bongsau

Most tattooists don't draw up the design until the night before. I have come to appreciate this over the years, it keeps the idea fresh in the mind of the person applying it and gives the tattoo the right mojo the day of. This has become one of my favourite parts of the tattoo experience...showing up to your appointment and getting the surprise of the design. Some of my favourite tattoos I've received are the ones that were not quite what my original idea was. Case and point - my backpiece. I was set on 2 fighting monks and I ended up with a single monk. He changed and simplified my concept in order to really put together an epic background and could make 1 monk larger than 2 on the same composition. I completely trusted his experience and I am beyond happy how it turned out, even though it took a direction different than my expectation. I'd suggest you go to your appointment and be open with your artist and more importantly open to the tattooer's direction. Trust in your research and trust in their experience. And if you don't like, well you don't like it so don't get it (and negotiate partial deposit return). Good luck !

the main reason we get tattoo is for OURSELVES. we don't get them for other people and we don't care what other people think. the bad vibes some of the mainstream people carry towards tattooing is their problem. the difference between tattooed peoples and the non-tattooed (plainskins) is that tattoo people don't care that others are plainskin ! your first tattoos so I hope that in time they bring you as much happiness and confidence that tattoos gave me and many of the people on this forum. tattoo has made my life experience that much richer. cheers

hello and welcome check out Jynt he's in Kowloon, right in your backyard ! I'll be in HK in October and thinking I should seek him out myself for a souvenier. cheers

just noticed my post above from 5 years ago when it was just a dumb idea in my head haha...

^ looks like a tattoo on the stomach here's mine, we got creative with the placement:

If you just want the tattoo gone-gone...2nd Skin Laser Removal on 107 Ave. Couple passes and goodbye tattoo.

Hi @Carabun you're in luck...Edmonton has a lot of quality shops and tattooers. I would suggest go *in-person* and talk to the cats at Champion Tattoo (124st) or Lucky Strike Tattoo (116St). I've been tattooed at both these joints by various people on many an occasion, you'll get good vibes and a nice experience I am sure. Really you can cover that script with anything, should be a piece of cake to run over.

welcome to LST and the cool club of tattooed individuals what did you get for a tattoo? where in Canada are you from?

haha...okay maybe beater vs Benz might have been more appropriate comparison! point is you get what you pay for. cheers

"Artivism" ...yawn

$1000 ...or $100 if you were going to get a car that you would be stuck driving for the rest of your life...would you just go with a used Kia or save your allowance and get a BMW ? the choice is yours.

Thou shalt not take ye self so seriously, they are just F***ing tattoos, maan.

nevermind, figured it out.

Placement is critical. Poor placement can make an incredible tattoo design look terrible on the body and good placement can make the simplest design truly pop. Most of my tattoos have had the stencil moved at least once. Sometimes its the tattooer not 100% happy with the placement or cut of the tattoo-edges on the body, sometimes its me wanting the placement tweaked ever so slightly. My tattooists have all been happy to oblige, but I also get a free pass because of the volume of tattoos I have; they appreciate how important placement is when you're running low on space. My tattoos in the last few years have become increasingly more of a challenge in terms of fitment, so stencil placement is crucial (and a fun part of the process) and I will only get tattooed by people who understand and respect that. I made my tattooer re-stencil something 8 times because it didn't look aligned with adjacent tattoos. He's a close friend and made a lot of my tattoos. But I think most would have been bounced da fuq out of the shop lol. In the end we nailed the placement and I got a sweet tattoo but also wicked razor burn from wiping the stencil off repeatedly :p So I echo the above comment...stencil placement is a collaborative part of the process. So speak up if you are not OK with stencil placement. However I would lean on the experience of the tattooer in most cases. Trust in your tattooer to make you and your tattoo look good.

idk looks like you got what you asked for ? i think it looks cool and minimalist. we often make the mistake of wanting a full area filled in - prioritizing ink coverage over subject matter. looks like you got a couple nice open spaces to put in different tattoos, ideas are endless and they don't all have to blend. i like it when different styles and subjects melt together, it looks interesting. you can put some b&g roses, traditional tattoo designs, add some colour, cool japanese style tattoo to fill in the space, a snake, and and and... i would do some research and find some illustrative woodblock print references for ideas. don't need to rush, take your time until you find the idea that 'sticks'.

TuPac backpiece with all the elements and details...go big or go home !

My guess is Folliculitis - infection of hair follicles. Take antihistamines and soak in an epsom salt bath. Dry heal until the bumps go away.

just looks like irritation and scabs from pounding in a lot of ink in a small area with a heavy hand. i'd give it a few more weeks, i'm sure the scabs will eventually settle down. i've had tattoos look way worse when (dry) healing and they've turned out just fine. sometimes they heal like butter, sometimes the healing is more painful than getting the tattoo made. what are you applying to the tattoo during the healing? sometimes ointments and lotions can irritate the skin. think about it...would you put lubriderm on a cut?

it looks like 4 different tattoos

get an upside down cross ... because the tattoo is for you :p

oh...and next time don't keep yourself tensed up. here's a hot tip...focus on keeping your feet completely 101% relaxed and the body will follow. Doesn't matter where you are getting tattooed. Try it !

@Freddie 3 hrs on the side of the pec / nipple / armpit / rib is F***ing savage. So I wouldn't get too hard on yourself. And judging from the tattoo you got there is a lot of lines overlay on lines and a big friggin area, so it's not like you got a break from the sharp sting of the liner by a big mag covering more surface area. OUch man. You did it! Congrats on popping the tattoo cherry. And welcome to the world of being a degenerate unemployable filthy tattooed human being (joking haha).

i'm not spending big bucks on big tattoos anymore...so i decided to venture down the unnecessary and slippery slope of stockpiling car parts so i can boost up my Evo. Today's impulse purchase...a custom Hanya Mask weighted shift knob...WTF!?!...perfect compliment to my Japanese race car haha thank you internet and I will see you in the mail in a few weeks my precious lol

I got this flaming owl tattoo from Jon Gray in 2013. It was a piece of his flash that I liked and he was doing a guest spot in town. After I booked in a time to get this owl, I found out someone very close and influential in my life was dying and then he passed away. I was the pall bearer at his funeral a few days before receiving this tattoo. It was simply unique owl tattoo flash that I liked. I then discovered the owl can be a symbolic messenger of death...the whole thing then took on a new meaning in light of what was going on in my life. It is by no means a memorial tattoo, just an eerie coincidence and a reminder that everything (life) is temporary. I guess a lot of my tattoos are about death - in the sense that they are markings symbolizing and a creating a personal rebirth of sorts.

The design may show some character (your words) and is artistic...but it has a very loose shape and no details to give it the longevity as a tattoo my opinion. All tattoos are going to fade. But tattoos made with a solid outline are still going to hold their shape and contrast on the skin once the colours start washing out. There is ample discussion on LST and the internetz about the merits of watercolour design in tattooing and everyone has an opinion. At the end of the day though...if you love the design, go for it! That's what it's all about.