tacitapproval

Fair enough. But you still have the chance to make your last post your signature. I'm not saying I'm to be trusted...but it seems like the right call.

First, Welcome! Second, that's a lot to fit on an arm. With that much stuff involved you might need a whole back for it. That said, maybe distill your intended meaning(s) into a concise sentence (5 words or fewer) and then drop any component that doesn't directly speak to that theme. Also talk to a good tattooer. Nothing better than someone who really knows what they're doing as far as advice. You're likely to get a better tattoo that better fits the space and still carries the intended meaning. There are definitely folks here who can point you in the direction of someone who will do right by you...and your wee arms. Cheers. - - - Updated - - - @CultExciter and @youthcrewalex beat me to it. And said it better. Best of luck, @wolfcub696 !

@Gnawa, I've always been partial to: “There was much of the beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust.” Might be too much text though.

A thousand times, this.

@AriTattoos, I think I'm right in assuming that the tattoos in your gallery are by you rather than on you, since there are clearly some different people there. That said--and I'm not a tattooer, just someone who likes looking at and wearing them--there are some shaky bits there that you might want to look to. Maybe better off with a real apprenticeship. Certainly best not to just tattoo whoever will have one in the meantime. Even you said that you were doing well enough in graphic design. We don't all need to tattoo. Enough just to be really into them and get good ones. Like @SacramentoDan wrote, no offense intended.

The first episode in a series written and performed by a good friend of mine from college. Maybe a bit dark, but pretty funny.

Welcome! That is one mean looking ass-shark. Nice.

Yeah, this scrimshaw looking dagger and heart is pretty slick: Heart and Daggers | DANNY REED Good call.

@el twe - Yeah, I've already talked to someone about making the swallow into something presentable. I've already gone a pretty long way to filling up that arm with better stuff, so as to distract until I get the bird worked out. And as for the bands, once I'm done with the right arm, the left is next. There are too many great tattooers in New York to not pack good work around my questionable first steps.

True love is also pretty fantastic...although not entirely in English. Most of it is, but there is some narration in Italian. I'm also on my third time going back through the interviews on this site, which have been invaluable as far as consciousness raising about good tattooing and how to be respectful of it as craft and art from a client's perspective.

Yeah, I really dug Looper. The scene in the diner where Bruce Willis basically just says "if we tried to make sense out of time travel we'd be here all day" and just moves the plot forward is particularly funny. The guy who wrote and directed Looper also did Brick and The Brothers Bloom, both of which are really good. Brick is essentially an ode to/satire of film noir set in a high school, and Brothers Bloom follows a pair of conmen. Most certainly worth watching.

My first two are pretty bad. First, we have just about every cliche about what a bad tattoo is wrapped up in one image: "Quod scripsi scripsi." Yup. It's upside down (because it's "for me"...). Latin ("what I have written I have written" so as to be as pretentious as possible). In my own handwriting (see the translation in the previous parenthetical). With poorly rendered solid black bands going around my forearm. I seriously planned on getting another band for any significant life event. Happily I didn't get too far along with that particular project. Second, this questionable execution of classic tattoo subject matter: I still have a soft spot for it, and intend to have someone try and save it if at all possible, but it is a mess. I've since been getting much better tattoos. That said, I'm kind of reticent to cover any of them up (aside from reworking the bird). There is a part of me that almost loves them for being really dumb/bad.

Marija is awesome! My wife and I got tattooed at The Sailor's Grave on our honeymoon (although not by Marija), and she recommended a kick ass restaurant and helped us get a reservation for that night. Really sweet lady. Her husband, Judd does some really rad large-scale traditional stuff. Super-sized battle royale back pieces and whatnot. Super cool shop, too. And they have good coffee. And to address the actual thread topic: Mina Aoki at Fun City does a pretty good thing with ladies in general and heads in particular. That last sentence reads a lot creepier than I intended it. Anyway, I already posted this in the "latest lowdown" thread so sorry for the doubling up, but I just got this one from her.

I, personally, would steer clear of options 2 and 3 of the links you posted. Nothing in those facebook galleries looks very good. I have a couple of really shitty tattoos that I got from shops like those before I knew any better. There is some nice stuff in the portfolios at Golden Spiral, so that seems the safest bet of those three. Good luck, man.

Just got this lady put on me this afternoon by Mina Aoki at Fun City. Now I just need to figure out what to cap my shoulder with and I can start filling in the smaller spots. Three hours out and already planning the next steps....

This is a great idea. I need to finally get around to booking with a few people around the city as well, I just keep getting sidetracked by smaller, more impulsive tattoos. In much the same form, I'm getting some work done this Sunday afternoon. A lady head on the outside of my right bicep from Mina Aoki. She does some nice things with eyes and whatnot. (Mina Aoki | Just another WordPress.com site) After that, the booking in advance and careful planning stage of my getting tattooed will begin. ...I hope. Although I don't want to completely abandon the more impulsive tattoos as well.

Couldn't agree more. I'm a type 1 diabetic on an insulin pump (essentially a little robot pancreas...it's pretty rad), so I'm pretty comfortable with needs of both the injecting medication and placing ink varieties. That said, there are new nurses at my endocrinologist's office and they are fucking horrible at drawing blood. The last three times I've been in they've either pressed the syringe right through the vein, or rolled the needle while it was in. I end up with a bruise for a few days at the site and look like I have a different sort of problem all together. I'm actually getting tattooed this Sunday after a doctors appointment on Saturday, so my hope is that they've improved so that I don't have to awkwardly explain to the tattooer that the needle mark and bruise are from an indelicate nurse, not some questionable extracurricular activities. Might be time to ask the nurses for a blood-draw portfolio.

Yeah, man. Welcome from another new guy. I just did a quick look about on your site. I particularly like this snake/anchor guy you did: Snake and Anchor space filler | foulds tattoo Nice work.

Just got this googly-eyed little weirdo last night from John Raftery at Fun City. I'm calling him "Elwood." Pretty happy with it.

Found myself listening to Downward Is Heavenward today and thought I'd weigh in with the Hum love I saw earlier in the thread. "Isle of the Cheetah" still fucking wrecks me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5z_K63FVcU - - - Updated - - - Don't want to butt in too much and flood the thread, but I've been getting a lot of mileage out of this record of late. This track ("Yesterday's Fire"), "Teary Eyes and Bloody Lips", and "Heartbreaking Bravery" in particular. Cheers.

My wife and I did our honeymoon in Stockholm and then Copenhagen a few weeks ago, and while in Copenhagen we both got tattooed by Henric Nielsen at The Sailor's Grave. They do a walk-in Saturday where Henric paints up new flash each week. I got this mandala flower on my left forearm and my wife got a lady head in profile with butterfly wings. It's a really nice shop, and Henric is a hell of a guy. Marija Ripley was also really nice and recommended a pretty great restaurant on the same street as our hotel. Next up...to try and book in with Steve Boltz and maybe get something from Ashley Love.

I don't think it's just you. i've been having trouble loading user profiles and galleries too. I'm new, so I'm just poking around, looking at everyone else's tattoos. - - - Updated - - - Although it has sped up in the last ten minutes or so.