joakim urma

@gougetheeyes At first I thought it was tattoo slang for some kind of japanese underwear, the thong type, that you would wear to the studio as to feel more comfortable while getting your ass tattooed.

@HettyKet I do understand your idea of wanting your tattoos to have some kind of unified "look". But from my point of view that is going to happen naturally, as @beez pointed out: most professional tattooers will try to make sure your new tattoo resonates with what you all ready have. And also, since it is dictated by YOUR taste, just take your time and research your artists and you will get tattoos that match up. Maybe not in everybody's eyes, but in your eyes. Also I think you should not limit yourself too much (remember: this is coming from someone who has 30+ tattoos, the vast majority in somewhat traditional style black n gray). For me tattoos is (among other things) a hobby, I had to explain this to my father recently. Throughout the journey of getting tattoos I often find myself evaluating and re-evaluating aesthetic preferences, mine as well as others. Example time: I had never cared for japanese style tattoos, at first I really disliked them (product of too many badly executed koi fishes and shabby dragons). But about two years after my first tattoo, by the help of looking at tattoos every day, I was starting to appreciate the technical side of japanese tattoos. Composition, color use, detail, good design. But I still didn't cared for the subject matter, I just didn't like it. Fast forward to january this year -> I get a tattoo of Judas wearing a devils mask. My artists, Iain Mullen, makes it resemble a hanya mask. Hmmm…. Fast forward again, about 6 weeks ago: I get my first proper japanese tattoo (!) a namakubi with samurai sword. And today? I realized that the smoke on my left upper arm (done about two years ago) has a distinct japanese flavor to it, despite being dot shaded. Sentiment, to ponder or disregard: to set out with one distinct style in mind and think that you are going to keep being as into it, and ONLY it, for the rest of your tattoo journey, is letting your present self dictate what your future self should do. Be flexible instead, don't let your own dogmas get in the way of passion. edit: spelling, this and that

And perhaps most notably: some of the stuff that I _absolutely_ wanted to get 2 years ago, I am really happy I didn't get. Not that it would be really bad tattoos, they would probably be good, but more so that now I know better, and don't want to waste the space with anything less than optimal. Also goes for changing my taste and finding artists that I like better. For example I have this idea for a lady head and at first I was so sure I wanted to have Sarah Carter do it, but now probably two years has passed since I first got the idea and about 10 tattooers have been considered, and I am still not sure haha

@peterpoose When I was reading your post I thought to myself that I would NEVER go as fast as you do. I've been rushing quite a bit since last year too, but I am probably at about 35% coverage right now. And now I am definitely slowing down. I want to stretch out my tattooing experience. The process of thinking about subjects and styles, finding new tattooers and developing my taste, setting up appointments, meeting new people, waiting and then finally getting a tattoo: that's nice to me. I find that I enjoy it less if I get tattooed to often. Don't want to rush it. But then at the end you did write that you are 41 years old, that kind of changes it completely. So I say, go for it!

This thread made me learn what a "comforter" is!

So this is what happened yesterday, last tattoo of the year and until scottish convention in march (if I got extra cash by then) Tattoo by Iain Mullen, original design by myself. It is super strange, but it makes me super happy, that some tattooers that I REALLY like pressed "like" on this tattoo. When I checked yesterday it also had Thomas Hooper and Greg Christian on the list. I mean, who am I?

I decided to extend my trip to Chile in the coming spring to also include Japan, New York and Barcelona. Feels like a very exciting decision! Except for Barcelona I know people that I can stay with :) edit: that is, if you want to go from Japan to Santiago you need to transfer some place, NYC is the cheapest. To fly back to Europe it is less expensive if you land in Barcelona. Basically I get three more destinations for the same price as my original plan. Nowadays I make sure to plan my trips out with Rome2rio: discover how to get anywhere, very practical!</shameless plug)

@real meta Ok, it comforts me a bit, thank you! It's going to be interesting for sure. (Clever name huh? Also my surname starts with the letter M)

I had said to myself that I wouldn't do any more tattoos at least until the scottish convention, perhaps not even until my planned trip to New York in the spring.. BUT then I got a text yesterday from a swedish tattooer that I respect a lot, asking if I wanted to get a discount tattoo from him so he could work overtime on friday instead of waiting around for a concert. Aaaaand that's how good I keep my promises to myself! So Friday evening now spells "tattoo of Joakims left foot". We're going to do a rendition of one of my own drawings that he likes a lot, he even wanted to get it tattooed on himself. I am slightly scared, I hear it's a horrible spot.

@motsimus those horses are nice!

@Mark Bee @Gregor Thanks guys! Iain is such a rad tattooer and person. Even besides the art he is very inspirational. Anyone who has a chance should get at least one piece from him. He's coming to the scottish convention ;) edit: to early for spelling

Back in Sweden. Thank you to @Mark Bee, @cltattooing, @chrisnoluck, @Johannes and all of you others who enjoyed the Rudy Fritsch-piece I got. Today was one last tattoo and then I am taking a break until spring at least. By Iain Mullen, the one and only. Back of the knee, two hours of not so nice feelings. Very happy that it's over and with the result of course!

This is what happened to me today: Rudy Fritsch, of course. I encourage anyone who as a chance to get something from this man, very inspiring and unique in every way. Well worth the trip to Trieste (nice town!) where his studio is. I think that's it for me, no more tattoos until spring. Ciao! edit: not really necassary to comment on how much I love this tattoo. I do. A lot.

