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Another Commencement ceremony is in the books!! I absolutely love this day every year!!! Knowing that I'm going to retire in 3 years is bittersweet - only 3 more of these ceremonies left for me to enjoy. We had the rehearsal on Friday - and we all dress casually since were busy and walking around the college all day. It was hot so I opted to wear a sleeveless shirt under a short sleeve button down shirt. The gym was not yet cooled down so right before we started I pulled off my outer shirt. I heard the immediate conversations start from the students and then cheers and clapping - lots of the students had on clothing that showed their ink and I got lots of smiles and comments as they came up to practice receiving their diplomas.

Added some colour today the black isn't perfect in a couple of areas so might need a touch up. Also I've got to pick colours for the other koi and the peonies suggestions welcome. I'm thinking possibly yellow for the koi kind of like the old school colour schemes.

I don't know if this is good or bad, but it's a new development anyway. Some of you may remember I left my nice cushy office job to work in a copy center. Well that didn't work out. I wasn't being scheduled for the amount of hours they had promised me and even though I filled in occasionally at the old job, I couldn't make ends meet. I did that for a few months, almost literally ran completely out of money (I haven't been this broke since high school), and came back to the old job full time once someone else quit. I guess sometimes you need to make yourself suffer to not take things for granted. Now that I worked through breaks trying to meet deadlines, been yelled at by customers, came home sore and sweaty, hardly ever sat down, and my bank account went down to three digits for the first time in like 10 years...I'm enjoying the pace of the old job, sitting at a computer, having insurance, and getting money. I'm planning some fun stuff once I get financially comfortable again.

actually it looks normal, a little heavy on the lotion is what is causing that cracked look, try lighter coats of lotion. otherwise it looks good IMO.

James Cumberland made me this Kirtland warbler sitting on a rowan branch:

I'm new to both the forum and tattoos and figured I'd say hi! Got my very first tattoo (see pictures) on the 11th of May, and I'm going back for colour on it and my second thigh piece on the 29th! I can already see how this is going to become a very addictive hobby, haha. First session was about 3h, and while I was absurdly nervous beforehand it was nowhere near as bad as I expected. In fact, I found the aftercare and pain afterwards significantly worse. Anyone else? Hope you're all well!

Thank you, that's exactly what I think. I am more bothered about fixing the pain rather than fixing the way it looks

Nice one! Depending on the location, I've found some spots harder to heal than be tattooed. People always ask "did that hurt" to get it done, not realizing the pain doesn't stop when the needle does! My inner biceps were raw and swollen and even just my t-shirt brushing against it hurt like hell. Of course the tattooing process hurt a lot too. When I had my lower leg done, every time I had to stand after sitting/laying for any amount of time, it felt like my leg was covered in bruises and someone had it in a vice. I guess it's because of that initial blood rush. I had that a little with my thigh too but not as bad. Generally it's not too bad though.

I might Be paranoid too and everything is fine

I'm not familiar with that product,I use Palmers Cocoa butter the week or 2 after the application of the tattoo,Maybe that stuff you are using does have too much perfume/alcohol in it.try using a different lotion then,like I said,I like fragrance free Aveeno or the cocoa butter. we all heal differently,maybe you could post a pic of it ? some cracking and scabbing is going to happen to some. maybe you are applying too much ? that can cause cracking too.you have to find that lotion that works for you and the amount that you use as well,I just use a very light coat of the butter or aveeno,VERY light.

Thanks man :D I like the fact its unusual style, it was funny because the stencil looked totally different, I lay down and he starts buzzing, 5 hours later it looks like this haha but i'm happy with it so that's what counts. As for your fluid build up, I had a similar thing in the dense areas where the lines cross, but i left it overnight and it dried up underneath the Saniderm. Although yours does sounds more severe.

Btw...I think you're tattoo came out great! I really looks a lot like the original sketch you posted

@Boiled Dove Hope things turn out well for you man, you need change but you gotta make it happen. Personally everything went south for me in UK, I lost my house and was so down I just quit my job and got on a plane with a one way ticket to Amsterdam, been on the road for 8 months now. It doesn't fix anything but its nice to have a break and helped me realise what I consider important in life. Im probably going to do a stint in the Army in New Zealand when I get there for the experience and then who knows. Just keep my options open, try not to burn my bridges and keep rolling with the punches. You're nothing in life if you're not adaptable.

