Synesthesia

I thought there was a thread for worst shops, I guess not because I can't find it. But I was looking around for other good shops near me and found some real winners. First of all is a little place called Bob's Body Art. The pics on their site looked okay, but then I looked them up on facebook and turns out they had blatantly lied about their portfolio...their ACTUAL work is scratcher level. What a scumbag. After asking around, some friends said "Bob" is the only guy working there, he smokes while tattooing, the shop is gross, and he only uses liner needles for everything. Here's some of his "body art": https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bobs-Body-Art/154316701292676?id=154316701292676&sk=photos_stream Another winner is Criminal Tattooing. Their logo is "Tattoos so good, it must be a crime." These tattoos certainly are a crime. Terrible designs, execution, and placement. Really not a single good piece in this entire gallery. Also notice the kids in the shop and questionable hygiene practices. I also really liked their "Spend $100, get 25% off your next tattoo" coupon, that just sounds so legit. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Criminal-Tattooing/155223037905622?id=155223037905622&sk=photos_stream Last is Skin Ticket Tattoo. First issue is the name...I really want to go to a place that reminds me of skin tags. Bad hygiene all around (there's pics of them working without barriers of any sort), and lots of bad decisions. Check out the one of the guy crouched down trying to tattoo the guy's calf while he's sitting. Some of the worst line work I've ever seen at a "professional" shop. And they included some of their "artwork," which seriously looks like something I did in 5th grade. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Skin-Ticket-Tattoo/542259669140066?id=542259669140066&sk=photos_stream

^ I feel like my last post came out wrong. We have a kind of sarcastic way of communicating a lot of the time, the "dumb shit" remark was said laughingly. By "dumb shit" he means whatever "unladylike" things I want, and that was clarified at the time. He really is incredibly nice, to a fault almost. With everything else, he's a pushover, this is one of the only things he feels strongly about. I only mention our limits matching up to show that maybe we were actually on the same page all along, and just not understanding each other because we assumed something different about each other (alas, communication). Once he heard from me that there were things I would never do and get, I think that put him much more at ease. I would love to get to the point where we're both excited about things I want to get (and maybe even both getting tattooed, haha), and maybe that will never happen, but I think he will at the very least be tolerant of it. He came to my last appointment right after he got off work and was there to support me, but as soon as I mentioned getting another I got the whole "You already have 2, do you need more?" lecture, and have been getting it ever since from him. Him actually participating in my brainstorming (and not just moping and trying to convince me not to do it) was a big step for him. And so far, it does seem like once I actually get something, he's fine with it...it's the planning stage that seems to get to him the most. We're having a tough time right now in general because of a lot of changes in both of our lives, and I think the tattoo disagreements have just pushed everything over the edge and got us both kind of riled up. He did very clearly say during our talk that it's my body and I can do what I want, and he won't love me any less.

I have the Minor Threat black sheep (like many others) on my foot. It was my first tattoo. Now I'm thinking about getting an AFI one, possibly on the other foot. They've been my favorite band for 10 years, and I think it's about time to memorialize that. I don't want to go too obvious with it, I don't think album art or lyrics text is really my style. Thinking about getting a traditional style candle/rose or something, not sure what exactly yet.

Thanks for the replies guys, sorry this thread kinda got derailed into an episode of Dr. Phil, haha. We had a talk about it and I think we've been able to reach a compromise based on his standards of beauty (he almost literally said, "put as much dumb shit as you want on your limbs, but just be a little more careful about what goes on your torso," which was kind of my line of thinking anyway). His "off limits" areas corresponded with my own "off limits" areas, proving yet again that communication is key. He was afraid I would start getting my face tattooed or something crazy, I think it had somehow never occurred to him that I had self control. I think with some more exposure to the whole culture of it, he will probably grow more tolerant of it. I've managed to get him into Ink Master, that's a small step in the right direction. :p I've caught him admiring my newest one on a couple occasions, and I had my first one before I met him and he doesn't even seem to notice it. I think he accepts them both as just part of me now, and will probably adapt to any newer pieces in the same way...if not, I'll deal with that when it happens. I was actually able to bounce ideas off him last night for a future piece without him acting like I said I was getting a body part amputated, that was nice. And I mentioned wanting to get a traditional style bearded lady at some point, and he started out appalled but then actually dared me to find someone to make her pretty, haha.