What a convention! It was amazing just being there and seeing all these artists that I have known the work of for a long time, read interviews with and seen in clips. I spent about 5 hours at tobacco dock each of the days and took the night bus to Amsterdam with 4 new tattoos. Apart from my appointments with El Carlo, Deno and Jaclyn Rehe I also managed to wedge myself into getting a custom palmsized baboon head from Matty D'Arienzo who was officially only doing flash pieces. (Alex Binnie talked him into doing the tattoo anyway) As for getting 4 tattoos in 2 days while also being on the road I suggest being as careful with the hygiene and aftercare as you possibly can, sleep well, drink a lot (no alcohol!), eat healthy and do get some prescription painkillers like paracetamol to ward of sneaky infections and reduce the swelling. Now in Amsterdam: wanted to see the tattoomuseum but it is closed. Went to the pop up-shop/studio that they have instead to look at books and spontaneously booked myself in with Henk Schiffmacher himself to get a small tattoo. That's happening in a few hours :)

So for those of us that aspire to cover most if not all of the body in tattoos from different people I am interested in how you and I think about how fast to get covered. It also deals with the concept of why we get tattoos and from whom. Starting points: - Would you rather get the tattoos you want as quickly as possible, or wait and spread it out over a longer period of time? - Do you have a plan as to which areas you cover in which order? Saving the hands for last or getting the worst spots first, maybe getting the visible spots first and save back of the thighs for example? - If you consider yourself a collector, do you keep areas of your body untouched for fantastic tattooers to appear say 20 years from now? - Anything else you would like to add or discuss I am really interested in hearing your perspective on this! ----- As for me, right now, I am spending a lot of money, time and pain on getting tattoos. I know what I want and I know from who, so when the opportunity comes I have nothing stoping me. I live very cheaply (my rent is about 1/3 of what I spend on grocerys a month, and I am vegan and eat pretty economically) I just think that tattoos, for me, is one of the best values to have spent my money on, instead of partying or buying expensive material objects. So the problem for me is I need to get more picky, or else I'd be covered in 4 years from now going at this rate. (I'm 26 by the way) Some tattooers that I really like I get prints from instead of tattoos. Also I think I am constantly refining my taste because of being exposed to so much great work through the internet everyday and talking to people. I am beginning to think that I do away with the worst spots before I turn 30, as I've heard your tolerance to pain drops quite a bit after that. But I am also saving my back until I turn 30. Other than that I am saving my shins and inside of the calfs for later because I get so many injuries there from skateboarding. Hands, neck and face is out of the question and perhaps I'll get the top of my head tattooed. For me getting a tattoo because of pivotal events in my life or because of personal sentiments are less important, I do photography for my memories. I'm not the kind of person who save a spot for my children's name or for a memorial tattoo of my parents or stuff like that. The thing that hit me some time ago is that for the short peroid of time that I've been interested in tattoos (5 years perhaps) I've discovered a lot of great tattooers, some that I later ended up not liking as much. But in the coming years, like the rest of my life, new amazing tattooers and new "styles" in tattooing will develop and I will want to have some room for that. ----

From my experience he is really late with replying to e-mails. I waited almost a month for a reply about an appointment at the London convention, and last year at Stockholm Inkbash was almost the same. Hold on!

What JoelRhys above me said is very true, about the mindset. I was getting the back of my knee tattooed and I wasn't ready for how bad it was going to be. Then it healed really shitty and I ended up having to do it all again, now I knew what the pain was going to be like and the second time it was not a problem. About rotary vs coil. I think I've had the shading done by rotary for the past 5-6 tattoos at least. Today I experienced a lot of needles in a coil machine. Damn, that thing is loud! It's like a angry pack of bees wielding chainsaws. I am sure the sound made me feel the pain more.

Got this namakubi from Caio Pineiro today: Horrible horrible times but worth every second. He is a super nice guy too. On his first euro-trip now, normally works in his own shop in Sao Paolo, Brasil.

Really stoked about this! Flying to London tomorrow with my younger brother. We've rented a place just 10 minutes from Tobacco Dock and we've got tickets for the whole week end. Ready for tattoo overload. Also got booked with Deno at last

3 week tattoo-bonanza to come: London: Mole eating planet, side of underarm, El Carlo. Lady head sleeping under starlit sky, inside of thigh, Jacyln Réhe. Eel eating it's own tail, around another tattoo on front of thigh, Deno. Trieste, Italy: Heart/factory-thing, front of other thigh, Rudy Fritsch. Back in Stockholm: Tibetean UFO in smoke, back of knee, Iain Mullen. After that: chill time for a month or three. edit: (checked bank balance) ... or six

I get what you mean with the ditch of the arm, I had blow outs for the first time ever (25+ tattoos) and I was like "wtf is this, mate?!" Hmm.. dry healing. Might have to try that. Keep the original wrap for 24 hours, re-wrap 4-5 times a day for the first 2 days after taking of the first and then all dry, but make sure to keep it clean? I am going to the back of my knee with Dane Mancini about 5 weeks from now. Got to make sure it heals nice, can't really travel back to Italy for touch ups

Hmmm that's interesting. I just always used the same method and now I hear people are doing it in so many ways. Going to talk to some tattooers that I know and see if they are as varied in their recommendations. I thought the point of using moisturizers was to keep the scabs as thin and soft as possible so they don't fall of prematurely? But maybe if you keep the original wrap on for the first 24 hours and then wash of all the goo you won't get those thick scabs. This is a science to itself..

Welcome to the forum! I hope to see more great work on you in the future :)

How come? I've always used bepanthen for the first 5-6 days and except for the slight blow outs on my two newest ones I've never had any problems from it.

I am going to try the 24-hour original wrap next time then. I'm glad you liked the piece! Can't wait to see it healed :)