polliwog

***warning, gross*** Best I could tell it was a damaged hair follicle. Not an ingrown hair, but like the whole follicle/sweat gland had said "fuck you, I quit." I was able to tweeze it out (highly scientific) and it seems to have healed up fine with no damage to the tattoo. Everything seems to heal differently and there's a new surprise every other tattoo. Hair dye is scary. http://www.dermnetnz.org/dermatitis/paraphenylenediamine-allergy.html

Are you asking for opinions because you're unhappy with it?

The oni and the hands are so nice. Well, everything is!

Her eagles have so much character - I love how she draws the faces. Congratulations.

Once I helped clean out a hoarder house. It is miserable work. Not much to say other than hang in there, and I'm sorry you're dealing with this.

Thanks for writing that. Posts like the above are what make this forum stand out from the great majority of discusssions online...it's easy to take a cheap shot and much harder to be compassionate. I'm not super proud of ribbing the original poster and hope is doing OK.

What a fantastic post. Keep writing. - a civilian

I'm 20 minutes outside of Boston, in Newton, where we just broke the record for "snowiest winter." Both largeish lower-leg tattoos I've gotten so far have been in the middle of winter and have taken forever to stop feeling dry and uncomfortable.

As has been pointed out many times before, it's pretty weird to inject pigment into a layer of your skin. I have some year-old blue that's just finally started to settle down. I accept that cranky skin is a risk you take and most of it probably isn't worth exercising your imagination over. I put some Preparation H with witch hazel on my distressing bumps and they've already calmed down, so there you go. Still keeping an eye on them.

I'm a couple months out - it seems pretty well healed, except for these lumps. Probably just a reaction to the red. I was thinking of giving it a bit more time anyway since I don't love seeing doctors/paying for whatever my insurance doesn't cover. Thanks!

Thanks, and that should have been obvious to me.

I thought that getting lower leg tattoos at close to 30, with steady employment, was a bold step for me. Having read this thread, I guess I need to yolo harder.

If I can piggyback on this thread, I currently have a few itchy bumps under one of my tattoos - consulting with the artist isn't possible because of distance/nothing's visible in pictures. It's probably just irritation but I'm concerned enough to want to check with a doctor. But it seems like dermatologists can be hit-and-miss when it comes to their knowledge of tattoos and how to treat them when there's a concern (for example, prescribing antibiotics for tattoos that are scabbed and angry-looking but not infected). I'm wondering if anyone has tips or stories about advocating for yourself/communicating across what might be a cultural divide - or finding a tattoo-friendly dermatologist.

@beez's ongoing Diamond Club collaboration is one of the coolest tattoos I've seen on here. I would love to hear about how it has evolved since it began, if you feel like posting about that sometime.

Thanks! Mostly funny dead English people. I don't want read to more of this, though, but when faced with an overwhelming number of choices that's what I tend to revert to. Sometimes I read mysteries or nature writing. For my job there's a pressure to keep up with new mainstreamish literary fiction, which it's possible to begin to resent. Trying to say that without sounding dismissive - oy... If I may ask, what's your profession that involves reading lots of weird fic and horror? Because that sounds pretty cool.

Is that the start of @Flo Ania's backpiece I just saw? Because holy shit.

Thank you! I know very little about space but am open to learning more. (And will hopefully have no time or energy left to write regrettable posts on here while trying to read and understand this book.)

I've been sort of stuck for books lately. Reading half of something and putting it down, spending far too much time online (obviously). Recommendations for an amazing book that might help rewire a distracted brain would be so appreciated...

Edit: never mind.

Throwing this here because I think this is a good place for it. Goshawks are incredible: This beautiful and terrifying marvel of nature is named Ellie.

Thought it was time to bump a positive thread back to the top. I'm reluctant to say that I've learned anything from tattoos yet, but one thing I did notice is that old Asian art is suddenly a lot more interesting. Previously I would've found something like Chinese silk paintings beautiful but not viscerally exciting - which I think also has something to do with the way it's often presented in museums. I've hardly been to a large number of art museums worldwide, but in the US it seems like the Asian art wing's often hushed, dimly lit and under-trafficked - like, the part of the museum you walk through or past in order to get to the Picassos. But the link to tattooing has suddenly made me really excited to look at things like cast-bronze deities, or Japanese board game designs (there's a whole room of them at the MFA that's fantastic). That's due to looking at the Perseverance catalog and the tattoos that posters on here are making or getting. I hope this doesn't come across as patronizing! - - - Updated - - - Rereading this thread, I just realized that Pugilist said virtually the same thing in her first post - durr! So I guess this is a longwinded way of saying, me too.

For further reading there's also: Blue Tattoo - University of Nebraska Press I haven't read this yet but should rectify that soon, since her other book pushed me to get more tattoos. Some of the Kurdish tattoos that @Pugilist posted about recently, though the designs are pretty different, reminded me slightly of Olive Oatman's tattoo in terms of placement and overall effect.

Blaze is beautiful. What kind of snake is he? And any house with three dogs is a lucky house.

Best of luck! I know the feeling.

This may be a stupid question, but why does the newness of your backpiece make a difference?