Graeme

I'm not at that point and I don't know if I'll ever fully be there, but I get what you're saying. For me, the inclination to get work from fewer artists has also to do with that I think there's something enjoyable about getting tattooed over a longer period of time by the same person and kind of having a relationship that builds with them instead of it just being a one-time thing, if that makes any sense. I think I have tattoos from nine different people at this point.

So strong and bold! Who did it?

Maybe I'm weird, but I wish more people kept their tattoos covered. Tattoos are better when there's a bit of secrecy to them.

Can you please stop talking about tattoos as a "scene"?

Welcome to getting tattoos! You go into it anticipating and dreading how it feels to get them, not once suspecting that healing them is the worst part of it.

@sophistre Hello, welcome, and congratulations on being about to get your first tattoo! I'm going to second what @RoryQ said above about being well rested and well fed before your appointment. In my experience, rest is the biggest factor in how a tattoo session is going to feel, which I learned after getting tattooed on about two or three hours sleep after working a night shift. I will never do that again, it was absolutely horrible. I'd also suggest reading this article by David Bruehl, who does excellent tattoos down in Florida, about tattoo nutrition and treating longer sessions in a similar way as you would athletic activity. Above all, have fun!

How easy or difficult it is to get tattooed by somebody at a convention really depends on how they handle their booking, but if you're interested in anybody in particular, get in touch with them asap to see about convention availability. I'd recommend calling the shop they work at over emailing because you're more likely to have a quicker response, and if you're on instagram, follow the tattooers you're interested in because if they have availabilities or cancellations those often go up on instagram first. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of getting tattooed at conventions because it's loud, it's chaotic, you're in public so people are watching, space is more cramped than in a shop, etc., but it still is worth it just because you can get tattooed by people you wouldn't otherwise be able to get tattooed by without travelling to them. With that said, I wouldn't get tattooed by a NYC tattooer at the NYC convention, I'd rather go to the shop they normally work at. You shouldn't get a worse tattoo at a convention though. I think (good) conventions are worth going to even if you aren't planning on getting tattooed, especially if you're new to getting tattooed, because you can see tattoos in person and you can actually talk to tattooers and get a feel for them. About wishing to take back what you said about dragon tattoos, it's cool! Like anything else, learning to look at tattoos takes time and experience and I think it's rad that you've done that and want to go the traditional Japanese route.

I thought it was because we both like cats.

It doesn't make anybody any money.

Why is it helpful? Because if you're looking to estimate the cost of a tattoo you want to get it isn't in any way helpful because how long it took Luca Ortis to do that tattoo has absolutely no bearing on how long it would take Regino Gonzales to do a similar tattoo. There's only so much useful information you can get from the internet, at some point you need to physically walk into a shop and talk to actual people.

Welcome! We'd love it if you posted pictures of your tattoos. You can upload them to your profile or post links though as a new member if you post links the post might need to be approved by a moderator.

It's like you're talking at people instead of trying to have a conversation with them.

Pointless question.

I am sure I'll be back at some point. Calling the shop ridiculously pretty is an understatement. I want to get tattooed there just to spend some time there.

@irezumi The trade off is that you're not a scumbag though

Or laser it to give you far more options.

@keepcalm I just stopped in the Atwells location of Providence Tattoo when I was in town a couple of days ago and that shop is so ridiculously nice looking. I want to get tattooed at that shop just so I can spend some time there.

I guess another one of these websites was on the Canadian version of Dragon's Den, which prompted Kyle Hollingdrake who tattoos at The Okey Doke Tattoo Shop in Toronto to write about why these sites are wrong. I don't think it's possible to direct link to the post so you have to scroll down a little bit: News relating to Kyle Hollingdrake and his excellent tattoos | Hollingdrake Tattoos | Tattooing at the Okey Doke in Toronto, Ontario Canada This sites are parasites and are counting on people's ignorance about tattoos. There's no room for shit like this here.

@cltattooing that is spectacular!

@Hospitelli that is crazy! So good! Thanks for the comments on my ship, everyone! It has some of that tattoo magic.

Ron Wells finished this one on me yesterday. It's so beautiful and I couldn't be happier with it:

I'm in Providence tomorrow and Wednesday, I'll try to stop in and say hello!

@finegentleman we don't talk price here.

Welcome! I really like what I've seen of Greg Whitehead's tattoos on instagram, it's crazy to think that he's so young and is tattooing like that. You'll get a great tattoo from him. As far as mixing Asian and Western styles, go for it! In my opinion, so much great tattooing comes from mixing influences, and I think it's cool and I think Greg should be able to do a really great job with it.

Let's not forget Rodrigo Melo. Dana Helmuth frequently tattoos in NYC with Rodrigo Melo as well, I believe. Brian Kaneko is a frequent guest at Adorned and his Japanese is about as good as it gets in my opinion. At Three Kings, Adam Machin, Jeremy Sutton, and Josh Egnew do nice Japanese. There are so many good tattooers in NYC it's ridiculous.