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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 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!

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

Just wanted to share some new flash I got yesterday, my favorite tattoo shop was running a Friday the 13th promotion and I decided to go for it! Getting custom drawn flash is so much fun. you can really tell how much the artists love each one of their drawings and I am always proud to wear the best of their work. Tattoos like this make me very happy 😊 This one was done by Max at Pretty Sturdy Tattoo in Denver. He has tattooed me before, I love his work. Really all the artists at the shop are amazing- the shop is covered floor to ceiling in all their flash paintings and it’s just really cool. I’m pretty sure my whole arm will be covered in their tattoos eventually. This pic is from last night right after I cleaned it up and put my first saniderm dressing on it. I bled a lot more than I usually do with this one, but maybe it was just a tender spot. Today it looks pretty gnarly but it has calmed down quite a bit and doesn’t sting as much. We are well on the way to a smooth healing process

I'm really happy with it, came out even better than expected. I went to my usual place and didn't disappoint The dots in the face are just my hair btw Here's the tattoo...

/\ this

Thanks guys! I gravitate to old school stuff ... the 50s was my time haha. Here is a better shot I think.

Just wanted to share the back piece I had done last year for my Dad who passed away.

Saw this design years ago, and it was a must have at first sight. The problem was that the artist is about 8000 miles from where I’m at. I’ve traveled for tattoos, but not that far! I caught a break though, as the artist was guesting in the USA, and I was fortunate to get a spot. The tattoo came to me. I didn’t even get on a plane. How lucky is that? I’ve been saving this forearm panel for years for this piece, without even knowing how I was going to end up getting it ever. But it worked out in the end. (The link below the photo is a video. The tattoo is a really wide design, so it wraps in my desired body placement and the video shows the wrapped sections) Artist is: Manh Huynh from Vietnam. Video link:

It looks fine. OCD is a great way to make a good tattoo worse. Trust me, NOBODY is eyeing your tattoo with a microscope except you. Enjoy it and get more tattoos.

Lily is 18 mo now, and the light of my life.

Hello guys, I wanted to share with you an update of my sleeve, which is now completed. It has been made over time by different artists I like, in different cities. Feel free to express any kind of thoughts 😁

or just cover your body in tattoos, in which case minor imperfections are basically not ever scritinized! 🙂

Great idea! I have pinned this thread. let me know if it should be a different thread. thank you both of you, @Hogrider @oboogie for all of your great contributions over the years!

i got this pinhead from hellrasier two days ago. It was a flash design made for the halloween season.

At 5 weeks, that's long enough to know if it's a blowout or not. I don't see it myself, but once you see it you can't unsee it. It's a nice looking tattoo, I'd just enjoy it. Trying to fix blowouts makes them worse often as not. The ink is under the skin, you can't move it or take it out, you can only try to cover it up.

As often happens on the internet, you got advice you don’t like. Some of the people giving that advice have several hundred hours experience getting tattooed. I re-read your post. You’re right about so many items being a back piece. Depending on how detailed it is, this would probably run 35+ hours. A good artist is going to be $100 or more an hour. depending on how well you sit it could run 8 or more sessions. Most people find the back painful. It’s hard to care for just because it’s hard to reach some spots. That’s a huge commitment for a first tattoo. Here’s some more advice you won’t like. Get a smaller tattoo on an easy place like your bicep first so you have some idea what you are getting in to.

Hi This is my first tattoo I got the start of this month from Dave Swambo at Strongold in Cardiff - thoughts?

Just had the 2nd session on the top of my arm. Reworked an old tribal and added an eye and some dot work. Quite hard to see as it wraps around. 🙂

This is obviously still healing, but here’s the other one I got the same day.

I got my left knee done yesterday, and it is HUGELY swollen. Absolutely brutal. I couldn’t sleep last night because it hurt so much. I’ll be glad when it starts healing. Even my elbows didn’t hurt as much as the knee.

oh and just because...another good decision after 10+ years, finally work by Jeff Rassier 🙂 2021 was a good year for tattoos...for me!!!

belated post and *no* regrets! l ❤️ me some sutro tower another by the one and only @scott sylvia can't wait for the 2022 visit 🙂

Inner bicep and fillers at some point

Here is another to share. Excuse my old man skin lol. Little over month healed

Hey all - it's been a long time! Between having a baby and surprise global pandemic, I took a 3 year tattoo hiatus. You can imagine I was very excited to put an end to that extended break this past weekend with this piece by Steve Flores at Spiral Tattoo in Ann Arbor, MI. Knee ditch butterfly: I was really nervous about how I was going to heal this spot with a toddler running around. I haven't bent my leg more than 45 degrees in 5 days, so we'll see how it turns out. 😛

My 1st tattoo, it’s going to cover my shoulder and wrap around my arm. So far I dig it

Started filling in my legs with stars and dots this last week. Also got this lil’ ZZ Top tribute on my leg.

I have another appt beginning Oct and will post it as well. I learned quite a bit on this forum about looking at artists work and choosing an artist/shop. Thanks to the forum helping educate this newb 🙂

so the first and best advice I can offer is to not go back to that tattooer,I think a better tattooer could rework that into a good tattoo, and sometimes there is scar tissue, from a bad application of the tattoo.

