Pugilist

Of course they're totally worth it, it's not so bad, blah blah blah, but I thought it might be nice to have a space to bitch about one's healing in whatever stage it's in, as we all know that all there really is to do, beyond the basics, is wait.
Today the tattoo I got on Saturday started flaking en masse. I have never quite seen anything like it with my other tattoos, which usually go from stage to stage much more gradually; it went from nothing to the entire thing (and it's the entire front of my thigh) flaking off at one time. It felt so dry and uncomfortable under my work pants that I kept locking my office door to secretly strip down and give it a little moisturizer. The inside of my pants looks like I'm some kind of dandruff hoarder. Oof.
Whine away, folks.

Love that Myke Chambers squidpant.
I saw some amazing legs being worked on by Thomas Hooper (I hear y'all have heard of him?) the last time I was at Saved. At a certain point I looked up from my own spot and all I saw in front of me was a row of men in their boxers, one finishing up and one getting started, both with very inky legs, standing in waiting with their faces buried in their iphones, and in my own tattoo haze I was pretty sure it was the funniest thing I'd ever seen.
I think this photo is a bit of one of those legs:

Source

Browsing around the board just now, I was struck by how often folks asking questions about tattoos they want to get or tattoos they have gotten end up getting similar responses, as their issues often correspond to a fairly narrow set that come up again and again. I thought it could be cool to have a thread where we list our generally accepted "tattoo advice" and wisdom in one centralized location. We could point people to it when appropriate.
For example:
1. Thou shalt never haggle in a tattoo shop.
2. Thou shalt not try to force a tattooer to tattoo an exact replica of an image you've brought in. If you are going to a skilled tattooer, you will always be better off letting them turn your idea into an actual tattoo design that will work for this medium.
3. Thou shalt consult with your tattooer for questions re: design, sizing, placement, ideas, aftercare instructions and any touch-ups.
4. Thou shalt not stress about how your new tattoo looks until it is fully healed.
5. Thou shalt accept that flaking, scabbing, swelling, itching, and a whole bunch of other uncomfortable stuff is all totally normal when healing a tattoo. Thou shalt only be concerned if it doesn't get better after weeks, or if it smells or looks infected.
Next?

Browsing around the board just now, I was struck by how often folks asking questions about tattoos they want to get or tattoos they have gotten end up getting similar responses, as their issues often correspond to a fairly narrow set that come up again and again. I thought it could be cool to have a thread where we list our generally accepted "tattoo advice" and wisdom in one centralized location. We could point people to it when appropriate.
For example:
1. Thou shalt never haggle in a tattoo shop.
2. Thou shalt not try to force a tattooer to tattoo an exact replica of an image you've brought in. If you are going to a skilled tattooer, you will always be better off letting them turn your idea into an actual tattoo design that will work for this medium.
3. Thou shalt consult with your tattooer for questions re: design, sizing, placement, ideas, aftercare instructions and any touch-ups.
4. Thou shalt not stress about how your new tattoo looks until it is fully healed.
5. Thou shalt accept that flaking, scabbing, swelling, itching, and a whole bunch of other uncomfortable stuff is all totally normal when healing a tattoo. Thou shalt only be concerned if it doesn't get better after weeks, or if it smells or looks infected.
Next?

I didn't know you could get banned for sexting...

I've been tattooed by some super "famous" tattooers and by some people no one's ever heard of. I am very, very wary of a sort of "starfucker' mentality in tattooing. There are so many amazing people that aren't as well known as they should be because maybe their style isn't trendy, or they're not on social media, or they just don't prioritize instagram like others do, or they don't travel to conventions as much, etc. People who are well known only gets you so much. And that one tattooer is more well known than another is not necessarily because they are "better".
There is a lot of noise in this subculture, and I am very careful to pay attention to what really turns me on, so to speak, about a tattooer's work, and not get swept up in their name, hype, trendiness, whatever. I had a really good chat about this with a fairly "famous" tattooer recently, who said that while they get a lot of "collector" types coming to them, they can immediately tell the difference between someone seeking them out because they are really psyched on their work, and someone who is more interested in their name and adding it to their list. Apparently there is a pretty big difference in the experience of tattooing these different kinds of people. It was a nice conversation in that I sometimes feel self-conscious when people ask me who my stuff is by, or who I am planning to get tattooed by in the future, and this person was basically like: don't worry. If you are genuine in your enthusiasm, people can tell. If you're a douche and just want to cover yourself in big names, people will know the difference. Our true intentions show through, and it's important to me to connect with a tattooer's work in a very primal way. Basically, to this person, there is an upside and a downside to having a "big name".
All of which to say that I think there is an important difference between recognizing, talking about and respecting the work of people who are doing awesome, creative and inspiring things, and getting wrapped up in names and tattoo celebrity. The former is what makes this community so great, but I think the latter is basically poison to any sense of creativity and authenticity. And the line between them can be thin.
I also agree with others that the experience of getting a tattoo, or if I can put it in hippie terms, the vibes that go into it, is super important. At this point I am unlikely to get tattooed by someone that I haven't heard about through someone else as being awesome. Instagram photos are not enough.

@mmikaoj - I have to say, for a thread in which people have pretty virulently disagreed with you, you have been such a good sport about engaging in people's criticisms and not taking it personally. Kudos for that; it can be hard on the internet to disagree without things escalating really quickly.
That said, I also think it's worth remembering just how public this forum is; this is not just a private conversation the posters in this thread are having amongst themselves. I am careful about posting things about tattooers/that tattooers have said/etc. that, even if I don't mean them negatively, might be construed negatively. This is people's livelihoods! If someone is a scratcher or a terrible human being, that's different, but I am wary of making judgments about tattooers otherwise in what is such a public and permanent medium. That stuff is excellent fuel for LST meet-ups (over drinks, of course) instead. :)

Browsing around the board just now, I was struck by how often folks asking questions about tattoos they want to get or tattoos they have gotten end up getting similar responses, as their issues often correspond to a fairly narrow set that come up again and again. I thought it could be cool to have a thread where we list our generally accepted "tattoo advice" and wisdom in one centralized location. We could point people to it when appropriate.
For example:
1. Thou shalt never haggle in a tattoo shop.
2. Thou shalt not try to force a tattooer to tattoo an exact replica of an image you've brought in. If you are going to a skilled tattooer, you will always be better off letting them turn your idea into an actual tattoo design that will work for this medium.
3. Thou shalt consult with your tattooer for questions re: design, sizing, placement, ideas, aftercare instructions and any touch-ups.
4. Thou shalt not stress about how your new tattoo looks until it is fully healed.
5. Thou shalt accept that flaking, scabbing, swelling, itching, and a whole bunch of other uncomfortable stuff is all totally normal when healing a tattoo. