pidjones

Nailed it!

Sorry for the bad day, man. Hope the son recovers quick with no mental scars. And that you have a GREAT day tomorrow to make up for it.

I agree for this location. A nice size for a shoulder, maybe.

Sorry, I don't see fat. I see an awesome turtle on some nice skin with beautiful hair. Is color planned? I've only seen one sea turtle in person (and the light filtering through the water may have shaded it) that had green/yellow tones.

I saw your recent photo and must comment that; a) the turtle is awesome! b) your back - you should not call it fat. It is curvy and seems to have great complexion. c) we have what genes give us. Sure there are reasons for some being overweight, but most of it is genetics. Love what you have. and d) the turtle is AWESOME!

Austin is not (to me) an obvious location for your specialties. With your background, have you worked with the folks at WHOI? I have a few friends from the accelerator community up there. Fascinating work that they do!

Very nice. Another lesson. Many lessons to go, I'm sure!

Hope it is everything you dream of!

That is one heck of a start! It is very clear in the story depicted.

I think that I would also be more willing to trust one that works in a shop with more experienced artists and is seeking (and getting) continued mentoring. I've been at my line of work for over 35 years, and I still learn to do it better every day (although I've been damn good at it for decades).

This reading of your journey is very interesting. Those not interested in tattoos may not agree, but those of us that are will gain insight to your end of things.

Don't worry about age. I started last year at 61. Not planning on much more coverage, but have two I like and one I want fixed. Maybe one more on the other shoulder. If short sleeve season ever gets here, my right forearm now has a rather large rope faked out on it. Will be interesting to see the reactions, now that I'm too old to really care.

I just saw your finished piece on Zee's Instagram - Holy Cow! I didn't think it could get better, but it DID!

Needs its own thread, but - native Americans should be included, perhaps the Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty, Columbus landing in the Caribbean, Daniel Boone. Declaration of Independence. A turkey? You know they were strongly considered as the American Bird.

Hydrate before and after. The walking may actually help to keep the blood circulating. Sitting may be a pain, and if you sit or stand for too long you might feel quite stiff. You should be fine, though. At 62, I've not had any post-tattoo problems (other than the blues because I was disappointed by the work). Not had any big pieces yet, though. Try to not have anything rub the tattoo if you can avoid it. I used a sung elastic sleeve over one on my forearm to keep my shirt from rubbing it. Worked great.

Call them. Their call nurse should know or find out if they have tattoo experience and their acceptance of them.

Balance, bathroom, fish, reptile, music, ruler?

I feel for you. When my dad passed I was on a sub at sea. My uncle hired some local guys to clean, box his stuff, and put it in a storage barn before I got home. Made things a lot easier for both of us (they were very close). Time, if you have it, eases a lot of pain, if you let it.

I'm certainly no expert with very limited experience, but I do like your work very much. My only critique would be the use of so much yellow in several pieces. Older tattoos that I have seen lost their yellow much faster than other colors.

Not all religion frowns on tattoos. I worship with a congregation that has three members of the praise team all with tattoos (visible), and I know several ministers with tattoos. There is one verse in Leviticus that forbids tattoos for the dead. That same chapter forbids cutting the hair at the sides of your head or edges of your beard, harvesting from a fruit tree less than five years old, or wearing clothing of two kinds of material. There were reasons - good reasons at the time - for each of these. Doesn't mean it all applies today.

That is some VERY interesting (and, to my tastes good) art! I will watch your account with interest.

My first two tattoos lead to good feelings and lots of energy. I loved the work and it settled in real well. Not so this last time. Living with tattoo blues. Over two months now and I still have them. Not at all happy with what I got. Keeping it covered for now. I wanted to be able to proudly show it. Another session to hopefully correct it is still almost a month away. Oh yeah, art on Instagram? he didn't even take a picture!

I'm not that confident in some of the a.c research, either. Not convinced my Great-granddad was a Morgan's Raider (family sez not), but if he was, so cool (if you're a Southerner at heart)!

Have you had a henna piece done on at least one hand yet? I would suggest that before going on to getting a tattoo there. Still, it IS your skin. And making rules about tattoos seems a bit questionable to me.

No, you have yours right. But, if you are speaking (verbally) to someone and say it, they may think that you refer to the film "Mr. Deeds goes to Washington" and think you are indicating that you are not all there mentally. In that film, two darling old ladies refer to Jimmy Stewart's character as "pixilated" (I think the spelling was added later, luckily different by one letter but not by sound from the word meaning a picture somehow broken into component parts). Webster online includes both spellings and meanings.