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Done two days ago, very happy!

22 hours in! I’m in love. I know people think it’s weird a woman has a turkey vulture back piece but I’m stoked ❤️

Here's a small one I got yesterday. It's a snail warrior, a symbol of the band Heilung. They play music derived from pre-viking northern tribes. Very ancestral.

Here's an update at around 20 hours. The outline took 3 sessions to finish, around 10 hours (so. many. lines.). But we've been making steady progress with relatively short appointments every 2-3 weeks, and the cover up is almost done. I'm loving the wildflower color palette and all the little creatures peeking out here and there.

Just had my first session on my back piece 😍 covering up a couple little sticker tattoos while we’re at it. I’m in love. Work is being done by Travis Hulshizer at the green gazelle is KC MO. I can’t say enough good things about him. Turkey vultures are my favorite bird and I’ve been dreaming of a large scale piece with one in it. I told him the vaguest of ideas and he delivered this. I’m SO excited. Also holy shit the back hurts

We did finally finish the bat:

more pictures! I also got a traditional piece in May! I must say it's my favourite piece so far :) Enviado desde mi Redmi Note 8 Pro mediante Tapatalk

Finished with Mike and finally got to posting it. Super stoked on how it came out and how easy it was to get lines and shading in one session and color the next.

I got a little gap filler from Greg Christian today

so me and my wife met with Oliver at the Feather Falls Tattoo expo and I got the horseshoe on my left knee ditch and she got the turtle on her left leg to go with a mermaid and octopus that he did a couple years ago.

First tattoo in years (since my Kore Flatmo sleeve), Namakubi on my foot by Kurt Wiscombe. I hate getting my feet tattooed!

Just dropping in a pic of my almost finished Matt Collins full back for the thread. Home stretch now, it’s 90% done just got a few touch ups to go, maybe 29 hours work so far I think? Stoked!

Finally, my turkey vulture back piece is finished in just around 30 hours. Hammered out a 5 hour session yesterday to color in all the flowers/petals and some background shading. Stood up to take final photos and nearly passed out. The lower back is BRUTAL and apparently back dimples are incredibly nerve rich because those had me gasping. So glad to be done with this. I’m wondering though, if I found this to be such an incredibly painful process, can I handle having my legs done? I’ll do my other sleeve first and then probably start leg work. I feel both badass and weak! Either way I’m in love with it.

Ok, it's been way too long - but I'm finally booked (in November) for some new work. Tine Defiore!

I'm two sessions in on a flora and fauna back piece by Virginia Elwood. The piece is covering up a somewhat ill-advised first tattoo that I got after surviving a very tough year at age 18, and I'm pushing 40 now, so it seemed like a good moment to move onwards and upwards. I'm so in love with how it's coming out. Everyone is right about some of these spots being no joke though — 3-4 hours feels like PLENTY for one day. My next session is this week to add some more creatures in some of the spaces along the sides and hopefully start some shading. Should be "fun"!

26 hours down with one session left! Spent the last session doing background shading and the whole branch. The lovehandle area had me almost tapping and *almost* in tears. A very special kind of searing pain 🌶

Latest… https://imgur.com/gallery/LdFchEI

Here's a decent photo of it. Nearly healed now. 🙂 This was a gift from my tattoo artist ... he's moving three hours away. Boooooo. But I'm happy for him. It's a great new studio, and he'll be closer to his family.

Hey all, haven't been around for a while but I did go through another shading session with Chad on the big bat that I thought I would share.

My artist's shop reopened with one person at a time and only two artists working. Everyone wears masks, and they can only get in a couple of scheduled tattoos a day (no walk-ins). Got this yesterday. My artist and I both love John Prine.

Session #3 done, I'm really happy with how things are shaping up! Looks like one more session to add in a few more fine details, and then fill in a bit of background/border. I still need to come up with something for the background, I think something relatively simple so it doesn't detract from the main subjects is probably best (any ideas or suggestions would be awesome too).

Art is pain. We have one inner thigh and cheek left to go and it was easily harder than the ribs. We did some shading on the cat and the difference it made was beautiful. Without further adieu:

I got the outside of my right thigh done yesterday. Some black and grey peonies by Josh Henderson at Brainstorm Tattoo.

this is a thing for me,I believe face, neck, and hand tattoos are earned after being heavily tattooed on other parts of the body.

They spend too much time thinking about how cool they’ll be and too little time thinking about this artist, the design, the aftercare, the stigma, and the fact that unlike on TV, having one removed isn’t a painless 10 minute process that leaves the skin looking like new. in short, they don’t think the whole thing through.

