tertia

Went to Smith Street about two months ago and had the opportunity to grab this NYC rat from Bert. It's above my ankle. Pretty thrilled.

Brand new shoulderblade piece, 4 days old. Inspired by the cedar waxwing, my favorite bird, and my grandma's pansies (she would have been 120 years old on Friday!) Tattoo by Darcy Nutt at the Richmond convention, blending in beautifully with her previous work the past two years on my SA cichlid/floral half-sleeve. I'm definitely one of Darcy's "nuts"
P.S. All of Darcy's tattoos are free hand

For others who might be interested, the scan passed without incident.  My injured foot was all wrapped up in a boot, but I think that was just to keep it still.  Both my legs went into the machine.  I don't know how many Teslas it was, but my tattoos did not feel or look any different during or after the procedure.  I asked the technician about it beforehand just in case, and she said the only time it's an issue is with old tattoos, prison tattoos, and tattoos people have done themselves at home.
I had the same thought about iron, but I think the difference in magnetism is probably related to the iron being in an organic form (in your blood) vs. inorganic (in some tattoo inks).  That's complete conjecture though, I really have no idea.

Just booked an appointment with Phil DeAngulo for December!

Before on the left (obviously!); after on the right. 

Just booked an appointment with Phil DeAngulo for December!

Just booked an appointment with Phil DeAngulo for December!

You are not a basket case. These are great questions and ones that SHOULD be asked/considered. You are putting something permanently on your body. Go with @SStu and @wildcat advice. I'm hard core corporate during the day and almost everything is covered (which is hard in the summer) but my tattoos on my upper back/neck peek out of my shirts. It's all good.
Funny story from last week: I showed up at a customer site all buttoned up and wearing black tights in the middle of summer. I had read that this customer had a "no visible tattoos" policy for customer facing roles. About 10 minutes into my visit, the Director rolled in wearing shorts and sporting a large calf tattoo. I silently giggled to myself.

@Gingerninja Here you go! Hard area of my arm to photograph, but I hope this is good enough. 

Okay then...I was only trying to be nice and find out more about you based on exactly what you said - what you put out in the forum! That's it. Good luck to you.

thou shall not be a dick.

Because this thread needs to be bumped.
If thy hate thy first tattoo, thou shall not freak out.
Thou shall wait at least three months before making any decisions on cover-ups, laser or additional tattoos.

Friend....it's way too early to start thinking about adding or covering up. Enjoy it as is for at least three months. Breathe. :) It's cool! Maybe think about another, different tattoo in a different place OR not getting another tattoo until you've processed how you feel. Give yourself some time. Do not, I repeat, do NOT make any decisions for at least a few months. Please. :)

I didn't really expect to learn anything from getting tattooed, or for tattoos to change me in any way.  I got my first one due to an interest in the art form and out of curiosity/a desire to take a risk and experience something new.  The whole process of getting tattooed (everything from planning the design to scheduling the appointment to waiting for the appointment to trusting the artist to not F*** up your skin to living with the work after it's done) has been so much more fascinating and fulfilling than I could have ever imagined.   I think getting tattooed is a pretty intense trust exercise.  You approach an artist - who's probably a stranger, describe what you have in mind, and trust that they'll be able to execute your vision and put it in the right spot and apply it with proper technique.  Even after you approve the sketch, you have to trust that it will transfer well to skin, and that the color palette will match (or be better than) what you imagined.  All that can be nerve-wracking, but as someone who loves to control everything she can and worries incessantly about plenty of things she can't, there's something incredibly therapeutic about relinquishing control and putting trust in a stranger to put something beautiful and permanent on your body.   My tattoos have also been a great exercise in acceptance.  My control-freak nature also comes with a healthy dose of perfectionism (and a propensity for not taking risks), but with my tattoos I've had to let that go.  I think I have great tattoos, but of course they have their flaws, and learning to live with and accept them has been healthy for me, I think.  I made a choice to get tattooed, trusted my artists, and have to accept the work as it is because it's there forever whether it turned out like I planned it or not.   Lastly, I never expected getting tattooed to be so FUN.  Not that I explicitly enjoy the needles-boring-into-my-skin part, but the excitement and ritual leading up to tattoo day, hanging out in shops, seeing the huge lovely flash collections on the walls, and meeting interesting people has been so delightful. 

I think that stencil placement is part of the collaboration process! If you don't like it, speak up and ask questions.

Placement is critical. Poor placement can make an incredible tattoo design look terrible on the body and good placement can make the simplest design truly pop.
Most of my tattoos have had the stencil moved at least once. Sometimes its the tattooer not 100% happy with the placement or cut of the tattoo-edges on the body, sometimes its me wanting the placement tweaked ever so slightly. My tattooists have all been happy to oblige, but I also get a free pass because of the volume of tattoos I have; they appreciate how important placement is when you're running low on space. My tattoos in the last few years have become increasingly more of a challenge in terms of fitment, so stencil placement is crucial (and a fun part of the process) and I will only get tattooed by people who understand and respect that.
I made my tattooer re-stencil something 8 times because it didn't look aligned with adjacent tattoos. He's a close friend and made a lot of my tattoos.  But I think most would have been bounced da fuq out of the shop lol. In the end we nailed the placement and I got a sweet tattoo but also wicked razor burn from wiping the stencil off repeatedly :p
So I echo the above comment...stencil placement is a collaborative part of the process. So speak up if you are not OK with stencil placement. However I would lean on the experience of the tattooer in most cases. Trust in your tattooer to make you and your tattoo look good.

Sarah placed the tattoo on my right shoulder much higher that I originally wanted it. I'm so glad she did!

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I've asked to have stencils moved before. I did not, with my second tattoo, and the placement of it is not exactly what I wanted. All of the tattoos that followed on my left leg are shifted off to the left a bit because of the placement of that one tattoo. Lesson learned! That's the only time you get to move it if you don't like it.

@tertia Unless you have a very specific idea of where it should be I think you should always trust your artist. That is, as long as you have a rapport and trust him/her generally, then they should know best.
For me, because I get traditional Japanese, I literally said, I'd like a Jikokuten backpiece, or, I'd like a minogame with momiji and waves. My artist had like three very general questions, and that was that. You give yourself over to the artist.
So, considering your question, I'd say again, as long as you trust them, it's their call.

@kassandrac That is ADORABLE.

Agree with @Synesthesia 100%. Talk to your artist about planning out your pieces. And Matthew Houston's work is so beautiful!

Thanks guys.  I have since gotten my second tattoo and 1) it does not mirror the first one, and 2) it's on the same leg as my first.    My latest plan is to work on filling up my right leg with oneshots, so maybe I'll get a little hot air balloon eventually.

I’m in the early stages of brainstorming my next tattoo. I want to add a piece on my left calf that mirrors the jar of flowers I already have on my right (by Myra Oh):

I’m not aiming for perfect symmetry, but something with a similar silhouette in an American traditional style.  (The imagery doesn’t have to be traditional, though I’m open to that.)
A traditional hot air balloon is a contender right now, something like the ones Ashley Love does:

What other kinds of designs might fit well in this space and balance well with my current tattoo?
Somewhat related: In general do you find artists are willing to work with loose design ideas (e.g. something traditional that will fit on my calf and have a similar shape to the tattoo on the other leg), or do they prefer a more concrete idea?  (I’m sure the answer to this is “it depends on the artist”, but maybe you guys have some deeper insight.)
Thanks all!

Wrapped up this little guy today!







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My first freehand tattoo - a big ol freaky blackwork peony by Dani Liberal, guesting at speakeasy Chicago. I basically let him do whatever and I love it but am a little freaked by how big it is, haha.