I was stunned at how mediocre the 35 hour pieces were. Jime's could have been cool if it actually looked like the eagle, snake, and dragon were fighting (how hard could that have been?). My hatred for Tatu Baby grew even more after the finale. Her canvas walks out, so she re-uses the drawing, and slaps it on another guy. So now two guys are walking around with the same wolf on them. Laziness. @Lotus, I agree, loved Chris's piece. I really liked some of what he did, I was kind of bummed that he was never consistent enough to make it further in the show.

Delayed response...I think its slightly different because this is a permanent alteration. It's more like if I had a limb amputated and he had to adapt to that. I think he'll be able to accept it to some degree and we'll see how he feels about any future work when I get to that point; he's either going to learn to like it, or end up hating it and that's his issue. I'm working hard on overcoming how other people will judge me for tattoos I might want, and I have to admit, he's making things more difficult when he should be making them easier for me. I don't want to derail this thread any more than I already have and turn it into a big sob story, but I am having some doubts about us lately for reasons along those lines. I used to feel like he was supportive of me, but lately it seems like we just can't understand each other. I'm finally able to pursue my interests in tattoos, and I feel like he's not really in my corner.

Haha, I always make my characters as heavily tattooed as the game allows. Some of the old Tony Hawk games had a sleeve option for tattoos, I would use the sleeve as filler and then layer a couple more individual tattoos on top of that. And for the games that didn't have that option, I would take a tattoo and rotate it and distort it until it would cover the entire arm and look vaguely like a sleeve. Saints Row 3 had some good options, haven't played the newest one yet.

I work in the social work field. Depending on your exact clientele and position, they can be pretty lenient in this field. I used to work with kids with mental illness, now I work with adults with mental illness. Both jobs were fine with visible tattoos. There's a woman at my current job with a neck tattoo, and a few of the workers have moderate coverage and it's fine if they're visible. If you're going to court or something, obviously you would have to cover up, but for everyday work, it's not an issue.

Not to say I refuse to travel. If I ever find an artist that I love and a design I really want that particular person to do, I would go to them as soon as it was feasible. But I'm just not interested in hopping all over the world getting things from different people just to say I got tattooed by so-and-so. Great for people that are into that, but I'm just not.

I have two spots that I consider prime canvas: I would like sleeves of some length (I've flip flopped from half to 3/4 to full) and maybe a large piece on my back. Because I'm not sure exactly the size and style of tattoos I want in those areas and I want them to be cohesive, I've always known I would save those until I was 1000% sure I wanted to give up that valuable real estate. I went 4 years between my first and second tattoos for money/confidence/time reasons, and now that I seem to be getting in a better place overall, I might work at a faster pace. I'm fine with any of the other places I don't consider off limits (neck, hands, etc) in any order. I'd like to space them out a little at least for healing purposes, but they'll probably be unintentionally more spaced out than I would like based on money. I don't consider myself a collector and just don't really have any interest in traveling all over the world for tattoos, I'd rather find some good local-ish artists.

Just made an appointment for Halloween to get my owl filled in.

I've kept somewhat in touch with a girl I went to high school with, and for a couple months, her dream was to be a tattoo artist. Actually, her specific dream was to win on Ink Master and open her own shop. She doesn't have a single tattoo. She tattooed on some oranges, and went straight to skin a couple weeks later under the guidance of a "professional tattoo artist" (she never did say who). She churned out some real crap in that time period. I told her she needed to slow down and practice some more, because her drawings were nowhere near the level of being permanently on someone's skin. She basically told me I didn't know anything and she was doing everything exactly right because her "professional" teacher told her to do it that way. She hasn't said a word about tattooing in several months. She's the kind of person that fleets from one goal to another without any dedication. Before this, her dream for a few months was to make custom bows and arrows just because she's obsessed with The Hunger Games and her favorite character uses bows and arrows. Sigh. It makes me sad that people treat something so permanent so carelessly. But if anyone looked at her drawings and thought "Yeah I want that on me forever," they kind of deserve whatever they get.

