YOMONEY

yeah, but damn it had to have been worth that back peice tho..

good point, bulldog. the results from just one r20 session look impressive. and the machines, i was talking about them with allen. he said a diff machines are the best at doing different things. his is all about power. the most powerful machine you can get. it treats 10mm at a time, as opposed to 2mm which most machines have. while others machines are the best at taking out color, his is all about just plowing through large areas to get them faded with less treatments. i was worried that when i arrived that hed look at how much i wanted zapped, and be like "uhh.. i dont know". but he was just like "yeah, we can take out as much as you want".. and truthfully, about the swelling, i wasnt able to keep it cool/on ice like he had stressed, mainly because of my travel. but next round im going to be on it fully.

nice, dude. thats a relief to hear, about the swelling. any advice? im not sure if dallas is far from bridge city, but if youre in the same state then its gotta be worth the trip.

that above link is so sad to see, especially because of the peoples reasons for doing it.

napalm, about the blackout- wow, youre not kidding me man! was your swelling the type of swelling i was describing above? as far as traveling to dallas, i would do it, no question. so worth it. i dont know, but i heard somebody say that after laser they had the same type of feeling/high as getting a new tattoo. thats exactly how i felt- so stoked. if it took any longer than 10-15 minutes, i seriously didnt notice. the price is moooooooore than fair. as a matter of fact, my jaw dropped when i saw it on paper. i got a deal, so i dont know if its cool to say right now. but id call allen, hes a real cool guy. and you can get a package for 4 treaments for the price of 3, because i think its 4 is his average to get coverup work done (thats what he said, but i dont know for sure if thats the reason for the package). i will post pics when my arm chills the fuck out! hopefully sooner than later..

at fade fast. my arm is super swollen. and not like painful-because-of-bruising swollen. but more like lymphadema elephant man swollen. it doesnt hurt at all, but it sucks. is this normal? any advice on how to handle this? about the treatment- its NOT painful. uncomfertable- yes. in fact the only time it hurt was when i was thinkng about what its comparable too. my experience was more like tiny pin pricks and stinging. there were some foot wagging and teeth grinding moments, but never was i ready to take a break or praying for it to be over with. there is no way to say it hurts more or less than getting a tattoo, because theyre two different feelings- apples and oranges. off the bat, all of my shading as knocked out and some black areas were gone or very faded. it also stings like a sunburn an hour or two after treatment. again, nothing bad. my arm is full of huge blisters now also. they do not hurt, just look gnarley. i was scared as hell going into this, nobody should be. its seriously not that bad or as crazy as it looks.. - - - Updated - - - which also makes me think, everything ive read or seen- the prices people are charged, the agony people are put through, and especially the results people are getting, it is VERY important to travel to see somebody with a rep in the tattoo community to get this done.

haha sorry, that was hard for me to read into.. so youd be down with a whole barred out arm idea then? lol.. the kicker here is, really not the lower sleeve.. id like to clean it up/will clean it up.. but the top part i just got straight up drawn on.. im pretty much forced to have to black it out because of the colors used, and black laid on top of black laid on top of green and yellows.. shits just a mess and im pissed as shit.. good news is this.. my shoulder has a nice looking koi and windbars.. the other arm, not much work, so im just going to kill it from here on out.. but dont get drawn on, ever.

what. you cant blame the second guy. lol. it was top of page at my point of entry.. - - - Updated - - - yeah his attitude is crap as fuck, is what i was sayin. theres so many shops and bs shops out there. i dont even tattoo and i bet you i could hit the bars tonight and tomorrow have a job as a tattoo artist, somewhere???

....

hey, dick, i get it, obviously.. or else this thread wouldnt even exist.. mothafuckas get barred up everyday, b.. how about i just bar out my entire arm?

thanks, i appreciate the honest feeback.. i get it.. its like this weird grey area to me.. where its not like the sickest shit, but its also not the typical kind of stuff you see lasered or covered up.. but with that said, theres some shit that just really needs to go no matter what i decide to do- the bars, and maybe 23.. theres thugged out looking script down a scroll on the forearm, which is what really sparked all of this.. the drips need to go.. i like graffiti, but ill be damned if i hit my late 30s/upper 40s with a "chicago drip tattoo".. anything else you guys could see off top that maybe could make the work look a little better? i always wanted to add color to that top hat dude, but im really trying to avoid anything too new-school looking.. i also like the script under the dad tattoo, but right after i was like fuck, i should have gotten a scroll, a leaf, and a mustache and just wrote "dad".. either way, yeah, whatever i chose to do here, shit has to revamped, imo.. my min*edit* oh yeah, chemotherapy was during all of this too.. not trying to get pity, but paint a picture that i was living/thinking craaaaazy!