Gayest pose in the world, but it hurt lo lift my arm up, or put it down haha

Well, the Saniderm was brilliant in my experience! Did it hurt to take off? Yes. But worth it for the comfort and the completely stress free first few days. don't have to moisturise, or anti bac or leak on the sheets ect... it was great. I applied about 4 Hours after tattoo after id had a shower to wash the blood and goop off, didnt touch it for 4 days. Took it off, had 3 days of very light peeling, didn't even notice any flakes in clothes and it mostly came off in shower. All sorted :D

@AtomicMagpye Haha! Well yeah, not exactly but close! Skjegget i postkassen is more like if you mess up something. For instance, you book a holiday and then find out 2 months later that your boss wont let you go during that time. It literally translates "beard in the mailbox" - I don't even know why, it's a wierd saying :P @Dan: Do you mean the idea as a whole, or just this symbol I attached? Cause the most important thing for me is to get a really good looking portrait with some fillers around/underneath it. I was shifting a bit about starting clean on my right upper arm, but I'm also thinking I wanna continue on my left arm - I have a tattoo on my upper arm there already. Eventually maybe making it into a full sleeve. I also wanna get a tattoo that I can see easily (when using tshirts etc.) and actually share with others aswell. I have the one on my upper arm and one on my back, so for the time being I can easily go as an "ink virgin" even on sunny days :p Thanks for the replies guys! Maybe it's difficult to throw ideas out when I already kinda know what I want, but I guess I'm looking for other peoples experiences with forearm tats :)

'ello - Interesting conundrum - is "skægget i postkassen" correct for a tricky choice? Looks like great work there from that Danish tattoo lady - always difficult to comment on something that's such a personal thing. Me - I would sleep on it and see what the old Gods present you with - cheers - AM

jesus christ, my only advice is do whatever your doctor tells you! after all, physical safety should trump aesthetics here!

Thank you oboogie I'm worried that a cover up would make it hurt more. It already hurts enough as it is. Plus I am so scared of catching celulitis as my main concern and as a small concern it would probably look silly adding more to it now

I kinda dig the idea of some green leaves. I think it would balance it out. :)

Sometimes they don't turn out how we plan it out and sometimes we set the expectation very high for how we want that tattoo to look. But I think you're tattoo turned out very nice. Simple and readable. You could add some green in the leaves and re-colour in the lily to make the design look a bit more finished. Or pepper some black/shading/smoke to increase the contrast and make it look less like a sticker. Re-working a tattoo always carries risk of making it worse. Talk to your tattooer, most will be happy to help you go from :\ to :) "The tattoo is done now" - I'd leave it, accept and live with it, enjoy it for what it is. Use the experience to inform your next tattoo.

My boyfriend (of 7 YEARS NOW, will we ever get engaged?!) has come a long way since my first post in this thread, and the days where he would make me promise not to get any more or tried to talk me out of traditional designs (which he thought were too simple and cartoony). I got tattooed on vacation recently so of course he was there with me. He browsed some of the art books and flash with me while we waited for my stencil to be made. He chuckled at some of the goofy designs (instead of asking me "why would anyone want that?"), and looked with an unmistakable level of admiration at a lot of traditional designs I think he would have previously turned his nose up to. He was in awe of some of the designs that had dates on them, and spoke in an almost hushed reverence of their age and that people were still getting them to this day. He even pointed out a couple traditional lady designs and said were beautiful. He was actually genuinely stoked to see what I was getting and see every step of the process. I fully expected him to try to talk me out of the placement at the last minute or question certain aspects of it, but he was completely supportive. He also admired Matt Lambdin's portfolio and even took one of his business cards...it might not be long now before he gets his own finally!

Mr. Oliver Peck was visiting in Asheville yesterday at Hotstuff and i was able to get in for a quick oneshot.

