sourpussoctopus

@Graeme It wasn't until that appointment that I really understood what is meant by "placement", which I used to think just meant "looks good in this spot". I'm grateful he was willing to explain his process to me, instead of just slapping it on there.
Just took a look at the photo of your sleeve - those concentric rings above the crow actually look like they're spinning. It's amazing!

@Tornado6 I'm gonna echo the placement argument here. A few months ago I started a new sleeve, and the first hour or so was spent finalizing the design and figuring out how/where to lay it on my arm. The artist went on to explain how the arm is basically a cylinder, so a cohesive sleeve is about creating an image that complements and enhances your natural movement. (I hope I'm doing justice to his explanation.) So when I bend my arm now, the bottom bird's wing creates this really nice spiral where before was just a hard, 90-degree angle. What I had originally imagined got changed completely, but it was absolutely for the best. I have no gift for composition, haha.
Placement is important for a piecewise sleeve too, of course, but you can get away with a lot more with this approach.
As for the feminine/masculine thing and how people will read it, I don't think you should worry about that. It's going to be on your body, so on days you are feeling more girly, your tattoo will complement it. On days you're feeling tomboyish, your tattoo will it as well. In a way, a tattoo is the ultimate accessory, so how you carry it can change its quality.
I hope this makes sense.

@Tornado6 I'm gonna echo the placement argument here. A few months ago I started a new sleeve, and the first hour or so was spent finalizing the design and figuring out how/where to lay it on my arm. The artist went on to explain how the arm is basically a cylinder, so a cohesive sleeve is about creating an image that complements and enhances your natural movement. (I hope I'm doing justice to his explanation.) So when I bend my arm now, the bottom bird's wing creates this really nice spiral where before was just a hard, 90-degree angle. What I had originally imagined got changed completely, but it was absolutely for the best. I have no gift for composition, haha.
Placement is important for a piecewise sleeve too, of course, but you can get away with a lot more with this approach.
As for the feminine/masculine thing and how people will read it, I don't think you should worry about that. It's going to be on your body, so on days you are feeling more girly, your tattoo will complement it. On days you're feeling tomboyish, your tattoo will it as well. In a way, a tattoo is the ultimate accessory, so how you carry it can change its quality.
I hope this makes sense.

I have a lot of OPINIONS on the myriad of ways that tattoo culture can still be really shitty to women, but rather than going on a rant about that right now, I will say this:
Because it can indeed be kind of isolating being an (increasingly) heavily tattooed woman, one of the best things I have gotten out of my participation on this board has been the space to interact with, and "get to know", other articulate, thoughtful and cool tattooed women. I adore a lot of folks around here, but being able to connect with other ladies is particularly valuable and enriching, since I think being tattooed is accompanied by some unique stuff for us. So I am really grateful for this space and for everything I've learned from other women in the tattoo world.

my role as a female tattooer has been in my thoughts a lot recently.
i work hard to be the best i can as a decent human being and as a good tattooer. i feel like my work defines a large part of myself. if i work hard and good comes from it then i feel rewarded. i'm aware of being a woman, at work, walking down the street, etc,,, being taken seriously is very important to me.
sometimes i will get younger girls tell me i am a role model to them and i just dont know what to say to that! i hope that it's because they can see the hard work put in and they can see that it does pay off regardless of gender. that you don't need your tits hanging out to get you noticed! if anything i certainly dont think that type of behaviour helps the plight of the 'female' tattooer. i've lost count of the times i've heard people say 'good, for a girl' while growing up and it definitely had an effect on me at an early age.

i agree with the previous sentiments -- i dont want to be touched, i shouldnt be expected to tolerate you nor should i have to explain my tattoos to you. in that past few years i have just started to reject the advances. however my "no, you cant see my arm." and "please dont touch me" always elicits surprised stares. they seem really caught off guard that I wouldnt want a stranger pulling my arm to his face or that i dont want to hear about what they want to get done in the future.
one of the most frustrating things is having a total stranger get rude with me for telling him that i would rather he not touch me. the conversation typically goes as follows:
Interrupting my conversation "oh sweet tats, can i see them?"
"no. sorry, im having a conversation"
"you dont have to be such a bitch."
>: (
the other random approach i get disgusts me and that is a guy assuming im some sort of "naughty-girl-gone-wild". that conversation usually also ends with me being called a bitch and begins something like this:
"well helllllloooo there, you look like a bad girl." smarmy smirk
"...no. please go away"
"i bet youre a real handful hunh?"
"...no."
"oh ho ho someones an evil evil thing hmmmm?"
also, my friend who has a chest piece gets "can i see how far down that goes?" at least twice a week.
a lot of my friends who do not have tattoos will ask me why i am not really into men who are tattoo free and its because of my experiences with the aforementioned jerks. they seem to think of me as some sort of dominatrix that would be a "good time" rather than an interesting person that they should get to know. it freaks me out a little and makes me question their motives for approaching me.

what i seem to notice is that the only men with balls big enough to date a heavily tattooed woman are heavily tattooed themselves, but i might be wrong of course, this is just what ive noticed.
most tattooed folk will attract a few looks when out and about but people cant help but downright stare when they notice tattooed women, in the summer i dread wearing shorts knowing all i'll get is questions, and i cant stand answering the same shit over and over again. though i'm always left alone when im waking around with stewart (my other half), it might be to do with the fact hes even more heavily tattooed, over 6" tall and is usually frowning at them already haha.
i guess when im on my own, people dont seem to be scared of me as they seem of him, if im alone, they will ask more readily expecting a sweet young girl to just be that, sweet, and kindly answer their questions.
its that that particularly that annoys me most, do they really think im gonna entertain them? a complete stranger? just cos im a girl?
what worries me is what the media is making tattooed women out to be. it has always loved a slutty-tattooed-woman scandal. were all sex/fame/money hungry according to them, when in all honesty, some might be, but really, theres WAY more untattooed women that way inclined. but hey, thats another much more elaborate post i cant put my energy into right now.

