Synesthesia

brings out the trolls who automatically assume because your tattoo costs more than theirs that I think im better than them..

I assume you mean me. I don't care how much money you spend on tattoos, but to treat $5000 and 10 hours of sitting like it's no big deal makes you sound like a dick who just wants to brag. I always thought part of the reason why price isn't brought up is because it's an industry secret of sorts. Believe me, I'm not jealous. You can have all the Jun Cha tattoos you want, his style (and apparently rates) are not my thing.

I think you should get that EXACTLY. Tell your artist no changes to the original design, coloring outside the lines and all!

But no, I guess it would work as a tattoo. Not sure about the blue and black alternating shading around the edges. I personally wouldn't get the design as a tattoo just because I think it's kind of visually boring, and I would probably find an image that better represents what you're trying to say (an animal, flower, portrait, etc). But it's your tattoo, get whatever you want.

they are generally very long sessions 10-14 hours depending on where his tattooing, (on some areas im abit of a pussy) but yeh he is super expensive but worth every dollar...in my opinion anyway

That still works out to $500/hr, which is still pretty ridiculous. And as if just nonchalantly mentioning "regularly" spending $5000 a session (plus travel fees) didn't seem enough like trying too hard, you also imply someone is a pussy if they can't sit 10 hours. Wow.

and best ink fails again... because a tattooer tattooed Ganesh on a woman's arm but called it a "buddhist elephant". WTF

That woman is like your typical egotistical, know-it-all tattooer. She thinks she's an expert and prattles on about how everyone should respect her, but all I've seen her do is those cluttered Hindu designs with mandalas shoved everywhere in them. I tend to watch the show in the background of doing something else, so I might have missed it, but did Mohawk Guy do his peacock backwards? If so, it went unnoticed by the judges. And the phoenix was decently done, although the coloring made it look more like a parrot. I thought that samurai chest piece was fucking awful (she obviously doesn't understand wind bars, and his wrist looked broken) and should have went home over the crane.

But then again, really the only one I thought was all that good was the snake, although I prefer red or black snakes.

@Synesthesia Get all three. Problem solved.

Getting more tattoos somehow manages to be both the cause and solution of all our problems. But yeah, I can totally see that Conn lady I posted on me someday, I'll have to brainstorm more about the other ideas and see what sticks.

Still trying to find a routine that works for me. My first tattoo, it didn't really matter what I did, it was over within 30 minutes. That was primarily about getting over my nerves. The first session with my second one, I felt like I totally botched the preparation (under ate, social anxiety from a crowded shop, pre-occupied with concerns about how my boyfriend and family would react, skin irritation on the area to be tattooed, etc) and it affected how I was sitting. Pretty much worst case scenario as far as concentration and blood sugar levels. My second session I made sure to eat more, the shop was a little less busy, I was more comfortable with my artist, I told my boyfriend to stay the fuck out and not stop by to check up on me like he did the first time, brought a pillow to get more comfy, and I sipped some soda and brought some candy in case my sugar dropped too much. Still felt a little shaky afterwards but I guess that could be the adrenalin from finishing the piece haha. Going back to the same guy in a little over a week...this time I'm making sure to lotion the area for weeks before the appointment, definitely eating a lot, continuing the soda/candy usage, and my artist promised he'd play some death metal for me to get me comfortable. :D And there's a Roy Rogers and Popeye's right down the road from the shop (my two favorite fast food places) so I like to stop and get a little something from one of the two places to help me recover afterwards.

I've flip flopped on getting a classic lady head, a bearded lady head, or just a man head with an epic beard (what can I say, I love beards). I love the soft vintage look of Tom of Finland's men, but would obviously prefer something less homoerotic. :o

I'll probably end up going the safer route and getting something along these lines, I really love this Chris Conn lady:

(Sorry the pic is kind of huge, but I think it's worth it :D)

For a while now, I've been considering a lady head as the main piece on my left arm (which is currently completely empty). I love the look of them, but I have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that it would look too feminine for a guy to have it as a big tattoo on such a visible area. I'm pretty sure I'll get one eventually, just can't decide where.

I'm having the opposite problem. As others have mentioned, it's manly as fuck to have pretty girls on your arm. They remind me of classier pin-ups, which are just about as manly a tattoo as you can get. As a girl, I almost feel like it's too manly for me haha.

^ I wish that was true. I could use some toughness.

Mine are based on my astrological sign and chinese zodiac

Off topic, but I recently discovered my Chinese zodiac animal is a goat, and my element is metal. That gives me one more reason to get a demonic goat design some day...

You guys think this show is bad? Try watching the new Oxygen show "Tattoos After Dark." I watched it the other night because there was nothing on, and was horrified. It turns pretty much all types of body modification into a spectacle and is nothing but a bunch of crazy idiots getting various piercings and tattoos just to show the world how crazy they are. In the first two episodes, a woman got 26 microdermals on her butt, a guy got his balls pierced, a guy got a face tattoo, and a crazy cat lady got (what else) a mediocre cat tattoo while meowing the entire time. A fine example of art taking a distant backseat to crazy personalities...the only thing this show has going for it is it might help people realize how not to act/what not to get when they walk into a shop. Or it could give stupid people bad ideas. Not to mention at least half the show is obviously scripted and filled with bad actors.

Wow you just described me and everything I've been going through lately with hating my job and career goals lol My fiance asked me what my dream job would be if I could do anything and I said being a mom or working in a tattoo shop (not a tattooer though).

I'm not even sure I want to pursue a bachelor's degree, I can't decide if I even want to have a career or if I'll switch after a couple years or what. If only being a shop girl paid as much as I make now. :D

Thought I would get in on this... @ChrisvK, that's awesome, I could really relate to your story.

I'm 22. I too am a metalhead (I guess if you want to call it that, I kind of cringe at the term). I've always suspected I'm somewhere on the autism spectrum, very awkward and shy and find it tough to interpret social cues and all that. I was fortunate enough not to get picked on at least, just ignored by everyone in my school. It wasn't unusual for me to go days at a time without speaking to anyone. I went to Penn State for a year to major in English (always my best subject) and decided I hated the environment and the major. I dropped out and went on to get a degree in human services (basically, social work). Honestly, I've never found a profession that I feel like I could commit to for life, and will probably change professions in a couple years. People think it's weird that I'm so antisocial and yet am a social worker, but I can fake being social for 8 hours a day...then I need to go home and spend time by myself to recharge. My dream job would be just working part time at a music store or tattoo shop or being a stay at home wife, haha.

I've been interested in tattoos and piercings since I was about 13. All the bands I listened to were heavily modded in one way or another, and that was my first exposure to it. I got my first tattoo soon after turning 18 (the Minor Threat sheep), and just recently finished my second, with an appointment for the 3rd later this month. I finally have the time and money to pursue these things and am feeling confident enough to do them, so that's a cool feeling.

Update: New piece is happening. Put down a deposit today, appointment is January 20th. :) It's going to be a hare, with possibly a moth, foliage, and whatever else to help fill space and make it purty. After this is finished, my lower leg will be more or less complete and I get to move on to other projects.

Thanks guys, I wasn't sure how much anatomy should be factored in with these kind of designs (especially being a fairly dainty girl...some spots are harder to pull off, haha). @cltattooing, that makes a lot of sense and definitely helps me visualize what type of shapes should go where. The shop I've been going to recently put a ton of traditional flash on the wall and I consider this a sign that I need to proceed with these plans ASAP. :D

This is probably the dumbest question ever...but I have tons of ideas about traditional style tattoos I like and I have no idea where to begin. I think I'm finally ready to start getting things on my arms and am open to the idea of getting a full sleeve someday, but I'm not necessarily actively pursuing it. I'm looking at more one shot type pieces, small to medium sized, and just having them assembled over the years into something that vaguely resembles a sleeve. At this point, I like traditional tattoos without filler, but maybe that will change once it's completed. Where does someone start with these type of projects? Do I start at my shoulder and just work my way down? Should I hit up the big areas (shoulder, inner bicep, inner forearm, etc) and leave awkward small areas for filler (elbow, ditch, etc)? I don't want to end up wasting valuable space and having tons of weird spaces I can't fill in.

I'm a girl, if that makes any difference whatsoever.

In the works of getting something else from Jason Reeder on the inside of my calf, probably a hare. I'm shooting for the end of January.

People feel that if they follow the right rules, or make their tattoo sentimental enough, they can be certain to avoid regretting their decision. I bet a lot of people who end up getting (what we would consider) silly tattoos as their first probably go on to get awesome work later once they get that mental hurdle out of the way.