nyc is americas mecca.. everyone i grew up with has drawninspiration from there since day 1..your pain is our pain, god bless.. - - - Updated - - - also, this disaster just goes to show how new yorkers are super classy.. ive heard of only one incident- where somebody pulled a gun in a gas line.. most other cities thered be so much crazy shit popping off already.. the last time you guys had black outs- you really proved coming togather and making shit happen.. im just really pissed that theyre talking about restoring electricity to newark by later this month.. people can only be so patient.. not trying to say nyc is "soft" in anyway.. was talking with a friend earlier and we chalked it up to just overall smarts and living in place where youve already seen the day to day bullshit..

im also not set on ANYTHING as of yet.. i respect allen a lot, and hope he is like jack , who iv seen in interviews like "ok, we could do this this and this to make the sleeve look better".. it also might help, that im looking at robert wingo out of suffer city for cover up work.. since he is in shop, and hopefully will be down to work on me, he could lay his 2 cents in.. i dunno.. all up in the air right now.. just want to talk to a lot of knowledgeable people (friends aside- "oh thats dope"), to really kick this off and get the best options availabe to me..

that scorpion is pretty nice.. i just dont understand, with all of the shops popping up, so many bullshit ones, why you couldnt get put down somewhere???? and everyone else is right, even in my small city, when good to decent shops are looking for artists, it seems like they already have a few people in mind who are already established in other shops.. like they want to put togather an amazing team, like trades in the mlb almost.. and as with anything else, people skills couldnt hurt.. dont be such a dick, man.. nobody is gonne roll up to bbq's on their beach cruiserlike debo and threaten their way into a job.. - - - Updated - - - if chris crinkle is working out of a shop, anyone can..

i cant go through 50 something pages of "ink masters".. but this season is really irresponsable, the way the winners of the flash challenge can pick who everyone tattoos, trying to fuck shit up for their oppenants, in hopes they give somebody a messed up tattoo.. these people on the show.. they dont seem too concerned.. everyone invovled should be ashamed..

racist tattoo redo- sounds like the name of a basic cable tv show..

thanks! id like to revamp the dad tribute.. i love the artist who did it too.. thats actually the only part of my lower arm that im psyched about.. its no disrespect to any artist.. just change.. im always in constant change..

`im 30 too, coming up on 31, which is why im looking for a change.. i started about 4 years ago, but my problem was the same as yours- i didnt know the importance of a lot of shit, was pretty messed up acting wild, and just got a lot of shit quick.. while its not bad, it could be better/represent me more (i was like, "i dont give a fuck, give me black flag bars" or my crew name type attitude).. also a lot of the stuff mentally reminds me of some pretty bad times (i.e. substance abuse, incareration, bouncing around on couchs, death of my father, messed up relationships, etc..) so, what ive been doing, is just going for touch ups, adding more colors, or adding this to that, getting a lot of background stuff, just like messing with a pimple and making it worse.. even though its not horrible.. its just a personal decision with myself and where im at, has nothing to do with anyone else.. if i have to live with it, not a huge deal.. but at the same time there are all these options available now where im like, well, why not.. i guess i have to upload pics somewhere to have them posted here.. excuse me for asking all of these questions and not showing you my work.. - - - Updated - - - http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/gallery/member/YOMONEYs-pictures.html

stewart, thanks man, and you def wear the black well, btw.. i have an appt at fade fast.. hope to get it lightened up enough for a dope-heavyish japanese sleeve.. if i could limit the number of sessions (i dont think id be able to skip it all togather at this point), thatd be the shit.. i like heavier type stuff anyway.. petri, i can be like that too.. but im also not the type to want to limit myself to just one particular style.. i want to mix some american traditional elements into the sleeve, and my other arm have be more american, but also mix other elements into it as well.. but, ill see where all of this takes me/what artists recommend.. thanks again for the ideas.. im not trying to jump into anything too fast.. my mind just gets hit with so many ideas, i just like to throw 'em out.. its just really wild to me how nowadays how there are so many options with innovative artists and lasers and etc.. i even hit up tim beck about tattooing over black lol.. he seemed kinda stoked that i asked..

