Maynard

Just wanted to share some new flash I got yesterday, my favorite tattoo shop was running a Friday the 13th promotion and I decided to go for it! Getting custom drawn flash is so much fun. you can really tell how much the artists love each one of their drawings and I am always proud to wear the best of their work. Tattoos like this make me very happy 😊 This one was done by Max at Pretty Sturdy Tattoo in Denver. He has tattooed me before, I love his work. Really all the artists at the shop are amazing-  the shop is covered floor to ceiling in all their flash paintings and it’s just really cool. I’m pretty sure my whole arm will be covered in their tattoos eventually. 
This pic is from last night right after I cleaned it up and put my first saniderm dressing on it. I bled a lot more than I usually do with this one, but maybe it was just a tender spot. Today it looks pretty gnarly but it has calmed down quite a bit and doesn’t sting as much. We are well on the way to a smooth healing process 
 

Nobody is saying you're stupid and nobody is happy that you're not happy. Take a deep breath and calm down. We're offering advice so it doesn't happen again. Very few people are happy with every single tattoo they have. As the saying goes, "sh!t happens." If someone is offering advice you don't want, just ignore it.
And please stop beating yourself up. The only thing you are guilty of is being human.

Looks really good. Also it’s just a tattoo. Don’t expect too much from it. I’d be happy if I had that piece.

Hello guys, I wanted to share with you an update of my sleeve, which is now completed. It has been made over time by different artists I like, in different cities. 
Feel free to express any kind of thoughts 😁
 

 

Stopped in at the shop yesterday to make an appointment for touch up and plan out some more work.
Tim looks at my healed tat and says let’s liven that up right now.
He pushed some white into just the right spots.
Have a peek.

Looks really good. Also it’s just a tattoo. Don’t expect too much from it. I’d be happy if I had that piece.

As others have said there is no way in a million years you would see that without it being pointed out. We always over scrutinise our own tattoos as we see them all the time. All tattoos have imperfections if you look close enough, yours looks like a good tattoo. 👍

After reading through these threads, and looking at tons of pics I feel better about my piece.  Looking at the big picture and not scrutinizing it is the way to go.
Thanks for input. This is a great site for knowledgeable advice, I've already started planning my next one.

Sorry I don’t see any blowout and the tattoo looks perfect. I really like it. Start planning for your next one. 

Looks really good. Also it’s just a tattoo. Don’t expect too much from it. I’d be happy if I had that piece.

Thanks @oboogie its looking better as it heals. I believe its going to be just what I wanted 🙂

Yep. 4-5 weeks and you'll get an accurate idea of how it's going to look. 

Try not to worry, it looks perfectly normal for a healing tattoo. It will look strange for a while and will be sore, that’s normal. You will know more once it’s healed. It looks fine by the way. 

Stop staring at it. It is healing, and it will be healing for a while. You cannot tell anything yet.
Keep it clean and quit putting junk on it.

At 5 weeks, that's long enough to know if it's a blowout or not. I don't see it myself, but once you see it you can't unsee it. It's a nice looking tattoo, I'd just enjoy it. Trying to fix blowouts makes them worse often as not. The ink is under the skin, you can't move it or take it out, you can only try to cover it up.

Any tattoo can have blowouts. Thinner skin and  older skin are more prone to them, even the best artists have them.
Do you have any pics?

Based on the threads posted here by newbies, a lot of artist do a terrible job educating their clients.
My artist told me early on to look at the big picture. I love my tattoos and I never look at them under a microscope.

I've been wanting this for years and as it's my first, my expectations were probably not realistic. But I still love it and really liked the artist, too. 
I appreciate your insight and candor. 
 

Don't look at it under a microscope. Seriously. No tattoo is perfect. Your skin isn't a piece of paper. There's nothing wrong with that tattoo, but I would seriously evaluate your expectations. I don't mean this in an unkind way, but if you are expecting perfection, don't get any more tattoos because you'll never achieve it. Step back and look at the big picture, you have a nice tattoo, I'd just enjoy it.

I completely agree. I've only felt this strong reaction since the latest addition of the tattoos on my arm (the partial mandala). For the other tattoos, I've gotten them and felt excited for about a week and then pretty much forgot about them until they happened to show and seeing them made me happy. 

This. My tattoos are just nice. I like tattoos, so I get them. They don't have to mean a damn thing.
As @Hogrider said, you are not a good candidate for tattoos if you are obsessing, thinking, doing over, worrying, and creating drama over your tattoos. I get a tattoo, then I look forward to getting the next one. That's it. It's not world-changing. They are tattoos, they are optional, and I really think you should steer clear. It shouldn't be this hard. Honestly. The angst is unnecessary.

I had mine done in March. I think it took my about 4 months at least to let it settle. It was a bit weird at first to show it off in summer time when I went swimming. I always tried to hide it before but it would have been unfair to my kids to lock them in on the hot summer days and not go swimming.
After all,  I got some really nice compliments and it made me feel confident.
It was a very emotional journey but those feelings that take over will pass. It really seems it's a very common feeling and other people reached out to me telling me about the same experience. 
I think it's just the mind that needs to adapt to the visible (but very nice) change on your body. 

Don't do anything. Of your original 5 tattoos, you've had two covered up and now you are looking to do even more coverups. This is just a recipe for disaster. Your skin isn't a piece of paper, you can't just keep erasing and starting over. Every time you tattoo, laser or cover up, you are traumatizing your skin and creating more scar tissue.
I have two sleeves, back, chest panel and a piece that goes up my right leg to connect with my back/chest. Not a single tattoo has any meaning other than I like the imagery. Just my opinion, but a lot of that 'meaning' nonsense comes from watching too much LA ink and these other tattoo shows where people claim this big long sob story about why they are getting the tattoo. 
Take some time, a lot of time, before you do anything; otherwise you're just going to make it worse.

We went over the few lines in the dove and darkened them up a bit. He finished up a few spots he didn’t get to in my last session and just over all we tightened everything up. Came out beautiful. I love it! 

Everyone has told you that it looks nice and it really does. Look thru some of the other threads, people here will tell you when they think your artist didn't do a good job. You just have to relax and stop second guessing everything.  It's as realistic as a tattoo of a rose can get.  Chill out and try to enjoy it.