I can understand that. I am so glad I didn't get any of the stuff I wanted when I was 14, I'd be covered in nautical stars and metalcore song lyrics. I "sit on" ideas for a few months to make sure I still like it and to help me formulate my opinions about what I want from the piece (I currently have several ideas in that stage :D), but it's not specific designs. And when someone who knows way more than you about something (anything, not just tattoos) tells you they think what you're doing is stupid, you listen. People like the guy I'm mentioning think they know everything there is to know about something, with no experience and no research. On this board, I'm still very much a "newb" and that's humbling and makes me want to learn and experience more; however, compared to this guy, I'm an expert on the subject. So when I tell him what will most likely happen with his design, and he goes out of his way to defy me and get his way even after I explain why it's a bad idea...that's not just a nervous first timer, that's someone that's choosing to remain ignorant and gets what they deserve.

Someone recommended this local place to me because the guy who owns it is "an amazing artist." I think his art is mediocre at best and looks like something a kid in high school might do, and the tattoos are pretty poor. It blows my mind how someone could look at any of this and think it's good...wavy lines, weak lines, rough shading, and it seems like they do their lettering as they go with no drawing of any sort (?!).

^ That last one is laughably asymmetrical.

A guy at work last night wanted my advice on a design his friend had drawn for him (sigh), because apparently I have the most "bad ass" tattoo of everyone at work. That's not exactly difficult when everyone else has tiny little wrist/ankle scribbles and swirls. The design is apparently "the only thing" he would ever want to have tattooed on him, and he's been holding onto it for months because he's too scared to actually go through with it. It was basically a question mark with an eye. Of course, it had some deep, literal meaning that he had to explain to me (the question mark is because he's always questioning things, the eye is because he's always seeking the truth). The whole thing was just so poorly designed and pretentious that it took all I had to not roll my eyes at him. I basically told him he'd be better off coming up with a vague concept and letting an artist draw something, instead of having someone imitate this design, because it was awful (I didn't say that). Then I got the whole "Well, this is really personal to me and I want to have some say in its design" response. At the mention of another artist changing it, he said he would just go to a friend of the guy who drew it, who, of course, is an "amazing" tattoo artist and would copy it exactly the way he wanted it. Funny how everyone knows someone that's amazing at tattoos. At that point, I just kind of nodded and went back to work, it was a hopeless cause.

My parents used to be adamantly against me getting tattooed, and I'm sure it still bothers them, they just aren't as vocal. I went 4 years between my first and second tattoo because of financial and emotional issues, and now I finally have the time and money to pursue my interests a little more. I've been getting a little less grief from them about it these days, although so far I don't have anything too "offensive," so we'll see how that changes when I get more coverage. My dad has 4 tattoos, so until I get 5, he doesn't have any room to talk. My mom is pretty artistic and likes to watch the tattoo shows like Ink Master, because she likes the art, so she's not a hard sell on subjects as long as they're cute/pretty...the day I get my first skull or dagger will be a different story, I'm sure. The biggest issue has been my boyfriend of 4 years. He just doesn't get the appeal and would prefer I didn't have any. But he's been making more of a conscious effort to understand my interest, and he likes some of the more realistic or illustrative type designs, so that's something. He would just rather not have me getting them. He has started saying he wants to be there when I get more, unfortunately he's kind of obnoxious in shops and I need to teach him the proper way to behave. :o

I think the biggest misconception a lot of people (at least all the people in my life) have, is just that tattoos are awful little scribbles and aren't real art. Everyone I know is always amazed when they see what's possible in the medium. Good tattoos can be appealing to all but the most stick-up-the-ass type of people.

^ I am so sick of seeing all my retarded friends immediately freak out about their tattoo/piercing being infected when it's a normal part of the healing process. I've seen so many people take out perfectly healthy piercings because they slept on them the first night so they were a little red and sore. And apparently I know a whole bunch of doctors, because everyone is so quick to diagnose each other as having an infection. Do people just not do any sort of research to what they're doing to themselves? :confused:

^ I personally don't like the idea of a tattoo fragmented like that, I think it's kind of gimmicky. They should be able to stand on their own and be readable. How many times are you going to have your forearms awkwardly smashed together to make the complete picture? And I hate everything about Little Swastika (the guy responsible for the second pic).

Thanks for all the replies guys. I've honestly never really looked into the flash side of the industry too much, I was always more interested in custom stuff until recently. Now I'm really giving flash some thought and it's kind of confusing what's considered appropriate and what's not.

I work with mentally ill adults. One of the...not so friendly ones made some comments a couple days ago. He asked "What are you going to do when you get tired of them?" and informed me "God made you that way for a reason, why would you want to change that?" If God didn't want us to alter ourselves, he wouldn't have made skin as malleable as it is... :p

The other night one of my co workers asked me some questions I seriously could not believe anyone thought could be true: do certain colors cost more, can they tattoo trademarked images, and do they charge by the line. Wow.