Shaun1105

Welcome to the forum!

Eliezer Falcon, Worcester, MA.

I blogged pretty regularly for a while in 2011 -I was trying to do a post every day which worked for most of the summer before I stopped for a week and then never got the momentum back. "Your experiences with tattooing in general" is plenty specific enough I would say for a blog. The emphasis though needs to be on the 'your', as in people aren't really going to read your blog to hear about tattooing - there's lots of places to read about that. What will set yours apart is that you share what you are going through, your struggles and triumphs. The more people get to know you, the more the will want to keep reading. Slowly but surely your readership will build. Read this on being a better writer ,then read a few more of his posts that catch your eye as well. As for what platform, etc., I'll let someone else chime in on that but I think Wordpress is pretty popular unless you're going to go Tumblr - heck maybe there's other better stuff out there I don't even know about. Good luck! S

I knew your name was familiar! I was a follower of yours on tumblr. If and when wyou come to Buffalo I will come over and get tattooed by you. Welcome to the site.

I noticed this as well, I wondered if it was due to a ban/deletion situation. - - - Updated - - - I noticed this as well, I wondered if it was due to a ban/deletion situation.

Thou shalt not let thy friend get a shitty tattoo. Corollary: everyone on LST is your friend.

I have no idea how I first discovered this documentary but I watched it about a year ago (before my first tattoo ) and then I just happened to watch it again this month. Love it.

I'm definitely in the 'by multiple artist' camp. I also have only two tattoos so far though I have my appointment booked for my third (will be by a third artist). I think I will certainly end up getting more than one tattoo by an artist at some point, though. For example I think I'd like certain body parts (calves or shins, maybe inner forearms?) to be done with a matching theme and having one person do both would work well. Sometimes I think "man, I'd really like to get something else by _____" but then I remember that there are so many different tattooers I want work by.

This guy will give you a good tattoo. Based on his portfolio on the site he appears to do quality tattoos, especially if you go traditional.

I'll only speak for the Anchor tattoo, being the proud wearer of one (my first tattoo). I don't believe it is insulting to have one if you're not Navy. The anchor has been a christian symbol for far longer than there has been a U.S. Navy (though not any navy I suppose?). The anchor is just a classic symbol and even though it was obviously popular among naval servicemen it certainly can be enjoyed by all. - - - Updated - - - Ok, I'll also add, about asking about a shop and/or tattooer: I don't think there's anything wrong with asking about a particular shop or artist. No one here wants you to get a bad tattoo, so if your option isn't up to the job we'll tell you. Especially since none of your proposed designs includes a realistic dragon. However, I think (and I've only been here a short time myself, so take this with a grain of salt) what's better is that you take your time and look at a lot of good tattoos. I mean a lot. Watch the tattooer interviews on this site. Watch Tattoo Age and Gypsy Gentleman. Read the blogs of the good tattooers you learn about. Start to educate yourself as to what makes a good tattoo, and soon you'll be able to judge for yourself if a tattooer is good or not. Then you can get a whole bunch of good tattoos and teach others to do so too!

Was babyeater 1 to 80 taken already, you think? J/k - Welcome to the forum @babyeater81 !

I'm also in the losing weight with a tattoo reward camp. I'm currently at least 50lbs overweight. At 6'3" I carry it well while clothed but shirtless is a different story. My two arm tattoos have already increased my confidence. My goal for 2013 is to drop 50lbs of fat and replace a bit of it with muscle (the scale is irrelevant to me, really, but I think that would be about right to really improve my appearance). I'm planning a road trip to Texas around Novemberish and if I can drop the weight a visit to Austin and Mr. Steve Byrne will be in order. Epic chest piece? Yes, please.

I don't think anyone expressed that opinion, really. What people were saying is that Tim, Rice Eyes, India, etc. were all better choices than that first link you shared - who you should NOT get tattooed by. Tim and Rice Eyes have different styles, so it's not really a matter of "better" but more "what you prefer" (and I do mean what you prefer!). Rice eyes seems to do more realistic work, while Tim does more traditional and japanese. I really think you could go to either and get a very good tattoo.

Check out The Pearl Harbor Gift Shop in Toronto. I'm sure one of the artists there will be able to do what you want. A friend of mine has a big cat sleeve by India Amara. I'd like to get something by Tim Pausinger at some point.

They should be able to put the needle anywhere in your deltoid muscle. Surely there's at least a tiny spot of skin free? Though I doubt the shot would damage the tattoo in any case.

Welcome!

The 'front bicep' is where I got my second tattoo. I like the location but it would be weird if it were my only one. I don't think it will look 100% until I fill in the space to the right of it, actually.

Welcome to the site!

Based on both of these responses being from the UK, what should I be planning to do for my next tattoo, which I plan to have done in Scotland in May? Just looking to be prepared budget-wise. I'm typically a fan of the James Altucher school of tipping (30% - though I don't use $2 bills). If I'm going to be offending anyone I'll tip less or something.

So I guess it's time for me to leap halfheartedly to the defense of critink. In the interest of full disclosure, I was and am a follower of her tumblr, I've probably read most of it. I do not agree with her assessment of what makes an image 'racist' or 'appropriative' if that's even a word. She doesn't really appreciate traditional tattoos, what she likes is much more realistic/modern and her critiques reflect that. I don't know why she doesn't get the concept of flash being awesome, and I've even had a conversation with her about that actually. I just think the characterization of her as 'not knowing shit about tattoos' or similar sentiments is kind of off base. She certainly knows a ton more about tattoos that the average internet user who's out there getting terrible tattoos. She has a bunch of work (sleeve, at least) by Elize Nazelie (Boston, I think) whose work I could take or leave, and also by Mike Moses, whose work I quite like. Does she know as much about tattoos as a tattooer would? No. Does she even know as much as the average member of a site like ours? Likely not. But I think she does love tattoos and she runs her blog to try and help other people get the best one they possibly can. Sure, she goes on rants and has views that we don't agree with - probably true of everyone here at one time or another. Overall she wants to help people make better choices when it comes to being tattooed. I'm sure she's helped people avoid a shit tattoo even as another (better) critique blog, Dermagraphique, did for me when I first started getting interested in tattoos early last year. Seems like a good thing to me. As noted earlier, all can feel free to support her or not as you feel is best :)

Though it wasn't entirely clear in his post, @Delicious was quoting the Critink blog author's views on racism, etc., etc.

Yes, simple; but who does that? I'd say any translation is fine, though I believe it's widely acknowledged that the KJV is one of the least accurate (just by being 400 years old, it doesn't have the benefit of the most recently found New Testament manuscripts). Yeah, I guess 'mainstream' to me is really just the people I know; most of whom would be embarassed by the way your referenced site projects the image of christianity. I'm not in touch with fundamentalists to the same extent as you. Well I hear you on that. In a similar way, I can't get my head around people letting other people tell them how to live based solely on the results of an 'election'. If there's one thing that christians are less tolerant of than tattoos, it would be anarchists so I'm doubly in trouble (I tend to keep both to myself for the most part). Here's something I heard the other day from a coworker who is also 'christian' when he saw one of my tattoos: "aren't you worried that you'll be tormented in the afterlife? I heard that if you have tattoos and you end up going to hell then you get tormented by what you're tattooed by. I don't even know what being tormented by an anchor and a lantern would consist of!?

My mom didn't seem too pleased when I told her I was getting a tattoo. She said, "well you'd better ask your sister about how much it hurt!" I think to try and dissuade me. As if I'm going to not do something that my little sister was able to do twice because it was going to hurt a bit. So of course I went ahead with it. I mean, really. I was 34 years old. She's not the boss of me!