Matthew Thomas

This is ONLY my personal opinion and before expressing it I realize that some people will disagree. So please keep that in mind. The eagle, skulls, HD logo and the flag are all part of a style referred to as Americana or American Traditional. Of all of the Americana tattoos I have seen, the more things incorporated into a single design, the more overdone it seems to be. Again, only my personal opinion. And like I said, many will not agree with me on that. I just happen to think that Americana looks much better when kept simple. The thing is, even though your current tattoo is "worn" as you say, there is still a strong possibility that it could be a quality tattoo. If you show it to us, we can all offer opinions on that. But ultimately, you are the person who has to live with the tattoo, and if you don't like it you don't like it. But if it is quality work, then there is the option of another quality artist touching it up for you. Sometimes if you liked something enough to get it in the first place, then you might like it enough to keep it if it were touched up a bit. But as far as the cover-up goes, the best person to ask for advice is the artist who will be doing it. I would be sure to go to someone who is experienced at doing cover-ups, and ask to see their portfolio if they have one. Sometimes it's best to take different elements you like and break them up into more than one design. Sometimes these elements work well together, and if you go to a competent professional artist, they will have a good instinct as to how to design a piece that you will be happy with. It's not always best to just go to an artist who will just do whatever you want instead of sharing their ideas with you. Either way, good luck and welcome!

This thread has been very enlightening. For my last tattoo, I applied ice immediately after to reduce the swelling, because I read that reducing the swelling makes for lighter scabs and faster healing. It helped with the soreness a lot, but there was still some heavy scabbing in certain areas. Next time I will try hot water first and then ice, to get all the crap out of my pores before reducing the swelling. Thanks guys!

If I go into a shop and ask for a price on a tattoo, I realize two things. One, I may not be able to afford it right away, and two, the price is not set in stone until the actual design is drawn up, unless it's flash art which I have not gotten in a long time and probably never will again. It's funny, my current artist has a wall full of flash and has never once directed me to it. But even if I happened to have some money while discussing the price of my next piece, I still may not have the amount I need. Sometimes I even know that I'm asking way far in advance. But my artist will still quote me a price and even write it down on a card. But if I wanted the piece sooner, I would still say, "hey, I can't afford that right now, so I'll just wait until I have the rest of the money". And I have a perfect analogy. I built my own custom motorbike about a year ago (nothing fancy, just a bicycle with a minibike engine). I knew from the outset it wouldn't be cheap. I built it from the bare frame up, and some people were nice and helped me out with some of the parts I needed. But I had to wait to have the money for a lot of the parts I needed. Online vendors usually don't haggle over price. And if I'd been impatient and rushed to build the bike with substandard parts, it would not have come out the way I was imagining it. And I feel the same applies to tattoos. If you want it for less than its worth, rush to get it done or go to a substandard artist, it's not going to be what you want. Every potential client really ought to keep that in mind.

They make acrylic (plastic) body jewelry. No need to have metal in your face (or anywhere else), unless you've got internal injuries that require it :)

My artist is also doing MLP tattoos for the entire month of April in support of the Morones boy. $40 cash and $15 from each tattoo goes to his medical fund. 2 designs to choose from, a purple pony and a blue one (don't know their names because I don't watch the show). - - - Updated - - - For the record, I'm also glad I stuck around @HaydenRose. Lesson learned: don't leave the party just because someone shit on your birthday cake. Instead, break out the expensive wine and don't let the shitheads have any!

I used to have piercings, but after having to cover or remove them for work, I took them out permanently. I am considering getting my eyebrow re-done, though.

So it's not ok for women to get tattoos, because they are hiding/destroying their natural beauty. But it's fine for men to get tattoos. Following the analogy that she has created there, this must mean that men are ugly looking pieces of crap and we can mark our bodies however we want and no one will give a shit. What a dumb bitch.

You're welcome lol.

Here is how I have found peace and happiness in my life. As a non-conformist, I believe very strongly in my right to feel, think, say and do what I choose for myself, not what others choose for me. With the right to this choice comes the responsibility to choose what is best for myself and the people I choose to be responsible for. I am literally responsible for my own happiness. No one and nothing else can make me unhappy unless I allow it to. I freed myself from the chains of conformity and stripped society of its right to judge me. Though they will still try, their judgments have absolutely no authority over my life or my being. You will never be happy trying to conform, because you'll never be "good enough" for anyone but yourself.

Agree with the above post as well. Was thinking basically the same thing, just didn't know how to articulate it.

And I did appreciate the constructive criticism, but the people who asked me to design the logo are happy with it, I suppose that's all that matters. I got paid, plus some other shit that I can't divulge. The rest is moot at this point.

It's done and over with. I've already moved on.

