Brady

I'm a bloke and I completely agree with you, Beez! To be honest I'm looking forward to being the silver fox patriarch with the tattoos! What'll I do when I'm 90? Probably still be in the mirror, admiring my fabulous hair...

My newest tattoo is just visible in short sleeves, this guy at work came up yesterday and went "ah *nod at tattoo* I was thinking of one for myself a few years ago, I went THE OTHER way though - abseiling". He said it so conclusively I'm wondering how fine a line I walk betwix getting tattoos on my skin and abseiling down walls. Other than that, nothing but curious peeping and lovely comments! It's interesting to see how many parents take a negative view - in my case, my mum seems to take them in and appreciate that they've added to her creation.

I've long thought of a tribute to "The Goonies"! For me, it's more than a movie. I'm not keen on text (Goonies Never Say DIE!) but the image of them all huddled together is something I'm keeping in mind.

I really like it mate, made me smile seeing the big double decker!

Apologies for ear-wigging, but this gave me hope for a backpiece - due to training, I pay more attention to my back than my front but hadn't considered this when planning / dreaming up tattoo ideas. Nice one!

Can't help you with the wording mate but I wanted to say it's a wicked idea! We put red roses down for my sis as she hated them :D Been trying to figure out the sibling thing for a while and I think you've nailed it with the brotherly "dig" if you get me? Sweet mate!

I think I'm in the camp of laughing-at-the-dodgy-imitations, but tbh it'd get to me if someone ripped my work off, whatever it was. I've actually been worrying about the whole thing for a long time as I've been totally in love with several images but of course didn't want to copy them. I booked in my Day of The Dead girls (well, the first one) on Tuesday. I took in the crumpled pictures and notes I've carried for ages and had my speech ready about "not wanting to rip off exact images" etc, despite how it may look. The tattoo artist didn't even consider that I'd want exact copies of them, despite my annotations scrawled all over - "LOVE THE EYES!" "SHINE ON LIPS IS PERFECT!" etc, sounds weird but I KNOW the thought didn't even enter her head. It felt like I'm pointing at a red room gushing how much I want mine the same, she offers to paint mine blue - it was the brushstrokes stoking my fire all along, she knew it from the start. It only really dawned on me then that godjam, I'm paying for this lady's incredible talent, not just her experience and skill in sticking me with ink. Can't wait for the session (105110 mins and counting! Online countdowns are torturous!). Love to all John

My first sighting was my dad's tattoos. He's (t-shirt) covered in underground tattoos from the days before he met my mum. It must have been so annoying for him but bless him, he never stopped me! At night I'd curl up behind him in bed and "play" with his full back Battle Royale, walking my feet up and down it, pinching the snake's nose, pulling, punching, twisting their faces... never thought till now how much patience my dad has! Any time at school when we had to draw our family, our hero, in fact any kind of "grown up"... that's right! A dodgy stickman dad with big circles for muscles, big scars on his face and every single tattoo I could remember till the page was filled with monkey faces, womens names, dice, skulls... my teachers must have had a scream! Speaking of this, I've recently decided that I'll get my own Battle Royale in tribute to his. I'm not gonna tell him, just turn up with the outlines, hopefully a bit of colour at that point and let it speak the words I struggle with. Have a good day!

