Beans

Well, I am no longer a plain skin gal. I made it 4 1/2 hours minus 1 potty break and 3 1minute stretch sessions. All while on the dreaded (.) and I now have the begenning of an awsome 3/4 sleeve. The worse part was the funny bone and under the arm pit. I think i may have been levitating about 6 inches off the bench the last half hour, but I never complained!!!!!! Im feeling really great about the session and I love my artists. Yay!

:confused: So both arms, a chest piece and the back too. HA, I dont think I wanna stop at the arms. I really NEED something to at least balance my lower arm. Im thinking peonies

Well, some of you pals already know, but it's relevant, so I'll tell you all.
I put in my resignation at my day job so that I could be at the tattoo shop more often. It's a big scary step, but you gotta start somewhere.
Also, I quit drinking after being a lush for the last 10 years.
Onwards and upwards folks.

Although is doesn't seem to have hurt David La Brava .

I took a sketch concept and let my artist run with it. It's going to be a realism tree with 3 detailed birds in different aspects of flight and perch. I wish I'd done it sooner (4 yrs ago) as now I find that birds and tree have become more popular. Oh well. I'm excited for a job well done and to have a beautiful tattoo this week!

Hello all,
Just introducing myself. I'm about to pull the trigger on a new tattoo this week and after reading this forum for weeks and weeks, I am learning about the dos and don'ts I never would have known. Great site. Brutal honesty and great information and advice. I have two small and rather generic tattoos that I got at 18 in Biloxi at the old Jack and Diane's shop. I just turned 40 and have been holding onto a tattoo concept for about 4 yrs. After researching for while and two consults, I'm going to the Black Sparrow, (Andrew Trull) for my new work this week. Excited to say the least. Thanks for all the info through this forum! It's greatly appreciated!

So, I've always wanted tattoos but waited so long because life got in the way. Now, that I've had my outline done for my left arm 3/4 sleeve, my first tattoo, something I've wanted for 20+ years. (I'm 43) I've become unhappy or itchy? :( I look down and my right arm just looks so...Plain/weird to me. I'm feeling the need to fill up the other arm with something equally as beautiful. Which leads me to a new thought. How fully tattooed do I want to become and I'm kind of freaking myself out. Maybe fairly heavily? Though, I haven't discussed this with the Hubby. I think I'd like to do both legs after my arms. I guess I'm leaning to a balanced look.

Well, I am no longer a plain skin gal. I made it 4 1/2 hours minus 1 potty break and 3 1minute stretch sessions. All while on the dreaded (.) and I now have the begenning of an awsome 3/4 sleeve. The worse part was the funny bone and under the arm pit. I think i may have been levitating about 6 inches off the bench the last half hour, but I never complained!!!!!! Im feeling really great about the session and I love my artists. Yay!

I've probably posted this somewhere, but I think it fits well here. The screaming gorilla is on my left elbow, the tiger on the right. Both by Tim Pausinger at The Pearl. (The tiger is a little distorted by the way my arm is lying.)

@Beans, I actually like the "unevenness" of my art work. It makes me unique to others. So don't look it as a bad thing but as something different. :D

Straight lines leave little room for error. Going over something again has a chance of making it look like there was a second pass unless everything is thickened as you suspected, and that might not be any better. From his FB, it looks like line work isn't his where is action is. There is only one other geometric tattoo with lines like yours, and it's unfortunate IMO. Personally, I wouldn't go back for line work like this, but if there is another type of tattoo you'd like, some of his stuff looks pretty cool.
How perfect does it have to be? As perfect as you want it to be, but keep in mind these types of tattoos leave much less room for error than nice flowery or organic looking tattoos.
Artists sent you away for small "simple" tattoos? Sheesh. Like your money isn't good enough? My first tattoo was small and took maybe 15 minutes. I had to pay the minimum which was higher than the amount of time it took to get the tattoo. Big deal. Maybe they recognize that lines and lettering aren't that easy and are hiding behind that as an excuse.
I'm not trying to make you feel bad, just sharing the content of other discussions about tattoos like these. As my buddy @marley mission would say - they are great, embrace them, own them, and go get more tattoos!
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Here is the thread @Fala referred to: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/2396-what-makes-good-tattoo.html

I heard on a podcast a few weeks ago, and i don't remember where, but the X-Files is coming back.

ROFL!
HAHAHAHAHA hells yea.

there is only one phrase that comes to my mind.. "Thanks Obama" :p

Im so sorry someone you cared for so deeply shamed you in such a way. Its an awful thing to do to anyone much less your BFF. Honestly, you are a much better person and deserve to have the love of someone who values you for you. Not the thin covering of aging skin we are all bound to.

I think what would bother me about it, @beez, is that behind it there's an element of 'how you look when you're older will matter more to me than who you are as a person.' It would bother me that someone would think ahead to the point when I might not be young and fit and attractive and just cross me off of the list because some part of me may not age gracefully, in their opinion. That some nebulous future involving my aging body might matter more to them than the years until then, or all of the years we'd already shared.
And that's crazy, isn't it? Nobody has any guarantee of aging gracefully (and obviously tattoos look pretty goddamn rad on older people, but I get that this is a subjective opinion). We're all going to get old and wrinkly and whatever else. It's just life.
When I decided to get tattoos, I told my mother that if I lived my life with the ultimate goal of being bangable at 60/70/80, then I'd have surely fucked up somewhere along the way. If I'm hot and older, so be it, but what I want to be at 60/70/80 is interesting.
I agree with everybody else -- I think he's saved you some time, and maybe even some worse heartbreak down the road. It doesn't make it any less bitter, I know. It's a very myopic position for him to take, imo, but at least he was honest about it. He'll have to own that in the years to come, for better or worse.