I really like how the reds and oranges give a nice contrast to the blacks and grays. Definitely a nice piece. I would not say that what you did was the wrong route, because everyone has to start somewhere and learn one way or another. Think of it like this. Tattooing has been around for a very long time, but electric tattoo machines have only been around for a relatively short while. When these machines were invented, the first people using them didn't have anyone to give them an apprenticeship. They had to teach themselves and learn. I'll bet that a few of those tattoos weren't perfect either. When someone wants to do something, they will find a way. It doesn't really matter how you got where you are, you got there and judging from the work you've posted, you can go a lot further with the right attitude and a willingness to continue learning. If you let people tell you how to get where you want to go, you'll never get there. That's what I meant by saying fuck the haters. You're a person with goals and a determination to achieve them. I respect that.

Yeah, no. I know everyone has a different way of deciding what tattoos to get, but following a diagram is a little weird. There are a few different ways I decide what tattoos I want, some have involved looking at flash, others have involved concepts that I have come up with and had an artist render it, others have involved looking at images on the Internet for inspiration. I would never follow a diagram to make a decision about the tattoo. It is informative about different techniques and styles, I will say that, but nothing more.

That Frank tattoo from Donnie Darko is badass! One of my favorite movies! Your work seems quite good to me. If you hadn't said you'd only been tattooing for a couple years, I would assume longer. I'm not an artist myself, but I respect the fact that you're self-taught and you've obviously worked hard to develop skills. Fuck the haters. You do some nice shit.

It only takes one rude and disrespectful person to make an ass outta themselves. Now I've taken the image down and have nothing further to discuss on the matter.

Every shop I've ever been to has told me I could pay a little at a time until I had enough deposited to cover the amount of the tattoo. The only reason I put so much down at once was because I figured that way I wouldn't spend the money on something else, because I really wanted to get all my tattoos done. I know it doesn't make sense to a lot of people, but it's what I chose to do. It's worked out pretty good so far.

I don't even see how the above comment is in any way relevant to the OP. My only response is that I'm glad to not be getting tattooed by someone like you. Sorry, but I don't have a polite response to that comment, @Colored Guy. I've never even been to a shop where the artists were alcoholics or drug addicts, and I'm glad to say that. Because they wouldn't be getting any of my money. - - - Updated - - - On another note, I felt a little bit bad about calling my artist out on this tattoo, even though I was respectful and polite. She has done such an amazing job on the rest of my tattoos that I've gotten from her, and I feel they are worth more than what I paid for them. I wish I could tip her, but I can't afford to. I bought some chocolate chip cookie dough and I'm going to make them for her as a small token of my appreciation for doing such an amazing job, and for being so understanding about fixing my star. I just hope she likes them, or her kids do :)

Thanks for the advice, but due to a disrespectful little smartass, the matter is closed for discussion.

The image has been removed by the poster.

I'm a bigger guy, standing at 6 ft 2 and weighing in a few hairs under 3 bills. I honestly have never given a thought to what a fat person looks like tattooed, because it makes no nevermind to me. Never thought for a second about placement or visibility vs body type or any other dumb shit. I personally don't believe that tattoos and body shape should have anything to do with each other, one way or the other. Just my personal opinion.

I decided against the coffee, because I didn't want to amp myself up too much. Figured it would be easier to stay calm this way. So, I got there a few minutes after she opened, and she had another client getting ready to sit down. I asked her if I could talk to her for a minute, and she came over to the side and I quietly explained the situation. I did it quietly so as not to alarm the other client or make him think she doesn't do good work. I showed her where the star was uneven, and she agreed that the best way to make it all even was to fill it in all black. She was very understanding, and I made sure to explain to her from the start that I was not angry or upset and nor was I planning to drop her as my artist. We both remained calm and reasonable and were able to reach an agreement without either one of us becoming upset. I'm very glad we did, and this makes me want to stick with her even more. I have an appointment for some other work this coming Tuesday, and she said she would have time to go over the star then. I'm just so glad that it went well. It's a tough call asking an artist to cover their own work, but she was reasonable and understanding about the whole thing and I feel very lucky to be able to have her as an artist. It takes a strong person to be able to look at their mistakes and say, "yeah, I messed up, but I'll make it right".

I'm definitely taking everything that everyone has to say into consideration, and I thank all of you for your advice and support. I'm super tired, so I'm gonna have a cup of coffee and head back up there. I will let you all know how it turns out when I get back. Thanks again.

I was just gonna try the approach of saying, "y'know, I'm really happy with the rest of my tattoos, but this star just needs a little work maybe". And then see what she says.

She is a pretty reasonable person, and she would definitely explain to me if she didn't think it could be fixed. I'm more worried about sounding upset because I might be nervous, and sometimes I sound upset when I'm nervous, which might make her upset. I can also have a rough way with people when I don't mean to, and I don't want to come across the wrong way. That's mostly what I'm worried about. But I think if I can express myself in a reasonable manner, she will be reasonable with me. I just hope I'm right.