Fala

@Tesseracts - I checked out the author's twitter account, and a few other women are enraged by the same things as the author. What a double standard... "don't you dare tell me what to do with my body, I will tell you what to do with my body." I'm not even capable of stringing words together with this ridiculousness. Dan's response has been fantastic.

I want to see progress too - I think we're connected on Instagram, but I could be wrong. pamelafala is my instagram name. Thanks!!!

Poor hawk, cool tattoo.

But @RoryQ, it's her job! (Snark, snark)

That article made my blood boil. I've only ever had awesome experiences at NY Adorned (and Josh is the best). I've seen people walk in with mighty horrible ideas for tattoos and the staff at NYA be nothing but gracious and helpful. Agree with @bongsau. Poor lady, she walked into one of the best shops in the city and got told "no" for the most general tattoo one can get, wah-wah-wah (or weh-weh-weh). Not to be as petty as her - but her tattoo looks awful placed where it is.

Wow, I feel lame! I'm getting one of the last three things that I've wanted for a while done in September, then will get the last one of two done in the winter most likely, then it's moving on to my back. After that, the "grand plan" will be accomplished. I really have no plans on moving onto my arms or lower on my legs. We'll see if the "grand plan" sticks, or if I move outward though. That's where I'm at with things: September = right thigh Late fall/winter = left rib ??? = back Gotta let my husband get some work done too!!!

I know that I want a neck to mid-thigh backpiece, and to have the front of my thighs done as well. As such, I've started with what I can afford to do before moving onto my back: thighs, ribs, etc all with the consideration of the future backpiece and leaving as much space on my back as possible while still getting tattoos that are comfortable for me coverage-wise.

@BrookR70 - in addition to what @Graeme said... I take Advil PM before bed, get into as comfy a position as possible, then prop pillows around me to try to keep me in place for as long as possible.

@Suiren - you need to stop controlling the tattoo process down to every last detail. Knowing or not knowing what type of needle you need to make the tattoo you want will make no difference in the end - except to piss off your tattooer for being an overly controlling customer who has no idea what they are talking about. Either go to a tattoo artist you feel comfortable working with, and trusting said artist, or don't get the tattoo. This boils down to 1. going to a good tattoo artist, and 2. trusting that your good tattoo artist will give you a tattoo. Without either of those things in place, the last piece (your tattoo) will fail.

Agreed @six times seven I think the tattoo artist was trying to tell you that the smaller and thinner the work, the more quickly unreadable it becomes, and thus the longevity of the tattoo is lost - so she was trying to readjust your expectations re: your tattoo. That's my take on it at least. Most of the successful lettering and linework tattoos I've seen are not teensy tiny like your desired size, but much larger. See: Thomas Hooper, Roxx, Nazareno Tubaro, and any of the other fabulous line, dotwork, and neo-tribal tattooers out there. Robert Ryan does a lot of occult imagery, check him out to see what kinds of lines he's making. Jondix does lovely fine black and grey work, as does Rich Cahill (he does ridiculously small single needle "micro" tattoos, I would not get one because in a few years' time I'd think those micro tattoos to be blurry blobs), and many, many, many others. Just because YOU want your tattoo to be executed a certain way, doesn't mean it is feasible to do as a successful tattoo... At this point, I suggest running a search on the forum for a list of recommended tattooers in Germany.

My code of practice is to inquire with the shop staff what a certain artist's rate is when booking a consult, then decide if I can live with that (so far, I've been lucky and able to manage it). Then, during the consult if all is full-steam ahead, we discuss the length of the session. Result: Rate x number of hours for the appointment session = ballpark figure cost. I always figure in an extra hour's worth of money, plus funds for tipping. With that all figured out, I'll then decide when I can afford to get the tattoo and book from there. This means, for me, that I get tattooed much less frequently than I'd like, but I have gotten all the tattoos I want, the size I wanted, and all that jazz, up until this point.

There is such a thing as bad placement - yes! The tattoo should flow with the body, and look like it was meant to be there (natural, so to speak) vs forced to be there like a sticker. It is important not only for the flow of the body, but how different tattoos will interact with each other. Good placement, again, looks "right" and natural, whereas poor placement looks awkward. When you start looking at more and more tattoos, you'll understand what I mean. It's akin to great composition in a photo, painting or drawing.

Are you hoping for something photo realistic or something more avant-garde? If more avant-garde, I'd go with Razvan - he might be able do to something photo realistic for you without the avant-garde marks. There is a great thread on black and grey tattoos somewhere on the forum, and their aging. I highly recommend checking it out for artist references and ideas, thoughts, considerations, opinions, etc... http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/2654-aging-realism-what-lasts.html Marisa Kakoulas of needlesandsins.com covers a lot of artist from all over the globe, you might want to check her site out for additional ideas. Another big thing for picking the right artist is that you must go to the shop where the tattoo artist works, and look at their portfolio, feel the vibe of the shop and the staff working there. DO NOT ask for a quote for how much the tattoo would cost whilst visiting. When looking at the tattoo artist's portfolio... do they have nice photos? Are the photos of fresh tattoos, or healed tattoos? Is the portfolio itself decent (as an artist, a poorly photographed portfolio and sloppily put together portfolio sends red flags up for me), does the shop have a good vibe to you? If all is okay for you, then book a consult with your artist. You are not obligated to book a session or place a deposit with a consult (well, some uber busy artists do have consult booking fees that go towards the cost of the tattoo) - with the consult you'll see if you are a good match or not. A big indicator for me has always been: look at everyone's work, then make a shortlist of whose work you keep returning to look at more and more, then go visit those shops and a few others that didn't make the shortlist. After that, you can go with the tattoo artist's work that feels the most right for you. I spent a lot of time learning what a good tattoo was (placement, linework, shading, etc) just by looking at a lot of tattoos - good, bad, in between - and it made a difference in helping me figure out what kind of tattoo I wanted. I changed subject matter ideas so many times, then I decided to focus on finding a tattoo artist who made my heart pitter-patter, then I worked on sussing out subject matter. It was better for me, but may not be that way for you or others here. I feel like this response was a big long ramble, sorry about that.

I need to amend my upcoming list: Yoni Zilber for a skull/dagger-knife thing, and Brian Kaneko for peonies and another bird - all in the fall because I like swimming too much in the summer. Inching towards what I wanted to do on my body tattoo-wise.

I keep thinking of a clipper ship, compass and a star of some sorts.

@SeeSea - I've come to love my hips and thighs thanks to my tattoos. It's been an unexpected blessing. As for aging... well, I guess I'll have to wait and see what my tattoos look like when I'm old. They'll probably look old too ;)

I'm hoping to pop in this evening, have a full weekend so won't be able to make it any other time. I'll be the girl in the pink skirt - no visible tattoos.

Going in in September for my left side/ribs with Yoni Zilber - for a dagger and skull, after that my right thigh (bird/flower) with ???, then I can concentrate working on my back (TBD).

Not to divert this thread even further but... First: colds are caused by viruses, and antibiotics are not the same as antivirals. Second, we don't even know what this person has going on beyond having a "cold" so to recommend anything that could be a detriment to the progression of the illness, without garnering more information is unethical. Standard things are fine, but even garlic can make a hot type of cold worse. Just because one thing has worked for one person in the past, does not mean it is appropriate for everyone. This is the last I am going to post on this topic because clearly it makes no difference whatsoever and I'm wasting my time and energy. I'm getting off my soapbox now. Hahaha @xcom.

Right on @bongsau - I got really sick last year, right before an appointment and I CALLED the shop before the appointment, so I didn't infect the entire shop and ruin my experience (day of and afterwards). Wonder what the OP did???

Thanks @beez for the reminder of the fantastic "add to ignore list"! Will be using it in the future, for sure.

EVERYTHING contains chemicals - what do you think our food is, or water, or coconut oil? My point was that recommending GSE as a "safe" alternative is counterproductive as it is often tainted and not "all natural" "organic" or "pure" as some would be lead to believe. The OP was not looking for more holistic approaches, he was looking to be as asymptomatic as possible. You want to be asymptomatic? Take the Dayquil. You want to kick your cold faster? Take herbs and foods that are appropriate for the type of cold that you have. Clinical herbalist, over and out.

IMO I would not get my own handwriting tattooed on me if I were to get lettering. I would go to a tattoo artist that's great with lettering (I don't have recommendations for you in Germany), talk with them about what you would like, and where, then see what they come up with. That should be more than sufficient for your needs and it would be plenty personal enough - you'd have your choice of writing on your body written just for you by someone who does custom work. Learning to find a great tattoo artist, and then trusting that great tattooer to do their work (from drawing to tattooing) will result in a good experience. And, who knows what the tattooer's ideas may be - perhaps they'll think of something you haven't and you'll be even more excited with the tattoo. I'm sure that bringing in a printout of a Celtic illuminated manuscript will be sufficient along with the words you'd like tattooed on you.

Started a new job a month and a half ago - I really like it, and am a little freaked out by how quiet it is compared to my other job in terms of output volume. I am not complaining, believe me, I needed this change. Had a mother/daughter day with my mom yesterday, was so very nice. We had lunch, went shopping, walked around, took a pedicab (quite the hilarious, if scary, experience) and enjoyed each others company. I love what time has done with our relationship. And... I started taijiquan classes a few weeks ago, wow do I love it. I'm never going to learn it all do do the form (Yang style, 112 long-form?) but that's okay. I really dig the martial arts aspect of it vs the typical overemphasis of the beauty of the form/movement. And! I have a tattoo consult next week for my once-a-year tattoo because I can't afford to go more often with all of these other interests diverting my money elsewhere. ;)

Agree with @Graeme and @bongsau - my tattoos have looked better as time has passed. With one of them, I was told, "this will look even better in ten years". If one year passing has given me a glimpse of what will happen over ten years' time, I am more than happy with this planning and transformation. For me, I don't really like the look of a brand new tattoo - I can't wait to see it after it has settled and meshed with the body.