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Welcome! Great intro - good luck on the plans. Pictures = good :-)

@Walter Kerman - do you have pictures to share showing the tattoo before and the post-laser results? That is the best recommendation you could give.

@BrianH - what a start - that is going to be awesome! Cool you are keeping a blog. I have a personal diary of my journey that I may edit down into something publishable but I need a break from tattoo-on-the-brain. Keep up the blog!

Welcome - great intro!

Nice! I love the flow and the detail on the fins!

My back was mostly done without stencils but there were three areas were stenciled because he was reproducing some exact references. I had not worked with this artist before, but went to him based on a tattoo in his portfolio that was done in the style I wanted. Before we ever started, he gave me a proposed design he'd done on a computer and conceptually it was what I got. The very first session he spent about 2 hours with markers laying it all on my back and that first session was one of the stenciled parts - that helped give me confirmation that he was capable of doing what he'd promised. Then each session he'd start with markers for what he intended to do each session. Most times these marker drawings were pretty complex - not just rough sketches. I imagine it's different with every artist and every tattoo. My artist does use stencils depending on the reference but I suspect that a majority of the times he doesn't. I think it also depends on the type of tattoo; for example, he doesn't do Japanese at all, or much where a large piece is completely lined first. Now, just because someone has a stencil, doesn't mean they get it right. I have one other small tattoo that was stenciled but it wasn't shaded correctly based on the reference I gave her. Her portfolio had seemed fine. So, there is no rule of thumb except to educate yourself about the artist you choose.

@pidjones - an inherited nickname is a lot nicer than feedback control :)

Here is a pretty long discussion of the use of painkillers. http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/1534-use-painkillers.html It varies across the board what people choose to do, but don't try anything new for a session. Most would recommend you work through ways to deal with it rather than drugging/boozing up. Take Advils or Tylenols - whatever suits you. It helps with the inflammation and a little pain. I watch movies for the first couple hours while I can still maintain some sort of attention span. Often animated movies or action/adventure - stuff that doesn't require a lot of thought. The animation stuff can be really immersive to get your mind off your troubles. After I can't deal with that, I listen to music through headphones or sometimes listen to what he is playing. When it just really gets bad, I have a playlist that is headbanger stuff, or stuff I have queued up for the last couple miles of road racing to get me through the finish line. Often in a session, I end up purposely trying to zone out and separate myself from my body - recently my eye caught a screw in a light fixture and I stared at that screw for about an hour. @BrookR70 is right - you can't fight it. You have to make your mind not allow your body to flinch. You must get yourself comfortable so that whatever part of you is being tattooed can just hang or lay like dead meat. Then you mentally disconnect your mind from that part of your body. I know, it sounds kind of trippy, but it is a dissociative technique to deal with pain. Some folks talk about concentrating on the pain itself - focusing on it and "owning" it. That generally doesn't work for me, although sometimes I've been able to ride the pain when I can get a handle on it. Sometimes a phrase comes to my mind and I turn it into a mantra and just repeat it over and over. Once it was "you got this you got this you got this ......." Yes, like @OutOfIdeas and @Ducky15568 suggested, deep regular breathing is key.

Handsome! @cibo - tag that to his instagram page - he does Monmon Monday and features cats doing stuff like this. Instagram

Well, @pidjones, I had to go surf the internet for that one, but Azimuthally Varying Field is definitely a word with corners! Which leads me to ponder ... does pid stand for what I think it does, oh engineer-type?

@Hands On - that is a really great description and it makes a lot of sense. Energy flow. Good clients and bad clients affecting the flow. Now that you say it like that, I realize I've seen it in action. Thank you for sharing that.

Cool - words with jagged corners. What a neat description. Tag, @pidjones, you're it!

Many times artists design pieces directly on the skin using markers and then tattoo from that.

Understood. It's natural to feel that anxiety to change something about yourself permanently and you are not alone in that feeling. I don't recall if you asked elsewhere, but get some recommendations from folks here about places in your areas. That should alleviate things for you. Good luck.

Cool word! I have never actually heard that word in the wild. I always proctor examples. Invigilating sounds so cool when spoken aloud. Reminds me of eviscerating. Which, I suppose, might be what the students are actually feeling.

I imagine it probably does. I am not a tattoo artist, but I am an artist in other mediums. The best art I have created is when the emotion really strikes me - I can see the beauty in my mind's eye and it compels me to capture the best image, sometimes to the annoyance of those around me. I think life's experiences really drive the quality of your art. We are not robots. I've done some great work when I was pissed off at something else and could use the escape of creativity. Just because someone is in a bad mood, etc., before coming to work does not mean the quality of the work suffers. There are great doctors in the world and not so great ones. Are the not so great ones in a bad mood? Lacking good training? (What do you call a graduating med student with a D average? "Doctor") There are people who write great software and those who don't. Why does voice recognition on my phone work a hell of a lot better than the VR in my car. Talent? Mood? Everyone comes to work in different moods, but the best know what to do when they walk in the door each day. So what do you do? Get recommendations for a great artist and look at their portfolio. Just like anyone else, their reputation reflects their ability to do quality work while existing as a human in the real world. I understand why you are asking this question, but I read it as a little insulting. You are asking tattoo artists to reply - what are you expecting them to say, "Yeah, when I get into a fight with my significant other, I just can't tattoo clean lines and my shading sucks"? Or, "Call the shop the day of your tattoo and ask if I am in a good mood."?

Stencils? We don't need no stinking stencils.

This is a nice interview with Basma Hameed about her experience being doused with hot oil as a 2 year old. We have some threads about tattoos and scars, but I don't think anything like this. --- http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/5489-our-imperfect-skin-scars-stretch-marks-more.html ---http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-advice/1098-tattooing-over-scars.html

Thank you for some content at least. It appears to say "Murphy". Welcome to LST.

Cool. Amazing what she did to her own face. Woman Uses Paramedical Tattooing To Hide Burns And Scars | SF Globe

Purely from an quality standpoint, I'd cover "animal." The letters of the other word are more consistent and it looks better done. A good artist could cover "animal." The eagle wing is a neat idea - I understand why you are looking at that. Talk to an artist about how that could happen. The picture you showed would be tough because the wing would have to be huge to cover the entire word and there would be no room left for the rest of the eagle - but there are many options possible if you are willing to go larger to cover it and let an artist figure out how an eagle could work. I am not an artist, but I've seen a lot of really cool stuff that could flow on that area nicely. Where are you located? Someone here could give you some recommendations.

I just see an eagle pic over the top of an eagle tattoo. No words. Maybe something is blocking the pic from loading. Could just be me.

Sorry, I don't see a picture of the word tattoo you are referring to, so it's hard to know what you mean.

I'm not so into reapers, but I like this one. Almost looks like he's smiling a bit - not evilly but a bit of fun. If I got one it would look like this.

Welcome!