Finally finished my ribs. 3 hour session last week, I kept looking at the bottle of numbing crème, but held out. My artist offered it a couple of times, but I said I wanted to “earn” it. I’ll post a pic when it heals. I have two sessions left and my body suit will be complete. I’ve been chipping away at it for 12 years. I can’t believe it’s almost done.

Hey, new poster here. After years of planning (and saving!) I finally started my back piece this week, with Nick Mayes at North Sea Tattoo in Scarborough, UK. I asked for 'the Kraken thrashing around in the sea while a flying saucer tries to beam it up'. The design did not disappoint! As for the session itself, even at a relatively short 2 1/2 hours of actual tattooing, it was pretty tough. As others have said, your body doesn't get used to the pain like it does on a smaller piece. The needle is always on the move to somewhere fresh and so every line feels like the first. I'd say most of the back was an 8/10 pain, with one or two areas only a 7, but a couple were a good 9.5, namely the love handles, lower back and butt crack (that one is like some whole new type of pain!) We will be doing 2-3 hour sessions every month or so, which should keep progress moving well. As for now, I'll leave you with what we've done so far, and will keep you updated. It's an honour to join this legendary thread!

hi and welcome, read here https://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/rules/ . " There is a 10 post requirement before you can start your own thread outside of the initiation forum. Please do not go posting a bunch of meaningless posts just to hit your 10 post requirement. If you want to ask a question right away - just post it in your intro thread."

Nobody is saying you're stupid and nobody is happy that you're not happy. Take a deep breath and calm down. We're offering advice so it doesn't happen again. Very few people are happy with every single tattoo they have. As the saying goes, "sh!t happens." If someone is offering advice you don't want, just ignore it. And please stop beating yourself up. The only thing you are guilty of is being human.

first session of my goat thigh piece done by DMUG at blood moon tattoos. i go back in november to add color in! i'm absolutely in love with it so far. 🐐

Stop staring at it. It is healing, and it will be healing for a while. You cannot tell anything yet. Keep it clean and quit putting junk on it.

After reading through these threads, and looking at tons of pics I feel better about my piece. Looking at the big picture and not scrutinizing it is the way to go. Thanks for input. This is a great site for knowledgeable advice, I've already started planning my next one.

I'm finishing up a body suit this year and at 64, I've been concerned about my skin continuing to be fit to tattoo. I took a break during COVID, so I lost two years, but I've had four appointments in the last several months. In preparation for the appointments, every day I applied cocoa butter liberally on the areas to be tattooed for a full month prior to my appointment. My last two appointments focused on the ribs and in addition to not hurting nearly as much as my previous rib tattoos, both sessions healed in record time. All of the red was gone within two days, I had very little pain and they healed very nicely. I've probably got another 6 sessions left and I'm going to continue doing this; hopefully it will help all my sessions heal quickly. Anyway, it's not a scientific experiment, it's only one person, but I thought I'd share it. It certainly won't hurt and it might help.

I agree with wait, a tattoo takes months to heal.

I love vintage bikes, and this weekend (May 13&14) a friend is hosting his second Possum Gathering in Sevierville, TN. I will be helping out on 12, 13, &14 and showing one of my bikes. Had a large time with beautiful bikes and great folks last year. If you are in the area, check it out!

I'm so happy to see others posting here again! I haven't posted an update in a while, but here's my Virginia Elwood back piece at around 26 hours in. We've been doing pretty short sessions (2ish hours, about once a month). We've done a few more hours in the last month since this picture was taken, but I've been healing pretty slowly in the cold weather and haven't gotten another good healed photo yet. My skin is kind of fussy about the dark red and dark green in particular. It settles in eventually but takes its sweet time. Hopefully next time we'll have a chance to shade some more of the little creatures too, which I'm really looking forward to.

excuse how swollen my arm is haha — i’m so excited to see how this is going to look when it heals 🗡

NEVER get a tattoo.

I needed Tables/Workbeches for my new workplace. Since I couldn't find suitable ones, I made them myself, so they would use the available space as best as possible

So? An update on this? Hi! If you look at his IG from 8/13, you will see my arm!

It takes 6-8 weeks to heal. You’ll know then, regardless of how many times you ask or how you word the question. Having said that, thin delicate skin, like where you got your tattoo, is most prone to blowouts and thin lines make them the most obvious. There is nothing you can do except cover them up if it really bothers you. It’s been asked dozens of times.

Please talk to a competent artist. Anyone who suggested a giant solid black arrow makes me question their ability. It's going to look even worse if you just cover it up with some ugly shit. Do not rush into anything.

Yeah, I seriously think they're stuck in a movie from the 1950s. It's like Pleasantville. 😂 No clue where all these sailors and gangsters are hiding!

Multiple people are telling you the same thing and you’re not getting it. I’m sorry to be blunt, but let’s clear up a few things. 1. Tattoos are an imperfect artform 2. Skin is an imperfect medium 3. Tattooing is a wound that has to heal. Without letting it heal, nothing can be done. 4. Overworking a tattoo (and inflicting more trauma to the area) will rarely help a situation. 5. Stop worrying about what inks your artist use. If you are at a reputable shop and artist, they know more than you do. They also know more than most people here 6. Do more research on who you choose to tattoo you before you let them stick needles into your skin with ink that will be there forever. 7. The answer to further questions is probably “let it heal and wait a few weeks” or “no, you can’t fix it that way.”