Victor

If someone could make a Squid V. Eagle V. Dragon V. Snake V. Panther V. The Grim Reaper , lol that would be tight, and by tight I mean awesome over-do chaos. Why not go completely over the top with the Battle Royal idea. It would be Battle "Royal with cheese"! It would have to be a Filip Leu full back-piece or not at all. Anyway thought I would throw that out there, to break things up a bit. I do love the concept of the big predator battle and will have to plan one for myself. My fist choice of three Biggies would be Tiger V. Eagle V. Snake.

It is better to throw it all out there and let your designated Artist's Tattoo filter (and taste/style filter) pick through the ideas and find something inspirational to them. If your Artist is struck with a unique vision of your concept, and they are excited about it, you will more than likely be happy about the results (since you choose them to do your art based on something about them you like, unless it was random, then who knows, lol). The ideas that are trimmed off ( do not fit in the theme for this tattoo) can be stored for your next tattoo project.

That is awesome, very original, clean, simple, elegant and feminine. I hope they are not filling in the background, because that design is wonderful as a stand alone, on her wonderfully white skin. I saw this Zombie Jelly fish design and thought it was also an original take on the theme.

Don't bother with Laser, just go to someone who knows what they are doing. Artistically the design is weak, rather than having character to the peony, waves and Koi, look like the fella just did some mindless copying of someone else's design. There is no artistic flair there, so the design in disappointing and uninteresting to look at. Technically, unless you really botched the healing process, there seems to be color loss everywhere, from the grey wash to the line work to the color work. My advice is it is time to move on to someone who is an artist who has studied Japanese traditional art and is technically good at applying Tattoo, with a portfolio as evidence (which he looks you in the eye and assures you is his work) A Clean / Artist / Technician Tattooer with a passion for Traditional Japanese is what you are looking for. Also a common mistake people make, is to add something to a week design for improvement (more background or whatever), but there is a saying in the painting world, "Good Frames won't save bad paintings" and the same is true to Tattoo art. Just my 2-cents, hope it helps. Good luck.

My first tattoos were done in a friends basement, by a traveling gypsy tattoos guy that had a seasonal shop in the summer and traveled in the winter. Not knowing any better, I had chosen art pieces that were impossible to do at the size I originally though I wanted, besides the fact that art was beyond the Tattooers skill set and if and besides that again, they were way outside my budget. Imagine trying to reproduce a BROM painting at a playing card size on a dudes stomach, below his belly button, lol. How naive. So last minute dealing, after plan A was crushed, Plan B was to look through his flash designs and I picked a cool design. My choice was a standby Dragon, and additionally a symbol (actually a tattoo on a fantasy character from a Heavy Metal Art Magazine series) which was meaningful to me. So my first tattoo experience was two tattoos, one on the classic first timer upper arm location (dragon) and the other on my stomach. Don't think I even have pictures anymore of those tattoos on me. The Tattooer was actually really good at what he did and applied two solid great looking tattoos. Despite the last minute scramble I was really happy with the choices I made and only covered them up later because my want for larger more magnificent Tattoo Art had outgrown the existing real-estate art.

If children know that their parents are supportive of what they want to do, the lines of communication stay open and parents can hopefully help their kids make better choices in life. Kids are going to get tattooed if they want to, anyway, 18 or not, whether their parents support it or not. Some people are mature early in life and can think things through and make good decisions on a lot of matters, tattoos or otherwise. Some people will make bad decisions their whole life. The number 18 is arbitrary at best, there is no magical age of maturity. When somebody thinks they are ready, they will get a tattoo, 18 or not, and realize the consequences of that decision. Hopefully they do not start with a face tattoo. I would let my kid get tattooed before 18 and I would help them get an awesome tattoo.

