PinkUnicorn

So far I only have one modest-size tattoo. I have a general idea for my second, based on an ancient family-related crow design, but feel it needs some creative input to give it something more. There's a tattoo convention coming up in April in one of my home towns of Baltimore. If I go to that would there be a realistic chance of chatting with various tattoo artists (local + visiting) about my idea, seeing if they have some input, and maybe even getting it done there? Or would it not really be possible to be so "promiscuous" with the artists there unless I was fairly definite on getting it done by one of them? Thanks.

I dreamed that all the blue color washed out of my tattoo. I was then checking the warranty on my tattoo to see if that was covered or not...

BBC News - Why would anyone want an eyeball tattoo?

I was in Paris for this. (The march itself was awesome, if not the reason that caused it to be held.)

P.S. this also varies a lot from country to country of course. While tattoos are currently fairly common in certain age groups in the US and UK, they are much less common in many European countries, and even rarer in many other countries.

As an outsider, but with a "creative" significant other, I see many people working in creative fields who have clearly visible tattoos. However, and I hope this doesn't sound too rude, spelling and grammar will be important in all professional areas.

I can see a very good reason for not having an upside-down tattoo. But to me, the facing in/facing out doesn't seem like quite the same thing - is it??

I've been experimenting with a temporary "tattoo" - it actually looks OK with the head moving. More natural than if the head stayed still and the body moved I think. But my temp. "tattoo" experiments will continue. Except I have a kinda weird-looking chest!

My understanding (based on watching "Ink Masters"!) is that traditionally animals are supposed to face toward the center of the body. If that's true, how seriously do people take this "rule". For my crow tattoo I'm planning for upper chest/shoulder, it seems aesthetically best to have the beak on the shoulder, so face away from center of body. I wonder whether the traditional view would be that this would be a faux pas? (Not that I take my shirt off that much in public anyway!)

I guess many people may have seen this already, but this is the video of ESA's Rosetta mission project scientist Matt Taylor getting his Rosetta tattoo...

BBC News - Portsmouth tattooist inked 13-year-old girl

I'm probably the least knowledgeable person on this forum, but I suspect the general suggestion will be to find a good tattoo artist and discuss with them in person about your options. Personally, it looks like you should be working with a different artist. If you specify your nearest city/town I expect you'll get some good suggestions. e.g. I'm sure there must be a lot of good artists in Manchester or Liverpool...

Background: I lived in Japan for a while some time ago, and I was previously married to a Japanese woman, but I have no experience of Japanese tattoo culture. Tipping is definitely not done in restaurants, taxis etc. However, Japan is definitely a gift oriented society. My guess would be that a monetary tip would be frowned upon, but a gift would be appreciated. If you go to a Japanese department store you will see many pre-packaged gift ideas, and I expect a small bottle of quality alcohol would be appreciated.

From the BBC: BBC News - 'I lost a job because of my tattoos'

The Russian criminal tattoo books I saw before may be the same/similar to stuff available on Amazon... Russian-Criminal-Tattoo-Encyclopaedia-I

For what it's worth, it looks like some books I saw in a museum store in Paris this summer. (Which probably doesn't help you that much - sorry!)

FWIW: via google: How Much Does a Tattoo Artist Make Annually? | Chron.com

The map projections you'll come across will (almost?) all be designed to take what is (approximately) a sphere and project it onto a flat surface. This will always give a distortion, but you can choose which type of distortion you prefer! There is, naturally, a wikipedia article on this: Map projection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia However, in your case, you'll be "projecting" a sphere onto a particular 3-dimensional surface (shoulder/arm). I don't necessarily have a particular suggestion - just wanted to make sure you were aware of the various issues involved here... (e.g. taking a spherical projection onto a flat surface, and then wrapping it around a another 3D surface may not be optimum.)

That's where I got my only current tattoo! (By Eric Wilcox there.)

For a couple of reasons I'm thinking of getting a crow-centered tattoo. The attached is something I'm considering basing it on - it's extracted from a 14th century coat of arms. Do you think the basic design would work as a tattoo? Could it be possible that it's actually too black?! (I'd do without yellow background probably.) Thanks.

Two held without bond after tattoo attack - WTOP.com

Particularly for this place... Hotel threatening $500 'bad review fee' trolled with spoof complaints | World news | The Guardian

I actually found it reasonably funny...

Sounds really cool! ;)

I'm pretty sure that's a parody...