mhm2020

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 
 

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 
 

Lily is 18 mo now, and the light of my life.

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 
 

Not all spontaneous tattoos from an unknown artist suck, but most tattoos that suck are spontaneous and from unknown artists.

or just cover your body in tattoos, in which case minor imperfections are basically not ever scritinized! 🙂

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.

Thanks Dan! 

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 
 

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 
 

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 
 

Love it!! 

I think you should just get more tattoos and not worry about it. Do you know how much laser treatment costs? Do you know that it hurts far more than getting a tattoo? You are assigning way too much meaning to it. Just live with it and find a new tattoo artist for your next one.

Honestly you have a really nice tattoo!! Objectively its pretty great. Especially for your first one, my first tattoo was nowhere near that good. I know it’s not exactly what you envisioned but that’s kind of part of being tattooed. There is no such thing as a “perfect” tattoo. It’s a living work of art and you have to manage your expectations. 
 
I don’t mean to sound condescending, but I do think that first-timers tend to be overly picky about details. In explaining so many details, it can be confusing to an artist, as they don’t know what is the most important from the 10+ notes and references you gave. Part of that comes down to communication which sounds like was lacking a bit. 
For future tattoos I would keep it as simple as possible. Set yourself up for success and pick an artist that you love literally every tattoo they do. Then pick 1-2 reference photos and say what exactly you like about each one. The face expression, the background etc. Pick 1-2 details that are the most important to you. And then let your artist do their job. the more you try to control the outcome, the more disappointed you will be. 
But if you hate it you hate it, and that’s okay too. Just please give it a year. If you still hate it, then laser is an option and you can have it lightened and covered up.
 
Best of luck to you!!  

It is a pain (sometimes literally) to get it off for sure, but it’s so so worth it in my experience. My tattoos are so crisp and bright and I had zero fallout which isn’t the case with any of my other tats. They healed up so much better. 

I love Saniderm, I have been using it for years , definetly YAY

Hogrider, the OP said he would stop over-moisturizing and you posted a snarky reply. How do you expect him to respond? Knock it off. That was uncalled for. 

I don’t need to be a moderator or a frequent poster in order to call out rude behavior, do I? If you want to get down to brass tacks, the forum rules do state this is supposed to be a positive and helpful environment and your comment wasn’t either of those things. 
 
But thanks for the suggestion, I’ll definitely be clicking the ignore button. 

I don’t need to be a moderator or a frequent poster in order to call out rude behavior, do I? If you want to get down to brass tacks, the forum rules do state this is supposed to be a positive and helpful environment and your comment wasn’t either of those things. 
 
But thanks for the suggestion, I’ll definitely be clicking the ignore button. 

Hogrider, the OP said he would stop over-moisturizing and you posted a snarky reply. How do you expect him to respond? Knock it off. That was uncalled for. 

Good, neither have I. I said I'd found conflicting things online regarding keeping it moisturised. I thought this was a forum to discuss tattoos and as a newbie to tattoos I've come on here for a bit of advice, if you've nothing better to do than sending condescending replies, don't bother.

Thanks for all the replies! Sounds like most of you on here are total badasses and just went for it. I think my strategy has been so far, that I just get tattoos here and there and they've just built up to the point where I have a half sleeve now 🙃 It's given me the time I need to get used to them. The forearm is a big jump though and I'm super excited to see how it turns out :) 

Read up on tattoo regret before you go all the way. The good news is that it goes away, but you should know about it so you don't freak if you get it. I've never had it so I can't help you with it.

Thanks for all the replies! Sounds like most of you on here are total badasses and just went for it. I think my strategy has been so far, that I just get tattoos here and there and they've just built up to the point where I have a half sleeve now 🙃 It's given me the time I need to get used to them. The forearm is a big jump though and I'm super excited to see how it turns out :) 

Hi again!! So it's been almost a year and I've long since gotten my tattoo finished so I thought I'd give an update. I went back for my last session and the same thing happened AGAIN. At the very end, as I'm under the needle, they tell me that I'll need to come back for another 2 hours. I said that I was uncomfortable and asked what happened to our agreement. I didn't get mad- I just asked a question. They got extremely defensive and rude, and accused me of not wanting to pay for their work. I reminded them that I'd already paid $500 over my budget in order to continue to get tattooed by them. I agreed to this project because they said they could work within that budget, and they did not honor that. I said I was not going to sit there and argue with them- I paid them for the extra 2 hrs and got the hell out of there. I had been there for 12 hours at this point (both sessions) for an upper bicep tattoo. I later went to another well-respected artist who told me it was absolutely insane I sat that long for a tattoo like mine, and that I definitely got screwed. 
I think this brings up an interesting conversation tho- I really disagree with the folks on here that think you should never confront an artist if they're being unreasonable. These situations don't come up because we have no idea what custom stuff costs- they happen because people aren't being honest. I do agree that this kind of service is bespoke and sometimes you don't know how long it will take. Every artist is entitled to charge whatever they think is fair, and I respect that. It's how we support the artists we like. However- when you give someone a budget, it is on the artist to tell you if that is realistic or not. It has nothing to do with "value" or "haggling", it has everything to do with honesty. If an artist chooses to give me a price estimate instead of an hourly rate-  that is their cross to bear. Same deal if it was hourly- it would be wrong to say you charge $75/hr and then at the end say it's now $150/hr because it was more complicated. That's just bad business.
Of course this is just my opinion - I am sure a lot of you will disagree with me but hey this is the internet 😄