Looks good! And I agree that it ties the rest of your work together. The spiderweb on the shoulder is a cool place for an otherwise done to death tattoo subject. Makes me want a chest piece more and more. :p

Logically, I know you guys are right. It's more of a psychological hurdle at this point. I've been told my whole life by my family, boyfriends, and most of my friends that tattoos are for guys and women with tattoos are ugly. I've been lucky enough to be accepted by those around me for what I have so far, but I think deep down, I have this irrational fear that I'm going to make myself ugly by getting more. And not ugly to other people, but that I'll have this sudden realization of "oh man, these people were right all along, what have I done" and I'll have ruined myself. I know that makes no sense, and I feel so much better about myself than I did before I was tattooed, but it's something I struggle with because it's been drilled into my head so much. I'm starting to see now that it's very possible to make a "masculine" subject have a more "feminine" execution, so I don't have to worry so much about looking like a big burly biker. I've actually been planning a new design for the distant future (want to finish up some more work first) that kind of represents this, and hopefully will help me usher in some bigger, tougher pieces without fear. :p

^ It's always reassuring to hear opinions that are the opposite from what I've heard my whole life.

I watch this show, I honestly don't know why I do, it just pisses me off 99% of the time. Occasionally, there's some nice work on there, but the guy who does that nice work almost never wins for the week. UGH. One of the guys is terrible at drawing, and somehow wasn't eliminated the first week. I always thought being good at the most basic fundamental behind tattooing was kind of a requirement, silly me? And Tatu Baby pisses me off. Mediocre work at best every week, for 2 SEASONS. She was voted back by the viewers solely for her boobs, and has now made it to the finale for the second time. I wouldn't get a tattoo by her if she paid me. Also, unless I missed something, I don't think they did a traditional themed challenge. I'm pretty sure they did one in the first two seasons. It was always a disaster, maybe that's why they stopped.

This is something I struggle with and has really slowed down my tattoo progress. I think being female makes a huge difference as far as "pickiness." There's a lot of stuff I love, but I'm worried it would be too masculine on me. I'm sure once I get a couple larger pieces, I'll get over it and it won't make any difference; I'd love to be at least moderately tattooed. But it's just hard to make that jump right now because people are so much more judgmental against women with tattoos. I would love to be able to just get what I want where I want it, but I've heard so many condescending opinions of tattooed women that I think deep down, I have this fear that tattoos will make me unattractive to other people or even to myself.

My boyfriend hates my interest in tattoos and once volunteered to get some tattoos on himself so I wouldn't have to get any more on me. He seems to think I just like looking at them on someone, anyone, not even necessarily myself. I told him I would be thrilled if he got some, but it won't make any difference as far as what I get. :D

I'm a big fan of AFI, and all the guys in the band speak highly of Lindsey Carmichael, Scott Sylvia, Freddy Corbin, Eric Hogan, Jeff Rassier, and probably a ton of others. Most of their albums have a section in the liner notes called "Get tattooed by" and then a huge list of artists.

Thanks. Just uploaded one in the lowdown thread, going to upload my first one in a little bit.

Got this a few days ago from Jason Reeder at Little Vinnie's in Finksburg, MD. Going to hopefully get it colored at the end of the month. Not the greatest pic because 1) it's hard to get a picture of your own leg, and 2) it's getting into the peely/scabby stage and not looking its best at the moment. But you get the idea. It wraps onto my shin a little because we both wanted to expand the theme in the future and wanted to leave lots of calf space open. Thinking about turning this into a leg sleeve for nocturnal/crepuscular plants and animals.:p

I kind of like the idea of one small, unrelated piece in the midst of a themed sleeve. It gives it more character and uniqueness. :) And if you like it, you should keep it. It's on your body, not hers.

Hey guys, I'm 22, living in Pennsylvania, and a girl, so I have quite the uphill battle as far as people accepting my interest in tattoos. Been lurking on this board for a while now and there's just so much awesome and inspiring art. I currently am working on finishing my second tattoo, and am enjoying getting ideas for new ones from these boards! :)