DJDeepFried

@Lance, @TrixieFaux & I caught the opening of the Tatau exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum in L.A.'s Little Tokyo last weekend that Taki from State of Grace put together. Saw some live tattooing which was very cool. Takes three people – one to tap, tap, tap and two to stretch the skin. Beautiful traditional Polynesian style tattooing that flows with the body. Definitely not your '90s tribal. Highly recommended. Here's a pic of Chris Nunez introducing the tattoo models.

Don't make the same mistake twice. It shouldn't be that hard to find a design that will cover it. You just have to go a lot bigger and bolder. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've always made an appointment and done my consultation at the same time. One less thing to schedule I'd guess Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I doubt you'd need to be a resident but that's a question for the shop where you're getting tattooed. You will need to provide a valid ID like a drivers license and you will probably need the parent to be there with you to grant consent. A note won't cut it or every 16 year old who wants a tattoo would just forge a note from home. The real question is what are you getting and from what artist? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes! LST L.A. meetup part deux! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I guess there's something noble about volunteering to be a human practice skin for others if you don't care what's on your body like virtually everyone else on this forum (if not the world). My advice: make sure they start somewhere that can be easily covered by a shirt and/or pants e.g. the torso. You can always change your mind and cover what will no doubt be a bunch of horrible albeit free tattoos. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Those Davey Havok daggers are perfect in terms of size and placement. Even though he's a dude they just look right on his body. I wouldn't go much smaller than that depending on your own proportions. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yay! I've seen it - it's awesome - but I'm not seeing it on my phone right now. Anyone else have that problem? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I can say that in my own "tattoo journey," the first one I got was kind of on a whim. I went to a street shop with @TrixieFaux – she had an appointment; I was a walk-in – with an image that I literally printed out from Google Images, and that's exactly what he tattooed on me. It wasn't bad, just meh. It never occurred to me to do it any other way, but he also didn't suggest how he could make it look cooler or whatever. (Since then I covered it mostly because it was in prime real estate – my shoulder – but I didn't hate it.) I've since learned that's probably not the best way to do it. This was pretty much before Instagram, but it's not like I didn't have access to the information. I just didn't know to look let alone where. At that point, I don't think I had ever even seen a "good" tattoo on anyone in real life. Back in the day when your only option was to pick flash off the wall you'd pretty much know what you're getting. So in a way this trend of "custom" tattooing means you might get a worse tattoo than you would otherwise if you don't know what the F you're doing.

It's easy to say people are dumb or cheap or whatever, but there's got to be more to it than that. Can they really not tell the difference between good and bad tattoos? Do they not know where to look for good artists or even what to look for? Do they just not care? I'm not even talking about little Pinterest tattoos or a few words of script, which can be done well. I mean scratcher-level badness.

It's been said ad infinitum but this is something to discuss with your artist who can advise on placement etc. but it definitely can be done Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fads come and go. Some say tribal is back in so you're ahead of the curve! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@Graeme, is that you? But seriously having read through both threads we were way nicer than the folks on that other forum. I would never tell a person I just met that they have a bad tattoo but if you go online and ask a bunch of strangers what they think of your tattoo... Well you may not like the answer you get. Obviously she didn't know but like@Synesthesia said if she had just posted in the lowdown thread the silence would be deafening but no one would have said squat.

If we can save even one person from getting a sh*tty tattoo then it's all worth it no matter who gets butthurt along the way. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My mother taught me: if you don't have something nice to say don't say it at all. On the other hand if you post your tattoo on a public forum it's fair game. For me it's a toss up between tough love and it's not my problem. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Now that is tuff with a double f. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Old Guy At Home Depot: Hey, those tattoos look expensive. How much you pay for those? Me: Well, you know what they say, "Good tattoos aren't cheap and cheap tattoos aren't good." Old Guy's Wife: His were cheap.

I price shop just about everything I buy – maybe obsessively so – but not tattoos for whatever reason. They cost what they cost and each one is handmade and one-of-a-kind. Tattoos are not like other products that you buy off a shelf.

That video needs to be retitled: what not to get. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I like it. Bigger the better. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Seek out an artist you like and he/she will be able to draw a good design. Say what you want and maybe find some actual pictures of hieroglyphs. This is not a good tattoo. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

This is good advice. Find a different artist you like and don't look back. Unless you want to laser it off and start fresh which I do not recommend. What you have looks good. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Doesn't hurt to ask. The fact that he doesn't have animals in his portfolio might mean he'd be stoked to do one Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Never heard of him until I looked him up just now. It's like there's this parallel universe of famous tattooers who aren't good, and no good tattooer would take seriously. At least now I know where all that tiny shitty script comes from. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk