo which are incredibly high standards. Me, I wouldn't touch it but plan to add more to your leg. Good luck!

Look at the bank account or ask my wife.

you don't ,just give into it

I've got no love for the pain: it's just three hours of pain. No adrenaline kicks in, I'm just getting stabbed repeatedly in my back while lying on my stomach naked, trying to talk as much as possible and to breathe through the pain. 
It's all about gaman: perseverance. I only ever do 3 hour sessions with breaks.
It's about the rhythm of life and integrating sessions into that rhythm.
The pain makes me discover my body in ways I'd no idea. haha.
It's about doing something for me, only me; reconnecting with my body and focusing my mind in ways I've not done otherwise or previously.
I do enjoy the me time. The ritual. The worst is having to take a shower when I get home. I just want to drink a pint and go to bed. But I've got to clean and coat my back. ugh.
My tattooer rules; so much fun to shoot the shit with him, such a great artist with his own style and yet traditional. So part of it is being connected with him and with a certain tradition which I've chosen to be connected to.
So like most long term things we go through in life, it's not so much about enjoying it. But I guess I'm heavily tattooed individual now. haha

I've got no love for the pain: it's just three hours of pain. No adrenaline kicks in, I'm just getting stabbed repeatedly in my back while lying on my stomach naked, trying to talk as much as possible and to breathe through the pain. 
It's all about gaman: perseverance. I only ever do 3 hour sessions with breaks.
It's about the rhythm of life and integrating sessions into that rhythm.
The pain makes me discover my body in ways I'd no idea. haha.
It's about doing something for me, only me; reconnecting with my body and focusing my mind in ways I've not done otherwise or previously.
I do enjoy the me time. The ritual. The worst is having to take a shower when I get home. I just want to drink a pint and go to bed. But I've got to clean and coat my back. ugh.
My tattooer rules; so much fun to shoot the shit with him, such a great artist with his own style and yet traditional. So part of it is being connected with him and with a certain tradition which I've chosen to be connected to.
So like most long term things we go through in life, it's not so much about enjoying it. But I guess I'm heavily tattooed individual now. haha

I've got no love for the pain: it's just three hours of pain. No adrenaline kicks in, I'm just getting stabbed repeatedly in my back while lying on my stomach naked, trying to talk as much as possible and to breathe through the pain. 
It's all about gaman: perseverance. I only ever do 3 hour sessions with breaks.
It's about the rhythm of life and integrating sessions into that rhythm.
The pain makes me discover my body in ways I'd no idea. haha.
It's about doing something for me, only me; reconnecting with my body and focusing my mind in ways I've not done otherwise or previously.
I do enjoy the me time. The ritual. The worst is having to take a shower when I get home. I just want to drink a pint and go to bed. But I've got to clean and coat my back. ugh.
My tattooer rules; so much fun to shoot the shit with him, such a great artist with his own style and yet traditional. So part of it is being connected with him and with a certain tradition which I've chosen to be connected to.
So like most long term things we go through in life, it's not so much about enjoying it. But I guess I'm heavily tattooed individual now. haha

@soraya You are a much more creative/profound writer than I. 
My gf's a phlebotomist and she told me the reason people are more afraid of blood draws/shots compared to tattoos is because of the difference in the needles and amount of penetration. Shots/blood draws have to go deep beyond the layers of the skin while tattoos (hopefully lol) are only going through a few layers of the skin. No idea if this is actually backed by any science but I love her so i'm going to go with it for now 😉
But I agree with people here. It's a therapeutic painful experience. 3 hours is my tipping point where the adrenaline is gone and it becomes miserable. 

This is one of my favorite tattoo topics: The experience of tattooing.
I find tattooing therapeutic, enjoyable, exhilarating, empowering, painful, agonizing and annoying all at once. I echo Dan’s comments about the importance of the process. It is a ritual of planning, creating, collaborating, preparing, enduring, healing, and loving the result. I love every part of it.
And as @Dan said, it is intimate, which is appealing to me. Not sexual intimacy, but the intimacy of permitting and trusting someone who is basically a stranger to touch you, to wound you, to permanently alter you body. You may be largely unclothed in front of them (my husband and I dated for over a year before he saw my breasts. My tattoo artist was touching them within 15 minutes of me meeting him).
The pain? I like it…No! I hate it…No! It’s not that bad!…Well, sometimes it is bad, and I hate it. But I like it….Well…I don’t really like it… blah blah blah.
The bottom line is, it is a pain I choose, no one that was inflicted on me unexpectedly. I don’t like it, but I like that I am able to endure it, I like that it challenges me and pushes my limits, And I love, LOVE the result.

I find the liner hurts more than the shading. I get some kind of rush from it, but it is difficult to explain to people who aren't pretty heavily tattooed. I've sat for about five hours in the past. It get worse and worse as the time passes after about the third hour.
Come talk to me after you've done more than 15 minutes. That's nothing. My Mom has done that, and she's in her 70s. Haha.

I agree, I put off getting my first tattoo because of my fear of injections and blood draws.  They are completely different.  A tattoo, to me, is more of a scratching sensation, where an injection is a sharp poke.  Tell the truth, I think getting tattooed has helped minimize my fear of the medical jazz.  Your mind set is also different.  You want the tattoo and are looking forward to it, whereas the shots and draws not so much.
Two other factors.  I've found there is difference in artists, some are definitely more heavy handed than others.  Also it amazes me how much of a difference there is within just a few inches.  The outside of the bicep, directly below the shoulder only feels like a vibration.  But move around to the underarm... yikes!  Feels like they're pealing the skin right off.

Hi, it is therapy in a way for me, getting tattooed is such an intimate experience,the entire process from consultation to mentally preparing and physically preparing the day before and the day of,eating good,pre-hydrating,good sleep the night before,mentally over coming the pain,to the after healing,etc,etc. is a process I enjoy.

The only advice I have is to be really careful what you do to that tattoo. I've seen more tattoos made worse than improved by monkeying around with them.

This. I would call or email your artist ASAP and then schedule a doctor's appointment, because what you're describing sounds unusual and really really unpleasant. 

Have you contacted your artist and/or talked to your doctor?

It's gross to rub lotion made from sheep gunk into open wounds. Get a basic unscented vegan lotion. 

Normal stuff for a ditch. Very common re-touch area, just try to keep it clean. 

I can read it just fine and I think it's cool as hell.

I don't know, I read it before reading your post.  It's your call as what to do with it, just live with it awhile and be sure you know what you want.  Don't jump from one mess into another.

I'm allergic to lanolin ,I didn't know I was until I used lubriderm on a tattoo,it burns.

Ah whoops. That makes so much sense. Thanks for the replies!!! Hopefully my tattoo doesn't suffer too much 

you might also try products without lanolin, which is a wool-derived product found in most moisterizers. I use Cetaphil because it doesn't have lanolin.
 
but as @Gingerninja said, make sure not to use the like, advanced formula stuff

Hey there, make sure you are using straight up Lubriderm (not advanced therapy) or Aveeno - unscented.