beez

I do. I'm tipping for the work done at the time, so it makes sense to me!

@TheLance: This thread has a good amount of info about tipping or gifts for artists! Try the 'search thread' on the light gray bar under the thread title to find tipping specific posts. Heed this post: Sounds like the record is a really thoughtful gift!

Not swollen glands specifically, but something kind of like it! In the two days after sitting for larger tattoos I feel a little more susceptible to weakness and bugs than usual. I figure your body is under stress and then later deals with healing, so it makes sense that your natural defenses are a little low. If you are super concerned about it, I would ask your tattooist and then see a doctor. Good luck!

Going to a doc is a good idea!

Yes, I believe so, [MENTION=1595]Richo[/MENTION].

Thanks @kylegrey!

@ggilman try layering a thick, (water based) unscented cream on top of organic extra virgin coconut oil after you shower. Do this for at least two weeks after every shower. I think it will help! I used to use cetaphil moisturizing cream pretty regularly, haven't checked the ingredients since going all hippy though, so make sure it's made well! As @Hogrider suggested, Vitamin E oil is a good one to add to the mix, as well. Always finish with the cream to really seal the moisture in! I believe the water based creams and lotions allow your skin to breathe, so make sure H2O is the first (or close to the first) ingredient in whatever you choose to use. I have also read that EVCO allows your skin to breathe, as opposed to other (petroleum based?) oils, but I can't find a good enough source at the moment to say that with utmost confidence. But I think so? Anyone want to weigh in on that? I was hit with a really bad eczema outbreak this past fall and found this really awesome calendula lotion by the super salve company at my local hippy store, where I can buy it in bulk. The EVCO + Lotion layering system worked really well for my torn up skin and helped to ameliorate the eczema. As an added bonus, I discovered that this same combination works VERY WELL for prepping your skin for tattoos, and now it is routine for me to hit the areas I'm planning on being tattooed with this combo for about two weeks before the tattoo - much improved healing with the skin soft and taken care of pre-tattoo. During the eczema outbreak I had to change to super sensitive skin soaps, and now tend only to heavily soap my pits and privates on the regular, hitting any other dirty spots as needed (sorry if TMI) (I am a very clean person, I promise!). You may be having a reaction to a soap or something? Have you started using any new products lately? My $.02.

I saw that it was showing at Pacific Place just yesterday morning, but wasn't able to get it together to attend the screening! Pleased to hear that it is well received! I love well made movies!

@virginia: What @alice, @el twe, and @else said! (especially +1 about adding some shading to make the color pop) Leave it alone for another few weeks and then see what it looks like! Don't stress too much about it until you're farther along in the healing process. Once you're fully healed then you can take a trip back to your artist and see if you need a tune up or if you want to add some shading or something.

Damn, you guys weren't joking! Some serious visiting talent.

@vPooch As you learn more about Japanese tattoo you'll see that there are certain elements that traditionally go together, and Karajishi-Botan (the lion and the peony) is one of those combinations. Click this link for a snippet of an interview between Crystal Morey and Horimasa about some of the dos and don'ts of traditional Japanese tattooing, and if it continues to interest you then get to researching, son! The article in full is interesting, as well - I think le google will help you find it. There is a lot of great info out there, it's up to you to find it! Hopefully this is a good (albeit tiny!) jumping off point.

@vPooch pic work this time? I seem to process pain differently from a lot of people - that said, no, the forearm is not particularly bad at all! Remember to breathe while you are being tattooed, it helps a lot! I find that if you really concentrate on breathing deeply, filling your lungs from the bottom up, it helps center you, prepare your mind and body, and make it through the pain. The more it hurts, the more you should concentrate on your breathing. Literally breathe *through* the pain. This is my trick! I use it in all aspects of life. It absolutely helps. You can make it through 4.5 hours! If you really want it it won't hurt nearly as badly as it might otherwise ;). The end result makes it all worth it.

@vPooch my artist is completing the pair of Karajishi that I started a few weeks ago - we were going to do both but ran out of time! I travel to see her, so we try to get as much done in one go round as possible. On the 12th (which is also my bday - holla!) I am not sure what we are doing! i know she has an idea of what's coming next, and I assume we'll talk about that when I come in on the 11th. Here's a pic I scraped from their instagram...hope the link works? Ack, the link seems to work but the image is so big! Sorry! Anyway, that's what we did last time, and that's on my back. We started with peonies on my flank and are working our way up the body! The second karajishi is going to go on my front thigh. I will post pics!

