irezumi

There's plenty of topical creams and 'cold air' technology to make lightening and removal extremely tolerable.

To the OP; if you are worried about people judging you based on appearance then tattoos are definitely not for you. If you feel worried that it will affect your job and removing them gives you peace of mind then do it. That makeup shit every single day and maintaining the makeup throughout the day will get tedious fast. I'm not really a proponent to actual removal vs lightening but hey if it makes you sleep better at night then go ahead. Not judging.

Wrestling or aggressive exercise with a healing scab can and probably will make it come off prematurely usually causing loss of color or shading.

@fitfreak

The panther is a very classic tattoo image that is pretty much side by side with eagles and hearts in timeless iconography. So it's not unlike me to use that as a go-to classic.

1) wait till off season when wrestling and training won't fuck up a healing tattoo

2) wait a month before prolonged sun exposure

3) eagle

4) Panther

5) eagle fighting panther

6) eagle with superman logo on its chest

7) 'Supereagle' fighting Bizarro Panther

Damn I could go like this for hours

@scubaron If we are talking about the last 17 years then the only significant difference is more companies making it. The basic formulas themselves and for the most part the material that makes up the pigment particles haven't changed much. The only real significant change in the last 30 or so years is the introduction of synthetic binders. Without getting technical or saying more than this forum calls for I can sum it up into the difference between natural or synthetic ink.

There are a lot more companies making synthetic ink with bright shiny packaging and sponsorship deals, tv appearances, etc, so to someone it might seem like there's all kinds of new technology and brighter colors but that's not really accurate.

One of the things I like about Doug Hardy's IG is the pictures of his cat going everywhere with him. To the beach, to the supermarket, to a restuarant, etc. That cat has so many adventures.

I was in a good mood this morning and had lots of coffee hah

Called something black & grey in a picture of solid black tribal in a thread called blackwork is the best laugh I've had in the last 30 minutes.

@irezumi.......they probably witnessed how this new breed of tattoo artist treats the apprentices and figured they would just rehash a Jackass type show!.

Yeah I think you nailed it there.

At some point yesterday I was talking about the tv shows and I realized why they are more popular than a lot of other reality shows. Most of the other ones aren't something the common person does or can afford; not a lot of ice truckers, not everyone can be a fashion model, not everyone can afford a motorcycle, but anyone can walk into a tattoo shop & get an affordable way to feel like you are part of Tv Land and feel like they are part of a Reality that they most likely don't realize doesn't actually exist.

In all seriousness my non-snarky reply if you were in front of me at the shop my first real idea would be an organized overlapping 'pile' of numerals using varying sizes, textures and tones. My quick 90 second consultation doodle would look like this;

Don't judge. That was less than 2 minutes.

Art nouveau style hand right-clicking a mouse

at the very least try incorporate the binary into a more visually appealing image. maybe a tradtional heart filled with binary?

I was just about to offer up a doodle of heart w/ '001010110' in the banner but now I don't need to.

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Tattoo of a mouse with 'click/drag life' banner

Not re-pressed yet but worth seeking out is the Eye Tattooed America book. For some reason I just assume everybody has the same books I have. I'm kind of in the same boat as Ed in that respect of not realizing how popular they were. When I heard they were reprinting Tattootime I said to myself "I thought everybody has those books?"

The little red dots? No that's tattoo ink. Just a little spatter from what's above the frame of the picture.

I know what you meant no worries. And yes I think Doug saw that and knew it would be a popular idea.

Yeah if I didn't already have everything they've reprinted I'd be buying it. I'm waiting for the big red book because although I have all the pages they aren't in the book; they were put up on the wall of a shop when having that book or ordering a new copy wasn't a big deal and nobody predicted it would sell out and not be reprinted. Definitely took that one for granted.

Noooo, my dog just scratched my four day old baphomet tattoo! That has to be the only time she's ever scratched me of all the 60 billion times I've thrown that ball for her. There are no visible scratches on it and it doesn't look like she pulled anything off, so hopefully it'll still heal up alright.

A couple of years after getting this tattoo I got the most mildest of scratches from my cat. It didn't bleed or even make the skin peel or come up at all. Just a graze. For whatever reason it just never went away. I've had much more serious damage to other tattoos that didn't show any signs of wear and tear; road rash from skating, moving, just doing various things like that. Don't know why something so mild and casual left a more lasting mark than others.

Hopefully yours doesn't do that too.

I haven't but that sounds super rad

That's not gonna take care of it. And you're gonna have a huge tattoo no matter what. Why don't you go see the person that did that hannya? Best advice for this job is to walk into a shop and talk an artist.

Internet advice on this is barely helpful at best. Someone needs to spend a few minutes drawing on you with some markers.

Based on the sale of his art work, reprint of Tattoo Time, and these Sailor Jerry reprints, I get the sense that Hardy sees now as prime time for cashing in on these properties. So I wouldn't be surprised to see reprints of all the books.

He told me that it's Doug pushing him to reprint them, not his own desire to milk anything. Said he hadn't even considered reprinting Tattootime until Doug said he should. The profits from book sales is probably 1/100th of his income to be honest. Even Taki says that book sales are usually not the cashing-in type of income.

You have an already huge piece of black. I don't see much hope in a cover up unless you consider tattooing the entire front side of your entire torso. Which would look killer.

Saw that! What he really should do, and I'm sure it's what's next or soon, is reprint the Big Red Book.

He's funny as shit

There isn't really any doubt about how a tattoo like that will age. Anyway we've been over this kind of tattooing a thousand times on this forum before and if somebody isn't willing to look through the forum, find those threads, and put a little but of effort of their own into researching their tattoos, I don't see why we should put any effort into serious replies.

You're not far from wrong and I feel compelled to help people out just like I do at work but it's basically wasting my time. I think I just need to spend less time in the internet.

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The tattooer who did my first tattoo, Rus Laich had this picture of a tattoo that's essentially shaded with cross-hatching. I think it looks great. I imagine it'll age to a soft grey with barely-distinguishable lines over time?

I used to work with Rus; he's a rad dude and a great friend. We worked a booth at the Montreal show together a few years ago.

Lasering.

That was a serious reply, not being snarky.

Ok thanks, so conclusion is still Traditional?

Get whatever style you like; yes a lot of people here are focused on American and Japanese traditional tattooing but that doesn't there aren't other cool styles out there.

When people ask "what's your speciality?" "What do like to do the most?" My answer is "I like to make tattoos"

I have fun doing just about anything, and people like different styles for different reasons. Nobody can pick your style for you; I recommend visiting a shop with a lot of flash, and a variety of styles of flash, and you'll see all kinds of stuff that you might not have considered already. Don't feel pressured to get something on the spot, just go look around and don't ask too many questions unless you are serious about getting it that same day.

Does anyone that likes this style look at pictures of old tattoos? Junior, I recommend that you look at photos of vintage tattoos as they are today. There's a great one on IG called @vintagetattoos. Go figure.

What you'll see is that when all the color eventually fades (it will) all that is left is the backbone and foundation of the tattoo. Meaning, all that is left is the black. Which is why whether it's 'traditional' or any type of (well designed) tattoo there is a good structure of black in it; preferably 1/3rd imo.

That photo you linked to will have eventually have a few bits of crooked black lines and look like shit. That's not a debatable topic, the proof is in the pudding and there isn't anything being done today in tattooing that changes the very nature of our skin and epidermis. Meaning that this is a fact, color fades and as long the damn skeleton of the tattoo is there it will be better looking than without it.

edit*looks like you already got some replies on that while I was typing. I'm pretty slow at that.