SeeSea

Hi @Eevee - Is this your first tattoo? Sorry I think I missed your intro thread. Are you worried about getting the tattoo at all, or worried about going through the actual process? It's certainly normal to be nervous as it comes up, but you have some time. Maybe talk to your tattooer and try to find why you are feeling these nerves? Having to wait until June to really make sure you are ready is not a big deal. Many artists have a wait list, sometimes years' long. It took 14 months for me to get into my last tattoo. So don't sweat that part. Just don't put it off and reschedule unless you are really sure that in the extra 6 months you can resolve it. Not fair to the artist.

@MrToby - this is amazing - the blue is so piercing and the fade to white is a great idea. Your back is really shaping up. I'm enjoying following your progress.

Hi @beez - great to hear all is going well with you - super! @ChrisvK - that sounds awesome. So, you'll be taking some pictures of some interesting stuff in those books to share, like, for research purposes? :D

Welcome! Pictures as welcome too. Of your tattoos and whatever you photograph. Bieber?

Um, and I totally forgot to congratulate you for this! Congrats!

@iowagirl - I would skip the class but that's me. (I had to give up running racies for a year to finish my back.) But I am not familiar with what you would be doing at your level to perhaps you really don't stress that part of your back. I'd hate to screw up a lifelong piece of art for a class. Perhaps you can go and watch or doing the less strenuous parts so you don't miss everything?

Yeah, I see what you mean about the streaks in the orange. But I don't see what is missing or needs to be finished. I think it looks great. Not much you can do about the areas in orange unless you wanted to make some big changes, or get in there with some accents in a darker color to distract from them. Although that could make the overall tattoo design look worse. It doesn't sound like you've had it for very long - I'd suggest giving it some time to heal and see how it turns out. It could settle in better, who knows. But I do like it!

Online campaign wants 95-year-old Wang-Od to be recognized as a National Artist | Kicker Daily News "A campaign pushing for Wang-Od (Fang-Od) to be recognized as a National Artist has been circulating on social media sites. "Alongside Wang-Od’s portrait is a text which reads: “Whang-Od is the last Ancient Kalinga Tattoo artist. In the past years, the silence of this ancient art was broken because people from around the globe pay homage to this remaining artist and take pride that they were tattooed by her. “'It is my personal advocacy to let the Filipino community realize that it is now time to recognize her world-class contribution to the art of tattoo-making that is genuinely Filipino.' “'She deserves to be one of our National Artist,' it said with a hashtag #WangOdNationalArtist."

@bongsau - love that book and immediately recognized the page! Pissed-off bee is so cute!

Wow - what a story! Welcome! This is a great place to surf around for hours and hours....and hours. Enjoy.

Welcome - Poor kitty!

Welcome - sorry no one stopped by to say hi! East Coast over here, too. What are you thinking of getting?

Good luck on your art, @zeke, and @JaySpike89 has good advice. Learn learn learn! :D (And Get Good Tattoos!)

Good luck, @Colored Guy. It's good to see you around again.

5 weeks - good enough for chlorine, but not healed enough to provide the same protection against sun. Comparing 4 and 8 weeks with sun and chlorine variables is probably not possible to state a difference, although 4 weeks is likely fine for chlorine if it healed ok - I would still make sure to wash with soap, probably antibacterial, afterwards. For some reason I recall 3 weeks being a good number to shoot for. Use of sunscreen regularly is a newer phenomenon with the growing knowledge of skin cancer and the sense that the sun is stronger since we were kids, so yeah, those with newer tattoos might be taking better care of them as a result of that as well. Aftercare - everyone is probably different. I suspect the folks on this board are more likely to protect their investments.

Get what you want - screw what other people think. It's not like you're getting "racist" or something more questionable. Just find someone who does nice script and make it readable. Maybe there is some imagery that you can include so it doesn't sit there all by itself? ...and, welcome! (pssst - start an intro thread :D )

Oh @Synesthesia - he is gonna kill that!

FaceTime'd with the granddaughters and watched them blow out birthday candles from 250 miles away. How awesome is technology?

Welcome! "Closing out this section" of your arm? Not sure I understand your plans - are you trying to make this a quarter-sleeve and not tattoo any lower on your arm? I agree throwing in stars or dots won't look great with these tattoos. I like it fine the way it is now. If you have phenomenal artists, I'd suggest talking to them. You don't have to do what they suggest.

Boom!

Welcome! Sounds like you might already have an artist in mind for the arm. If you are thinking of extending, then talk to that person and ask their advice, unless you are planning to go elsewhere. If that is the case, check out some artists that you like, and then approach them with the question. They would be able to direct you better on what you might need to do first, based on the design you agree on. Good luck!

@JaySpike89 - wow that sucks, what a story! Well, "stories" rather. It's good to hear that you are still trying to learn new things while looking for another opportunity. It sounds like you are pretty dedicated to this, and I hope you stick around and do some reading and sharing. I hope this all works out for you.

@omeletta - sweet! That must have been a little stressful to arrive and have things change several times. The tail is great (well the rest of it is too), but the tail really catches my eye - I think the way it flows up your thigh. Nice.

I finally got tebori last week with Horitomo and I thought I'd share. I got an upper thigh piece (Monmon Cat) that wraps partly around the side. He did most of the tattoo by machine and final shading by tebori. The progression of pain was odd. After he dipped in ink or wiped, he'd insert the needles 8 or 9 times before wiping again. For the first 5-ish insertions, I felt no pain. None. Just pressure, and I had to pay attention to see if he'd actually started tattooing each time. It was so strange - like it took my brain a while to realize that tissue damage was in progress. But the final 4-5 insertions, the pain was instantly back. And the quietness of it all was a little disconcerting - I'm used to hearing the buzz to accompany the pain. On the other hand, tebori over my hip area was bad all around, but machine hurts more there as well. My mom took a picture shortly after he started. After about 10 minutes, I decided headphones was preferable to the endless "schowk schwok schwok." - - - Updated - - - Um, yes! I lasted about 10 minutes.

Like to edit my response to include the area right around the panty line on the thigh in the front. That area is right up there with anything on my back including ribs right below armpit. That was unexpected.