@beez you are beautiful and I agree with everything that has been said in response to your post.. Sounds like he has some growing up to do. Meanwhile, of course it hurts, but now he can get out of the way of you finding a more meaningful relationship...when you are ready.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So sorry that you have been hurt, but... count blessings it has finally come out, and you can move on. My wife has no body mods and was a bit shocked last year when I started. She seems to mainly be concerned that I get good work safely, and am pleased with it. She has never indicated an objection. It hasn't changed who I am.

You are clearly a beautiful and intelligent person, and that sounds very hurtful. My partner was sitting across from me on my laptop as I was reading your post - knowing that he doesn't like tattoos, I asked him what he thought about your friend's statement. He looked baffled for a moment and then said, "What the fuck? Why would anyone say that?" So this person doesn't need to be into tattoos, but he does need to not be an asshole about it.
In a broader sense, I think we're deluding ourselves a bit if we think we have any idea of what our partners are going to look like as we get older. Not to be morbid, but accidents happen and limbs are lost, faces are scarred - people have stayed with their lovers through much worse than an aging tattoo. Yet, for instance, the Internet loses its shit if a woman ages the "wrong" way (trying too hard to look young, looking too old, etc etc etc).

@beez - This is shitty on so many levels, I am so sorry.
My husband is currently plainskin, but by August he no longer will be but... I've been getting tattooed for a few years now, and when I started I was partly concerned that this would be an issue with my husband. Thankfully, he respected that this is my body and he loves me for me - no matter what my body looks like. He's also very pragmatic in that he knows we'll all look like we're 80 regardless of tattoos or not - something like this is not an issue.
For me, it would sting so much more because it is a choice to get tattooed. You love the you with tattoos, so he's rejecting your choices, your body, your life. It's much more hurtful than saying, "I just don't like you" because it is so specific. It's also saying, to me, that he wants someone who would be willing to change (or deny) their essence in order to be with him, that he wants his partner to be who he wants them to be (in order to love them) and not who they are (wrinkles, tattoos and all).
Big hug for you.

Sorry Beez, what he said must of been a harsh slap in the face - I think his words go even beyond body shaming, it's also getting older shaming - like you need to be perfectly preserved at 25, forever. Wow. I think this maybe be the type of person you don't want to spend your time/energy with as much. I'm so sorry. Even if he tries to backtrack - what has been said cannot be unsaid. I find it strange that he has never mentioned any of his feeling about tattoos throughout your relationship. This was a really shitty way to treat someone.
There are people out there who are of good heart and sound mind that won't let such things as tattoos and the inevitability of aging distract them from enjoying life and love.

A truly loving person would never say that or think that. Sorry.

I'll answer your questions, I think they're important questions and not outside the realm of reasonable inquiry. While I do think that a veil of secrecy is important to the artistic and technical aspects of tattooing, this is stuff that the customer should know about especially if you are concerned about your health and safety. In my opinion, the quality and transparency of your sanitation practices should be comparable to that of a physician. The information I am about to give anyone reading this right now IS NOT LICENSE TO GO INTO YOUR TATTOO SHOP AND SARCASTICALLY GRILL THE TATTOOERS ABOUT SANITATION PRACTICES IN A KNOW IT ALL MANNER. BE POLITE AND RESPECTFUL OR SHUT THE FUCK UP. Also don't take my word or anything you read on the internet in blind faith.
This is how I keep my customers safe:
Saran wrap, drape sheets, and dental bibs covering every surface of my workplace including station, armrests, and massage tables.
Anything that I touch during the tattoo will have saran wrap, barrier film, or tape covering the surface.
I use stainless steel tubes which are scrubbed with a detergent and then autoclaved for 60 minutes inside of sterile pouches which have steam indicators on them to let you know that they have reached the appropriate sterility temperature.
I use single-use stainless steel needles which have been ethelyne oxide gas sterilized by my supply company, also with an indicator strip.
Every part of my setup is single-use and disposable except the tubes which are autoclaved, the soap bottle which is autoclaved, and my machines which are wiped down with a hospital-grade antimicrobial chemical.
We perform weekly spore tests on the autoclave to ensure that it is sufficiently killing all of the nasties.
Once my supplies are disposed of, I also spray and wipe down my entire workspace with hospital grade antimicrobial chemicals according to cross contamination practices I have learned and am tested on according to my Blood Borne Pathogens certification that I am required to update yearly.
I have been vaccinated for Hepatitis A and B, although no vaccine for C exists as of yet.
I am also licensed to tattoo by the Alameda County Department of Environmental Health and will gladly show you my paperwork for both my license and BBP certification.
I have been asked by customers in the past to explain and demonstrate all of this information and to me it is never a hassle because I am doing my part to keep myself and my clients safe, and I do not want to tattoo someone if they are uncomfortable getting tattooed by me.

Yes, I do. I anticipated it being terrible, but honestly I am so accustomed to being in pain 24/7, that it wasn't bad at all. Just the few real tender areas. Lastly, I have not noticed any issues during healing or afterwards.

@chrisnoluck
Fuck yeah!
Here is what I got from my friend Adde Ramstedt the other day.

Felt so good to get the other foot done, never more (still need to do sides and toes...) Adde just moved down to Berlin and will be working at Lowbrow Tattoo Parlour for about 6 months. I encourage anyone to visit Berlin, hugely inspirational city with many things to experience and explore. While you're there, get tattooed by Adde too ;)