I am highly skeptical about how safe lazer tattoo removal is. If you plan on having your tattoo removed, you should be aware that some of the pigments used are phototoxic and may break down into toxic chemicals in the body when removed with UV light or laser, used in tattoo removal. The toxic end-products eventually wind up in the kidneys and liver, adding to your total bodies toxic burden. In an ideal world, the 'trade secrets' clause that allows companies to put profit over public health would be disallowed for all products used topically, transdermally, or ingested into our bodies. Although certain tattoo ink ingredients may be plant-based or otherwise considered safe and non-toxic, the truth is that no long-term studies have been performed confirming that they are safe to inject as a permanent cosmetic. Combining Lazer and other-wise stable Tattoo Pigment chemicals is potentially a dangerous mix. Certain inks have been around for a for a while and have stood the test of time in the skin (being stable in the skin of course), I am skeptical of new start up ink manufactures claiming they have the best product of all time, and what effects would be produced by lazering these new formula Tattoo Pigment chemicals which again are potentially a dangerous mix. I suggest using/eating Bentonite clay to help remove toxins from Lazer Tattoo removal process. Bentonite clay is cheap as dirt, harmless and helps to clear toxins from your body, that otherwise might cause you health issues if left to float around in there.

My parents were anti-Tattoo to the Max. My folks would have flipped out and ruined my Teen life more than they already did if they knew I had tattoos. I started getting tattoos at 15 years old and wore a t-shirt from the shower to my room, while I was at my parents home (even after I had moved out and just visiting lol), until I was 19 or so. Just made life easier for everybody. Being in your parents face about your tattoos is not always the best approach, especially when they are hostile to the idea. Everyone's situation is different I guess and we each have to make that call commensurate to the situation we are in. Supportive parents get to know what is going in their children's lives, draconian parents are left in the dark and their own illusions, lol.

Lol. Thank you for that, it was funny. Every little bit towards education and information helps nudge the Tattoo Scene in the right direction, farther away from the clutches of the leaches who are ruining it for all of us. Sincerely Idealist Victor...

Hello everyone my name is Victor. I am from Nova Scotia Canada and am glad to be part of the global tattoo community, since the internet has no perceived borders, lol. I had joined a newly established local tattoo forum called Nova Scotia Tattoo Forum, which is great for local viewpoints and perspective and now I have joined this Tattoo Forum to get a more worldly feedback. I really like what Scott Silvia said in one of his interviews about how the new era of the tattoo scene is destroying itself by greed and egotism, I think this is sadly true and I am happy an established figure is saying this fact out loud. His perspective is refreshingly honest and blunt. I am a Tattoo enthusiast and Advocate who is concerned that the Tattoo scene will be run into the ground by the overabundance of leeches who are trying to cash in on the wonderful world of tattoo. With the internet era there has been a wonderful global sharing of information on Tattoo, spawning some of the best tattoo artist and their work, but their is also a rush of tattoo supply and merchandise companies trying to push everything Tattoo. There are more terrible Tattooers than ever before because anyone can get set up with tattoo gear, tomorrow throw a sign on the door and call themselves Professional Tattoo Artist. This concerns me. In the past there were problems sure, but there was also respect and a fear of stepping out of line that kept things in check with the fledgling modern electric tattoo scene, but today (especially the last 10 years) with all the TV shows and propaganda to sell, sell, sell there is an overabundance of unqualified, irresponsible, money grubbing, losers that have chosen to apply tattoos (an I use that term loosely) as their claim to fame. I am tired of seeing crappy tattoos everywhere, on the naive (victims of their own ignorance). The solution is public education and discourse so that we can discern the difference between quality Tattoos and the others. If the public stops paying these losers, they will move on to something else in life. The curious thing about a local Tattoo Forum is that you can see the who is participating and who is blatantly missing in a forum who sole purpose is to educate the public about good tattooers, there are those who do not want to be revealed for who they are, by a Tattoo Forum who’s Tag line is “Shedding Light on the Tattoo Scene of Nova Scotia”. Shedding light into the foggy Tattoo scene mired in mystery fantasy and meritless belief is a dangerous thing for those who have something to loose (by the public being educated). Lets call a spade a spade and recognize those who have talent from those who have not reached it yet Anyway, glad to be part of this Tattoo community and look forward to sharing my views and participating.