@Mark Bee: a man after my own heart! @vPooch I literally obsess over tattoos. I stare at every tattoo I see (and people think I'm creepy...). I stare at my own tattoos! I flip through all tattoo art books I have. I hover outside of tattoo shops. So...perhaps I don't handle it very well, but I saturate my brain with everything tattoo! That waiting period is brutal sometimes! :) - - - Updated - - - @vPooch I just went through and read the thread from the beginning. I started getting tattooed when I was 17 (on a fake ID in NY! Oh, the days before 9/11 when you could literally walk into a shop and walk out with a fake ID without it being treason! oy vey!). I started small, and I'm really glad I did, because my tattoo aesthetic did not really round out for another...8 years or so? I'm still learning and refining to this day because there is so much great art out there! Anyway - it's awesome that you're going with a cool Japanese piece and that the artist is stoked about it! That said, heed what the others are saying. There is a LOT that happens between 16 & 18, 18 & 20, 20 & 22, 22 -25....things start calming down a bit around 25, but your aesthetic, your life, your ideas - all are still forming and changing and a work in progress...just much less so than when you're in your late teens. (life is ALWAYS and FOREVER a work in progress...don't forget that!) The main problem is that you'll discover more (and better) artists as the years go by...don't want to run out of room for them, do you?!? Anyway - post the pic when you're done! I'm excited to see how it turns out! I'm also getting tattooed on the 11th (& 12th! super stoked!)...we can have picture day! :)

At this point I am just used to lifting my skirt and letting everyone stare intently at my ass under very bright lights for five hours or so. Oh, my mother would be SO proud! ;) But yes, despite feeling self conscious, the tattoo studio is a relatively comfortable and safe place for droppin' the drawers, and the results are so awesome I am totally glad to do it. :) I think @hogg mentioned a bathrobe trick? Bring bathrobe. Ensure Lebowski status. Change in bathroom so that the opening is facing the back instead of the front. Waddle out of bathroom. Shake that booty a bit. (my edit, natch ;)) Then be serious and let your artist do her work. WOO Tattoo!! >:)

Your artist will definitely be able to work with what you have....go big (imho)! And since you know what you like already "birds, flowers and butterflies, all different kinds. Songbirds, parrots, birds doing unusual things, birds with other objects, girlheads and birds, whatever." you can just say: "hey! I like this stuff...please make it happen!" or something maybe a little more eloquent ;) - but it sounds like you know what you like and what you're going for, and that is a great start. The artist you choose will be able to tell you more specifically what he or she can do vis a vis flowers, whether it's 'just' roses (lots of beautiful variation out there!) or the cherry blossoms or the mandala-y flowers - but (and I am NOT an artist!) I think you have a lot to work with! Like @Brock Varty said, flowers of any type make great cover up images.

Go to the guy whose portfolio blew you away! Do you have an idea of what you want for the cover up, or is it just a tattoo you want covered up and don't care with what? The artist will have a definite idea of what can and can't be done and will work - sometimes only very loosely, which can actually be awesome and liberating! - with the idea (loose or no) that you have for the cover up. If the dude makes you feel super uncomfortable then it is probably not the right fit for you. That said, tattoo artists have to deal with a bunch of different people and different concepts every day, so maybe it was just an off time? If he told you to call, do it! Get excited about being able to get an awesome piece to replace (or surround?) your old one. It's like a new beginning with an old body :)

I stumbled across this one the other day...not as epic as some of the awesome pieces posted earlier in this thread, but a cool idea, me thinks. Rosie Camanga flash tattooed by Mike Adams. Speaking of Mike Adams, had not seen his work before, but I'm digging lots of the stuff I see on his blog! There was a sick tiger head and a rad peacock somewhere in there. (posts for other threads, I think!)

Welcome, Emma! There's a thread around here, Post-tattoo blues anyone, that discusses that sort of "queasy mixture of nervous and excited" you referenced, only the post is obvs referencing the feelings that come after you get a tattoo, but I think it might still be interesting for you! I live in Seattle where, like PDX, there are visible tattoos galore! I'm from Oklahoma, however, where tattooing has only been legal for a few years, so I can relate to that feeling of being the only one with visible tattoos every time I go back home! (to be fair, there are a lot more tattoos popping up now that it's legal in the state). Who's doing your tattoo at the convention?

Quite a collection of tattoos you have going on there! Nice Labyrinth nod ;). Welcome to LST!

Seattle represent! Awesome piece @Hands On, thanks for sharing.

Looks like I'm gonna have to take a little trip to Tulsa the next time I'm in town! Providing the shop is open, of course. I'd love to see what other talent is coming out of - or in the Stells' case, moving into - the state. Next internet wormhole :).