thats wild.. ive never been partial to heavy blackwork, but some people seem to love it a lot.. i mean, id do it if i had to/no other options.. this blog is full of people who go heavy black, or just fully solid black, right off the bat.. Fuck Yeah Blackwork Tattoos a lot of it is really well done/looks nice.. - - - Updated - - - also, hope to holler at allen at fadefast here soon.. hope its not too pricey/not so many sessions.. i like a lot of heavy work any ways, so i think with a laser coverup wouldnt be so hard.. but its a lot of area/jam packed shit into it.. i also just got hit with an infrared coagulator in two small areas, just out of curiousity.. dumbest shit ever..

sorry for the confusion.. i have a sleeve that isnt japanese but has some of the elements in it.. my other arm doesnt have much- where i want a full out japanese sleeve, but in the future.. thanks for the replies, its cool to have a community like this to bounce crap off of people.. thats all i was tryin to do, a blacked out sleeve is a major step, not something id go do on a whim.. napalm, thanks for posting that picture.. cool concept, i guess (did they go over the black sleeve with white ink?), but just doesnt look that great to me.. i dont like how it gets that silver look i often see.. also blacked out elbows would probably bum me out for some reason.. other than that i could hang, is why i left it open as an option.. i just figured id bring this here to you guys, since i have friends who are all about the idea.. one was even going to do this on a blank arm.. but since i can only kind of picture it in my mind, i was more curious about the concept of black sleeve/japanese sleeve.. but i can see from the picture above, it doesnt look nearly as cool as i pictured it.. at the end of the day youre probably right about the laser.. itd be something id have to save a lot of $$$$$$$ for, since id eventually zap everything on my lower arm.. - - - Updated - - - damn, napalm.. that was almost spot on with what i was thinking.. but since my chest is open i was going to have a much cleaner transition into the chest peice.. this is something im still going to do, but black out from a couple inches above the top point of my elbow.. not the whole arm..

ahhhh! haha.. thats why i want that contrast..

how about this contrast? a full sleeve heavy blacked out.. the other (i will have a year or so to plan, save, and research artist) japanese sleeve? murdering out my sleeve feels uplifting and empowering to me on one hand.. but on the other is the fear like, oh what if i get hella bummed off having a black arm (im not a racist).. its also kind of dope to me because you dont see it too often.. it also seems like some shit you could grow old with (my tattoos now- no) and be cool with.. and to not feel like such a derelict; some really sick japanese traditional on the other arm.. to balance things out.. i think itd be a cool contrast.. everyone i talk to doesnt care, they just like the black sleeve idea.. also, how do you know whos right to do the heavy black work? you can contact reputable shops and theyll recommend somebody, saying theyve done this before a few times or whatever.. im worried about scarring and dont want to be lead astray.. lastly, and this may seem dumb.. i also have a lot of time to consider this.. but how the hell do you go about getting a japanese sleeve? sorry if this seems newjack-ish, but i know the elements that go into one.. but whenever i see a really cool one i think that it must be all the artists concept.. like my sleeve now has windbars, koi,. waves, flowers, etc.. but on all out traditional sleeve.. this is probably something you work half and half on with an artist? know that may sound obvious.. again, its also not something im going to jump right into.. im having removal on some medium-ish shit on the arm and will have a year or so to research, appreciate, and think about this.. - - - Updated - - - also, on the heavy black,, on my shoulder there is already some cool windbar shit that caps it off.. i want to leave that.. and maybe connect some of it somehow into a chest peice.. or even a half chest peice.. just trying to get some ideas bouncing around and creative juices flowing here..

why is there a parrot there?

thats the worst shit ive ever seen, not kidding.. its really more about the places these people are getting these tattoos put that sucks.. now i have to go to their main page and read all of the comments and people whove checked in and get bummed out again like the dude who said this thread was killing the culture.. - - - Updated - - - - - - Updated - - - haha! actually all of the comments are, "stop fucking tattooing people!!!!"