DavidR

Welcome @tacifone. Spend as much time as you can reading the forums; there's a lot of wisdom packed in these pages. And if you don't have an account yet, get on Instagram and start following local artists whose work appeals to you.

I know she's been mentioned before but I think Kim-Anh Nguyen (https://instagram.com/kimanh_n/) deserves a little more exposure. She works out of Seven Seas Tattoos in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Here's a couple I stole from her facebook (https://www.facebook.com/bleakandblue):

I really appreciate you taking the time to post this. As a newbie, I'm really finding my time on LST very helpful. Reading other people's tattoo stories (both artists and clients) is really helping me understand what it is I want in terms of my tattoos, what the reality of "owning" a tattoo is and also, how to get the best out of my artist (including how to be the best client I can be). I'm stoked that your cover up worked out so well.

Hi and welcome to LST! I think people would be happy to see your pictures. And don't worry about your English; your grammar's better than most native speakers :D

Welcome to LST @Descendent That sleeve's looking great! Who's the artist?

Hi Laetitia. Welcome to LST!

I did some digging. Darcy Nutt did indeed do Graham Taylor's sleeves. She also did both of his calf sleeves.

I don't want to siderail the thread but does anyone know who did the sleeves on the guy in the Darcy Nutt video? Are they her's too?

It kills me I'm going to have to miss this; it would be the perfect birthday present to myself. But I have commitments to my kids that weekend (my daughter shares my birthday - or I share hers - and my son is taking part in a regional chess tournament). I'll definitely be going next year; last year's was supposed to be excellent.

Hi Chadrick and welcome to LST!

Hi Flo. Welcome to LST.

So I feel like a fraud but... I cancelled my appointment. I ended up drowning in doubt. Doubts about style, design, my chosen artist. By the time I'd finished tying myself up in knots, I doubted whether I even wanted a tattoo at all. So not the best frame of mind in which to make a lifetime decision. I was pretty bummed out about it for a couple of days but I know I made the right decision and I'm gonna take some time to get my head straight before making another appointment. I think the best place to start doing that is right here. I'm gonna soak up some culture and wisdom. I'm also going to attend a couple of conventions in May.

Bienvenue chez LST Manu!

That's one of my last remaining stumbling blocks. I like the idea of a sleeve but I also like the idea of a collection of individual tattoos (that Smith Street look). The choice of my first tattoo obviously has a lot of bearing on which way I go. I could always get something that could be incorporated into a sleeve (and she's done some awesome sleeves) but I'm not yet sufficiently invested in a single theme to commit an entire arm to it. I'm hoping I resolve that quandary at some point over the next six days :D

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. Charlotte Chadeau at La Bobine Tattoo Club in Aix-en-Provence will be doing my tattoo. She's done stuff in a variety of styles that appeal to me so there's clearly something about her art that I like. I wanted to choose an artist local to me because I'm viewing this as a long-term deal. I'll want to get more pieces in the future and have existing pieces maintained and extended so having an artist I can get to easily was an important part of the equation. You can check her work out here.

Hi All, Pushing 50 and never been inked. I've wanted tattoos more than half of my life but there's always been a reason not to but I'm a big boy now and it's about time I started making my own bad decisions. I had an epiphany recently and found myself asking "Dude, what's the worst that can happen?" so I've found a local artist whose work I like and I have a five hour slot booked a week from now. I've had sleepless nights worrying about what I'm going to have done - it's not that I can't think of anything, it's because I can't decide on only one thing - but one thing I do know: she'll come up with something far more impressive than I if I only let her have her creative freedom. So I'm gonna give her the broadest of briefs and let the chips fall where they may.

This thread gives me hope. Less than seven days until my first tattoo and I have no idea what I want. Well I have a list of 1000 tattoos I want, I just can't choose one. I trust my artist to do a kickass job. I like her art and I'm pretty sure she'll come up with something far more awesome than I. I'm just gonna give her the broadest of briefs and let the chips fall where they may. One things for certain, I'll stress a lot less of my second tattoo than I have over my first.