Pugilist

There is no standard because at the end of the day aftercare methods--beyond keeping shit clean and not doing anything stupid--probably contribute like, 5% to how a tattoo heals. There ain't no formula. We have less control than we think.

I'm worried y'all are not joking.

Something that bums me out sometimes about the culture of tattoo "collectors" is a preoccupation with being a "cool" client, i.e. someone who seems "down" and who the tattooer hits it off with. I wonder if this is maybe where these kinds of anxieties come from. Fuck that. You sound polite and respectful, which is probably how most of us aim to be in most customer service situations. That is how I try to behave in most of my day-to-day dealings too. Beyond that, I try not to worry about whether or not I am "cool", or anyone's fave. That shit gets a bit too high school for me. Also I am not cool.

Dude, I don't remember exactly! Someone definitely asked when we were at Sacred Heart in Vancouver, and also at one of the shops we visited in Providence, but I don't remember which one. So weird though!

(Mine is obviously the best one.) ;)

My understanding is that the reason (among others) many tattooers won't show you a design before your appointment is due to having been ripped off by clients who then take the design and get it done somewhere else (i.e. cheaper). Which is totally fair enough.

I have never asked a tattooer to change what they drew for me because I have usually been lucky enough to book in with people whose work I love and whose vision I want and trust. That said, I have sort of "worked out" the details of the tattoo on the spot a lot (especially for my back). Most of the time the tattooer has really wanted to make sure I am happy and comfortable with the direction we're going, so I would think that as long as: a) you're not a nitpicky jerk; b) you aren't massively contradicting what you asked for initially; and c) you are respecting the tattooer's advice (so if you ask them for too much and they tell you they have to simplify, I would trust that even if it's not what I imagined) - then any professional would be professional about it.

I hope this year I can go....all depends on money and time but I think it should work out. Plus I have an idea for a tattoo I want from someone who may attend.

This is going to sound like the creepiest thing to say, but several times when @Graeme has been talking to people who have tattooed him/me recently, they have mistaken him for you, we're pretty sure. As in they see his Hooper sleeve and we talk about the MTL convention and they said, "are you the guy that goes to the convention with the Hooper raven sleeve and chest?" and then we have to be like, "no, that's a different hairy dude with a raven sleeve from Hooper." They're talking about you, yes? In moments like this I realize that this is a much smaller world than it may seem.

Born in 1986. Did you think I was older? Am I too young to hang out with cool older folks like you and @Graeme ???

"Older folks"!!!!!! :eek:

@ian - I hope you're doing ok. I am sorry that you are having such a rought time right now.

@cltattooing - thank you for your reflections on ego. This is one of the major things that bums me out about tattoo subculture. I always say to @Graeme that it reminds me of the frustration I felt in punk subculture back in the day - that subcultures are supposed to counter cults of personality and celebrity and often end up creating their own. It's hard to find that line between pride and arrogance, between respect and worship, between belonging and exclusion. It's something I think about a lot on both the tattooer and the collector side of things - how can people really love this thing without becoming dicks about it?

@BrianH you're 27???? I did not realize!

@iowagirl - I do like challenging people's expectation of "who" tattooed people are. Although I am still very conservative about this myself, and non of my colleagues nor my students know that I am tattooed (at least not to my knowledge). I remember making small talk with a colleague last year about one of her grad students, and she went on a whole schpiel about how bright this young woman was, but you wouldn't believe it to look at her - she was all tattooed and weird-looking! Who knew that someone like that could complete a worthwhile dissertation? I had to try really hard to keep a straight face.

I think your coworker is just missing the "nuance" section of her brain. Wanting to be tattooed does not mean it feels comfortable to invite comments on them in every single social and professional situation. We all feel differently about how much we show and conceal. That's ok.

Aw, @Cork, I totally ogled your baku while waiting for mine. :)

Re: spasming, yes, I find the involuntary twitching tough with thigh tattoos. It helps to be in a position where you can "brace yourself" better. Re: healing, my thighs have randomly been TERRIBLE to heal. None of them have healed perfectly (I have six one shot tattoos on my thighs at this point, I think?). They have generally taken me at least a full week before the swelling goes down enough that I don't grunt from sitting down or standing up. Mostly the imperfections from my shitty heals are minor, but two of them, very sadly, healed super super badly, and it bums me out. I don't know why I have such a hard time with my thighs, as generally I think I heal things ok.

