To fill or not to fill? The space between...

[mtlsam]

Hi all,

I was wondering what your opinions were when it comes to filling in the spaces between old school style tattoos? Stars and dots, shading or let each piece stand on it`s own?

Any photos of what you love or hate would be appreciated.

Have a good one.

[Tight-Lines]

Ive got the same thing going on pal. Im on the fence on this, but I think Ill end up getting random stuff in between. Small tattoos are better than no tattoos.

[cfgsteak]

I thought this was a guitar/song writing question. My bad

[Tight-Lines]

Fills are good.

[kylegrey]

Both ,if done well,look cool .

[xjamestravisx]

Im just trying to fit as much stuff on me as I can. But I'll probably end up doin stars and dots in some places.

[TattooJD]

I would check out some of the small fill work that Sailor Jerry does on his flash. Be as true to the pieces as you can is my advise.

[Ursula]

My dude's arm, all starred and dotted. I think it looks good on just about anyone. It's very very very important to get someone who knows what they are doing and to do your whole arm at once. If you don't you'll end up with different sized stars which can look stupid. I'd recommend finding someone from Inksmith and Rogers or Smith St.

These are my arms with no filler, that will soon be remedied once I get my one elbow and my wrists done.

Both of us also have small things thrown in with the filler, like initials, numbers, little designs. I much prefer stars and dots to shading. To me shading just looks lazy almost. Or like the client wanted a bigger space filled but didn't have the money to make the tattoo larger.

[Ursula]

or find whoever did the ones in @kylegrey 's first photo

[hogg]

Or Josh Arment. My friend got her legs filled in by him and they look incredible. Just search for "Josh Arment" on Flickr and you'll see all her dots (she has direct linking disabled).

[David Flores]

I plan on getting the spots filled in on my left arm, I have mostly traditonal stuff on that arm but only in black and grey and little bits of red. I think I am going to try to do some soft shading in between. Going for the look of skull smoke. I have already started the stars and dots on my right arm and my chest so I thought something different would be good. I will post a pic once it is done.

[Aahzz]

I prefer no fill - makes the individual pieces stand out more. If there must be fill, I vote for stars/dots.

[Ursula]

@hogg def a terrific suggestion!

[Scott R]

@hogg that looks killer

[leftyloner]

I'm doing my leg right now and I'm just going with a bunch of small pieces as filler. Treating the major pieces almost like puzzle pieces. I think it's overall a better visual and the more stuff the better in my opinion.

[gougetheeyes]

As someone who's practiced the art of impatience my entire life, the advice on waiting to do the stars and dots filler all at once and also finding someone who knows how to do a proper star/dot fill, I can't stress those things enough. Got my elbow to wrist "filled" a few years ago and it looks... stupid. Waiting until I can get the whole thing redone at once. Oh yeah, and I also made the mistake of asking the dude to "throw some color" in a basic black tattoo and it also looks... stupid. Worst feeling: watching the tattoo and getting that sinking feeling in your stomach. Luckily, it's small, and at some point it'll get redone.

So uh, just wait and be sure it's what you wanna do and find someone who knows what the hell they're doin!

[jayessebee]

I have stars and dots on one of my forearms but i don't think i will do it anywhere else- I did it too soon and im not really that into it anymore, shoulda waited. It looks fine but I am now more into the bare space look

[mtlsam]

Hey folks thanks for the cool pictures and good advice. Getting it all done at once is a really good idea, gives me something to think about for a while. I've got room to fill still so I'll go from there.

[David Flores]

on my chest I did a bunch of little single line stuff in between the stars and dots. I did a dagger, an anchor, a whiskey bottle, and some arrows. I don't know if it was the best idea, but the spots I had left were too small for a real tattoo but too big just to star and dot IMO.

Shitty pictures I took them all myspace style with my phone.

[NReed]

I personally want to give my tattoos a bit of breathing room around them. But this doesn't mean I'm not trying to cram in as many small tattoos as possible. I really like how dots and stars look though! I would totally agree on the wait until the time is right advice, and whilst you might not manage an entire leg for example in one session, getting a section complete and having the same person do them makes good sense. For me the person to go to for dots and stars in Oliver Peck.

[kylegrey]

. For me the person to go to for dots and stars in Oliver Peck.

I'm with you on that one holmes ,his traditional Americana designs are made for it ,same sort of thing as Josh Arment .I've posted some Cory Lenherr examples I think in the back thread too.

[hogg]

I had Ben Grillo jam in a little black and gray skull in a rose between some other pieces on my arm. I'm very happy with it.

He also added an itsy bitsy spider and some single-needle webs on my elbow:

[Tim Burke]

@hogg those are both real nice, I have an odd gap between two tattoos I'm planning to get Xam to put a spider in once my appointment for something larger eventually rolls around.

[kylegrey]

Looking forward to being at that point !! I'm prepared though-

[Iwar]

In my mission to secretly become the norwegian eqivalent of @hogg I´ve decided to rip off all his tattoo ideas, shave my head and grow a beard. My beard-growing abilities aren´t up to par yet, despite me turning 30 in three weeks, but I managed to steal one of his filler idea´s the other day. Worst thing is I even ripped off the placement, haha!