Kimmie

Day 11 and I appear to be in the home stretch but the itchiness has been unreal. I literally prefer the feeling of being tattooed.

@SeeSea, my forms have always included spelling.

Whenever I've done important testing, identifiers (names, ID number, etc) have always had to be bubbled in. I wonder if consciously putting every letter, number, punctuation, space, etc. like that would help. The client and artist could even both do it and compare notes, then discuss if there's discrepancies.

I look forward to seeing the final product! Do you know what color scheme you might end up with?

Congrats on your new tattoo. I wouldn't do what you are thinking. It sounds like you are considering covering a lot of real estate on your back just to connect two tattoos, and a color trail would be boring. This tattoo stands on its own just fine - no need to mess with it. Instead, think about a completely new tattoo on your back. The back is a huge flat surface and it would be a shame to eat up some of that great room with a long filler. My $0.02.

@SeeSea definitely knows a thing or two about the back as prime real estate...

I agree with both! Also, I feel as though a smoke trail behind the birds would make it less readable.

Regardless, congrats on your first tattoo and welcome to the forum!

If I may throw in my 2 cents as a newbie:

If thou art new to tattoos and tattooing, thou shalt read this forum prior to joining so that thou hast a basic understanding of what it stands for.

Thou shalt back down and reconsider thy position when contradicted by a forum member with greater knowledge and experience.

Thou shalt be willing to learn.

If I may add,

Thou shalt not ask a question if thou only want confirmation of thy opinion.

Day four now and the blasted itching and peeling has begun. I'm afraid to mess it up when applying ointments an and every once in a while I find a stray hair or fiber and getting it off stresses me out.

What explanation, if any, did you decide on for the web and teardrop?

Shit!!! I knew that was going to happen haha

And it doesn't matter, because you're not wearing it forever. But if you were, like you said, you'd check it 100 times and be damn sure.

The more I get tattooed the more I find out that I really don't care for my surroundings while I am getting ink... Unless the artists talk to me I just want to zone out and block everything around me. Music helps me accomplish this.

You don't get bored just zoning out?

Haha I didn't mean it to come off like that. I meant in general if your considering a phrase, look it up. Frankly any tattoo you should have some sort of picture or info on it to help the artist know what you want. They are only human, they can't read minds. But that is a debate for a different thread.

ps. Now that i know the grammar police are patrolling this thread I'm proof reading my posts.

At the risk of sounding like the grammar police, you're*

Back in the day, if you wanted a tattoo right on the spot, you had to settle on something from off the wall. Shops were so busy on Fridays & Saturdays that if you hesitated, the chair would be yanked right out from under your ass.

Nowadays, I think a lot of clients have shifted from wanting a tattoo right on the spot to wanting something custom, so shop styles are shifting with them.

People are influenced by what they see on TV. There people walk into a shop, hand the artist something scribbled on a beer coaster, the artist says, okay.. give me 5 minutes to draw it up. The client sits and waits, the artist comes out with a sketch... client goes wow... and the tattoo is complete before the first commercial.

I would like to think there's an understanding with those shows that clients aren't everyday walk ins off the street. They're coming in for an appointment that combines the consult and tattooing because their concept has already been discussed and prepared for. Reality shows are popular because they're entertaining, not realistic.

I don't see how Brittany/Brittney is another discussion. There's no room for artistic interpretation with any script. A SPECIFIC name/word/saying is important to the client so they should be able to write down exactly what they want. You also only listed English words. If artists aren't expected to be translators, why should they be dictionaries and grammar textbooks? It'd be ideal for artists to spot errors, but clients shouldn't make them in the first place.

I was told to take my wrap off 1-2 hours after getting it and immediately begin the wash/ointment regimen. I asked my artist if I should rewrap it the following night because I wanted to go out to celebrate my friends' birthdays and he said just to cover it with clothes.

I stayed in to be safe and have let it breathe for the most part. When it's in risk of touching something (like a blanket or pants) I lightly wrap a clean bandanna around it. That way it's protected from any stray fibers or germs without suffocating. It also protects my stuff from bleeding ink and sticky ointments. I'm actually surprised there aren't cloth bandages for that specific purpose and have been wondering if there would be enough of a market if I produced some.

I'm on day two of healing my seven hour thigh piece. Most of it required several passes for saturation, depth and detail but my artist was incredibly gentle. So far I've had little to no swelling or redness but the first wash sucked and blankets have been a pain. I'm anxiously awaiting the itching and scabbing to begin.

This seems to be one of those topics that doesn't have one "right" answer because there's such a variety of experiences and opinions. It makes sense now why the internet had so much conflicting information! I ended up shaving two hours before my appointment and haven't had skin irritation of any kind so far.

You wouldn't expect an artist to know which Brittany/Brittney you want, and I think the same principle should apply to words and phrases. If it's important enough to wear forever, the client should know the proper spelling and grammar and write it down for the artist verbatim. It's ideal for the artist to be able to spot mistakes, but script isn't something that should be left up for interpretation.

Here's my baby! Seven hours down, an estimated two to go to finish up. Done by the incredible Erick Holguin of Ink & Dagger in Roswell, GA. It got a little sore at the end, but he was so gentle/light handed that it was smooth sailing for the majority of it. It's in memory of my mother, who loved cardinals, and is even better than I ever imagined.

Yeah, I usually shave my legs so it isn't anything crazy.

I remember when I first started thinking about my first tattoo, almost everybody would warn against "just getting something they have there" and I still hear it today. It wasn't until I actually started learning about tattoos that I discovered the history and concept behind flash. Lack of knowledge/ignorance like that is probably a factor as well.

So it appears to be a personal preference kinda deal. Thanks for all of your experiences!

I don't have a photo of it to hand, hence why I didn't include it on the original post.

Suffice to say it's a 3/4 finished, half sleeve, tribal piece done by one of his mates when drunk. It didn't come out so well, as you might imagine.

The guy has been wanted it sorted for years but didn't have the money to get it done properly until now.

When you say covered do you mean changed to something else or fixed so it looks like a proper tribal? If he's trying to turn a big, bold, black tattoo with no definitive shape into something else, it's no wonder he's being laughed at. But if he just wants to finish it and have the lines cleaned up, unless it's super jacked up it should be doable. Tell him to research artists that either specialize in tribal, blackwork, or cover ups.

I'm open to any ideas how to cover this with something artsy/metal music related/ even more skull related.

How big is it? Maybe you could have it turned into a sugar skull/day of the dead type deal?

Im ashamed that us 90's kids spawned things such as "bae" and "doe" (instead of though). I guess even with touch screen smartphones, "babe" is just one too many letters to bother with.

I reject those as 90s terms since they're being said now and by teenagers. (Wanna feel old? Realize that people born in 2000 turn FIFTEEN this year.)

Who are you getting the convention piece from?

The ingrown hair thread made me slightly nervous for my thigh piece. My appointment is Friday at 11:30 (finally!) and I have somewhat sensitive skin. Would you guys recommend shaving the day before, the day of, or letting my artist do it? I searched the forum before starting a new thread this time, but didn't find anything. And the internet has a ton of conflicting information, of course.