No re-wrapping for me - despite the tattoo artist advising to do it for best results, and knowing people who have done it and healed great. I burned myself once (as in flames) and the "burn victim treatment" did not work. I don't know the biological reasons for this. I've browsed and lurked for a while and though I reckon lots of folk know, I've not seen it mentioned - My lifestyle is largely intense weight training so when it comes to healing, at the forefront of my mind is nutrition. Don't worry, I'm not one of those tedious protein-shakers. In my mind my skin is the same as the rest of my body. If I hurt it, I give it what it needs to mend itself. Anyway - here's a couple of foods to munch on that'll help you heal... Salmon - the fats are really good, also the protein for healing skin (and everything else). Carrots - lots of vitamin A. Chillis - Good for skin (vit E) Olives, olive oil - fats. When I say fat, of course I mean the healthy ones! WATER - I go through almost 5 litres a day and have done for around 15 years. Essential for life, essential for skin health. You don't need this much, but remember cells need water to do their ting. I know enough about nutrition to know that people just don't want to hear "healthy eating nonsense", so if you want to find out all about the vitamins etc go look it up. These aren't fancy foods, I tried giving some examples of everyday foods that folk may not appreciate for the magical foods they are. Always nice to know you've long been doing something great for yourself! Remember also that protein is very important for your immune system - been years since I've researched all this, but I think it's around the first 20g of protein you get in your tummy goes straight to work on your immune system. Don't dweeb out on the diet plans, just reach for the stuff that isn't in smiley face format or crusted in salt and flavourings. You'll still want your creams, ointments or whatever - my post here is to help address the wound from the INSIDE. Have a lovely day all! John

Longest for me is my tribal piece of a wolf (modified to look like a pic of my old dog) and it took 7.5 hours - loved every second but my body kicked in on the way home and I melted down the wall at the train station :eek:

Haha, I'm never far away from one! I have mate yes - Georgette at Bitch Ink in Ockendon did my other two, and providing she's still there that's where I'm going. - - - Updated - - - Thanks I appreciate it! I'll definitely be posting up the results or work-in-progresses!

Hello everybody! I've sat on the sidelines for a little while now and have enjoyed a lot of threads, so I'm signing up now. This Friday I'm going to the Tattoo parlour to share my plans with the lady there and see if she's up for tattooing me. I have two tribal pieces and although I still love them, I'm after something different and plenty of colour. Strange how my tribal pieces have changed in my mind - I've actually lost the connection to whatever got them on me in the first place, now they serve as milestones in my life and bring faces, feelings and even smells to the surface. They're 7 & 8 years old now, so it's been a while. For a long time I've carried several pictures with me that I stumbled upon looking for something else - Beautiful ladies bearing the make-up of the Day of The Dead Sugar SKulls. This comes out twisted however I say it - but I feel almost like I've fallen for them, a real attraction and yep I've wished they were real! My weirdness aside, I think it's time I got them tattooed on me. I'm not just perving by the way! I came across these ladies at a time when I didn't know how to keep going, nor could I see the reward for doing so. As a kid my favourite Disney video "The Three Caballeros" filled my world with colour and a mad carnival vibe, years later the images of these ladies (I recognised the theme, just forgot the feeling I guess) did SOMETHING. Words often fail me, but it's like echoes through my memories and well, colour bled back into the world. I'm more than excited! One thing I found out through my experiences so far is that I love the feeling of the needles - blood test me and you have to velcro-strap my arm so I don't squeal and wiggle till you mush my vains, but tattoo me and it's nearly erotic. Again - ignore my weirdness! I just can't relate to stories of pain and cut-short sessions. Of course, the real reward is a beautiful tattoo and I can almost see it already. I'm still uncertain so I need to speak with the artist, but I'm thinking (several ladies faces, marigolds, roses and several small Day Of The Dead type dolls sleeping) left side ribs, up round my side to my back (lats) and up to cover my shoulders - sort of trailing the work around me. Never one to big myself up, but after years and years of heavy deadlifting it's fair to say I have a decent back, so the whole thing may fill more than planned. The only downside I can see is that these pics I have are pictures of other people's tattoos... never been sure if this is ok or not, though for sure the artist will give them her own style and seeing how I'm planning on several different faces with the flowers binding it all together, this piece will feel "my own". At the risk of sounding foolish, I feel that I've carried these images for enough time, shown enough people and dreamed of them enough to know I need them in my piece. Ok, well I hope to soon post a couple of work-in-progress pics and continue to soak up wisdom here. Loving this forum, it's obvious to me from lurking that this is the soundest online community I've joined! Peace to all John