I snagged this from Benny Haft over at Allied last week. I finally finished my torso after five years, done by Ian Dana Camp (formerly of Good Faith in Boston) currently at Adventure Tattoo in Nashville. He was all booked up in Boston before his move, but I luckily caught him doing a guest spot in Philly right after he moved.

This was done late last night, still needs a little finish work. The reaper is clutching a human heart, homage to my close call last October.

He literally just moved to True Hand Society (still in Philly, but he explained to me he had more freedom with his schedule here) and it was his first tattoo at the new shop. He was so excited to do one of his favorite subjects as his first one. In his words: "It's all downhill from here." I can't recommend him or the new shop enough. It was an awesome end to our trip. Matt Lambdin is at that shop now too, and my non-tattooed boyfriend was oohing and ahhing over his portfolio...so we might be back.

Started my new sleeve yesterday at la cour des miracles in Toulouse

New to the site. Here is my latest. It took 6 hours and 45 minutes but got it all done in one. I think the artist did a great job and initially I was very positive about the piece. I really like some of the shaded area in the middle but am trying to warm up to the wings as they contrast a lot with my arm tattoos. I may even go back eventually to have less blank space between the feathers on the wings.

Got this at the space city tattoo expo over the weekend. My artist is Cory Cartwright. I'm in love with it and can't wait for it to heal. I'm healing this one with tegaderm. I'm having a little trouble with it though. I put it on yesterday, it was juicy underneath it when I went to sleep. This evening though, it's all dried up underneath. I can't remember if it is supposed to dry up this soon or not. I've only used it once before on another tattoo. Anyone know if that's normal? I don't see any holes in it. I posted in the aftercare section too, maybe I'll get some answers. Anyway, thanks for looking!

The Edmonton tattoo convention was this weekend. Popped in on Sunday afternoon and won the "neo traditional" contest for my OllieXXX tiger head LOL #maketattoofunagain

Scored a walkin and got my knees framed by Jay Watkins at Spider Murphy's. Stole the photo from his Instagram

The missus (@TrixieFaux) & I got tattooed today for our tenth wedding anniversary. Peonies by Horisuzu at Unbreakable in beautiful Studio City, CA Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My husband has no tattoos, just because he doesn't really know what to get or cares enough to put the effort into finding an artist and booking an appointment. He is alright with mine, he probably wishes I wasn't so obsessed with getting more, but I wish he wasn't so obsessed with MMOs and we can't always get what we want :P My husband appreciates the fact that I research artists and pay for good work, I don't think he'd like my tattoos that much if they weren't good. I'm hoping one day he does decide to pull the trigger and get a tattoo, he has a couple of good "if I did get one, it might be this" ideas.

@oboogie Haha, here I was, thinking that you might have found some kind of secret magic super aftercare or so ;-)

Hasn't this question already been asked several times in the past, with lots of advice already given???

It's not too late to turn that into a Lord of the Rings tattoo.

For this reason, whenever a friend or stranger ask me about advice surrounding their idea for a first tattoo, I tell them not to get it on their forearm. I think that for many people it's really good to kind of ease into the experience of being a tattooed person and being able choose when to show it. I was quite hesitant to get my forearms done. I was studying journalism and had the idea that in that field of work it was important to be able to give of a good impression, and visible tattoos might offend people and prevent me from doing a good job. What made me change my mind was two things a) I had a half sleeve and I realized that even if I wore a t-shirt that tattoo was peeking out quite a bit. So I would have to wear like a long sleeve shirt anyway, at best I could roll it up to the elbows. b) I really love to look of tattoos on the forearms. So I went for it. That was three years ago and I still have quite a lot of space left on my arms, besides getting three more tattoos there. Just recently I had a similar chain of thoughts that made me decide to tattoo the top of my shoulders and a bit on the base of the neck. Without really planning it, my backpiece had extended enough to peek out above the rim of my t-shirt, so as long as I am not wearing a button up shirt strangers on the metro will know I am tattooed, even when I can't see them. So I might as well go for it. I guess I will start wearing button up shirts a lot more, which is fine too. I'm 28 and an adult.