After all that complaining, I will say that I have found my thighs to be pretty painless, although I have yet to have the back of my thighs done. The only shitty parts for me so far have been at the edges - near the knee ditch and near the crotch, but even then it's such a small spot that you move on quickly. My usual thigh schpiel is that I LOVE getting tattooed on them, HATE healing them.

Years ago during college I was working at Home Goods stocking items and this (seemingly un-tattooed) customer spots my foot tattoo and starts a discussion on tattoos/BLATANTLY hitting on me. Out of nowhere (without me asking) he shows me this god awful hip tattoo which in order to show me he has to fold and pull down his jeans a bit. I saw like the side of his dick and was not enthused !!!! Ugh I don't understand the need to strip to show off your tattoos. If you want to be all badass then get them where they show...

I never indulge people who want to see them if it means I have to bare part of my body that is normally covered up.

Augh, last year I was taking driving lessons (yes I am a little behind!) and as I got into the car for my first lesson, the instructor spotted an early iteration of my back piece peeking out of my shirt, and he started talking about how he had tattoos too, and TOOK OFF HIS SHIRT to show me the piece on his bicep. I was nervous enough about driving for the first time in 15 years as it was! He even looked around beforehand to make sure no one was walking by, because he "didn't want to seem creepy".

I'm leaving my academic teaching gig to take a job as a scientific illustrator for an excavation in Brazil next year. I get to do art for a living for a little while, and I am so fucking stoked.

I'm also taking a printmaking class this semester, and it's the most fun I've had in any class, ever. Not sure why I love this really hard, really time-consuming process, but it turns out I think lithography is the shit.

I love everything about this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hahahaha

One of our favourite reviews is for a local street shop (the one next door to where we grabbed beers during the convention), where the person complained that the tatooers would not let them try on stencils of all the various designs they were interested in before deciding what to get.

Yes!!

I had to do a thing that scared me earlier this summer... I was totally freaked out about it... nearly chickened out and didn't do it at all.

And then I changed clothes into something that showed "Steve" (my knee tiger).

Steve is so tough, he makes me feel 10x tougher when I can see him. I skated through my scary thing no problem...

Reading this, I think it sounds weird, and people will probably think I'm a nut... whatever.

Rawr!!!

Me and Steve. We've got game ;)

LOVE THIS. My dragon does this for me. I should really name him. :)

you are crazy

This cannot be said enough times.

(But DO IT DO IT DO IT)

I don't usually post in the contest threads but I thought it would be fun to have a Henning vs. Rubendall showdown. Done at the Montreal tattoo convention last week:

I love how you composed it, @cltattooing!

I also want to mention the new rule for LST meet-ups which is that if you go to the bathroom, the rest of the group is allowed to collectively decide on a new tattoo for you. If we come to a consensus before your return, you must accept your fate or be BANNED. All of that to say, @Graeme, we are all waiting for that naked lady reclining on a hotdog to appear on your butt.

What a dapper gentleman!

Oh man, I didn't know you had hearing trouble, @Mark Bee - next time we will pick a quieter place to hang out!

It was also great to meet @Mushu, who joined us for poutine, @mtlsam, who joined us for beer, and @Dennis and his totally charming girlfriend, who surpassed us all in enthusiasm and stamina by spending seemingly every waking hour at the convention. It was way more fun to navigate the chaos of a tattoo convention feeling like we knew people!

I just wanted to say that meeting up with everyone was super nice last night! I often find internet meet-ups kind of awkward, but not with this bunch. Very friendly, personable folks, plus with tattoos as a common area of interest, lots to talk about. Hope you all have a good last day at the convention and a chill trip home!

Haha. A good response. I get the same question. Yes, our daughter might want tattoos when she grows up. If she does, we will try to steer her in a good direction...she already understands about quality work at age 5. Or, she may go the other way and decide to be all preppy or what have you. This is totally up to her. What do I care? I just want her to be a relatively happy and well adjusted person who is compassionate and has a sense of humor about things. Is that too much to ask?! Tattoos have nothing to do with all that!

@Graeme's parents are staying with us right now and kind of freaked when they saw his fresh tattoo yesterday. His mom asked "what will your children think???" and Graeme said that he was actually doing his parents a service, since us having all these tattoos means our kids will for sure think they're lame and they won't want any. I am not sure this won her over.

@Graeme and @Pugilist win the award for LST Power Couple.

Hahaha we were saying to each other last night that this message board thinks we are much cooler than we actually are.