growltiger

I've spent a lot of time noseying around the forum trying to educate myself, and have completely reconsidered everything that I thought was a 'good' tattoo. Now, I'm interested in getting a 'great' tattoo :-) At the moment I'm thinking that I want one really beautiful tattoo across my shoulders and one totally bad-ass tattoo on my thigh. I'm looking for artists in the UK, south-west or London ideally. Please can you tell me what you think of these people, in terms of both technical skill and whether you like what they do: Rebecca Vincent: Instagram I particularly like her roses: Instagram Tracy D In particular, her lady heads like this one based on a Rossetti painting: Tracy Claudia de Sabe: Instagram Lauren Gow: Instagram Any other suggestions welcomed. I've found a few more people who are highly regarded, but I find their style a bit 'cutesy' (Amy Savage, Dawnii Fantana, Tiny Miss Becca, for example). Thanks in advance :)

I love how one of the standard pearl clutching responses to tattoos is about how they'll look when you're old. Based on this thread, they hide a multitude of sins- tattooed folk are going to look darn amazing! Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk

I just came across this on another forum. It's the last comment that tickles me: Well, if the internet says so...

That's a great post @beez. Very honest and open. What a great way to turn something negative around into being something very positive. I think taking ownership over our thoughts and bodies is a very important step to being happy in life. Thank you for your wise words :) And I like your conclusion. Hear hear.

I decided to test this theory, being unfamiliar with Dio and today's work requiring a little 'awesoming' up. This just resulted in my secretary, a quite stuffy retirement-aged man who had come into my office to do some filing, throwing me the devil horns and having a little mosh. It's made my day. Dio for the win.

Thanks @beez and @SeeSea, you are both totally right. I've hit that age where youth is no longer on my side, plus having a baby, even though I came out of it relatively unscathed, has been a bit of a shock. I'm the same size as I was before, just everything is rearranged. I need reupholstering ;) It's very easy to be negative, like you say, about not being cool/pretty/thin enough but that is just years of exposure to body-shaming talking. I've seen someone on here say something along the lines of "Everything looks better with tattoos". I like that mantra :D @beez: I hadn't realised it goes right up your back too. What are you doing to me?!!

I'm at work so no time to read back through the thread, but I recall people suggesting things that you weren't keen on. It might be worth you having a good response for why you don't like those ideas, in case she brings them up. I only say that as, based on this page of the thread, you say you are worried about being nervous, upset and/or angry. Having some responses in your mind might help you articulate them better. WhatSeeSea says makes sense too. Better to be over-prepared and get what you want out of this, than for it to go wrong and you potentially burn bridges.

Yet another body-positive thread. This forum makes me feel warm and fuzzy :-) Can I ask a dumb question wrt thighs. Specifically, lady thighs that are prone to cellulite in the not so distant future (thanks mum!). How would tattoos be affected? Would developing cellulite ruin a thigh tattoo or would the tattoo hide it to some extent? Presumably something geometric might go a little wonky, but would something more organic hold up?

@beez You know when you see something that makes you hold your breath because you want it so badly? Your tattoo just did that to me. That is so beautiful! Very inspiring. If I lived in seattle... Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk

Could someone briefly summarise the Bubbleberry saga? I searched for him, and found a (probably fake) wife with a dubious apprenticeship, an "interesting" avatar and a cryptic reference to something no-one will talk about anymore, possibly related to a dvd. It's piqued my interest... Also, this:

I love how your parents will actually drive you to get tattooed, but wouldn't consider letting you stay in a hotel! In terms of big deals, it seems the wrong way round. I guess they are into tattoos, it's nice to have your parents on side (there are a couple of threads on this, a lot of people aren't so lucky). Anyhoo, are there any conventions in the areas that you can make it to? That might be a way of expanding the artists available to you. There's also a thread on here about what makes a good tattoo, someone has probably linked to it already, which makes a really interesting read. It's full of great advice and it has actually made me do a complete turn-around on my views of what I liked/didn't like. I know you have a very specific idea, which sounds lovely and obviously has deep meaning to you, but it might help you turn that idea into a cracking tattoo in ways you can't imagine yet. Good luck, and enjoy the journey to getting your first tattoo.