New frog from the annual Sailor Jerry Day party at Leviticus Tattoo in Minneapolis. Done by thomas_titus. Koi in the background done by Flip McCoy at Steve's Tattoo in Madison about two months ago.

Dope new bat head I got the other day

I wanted to share the tattoo I got today from Bryan Randolph at Shangri La Tattoo. I think he did an amazing job. Great artists and shop there! Yes, it's oozing a bit 🙂

long time no post 🙂 kinda lost track of this place, so here's what i've been up to over the last few years...work on my legs by the fantastic @Scott Sylvia

4 more hours down, 16 so far. The yellow stained lots of the black and will mellow out once it peels/heals. The wings are mostly black/brown. Here's how my sessions go Hour 1: this isn't as bad as I remembered it Hour 2: uh oh, this is worse than I remembered Hour 3: Ok maybe we should stop this looks fine unfinished Hour 4: I am dying and need to stop immediately (said in my head every minute until he tells me we're done)

my 2019 tattoos,-- Tim Hendricks..Tim Hendricks..Em Scott..Tanya Martin..Tommy Montoya..Greg Christian

Just thought I’d share some progress on my turkey vulture back piece. Around 12 hours in and it’s coming together! This piece has really tested me mentally and physically. I just got out of Covid quarantine and my body was not at all prepared to handle a tattoo. This last 4.5 hour session was brutal. I feel like such a little baby but this back piece has been deeply painful! I love being tattooed but getting them... do not enjoy

5 + years later update. What an absolutely wild ride tattooing is.

No photos to share right now, but we finally finished my leg sleeve last Saturday. Yeah!!!

Got this guy from Scott Harrison last Sunday. Aside from the dope tattoo, I also got some great stories. If you're anywhere near the PNW, you should make your way to Portland and get work from this legend before he re-retires!

Just got this done by Matt Truiano in NYC!

Recently got my first tattoo in the US. Originally from New Zealand where I have three others. Super happy with the result, two sessions 15/16 hours total. Done at stained skin in Columbus Ohio. Excuse the swelling on the inside and outside of my bicep, that shits painful LOL.

I'd say you have too much time on your hands if this is what you spend your time worrying about. If you'd gotten it the other way people would be telling you that was wrong too. Next time someone says that just say, "You know if I want to hear an ass hole I'll fart."

I have an appointment next month with didac (@didactattoo on ig) for a big black panther covered in red hearts. I am so excited! It is going to be my biggest piece so far (about 35 cm)

3 sessions on the thigh - finished Mar 2019. I go to my tattoo artist (Gunnar Gaylord now in OH) and tell him this......I had a childhood nightmare which I remember to this day. I was looking down the laundry shoot in the hallway and saw Rocky standing there looking in horror as Bullwinkle got eaten by the oil burner in the basement. This is what he came up with.

I'll share mine! Finished up my sleeve a few months ago

As you might remember my story about almost 2 years ago and I want to thank you guys again for how much you've been uplifting me with your honesty and your words. This post tattoo anxiety seems a very common thing. It hit me as well even though I was planning on getting a big one for many years. Many people have contacted me and having those feelings seems to be a very common thing, there seems to be the same pattern that people are going through. It looks to me that nowadays people want to have a solution for everything immediately if they don't feel comfortable with something. People don't know how to be patient anymore and get rid of something if they don't like it. People compare themselves way too much with others as it's what social media does with many people's minds. There are quite a few reasons that I could write about regarding post tattoo anxiety and I was thinking about posting my experience here as so many people have been reaching out to me and I can see there seems to be a common psychological process (I just don't really have the time to write things down in detail) Anyway: I can assure to everyone with this anxiety: YOU WILL GET OVER IT and live will go on. It might take some time but you will get there. Don't be hard on yourself and even if right now you're having panic attacks (which is a horrible feeling), it'll get less and you'll come to love your tattoo. It's a change you've done to your body and now your mind needs some time to adjust. Don't forget that you love tattoos and why you love them because this is hopefully the reason why you decided to get them.

I have no idea. I feel like maybe people who never would have gotten tattoos are getting them now because they are more mainstream, but then they appear to suddenly realize it is permanent? I don't know, but it feels like 90% of newbies come here to talk about their anxiety over a new tattoo. Sigh.

/\ this

I've got four sessions lined up with Scott Sylvia through the spring and summer to finally start my backpiece. We'll see if and when I'll be able to travel and SF tattoo shops open up though... Some of those appts may have to be moved back.

Sorry, but that is really awful. Frankly, if you are on an internet forum looking for suggestions, I think I'd find another artist. A really good artist should be able to look at that and make multiple suggestions for fixing it.

FFS. This conversation/thread is exhausting. Let's talk about good tattoos.