scottyg

fwiw all mine have "meaning" for me, but yeah, they need not. as to the one you're interested in, it might be something like don't bite the hand that feeds...., because superiors will punish you for transgressions. BUT the knife through it implies you SHOULD transgress: F*** the man. you also figure that hands represent manual labor: digging in the earth and shit. and so they've got like muscle memory: musicians practice in order to get their hands automatic using muscle memory. that's what comes to mind anyway.

huh. I use I liquid.

I use Dial Gold too, and would recommend it. But I'm not seeing it contains alcohol?

I'm completely in the same boat. No way in hell can I do a munewari, much as I'd love to!

I mean, you do you. You're right to protect yourself if you think that's what's needed. Better safe than sorry. But unless you actually think it's not as good a tattoo, and unless you've reason to question his ability, I see no reason to question the work.

one way to think of it is three-dimensionally: the grey makes the green and blue pop out more, and the grey (being less important leaves) recede. you might come to like it.

everything you're describing sounds completely normal for a healing tattoo

Nice! I hadn't seen this thread previously, but my backpiece is of Jikokuten, the Buddhist god protector of the heavenly musicians, mentioned in the Lotus Sutra. I could use some protection. Cheers!

hard to tell because of the blurry picture but I agree with @Samth it looks like clogged pores due to too much moisturizer.

just keep it; for reals it'll be a hip kind of not good tattoo. add around it, eventually you'll embrace it. we've all got those.

that said you can always play it off that you're hip and got this kind of tattoo on purpose. it's a whole thing.

Sorry to hear that; really tattoos should teach you ownership of your own body and self and F*** what others think.

eh, not much more that a week or so. it's an open wound, and the new layer of skin needs to grow over it.

saw this, definitely cool for them to cover it.

that's what healing tattoos look like

In Buddhist traditions I could see an enso (though you'd need someone really good) or the character for mu. It's a problem though: I mean, how do you pictorially represent nothing?

first thing I thought when I got home after lining my backpiece was, oh my god, I've got some DUDE on my back! then I was like, eh, it's a god, and cool as hell.

yeah, that's why I'd go with huge black and grey angel and devil, one on each side. so it won't like work with the outline but instead cover over everything. but that's thousands of dollars.... so while you're limited on funds now, maybe it's a matter of saving up. isn't there a guy in the south that does cover ups on tattoos from former gang members? or am I thinking of white power shit? good luck man!

that's a tough cover up, dude. might be best to get like an angel on one side and a demon on the other or something. really big. just blast over each letter.

welcome. whataya thinking about getting?

That "Japanese style" looks very unreadable and I don't think would age well, but I think that'd be more down to the specific style and artist than traditional Japanese tattooing generally. But, yeah, what @JAC1961 said.

Yeah, no point in risking. I've got a NYHC tattoo in Fraktur. Needless to say that doesn't always go over well....

I mean, I'm getting a Japanese traditional backpiece, where they sign it, which is the most traditional way. that's what I wanted. But if we're talking any other piece I'd flip shit.

I'd lose my shit....

900 clams for a 6 in tattoo seems reasonable, but your top priority in this should be choosing an artist whose portfolio you love. If you love the artist's whose work costs you 190x4 hrs and you trust them, then you go with that person. I can't imagine getting a sleeve for in the 900-1500 range; that's insane: insanely low and would be insanely low quality.