jaimilyn

My biggest tattoo so far, scarab and mandala. I love it! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Going back today to finish the shading on this bad boy. So excited!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Welcome! I have a similar story - I got my first tattoo in March, second in May and the third a couple weeks ago tied those two together and now they all overlap around my forearm (what do we call that here, bottom half sleeve? :)) Unlike you, mine are fairly tied together- black and grey and all at least half mandala. Before I got the third, I'd also put in enough hours on Instagram and knew what I liked and what I wanted my sleeve to eventually look like. So when I was ready, I told the artist I'd chosen to be the one to do the whole thing where I wanted the sleeve to end up, but that this session I wanted to just attach those two and fill in the blank space. Other than my budget, I gave him free rein. When he showed me the proposed design I wasn't entirely sure, but I've got a lot of trust for his art so we went for it. And now I'm getting even more people telling me how attractive and eye catching the whole piece is. So in summary: find an artist you trust, preferably have an idea of how you'd like the finished arm to look (not necessary but can help clarify your intent when you're consulting with the artist). Take your ideas and if possible go see your artist in person for a consult, they'll be able to see the canvas and work with you on a design you both like. Alternately, depending on artist/shop preferences, they may ask you to send over pictures of what your arm looks like now, and your ideas. So in summary of my longwindedness, find an artist you trust, know your budget, and give the artist as much leeway as you're comfortable with. One other thing I've learned on this board: some of our tattoo choices are deeply meaningful and have a story and emotion to go with them, it's also fine to pick something just because it's pretty, you like to look at it, or artistically fits in a spot. My first two tattoos have that deep meaning and I'm always flustered if anyone asks about what they mean because the long version could take half an hour or more to tell but no stranger actually wants to know that! :) On the other hand, this third one is just a pretty design that fills the space and coordinates with the other two. It makes me just as happy to look at it as the meaningful two. Also when getting that third tattoo, when I'd decided on a long term vision for the sleeve, it was a great time to talk to my artist about next steps and how to plan for the rest of it. I mentioned one element that I really liked but couldn't figure out how we'd include it in a sleeve because the orientation and spacing is more suited for wide space not long. He had an immediate idea for how to make it fit with the rest and it'll be a gorgeous shoulder cap. I'm so excited, I just need the money to fulfill my dreams [emoji23] So, tried and true advice that I got from the board and will pass along to you: find an artist you trust. Be willing to pay for quality. Maybe you don't need to pay inflated tourist prices (I live in Las Vegas and know there's tons of overpriced tattoo places that cater to tourists and their vacation budgets [emoji15]), but there's also the places in the not so great part of town that I kid you not advertise $10-20 tattoos. I found mine based on personal recommendations and excellent Yelp reviews. I think a good artist could make you happy with almost any of your ideas, so best wishes in your next steps! And definitely post pictures! We love pictures and can give better informed opinions if we can see what you've got. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

One other option if it comes soon - you can start with regular wash and wrap for the first day or so, then switch over to saniderm as soon as it comes. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Are you in the US? I walked into Walgreens today and got two boxes of Tegaderm today. Actually I got the Walgreens brand, but they had 3M and Walgreens brand available. Walgreens and CVS websites can show store item availability if you don't want to drive around town (I have at least 5 Walgreens in a 5 mile radius here, and they all seem to focus on slightly different stock...) I just got my first ankle tattoo, first time trying tegaderm/etc and I am in love [emoji7]

Can't remember if I said this on the other thread, but your artist knocked it out of the park. Just gorgeous! Looking forward to more progress! I'm finding once I started my arm I really want it filled up now [emoji56] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It was my birthday recently and my husband's present was a "certificate" (he made it himself, it was adorable) for a new tattoo. Decided to not procrastinate like I seem to do with most certificates, so called yesterday and booked a spot for 8/28 with the artist who did my first tattoo. In an elevator today I was complemented on my stunning tattoo, so clearly I made the right choice to go back for more :) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Welcome! Dublin is definitely on my bucket list to visit Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah it took me forever to figure out that one of the legs wasn't a horse head, I couldn't figure out why he'd be riding two horses at once. Like hogrider said, it's not a bad tattoo, but it's not great. The concept is cool, I truly like the idea. However, if it were executed perfectly you'd be able to see easily what's the horse, what's the guy, and where the wings are coming from (the horse, the knight, or an eagle sitting on his back?) Same as all the other threads, wait six months to a year to let it heal fully and for you to get used to what you do and don't like, then find an excellent artist and see what their concept for expanding on it would be. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm with the other guys, live with it for a bit, it looks pretty nice. And as the others said adding to it may be better than covering. Covering a fresh dark tattoo like that will involve expensive lasering and waiting anyway so let yourself stop thinking about it for a couple of months and see how you feel about it later. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I teaching myself basic stone carving lately and tried making a small tree the other day. After a couple hours I looked at it from another perspective, giggled insanely and without saying anything showed it to my husband. He laughed and said "yeah did you mean to make a penis?" Moral: My poor tree looked way more like a penis than your geometric dotwork, which is actually quite nice. Maybe if you tilt your head and squint it maybe kinda could look like something if you're looking for it. If anyone is looking for that on your arm, there's other issues probably [emoji23] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks fine to me, and ditto to the others on moisturizing, but with one caveat - don't forget to take into account your local weather. I live in the desert, and when it's only 5% humidity, it's a little different than say east coast humidity. I plan on the morning and night application of moisturizer, but bring a travel sized bottle of Aveeno around with me all day, so that if it does get tight and itchy, I can add a very thin(!) layer of moisturizer. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If I can figure out multiple attachments, I found some examples of your design (Google!) where you can see how quality and placement make a big difference (note on some of the narrower sleeves, they had to lose the staff, and the smaller ones definitely lose detail that the big ones can keep) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Both my tattoos were designed from source material I provided my artist. The first one I commissioned was to an artist who had a three month waiting period, it was February and I made my appointment for the end of May. I sent her a PDF at the end of Feb that I'd created with all my reference material and detailed text description of me, my history, and how it all related to the end design I was hoping for. Poor girl, it was seven pages long. Beginning of March I was sick of waiting and just wanted to get a tattoo, and pulled another idea out of my idea pile (folders on my phone and flickr and Instagram where I save anything I like that I run across) and called another local studio that I knew had all quality artists to see if anyone had any openings in the next few days. Turns out someone did, and I emailed over a few reference pictures - front desk guy did a quick consult with me on the phone and ended up giving two pics to the artist - one that's the main image of the tattoo (eye of Horus overlaying an ankh) and a vague mandala-ish sort of thing that I was hoping he could work in somehow. Turns out, I love both the designs, and extremely pleased with both. A couple of weeks before the second appointment I did email my artist and let her know I'd gotten the first one, so she could adjust for placement if needed. So the moral of this is: for your artist less reference material is just fine, as long as you just want them to work up something original based on your elements (so maybe bring the portrait, the runes, an example of a rose you like, and be prepared to discuss if there's any layout or placement preferences). If it's an artist that you admire their body of work and trust them, it really is part of the fun of getting a tattoo to be happily surprised with what your artist comes up with. If you're like me though and can't help obsessively trawling the internet when you need reference material for literally anything (tattoo, hair color, hair cut, new car, furniture, shrubs...lol) if it makes you feel better to search, that's fine, just save it all to one location and limit yourself on the printouts you bring in. If you want more places to look, Google your elements with or without "tattoo" as a restriction. Remember your artist can be inspired from anything visual, not just tattoos. Good luck, be sure to post pics! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's so great that you love it, I know it was a complicated design, so glad your artist was able to do it well for you! Planning your next one yet? :) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk