sighthound

Saw this recently on Adam Hays' instagram - simply amazing: Adam Hays @adamguyhays | Websta (Webstagram)

Nothing wrong with sharing your ideas - post away

haha, you done did it now. @Steele I will add that I started out admiring traditional 'sailor' tattoos the most. But as I was exposed to more of the culture and background my tastes have slowly shifted towards japanese and black & grey. I especially appreciate the big black & grey japanese pieces. Who knows what I'll like next year.

@peterpoose still looks new! Just curious, how much sun exposure do you let that arm get?

It may not seem so to people with lots of tattoos, but getting a tattoo is a big deal. The barrier to that first tattoo is enough to deter most people, although it is less frightening nowadays than in the past. We may make light of it but it still remains a permanent modification of one's body. And a very deliberate one, too. You gotta arrange a time to do it, have an image or word in mind, find an artist, have money, and so on. A catalyst of some kind is required to overcome that first tattoo "barrier". I went through the same thought process - first tattoo has to be super meaningful etc. and it took me almost 10 years before I finally took the plunge and got a little baseball sized tattoo. I heard someone say once that the first one takes a mile, the next one takes an inch. And it's true, once that bug bites it bites hard :cool:

wow, much respect - awesome background and congrats on your first tattoo. Have plans to get any more?

@heathenist Love the placement of that panther.

Realized about a week or two ago that my wardrobe has been steadily shifting towards having tighter and tighter pants.... Not quite "legging" caliber skinny pants, but def much skinnier than what I have traditionally worn. Maybe it's not such a shitty thing though lol.

welcome aboard. Very cool collection you have. Be interesting to see how your tank turns out, sounds like a sweet idea.

@Axelsdad Awesome! Love whippets. I have an unknown mix who is predominately some kind of hound. He's got a beagle-ish head and face but is built like a sight hound and has all the personality and temperament of one, too. Pretty much a rug indoors but get outside and he's zipping around like a bee. @Graeme greyhounds are awesome, too. Such great dogs and plenty of retired racers out there for everyone lol.

welcome, awesome choice of artists for your next tattoos. Whatever you end up getting, will be amazing.

Guess I'll throw this in for this month. The only black & gray piece I have, and hopefully not the last. By Yoni Zilber.

Just want to add another little gem. Some artists, especially very busy ones, can be a bit curt when communicating via email. This can be especially true if you are a new client and they don't know who you are yet. So, don't be discouraged if it appears like they are being rude. Best way to ensure you have a good consult where you can get good feedback with your artist would be to call the shop and see when he/she is available for a face-to-face. Depending on your relative location, of course.

Same here, I thought it was going to be smaller than it actually is. And honestly, I don't think I could have sat for a bigger piece - I was hitting the wall at the end there haha. Not too big, not too small, it's just right. I love the scale of your tigers though, he had the right idea. @ironchef @MadeIndelible Thanks!

You are fine. Back pieces are a huge commitment and traditionally done in small increments and chipped away at over long periods of time. It's totally normal to discuss with your artist what kind of time frame your funds will allow. They're just happy to have your business. This forum is a tiny subset of a tiny subset of the population. Very few people have the time, money, and dedication to blast through a back piece in a few months. And depending on the design/style that might not even be possible. For example something like a dragon with a million scales will take longer than something without. Don't act like they are doing you a favor by tattooing you. You're the customer. Talk to your artist, you might be surprised to find that most of them are super super nice and cool people. And if they're not, go somewhere else, my 2 cents.

Thanks! Yea, I had a hard time deciding between color or b&g because his color stuff is equally as good. edit: Also @hogg, forgot to mention that your sweet ass rib tigers were a big inspiration for me getting mine.

Joining the ribcage tiger club with this little guy. Taken from Yoni Zilber's IG, and done yesterday while he's guesting in Asheville. Super nice and humble guy. Couldn't have asked for a better experience. Might be a new B&G enthusiast because of it. He has got some 20+ year old B&G tattoos that look no older than 5 - heavy and fine line stuff. Simply amazing. With that said, I will probably not get any more torso pieces for a long time haha. It was so worth the pain though.

@taaarro holy shit that's fucking incredible. Let us know how it goes. Do you have something in mind or are you going to let him pick the subject?

I am mixing styles and yes thats how i'm doing mine. Japanese one arm, american trad the other arm. Torso will prob be a trad mashup as well. The back i'm going full japanese. And haven't figured out the rest yet.

I think what's more important is how you feel about it. Figure out the reason(s) why you want to get tattooed and let that guide your decisions. Aesthetically, a cohesive and consistent design will always look better than a mash-up, imo.

^ this is true, too

@jimmyirish I took some quick, really bad, laptop cam pics for you. There was pretty much no coordination between the arms. I like the negative spacing and how each image can stand on its own on my american arm. I also like the coverage and how heavy the japanese arm is. I couldn't decide so I just said I'd get one of each lol. Understand that your arms will always be a little asymmetric, just a little. The only way, imo, that you might make them more similar would be to get stars & dots filler when you finish the american trad arm. I probably won't go that route just because I like the negative spacing on it. But to each their own. In the end, overall symmetry wasn't that important to me. I just like tattoos, and wanted both styles. Sorry for the horrible pic quality, but it's enough to get the idea I think :cool:

not at this moment, no. It's hard to get a good pic of oneself

My arms are set up that way, too. I have a japanese half sleeve on my left arm and traditional flash designs filling up my right arm down to the elbow (another half sleeve). I didn't really plan it out that way it just kind of happened. And my right arm wasn't planned out either, I just got designs I liked by artists I admired. It filled itself out nicely because if you go to a quality artist they will, by default, fit the design in with the rest of your work. Even though I went to all different artists, they still made it all come together seamlessly. The symmetry is a little off just because of the contrast in styles but I don't mind it as much. Just express your thoughts to your artist(s) and be open to their suggestions because they'll know best how to give you what you want.

Very cool, welcome aboard. You can put me down as jealous of your amazing tattoos. And yea, even the ones you think would be easy to photograph are impossible lol