The problem is, The Dude, that you come across as one of those boorish oafs who shouts everyone down and can never be wrong. You made an ill-advised comment, people tried to explain this to you. Instead of taking in what they were saying you attacked them whilst playing some sort of weird victim card. If you'd just tried to engage with people and understand what they were saying, even if you didn't agree, this could have gone a very different way. You could easily have accepted your comment might be offensive, explained why you didn't mean it to sound like that, job done. A brief aside: calling ladies "shit birds" is a pretty poor example of not being sexist. Just so you know for future. Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk

Ditched the baby for the first time, went to Belfast to visit friends, drank EVERYTHING, have a three day hangover. And I'd do it all again. it was bloody marvellous :D

Sorry HaydenRose, my post in no way meant to diminish how women (or men!) may feel with respect to negativity aimed at them. Your post rings very true (I'm female). It was the assumption that women may/may not get tattoos in the first place because men find them attractive that raised my hackles, and the implied suggestion that perhaps they should get fewer as that particular poster does not find heavy tattoos to be attractive. Sorry, I'm muddle-headed today. I make no sense.

I'm fairly certain that none of the ladies who post on this board give a flying fuck whether toss-pots on the internet think they are attractive or not, based on their tattoos or otherwise. Also, this argument works both ways. Some men who are heavily tattooed are 'hot', some aren't. I wonder how attractive the naysayers are? Not very, I'd wager.

Well, that was a complete fail of a thread! :-/ But, for completeness, I thought I'd update it. They've raised over £12,000 (>$20,000)! They've done a marvellous job, both the organisers and everyone who donated art. I hope this gets picked up by the UK press, it'll make a nice change from the usual negative focus that tattooing gets.

Done :) Please give us a summary of your findings when you are done.

Ade from Nine in Brighton has organised a charity auction of original paintings by tattoo artists: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.662620580447915.1073741830.628651220511518&type=3 All proceeds to Cancer Research UK. There are quite a few names that I recognize from on here who have donated pieces (Valerie Vargas, Claudia de Sabe, Nigel Palmer... ) so I thought it might be of interest to the forum. :)

If you have a slot booked with an artist who has a long waiting list and then you require some redrawing that means it doesn't get completed in your booked slot, what happens then? Is it likely that they'd book you in for another session in the near future or would you have to go back on the waiting list? What about if you've travelled a long way? Or do artists usually factor in redraw time when they book slots?

Might it be worth having a specific thread for questions that might be considered dumb, or for people to post in when they have something to say that isn't worthy of its own thread? People can avoid or refer people to it at will then. I'd also like to say that I've been impressed with how literate even the arguments here are! There doesn't seem to be the usual pile-on I've seen on other forums. People still take time to post rationally and have a proper discussion over the issue.

I thought of this thread yesterday. My mum saw my 3rd tattoo for the first time as I leaned over. I am in my thirties, I have a baby, a phd, a career, a mortgage... yet 5 little words uttered my my mother "Oh, you have another tattoo" and my stomach dropped and I was 17 once more. My husband thinks it's hilarious, I'm annoyed at myself that, instead of saying something terribly intelligent that changed her views completely, I regressed to being a monosyllabic defiant teenager. Gah! ;-p

That is so beautiful! Did you do it?

Oh yay! I'm glad you've posted pics. She's a beaut! What colours are you going to have? How was the experience?

I am a coward. I would do anything to get out of having to make a phone call. (Did you know there's an actual human being on the other end of the line?! You can't see their eyes!) Given that, this website still gets a "hell no" from me. I can see how it appeals. To people who want a tattoo because David Beckham/Cheryl Cole/the one with the silly hair from One Direction have one, who know nothing about how to choose a shop or an artist, who think that a tattoo is a tattoo is a tattoo (or a "tatoo" in many cases)... I hope you can see what I'm getting at. Even if they get a decent design from the website, they won't know how to pick an artist who can do a decent job with it. Many of the comments mention cost. I can imagine people thinking that, if they've got a decent design, then any geezer with a "tat gun" can just trace it and blast it, right. I'd like to give this man a pat on the head. Bless his cotton socks. Bruce Cramblett: "I really like this, I had sent a message to Kat Von D asking if she would consider doing this and she never responded."

Hi Jock68, can you give us more info? Maybe post some pics of your current tattoos and give some ideas of the type of thing you are after. People might be able to suggest some artists for you to investigate then.