mtlsam

Getting those mandatory posts out of the way I see...

Seeing this makes me think I will stick with my saran wrap method. It's a pain to have to keep changing it, and it bunches up sometimes, but I've never had blisters from it.

Tell us what city you live in, then people will chime in with good shops or tattooers in your area. Next step is to go to one of those good tattooers and ask them. They are the artists. We are just people who like to get good tattoos.

You sir win the internet for this day! Congratulations :)

Traditional enough for tattooing. If you want top notch work in a traditional style look no further than Blackheart tattoo! You cannot go wrong there!

Let the tattoo heal! Then use social media, like Instagram to find an awesome tattooer who's work you like. Track them down and make an appointment. They will be able to do the design work.

I think that ever since not dying during the lining session Chad gave my ribs, my perspective is a little skewed. One day I'll get my back done and then will be able to compare apples to apples.

Dave did a pretty big tiger on my ribs last fall. He's pretty quick and fairly gentle, but most importantly, he's awesome! You'll get an epic tattoo from a tattooer's tattooer.

Skin takes time to heal. Scar tissue takes time to settle. Wait a year or three and then choose your course of action. A real Dr. will tell you that it has to heal fully first. Anyone else wants your money. Also next time you need a tattoo removed try laser, it seems to work and not have as many after effects as excision.

I'm sure that none of those things work. You'll just have to keep covered and in the shade for a few months. Give it until next march or so and you'll be good.

Glad to see you got that appointment set up. If you keep making great decisions like this you'll have a heck of a collection!

Something fishy is going on here ???

Hi, has anybody else had the issue of having to login each time they return to the site? This only started for me in the past few days. I view the site through an Ipad using an old os and safari. Cheers, Sam

Welcome, Chris Collins work looks quite nice in the traditional style. You may also want to try to get in with pedro_soos who seems to be doing a guest spot (visit to the shop) in August. As for advice, closely follow the aftercare advice given by the artist who does your tattoo, and take no advice from anyone or anywhere else! Once you have ten tattoos that have healed well do what works for you, but everyone will have suggestions, ignore them. Post a photo once you get something.

I've found that if you are friendly, and willing to pay for the time people are quite happy to do five minutes of work on another artists work. Mention it and say some thing like, while you have your machines setup, would you mind throwing in a touch of... Good luck.

Firstly, that's an awesome tattoo! I love how different artists are able to interpret something like a tiger in so many ways, but you still know it's a tiger and feel the power of the image. Secondly, I hope that the folks at the shop are able to salvedge the majority of their equipment at the very least. It looked kind of grim in the photos I saw. I was only in there once when they had just moved, but was a nice space. Whishing them the best.

It might make for an easier competition, though some of those "do you think my new tattoo sucks?" tattoos could get a lot of likes ;)

Great thread bump. I'm slowly chipping away at the blank spots, but they still greatly outnumber the inked ones. I consider my torso and one arm to be "finished". Mainly working upper legs now. I'll say that once I've gone all the way around as well as doing my back, I'd be willing to start throwing around the term suit in progress. I think that you have to have some pretty serious coverage before you get to that point though. Maybe we can adopt some wet-suit style names to best describe our progress. Long John for everything but sleeves... I'm working towards a Springsuit with long sleeves myself. http://www.surfing-waves.com/equipment/wetsuit-types.htm

Best unintentional thread hijack in quite a while. Keep up the good work fellas :)

Welcomej144, You seem to be a bit agressive off the bat. This is not a site where we really go for that. Chill out, look around, contact some artists. Good tattoos come to those who wait. If you just want to have a few people tell you what you already seem to be thinking, then I think you have your answer. No one here has your tattoo, it seems pretty specific, so talk to those artist's helpers and see if they are into it.

Redness and thick scabbing tend to be signs of infection. This doesn't mean that you have to worry, as your body appears to be healing on it's own. Minor infection of that sort would probably go unnoticed on a scraped knee, but because we are so invested in our tattoos we scrutinize them more closely. I'm guilty of this as well. Keep the affected area clean and as free from friction as possible and things should turn out fine in a few weeks. A few spots healing less well on a tattoo are common. Just learn from the experience and try to adjust your aftercare accordingly next time.

Those look like blowouts. It happens sometimes, but if you have a lot of them, as it appears, you may want to think about how experienced your tattooer is. It should be more an acception than a rule.

Saran wrap has greatly improved the quality of how well my tattoos heal! We have talked about this a lot in a few other threads, but anything that keeps your fresh tattoo clean and friction free is of great benefit. If you leave it wrapped up for days on end without washing it you're in for a world of hurt. If you are clever and wash your fresh tattoo every 6-8 hours while changing the wrap your tattoo will heal scab free and bright.

Didn't you get that tattoo a few days ago? Let it heal for a couple of months before you start reworking it. Tattoos look different after they settle into the skin, particularly black and grey tattoos.