oboogie

I work in advertising, and no one cares what I wear. I show my tattoos a lot during the summer just because it is HOT where I live. I am really glad I don't have to wear grown-up clothes, too! Today's ensemble: Grateful Dead T-shirt, harem pants, gladiator sandals. I'm all about comfort!

oklahomatattooshow Lots of great artists will be there. Here's a nearly complete list. You should come if you can! I'll be there all weekend, getting tattooed and helping out Jennifer Stell in any way I can. Would love to meet some of you.

Well, I'm just going on a couple of people I know who have to wear grown-up clothes (and dress socks) to work every day, and the tattoos on their ankles look like ass now. It may be more to do with them being shit tattoos, though. :-)

Thanks, @undudedude. I love all of my tattoos, but my Ganesh was the first large, two-session tattoo I got, and it holds a special place in my heart.

I am guessing that she's thinking about what happens when you wear socks over an ankle tattoo over the years. It kind of fades/looks sort of blown out? Know what I mean? That said, as @wildcat said above (and I'm glad I'm not the only one here who can't go without a bra!), it should be fine after it is healed.

This just makes me know I can never get my shoulders tattooed. I can't be cruising around with no bra on. Nope.

I don't have any tattoos on my shoulders, so I am big fat zero help. But I wanted you to know I read your thread, even I have no insight. Haha.

I'm new, too. This is a fun place. Also? This thread title made me giggle. :-)

Thanks, @mmmsarah! It is addicitive. I stopped after one (really bad) tattoo for about 13 or 14 years, then I got a cover-up of that crappy tattoo, and I couldn't stop. Now 30+ tattos later, I am planning the next one all the time. :-)

Better for your skin not to tan anyway. :-) - - - Updated - - - Better for your skin not to tan anyway. :-)

I can't recommend Joshua Henderson at Brainstorm Tattoos in Fayetteville, Arkansas, enough. He's done almost all of my tattoos, and he is a truly great artist. He is a fantastic designer. I can give him an idea, and he is off and running. I have never changed anything about his designs because they are THAT good. He'll also tell you if your ideas are shit. :D Josh's work: As for Oklahoma, you have to go to Pair-O-Dice Tattoo in Tulsa. Want to be tattooed by a crazy-talented legendary tattoo artist? Richard Stell is all of that and more. He's hilariously funny and a great conversationalist. His wife Jennifer is also amazingly talented and wickedly funny. Love this place. A little something from Richard (with more to come):

Love this! You should get another flower, I think. It would look excellent. I haven't decided what to do with my knees. Also, reading these pain stories makes me not in a hurry to do it. - - - Updated - - - Love this! You should get another flower, I think. It would look excellent. I haven't decided what to do with my knees. Also, reading these pain stories makes me not in a hurry to do it.

Beautiful!

Thanks, Mark! Great to be here.

Cool. What is the next Simpsons-related tattoo for June, then? - - - Updated - - - Cool. What is the next Simpsons-related tattoo for June, then?

Hi, Becca. Welcome. I'm new, too. Nice to see you here. Big fan of the Simpsons, I guess? ;-)

My Dad saw it first, I think. He was not a fan. He told me he hoped it was fake. I told him it was and didn't say anything else about it. It was very, very small (and not very good). He really hates them still, but he's come to accept them. He jokes about them now. My Mom wasn't thrilled, either, but she was more accepting. She now tells all of her friends about my tattoos and makes me show them when I'm with her. Hahaha. She still doesn't love them, but she is used to them now, and she appreciates that they are well done. She told my artist, when we ran into him one day, that his work was beautiful — she just wishes t wasn't all over her daughter. Hahaha.

Here a few more of my tattoos. Again, all are by Josh Henderson, except for the barking dog, which is a cover-up by Kyle Seal. - - - Updated - - - I posted this elsewhere, but it sort of explains how I got into tattoos. Seems appropriate to add here: I got my first tattoo (a crappy piece of flash off the wall) by some random woman at a tattoo shop when I was in college. It was supposed to be a daisy, but my young niece thought it was broccoli! One of my professors thought it was a sprocket of some kind? A boyfriend at the time called it a "mutant flower, just like me." Flattering! I gave it zero thought, and it was badly done. About five years ago, just before my 40th birthday, I decided to cover it up with something I really liked — the barking dog by Keith Haring. Thus began my foray into tattoos! In the last five years I've gotten 30 plus tattoos, and I'm already signed up for more. I just can't stop! I started by getting them all on my lower legs (which are nearly covered now), but then I added the top part of each arm. One is a half sleeve, and I'm finishing the other half sleeve in May. I work in advertising, and I have facial piercings, so no one here minds my tattoos. If I ever have to go back to a more traditional office environment (hope not), I can remove the piercings, but tattoos are more difficult to remove. ;-) So I am sticking to half sleeves for now, but I'm sure that will change at some point. I get asked to show my tattoos a lot around here — there is one other creative here with full sleeves, and we are considered the wild ones, which makes me laugh. I'm a proofreader! I'm not particularly crazy. I just love the art of tattooing. It is addictive.

Hi, Vinnie. I would like to see photos, but I think your skin may just react strangely to being tattooed. I have had similar bumps, but they go away eventually. My skin sometimes rejects ink completely, and it disappears from my skin. My artist says he has never seen anything like it. He can usually go back in and touch up, and it stays the second time. I appear to be allergic to certain colors, and he sometimes has to replace it with a slightly different color. Our skin reacts different to being abused by tattooing. It's just a fact.

This isn't my kind of thing, but for what it is and how it is tattooed, it looks fine to me. It looks well done. I think maybe you are being overly critical?

I'm with 9 years. Looks like bruising to me. That always happens when I get my arms tattooed. I wouldn't worry yet. It's early days. - - - Updated - - - I'm with 9 years. Looks like bruising to me. That always happens when I get my arms tattooed. I wouldn't worry yet. It's early days.

I use Dial Gold, per my tattoo artist. For the first three days after a fresh tattoo, I wash it and put Aquaphor or nappy cream every three to four hours. After that, I switch to cocoa butter or Hustle Butter. I've never had a tattoo actually stick to the sheets, so you should be OK. Sometimes if I get tattooed late in the day, I leave the bandage on until the next day to prevent getting plasma and ink all over my sheets. It's never done me any harm, but again, that was on the advice of my artist.