Graeme

Welcome to LST. Check out this thread: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-removal-coverup/836-cover-up.html A poster here was in a similar situation to you, opted for laser and ended up with a really amazing backpiece at the end of it. It should give you some ideas and inspiration.

I will say that with regard to sleeve length that my left arm is tattooed down to my wrist bone and a properly-fitting long sleeved shirt does cover it, even when reaching. Career-wise, I have to work in short sleeves anyway so if visible tattoos are going to count against me, I've already burned that bridge, and it ultimately comes down to your comfort level with visible tattoos, but in normal circumstances full sleeves can be covered with not that much effort. When I was deciding about length I was thinking 3/4 to a couple of inches above my wrist bone for reasons of concealability, but I was also thinking of what I would do to extend the sleeves at a later date, so I went the full length.

I get tattooed in Williamsburg and from what I've seen on the people around there there's a lot of hipsters with a bunch of text on them, but there are also plenty of hipsters with some pretty damned amazing tattoos too. Bartenders with Hooper sleeves? Fuck yes. I know we all love to vilify hipsters but I'm not going to blame them for bad tattoos.

I don't like this complaining about price nonsense. Yes, large tattoos can be very expensive (though because you're not doing them in one shot you're stretching that cost out over months) but there are a lot of truly great, even world-class, tattooers who do amazing small tattoos that aren't going to break the bank. It's a matter of doing your research and finding those artists, and the great thing about tattooing right now is that there are SO MANY great tattooers out there, and making tattoos a priority in your life.

Your artist will give you instructions on how to take care of your tattoo and you should follow those.

A plainskin at work was asking me about my sleeve and then said "But you know who has really good tattoos? David Beckham." This is why people get bad tattoos.

Welcome! I recently saw Jake Miller from Cathedral Tattoo in SLC tattooing at the Rochester convention and he's making some real good tattoos so look into him. That shop gets a lot of good guest artists passing through too.

No problem, just happy that I could help!

Man, that tattoo is CRAZY good. Looks like it sits perfectly too. I'm super stoked for you! Good thing you wandered into Congress Street and got tattooed by Fat Tony, huh?

Back piece thread too, but right now that's basically this thread but just backs.

I have probably said this before, and I may say it again, but thanks to you all for getting such rad tattoos. It's great checking on this thread and seeing so many tattoos that I would be super stoked to have on myself.

Read the guidelines for new posters:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmoe7wwm4HM

Great one! Starting off right!

My short response is that tattooing doesn't need validation from the New York Times or the art world. My longer response is that is anything interesting at all being said here? It's obvious that the person who wrote the article did essentially no research at all into tattooing or the history of tattooing and how it intersects or not with fine art. I mean, she writes about some jagoff performance artist who made a video of him tattooing prostitutes for heroin money in 2000, but not Ed Hardy's 2000 Dragon Scroll that exhibited in a gallery the same year? Or how about the idea that tattoos are suddenly collectible now that the fine art world has taken a bit of a shine to them? Because there weren't tattoo collectors before? And that tattoo collecting isn't at all the same as fine art collecting for the simple fact that tattoos have no exchange value? That's just a start of what's wrong with the article.

Awesome, man. I'd love to see pictures of what you're getting from Lehi. Welcome.

Welcome to LST from another Montrealer. Who is doing your tattoos?

Been really in a Matthew Sweet mood lately.

@hollyjoybee I lived in Glasgow for about three years and I remember those days very well, so many topless pasty guys turning bright, bright red. @else I've never been super into hanging out in the sun. I'm fair skinned and tend to burn rather than tan so trying to keep out of the sun isn't really a stretch, but I am a lot more conscious of it now. It's just a matter of trying to find the right clothes to stay comfortable and cool while keeping covered up.

I thought that it might be helpful to update my experiences with rewrapping tattoos. I've had mixed luck with healing my tattoos and need some touchups (I suspect my problem was likely that I babied my tattoos too much), but rewrapping plus a dry heal seems to give me great results. The first picture I attached here is of my elbow, healed about three and a half months after rewrapping, and I think it held the pigment really well. There was some light scabbing there that lasted a couple of weeks, but it kept the black and the greys healed, in Hooper's estimation, "beautifully". I'm also including a couple of pictures of my arm as it looks now, at three days after being tattooed, and four days, just to show the rate at which it's healing. Again, no scabbing, just that light flaky peeling.

I need some more lightweight long sleeved shirts but I'd like to do so as well. Partly to protect the tattoos from the sun, partly to keep them from public view.

Healing is going well, but getting my forearm tattooed in the summer is goddamned stupid because while everybody is out wearing shorts and t-shirts, I'm sweating it out in long sleeves trying to keep a healing tattoo out of the sun.

Welcome! Dave Lang seems like an awesome dude from his posts here.

Right now my pre-tattoo ritual is eating a hummus and bulgur sandwich with a cup of genmaicha, and then drinking plenty of water and having snacks like bananas, dried fruits and nuts, or a Clif bar to keep my energy levels up during the session. The sandwich and tea is obviously specific to what's near the shop I get tattooed at...but for me, something substantial and nutritious that isn't overly heavy and greasy seems to work best. Though obviously everybody is going to have their own things that work best for them. I think that it's difficult to talk about what makes a tattoo session easier/more difficult because there are so many variables at play: the spot, the tattooer, how well rested you are, what general physical condition/health you're in, what other things are going on in your life that can be distracting you, etc, etc, etc.

I eat poutine at least once a week and I probably wouldn't choose it for a pre-tattoo meal because it tends to sit heavy in the gut. Pre-tattoo, I like to eat something filling, but not something super heavy.