I'm sorry, but I don't get it.
What's the rush? Who needs a large tattoo that quickly anyway?
Is regular (shorter) sessions too much trouble? Even if you are traveling, I see no need to do 3 full consecutive days.
I'm gonna stick my neck out here and say that every sleeve that I've seen (in person) completed in marathon sessions or super-close consecutive sessions heals pretty rough. I'd love someone to prove me wrong and i hope someone can but I don't see how you can heal a full arm while maintaining some sort of normal life (which includes moving your limbs, going to the toilet, moving food to your face etc.) without having some colour drop-out or whatever. I find healing larger tattoos to be miserable at the best of times, particularly around the ditch, elbow, armpit etc. For me, marathon consecutive sessions means another trip for touch ups, which negates the need to finish in a short space of time anyway.
It usually takes just a little more thought from the tattooer to finish smaller sections of the tattoo with a mind to extending it later if the client doesn't want to live with an un-finished looking tattoo, or the manner CaptCanada described at the end of his post above. This can still be tough to heal, but is a more efficient use of time, particularly for people who travel long distances. But I guess you don't get so many bragging rights, just a solid, awesome tattoo.
Please bear in mind that I have occasionally and begrudgingly, tattooed the same person on 2 consecutive days to finish a large tattoo before they leave the country/go to prison or whatever, so that probably discounts my opinion.

I'm new here, but I definitely can't resist to a contest! Maybe a bit late to enter for this month tho ^^
So here's my last tattoo (knee cap), done by Valerie Vargas at Modern Classic Tattoo last week - Drawn-on and one shot
there's also a vid here: Video by Valerie Vargas(valeriemodernclassic): Manu came to @modernclassictattoo a... | iPhoneogram

By Jasmin Austin down in Perth, Australia.

My latest and greatest tattoo on my left knee, Had a very personal battle getting this one almost tapped a couple of times.
Artist is WT Norbert so stoked to have him working just down the road from my place

This came in the mail yesterday.
I am so excited!

...but that's what I doooooooo!
It's easier to kick it around here with tattooed people. It isn't like, a serious stress in my real life, but it is fun to talk about on the internet. Look how many pretty lady arms we got out of it :D

Agreed completely with this, especially about how placement is often the difference between good tattoos and GREAT ones. I think not only is it a hard thing to explain here, other than that it's one of those things where you'll know it when you see it, but it's something that really requires seeing tattoos in person because photos don't give a very good sense of placement, or of the movement of tattoos. Placement is something that is kind of irrespective of genre too. If you've seen Filip Leu's tattoos, I mean in real life, not in pictures, they way they sit is incredible. They look like they were meant to be there and that they were always there. My wife @Pugilist had her back done in a folky Americana style by Stephanie Tamez and it's the same, even though the style is totally different than Filip's. What was neat about seeing that tattoo come together was how immediately it looked like the tattoo belonged there.

It's tough for me to articulate as well. I will say, though, some of my favorite tattoos I've seen on women are ones that accentuate their female form with placement/flow/lines/etc. I think tattoos can be one of the coolest ways to be more feminine. Roxx at 2Spirit in SF does this really well with linework.

Here's a pertinent thread: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/506-feminism-tattoos.html
I've tried and failed to write a post about my own relationship to gender and how it affects my choice of tattoos...but it's safe to say that for me they're a blessed opportunity to dispense with masculine/feminine. I mean even the lotion aisle at CVS needs to remind me that I can't make ungendered choices. I think I got my first tattoo with the half-baked idea that it was an appropriate choice for a woman, but since then it hasn't really been such a big deal. I realise that a lot of tattoo traditions are very tied to gender, though.

I think it would work if it was all black, illustrative style tattoo.
However I wouldn't be confident the shape of the skull will hold over time, as your body changes, as you age, as you move with the tattoo on you, since the design is fairly static. A skilled tattooer could make it work though.
An alternate perspective:
If you want to get a skull, get a skull. If you want to get flowers, get flowers.
Too often we try to get too 'clever' with a design and it ends up being hard to read, complicated, and (especially) dated.
Simplicity is what stands out and stands the test of time.
My $0.02

@sourpussoctopus Tattoo buddy! I like that! :)

There's a guy in the machine shop at work who is my little tat bud. We talk tattoos constantly and discuss our upcoming plans. Its a great respite from the corporate drag.
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word!
@sourpussoctopus these pieces are really awesome!

@DeathB4Decaf I once ran into a girl in the restroom at my school who had a full sleeve by Myke Chambers. I could barely contain my excitement to come across someone I could talk tattoos with, however briefly. Never saw her again, haha. But go for it, dude! I think we all wish we had a tattoo buddy at work.

Lady heads are my favorite type of tattoo. Most of my current and planned tattoos are variations on that theme. It's something I never get tired of seeing.
My absolute favorite to date is Valerie's punk rock Virgin Mary.

I love lady heads, at last count, I have 14.
Beautiful big eyes and long eyelashes get me hooked each time.
My latest tattoo in progress, is a large lady head on my back by @Valerie Vargas
She is gorgeous.
In my opinion, you can never have too many lady heads !!! :))

i just love them, and i love how different they are from artist to artist. i suppose thats why lady heads are a traditional tattoo in the first place... women are attractive to look at.. why not cover your body in attractive things :) Thanks guys!

I'm a CLevel/Director type in IT. With the exception of my wrist tattoo, the fools have no clue. I use the one on my wrist as a "tell" in meetings. Their reactions tell me more about them than it ever says about me. I know damn near exactly how to negotiate based on their reaction. <evil grin>