9Years

My shin was done in one shot (ankle to knee - it's big). The tattooer was guesting from a long way away so it was kind of necessary to do a longer sitting. It was a tough heal. My advice would be to break that monster session into smaller sessions if it's possible.

Not to interrupt your "keeping it real" moment, but you are missing the principle reason, admitted or not, that most 'artists' sign up for this contest. It is not because they have hopes of winning it; win, lose or get laughed off, I bet you their business goes through the roof (at least in the short term) because every chump with no clue wants a sweet-tatty from "that guy from the TV". They can now forever scrawl those magic words "as seen on season xxxx of...." which all the rubes will eat up from now until forever. That's the real shame of these shit-shows, IMO.

Search function: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/crazy-tattoo-stories/207-least-painful-spot-tattoo.html

Finished up this thigh piece about 2months ago. Healed shot lifted from Tim Lehi's Instagram. If you go back in the thread you can see the beginnings/line work. That leg is really coming together...only problem is now I've got this pesky knee-gap.

Oh c'mon now...my wife is a total enabler.

That's a man, man. The system works.

@The Tig The culture of this board frowns upon disclosing dollar amounts so you might consider editing your post to be more general. That said, I think it's strange that your deposit wasn't counted towards the total. If your "deposit" is actually a "booking/drawing fee" it should be identified as such IMO (in any business transaction).

+1,000,000 for Atlas. My wife and I managed to snag some small walk-ins from Cheyenne Sawyer in March. Everyone there was really great: a super accommodating, friendly, no BS shop full of heavy hitters. Worth the trip just to gawk at the all the flash (among 100s of others they had some super cool Scott Harrison stuffs)... 10/10 would get tattooed again - - - Updated - - - Mods: let me know if you think the pic of all that flash is not appropriate. Happy to take it down if needed.

Yes, I have experienced the stank. I usually "feel" when it's time for me to remove the 'derm, and the smell usually precedes the "get this off of me right now" feeling...don't believe the hype that you have to keep it on for blahblahblah....

I am a firm believer in this!

Call them. Everyone at Blackheart is accessible. And they have tons of cool flash. In case you "don't want to go back and search for yourself later" :cool: : 415 431 2100

I think the biggest take away of this thread is how differently people experience tattoos. I thought my full-thigh tattoo was more painful than most of the sessions I had on my ribs/torso. Add the variables of size, length of sit, style/detail, efficiency of the tattooer (BTW can we start a thread on how much worse the wiping is than the actual tattooing during a long sit?) and I really believe you can't take anyone's word for how "bad" or "easy" any one spot is going to be.

https://instagram.com/absolutearttattoo/

Bay Area? Say no more....look here: Spider Murphy's - San Rafael Blackheart - SF Skull and Sword - SF Tempel - Oakland FTW - Oakland State of Grace - San Jose California Electric - Soquel (Santa Cruz) And there are many more. You live in tattoo Mecca!

Ha, I can echo this 100%. Got a (killer) tattoo at the SFO convention a few years ago, my first in a convention atmosphere. Definitely not my preference for exactly the reasons you stated. But, the temptation is strong....

No problem at all in my experience. I've done some tough workouts the day-of and been no worse for wear.

Ha, I have more lightning and snakes than anything else. And skulls. Lightning rules. Get some!

Accurate.

Pretty sure the correct answer is HAIL SATAN - - - Updated - - - Finished up a leg with Lehi. First two sessions at Blackheart, final session at Temple. Last year I got tattooed by Stewart Robson at Blackheart and I was saying I wanted to get some big work from Tim. Stewart told me flatly that I had to get a tiger. Turned out Ok I guess, if you're into that sorta thing... This is about 3 weeks healed (photo taken today). From his IG

@Graeme is right: a tattoo as a permanent reminder only works if you remember to reference that part of your body before you do the thing you are habituated to do before you do it (which you won't). Or if you have a great movie edited in reverse chronological order where the protagonist can't remember anything for more than a few seconds. What are the odds of that? I tried to link to a badass David Parker tattoo robot ray-gunning some poor sucker as my suggestion for a tattoo, but I suck with the technologies (it's awesome though). That's what I think you should get. - - - Updated - - - Aha, here it is: (my wife gave me a leg-up on the tech) by David Parker who is at Blackheart Tattoo in SF.

In country: usually bring it with me. Out of country: research which banks are affiliated with mine to minimize any weird fees, find one close to the shop and treat it like my regular bank (usually I've found you can go to a teller as you normally would). To get around ATM limits I've taken out half of what I've needed the day before then half the day of.

@Cork: Agree with @Graeme. Do it!

Soooo what about the longer, more detailed first part of that great advice then?

Laurent for sure. Great dude at a great shop. My wife got his first "on the books for cash-money" tattoo and it rules. Be jealous.

Blackheart always has prints, shirts stickers etc. Defintley worth a visit. Some of the guys at Spider Murphy's have prints etc but they're not usually displayed. If you go, ask to see if anyone has anything available. If you are in Santa Cruz, go to California Electric (Thad Ritchey, Herb Auerbach and Stefan Johnsson). Beautiful shop and great tattooers. O'Reillys should be on your list down there too. See if Dan Wysuph has any of his "Oh California" prints. Also, go to the mystery spot. It's great. And cheezy. But great. Finally: SF FRISCO THE CITY Enjoy!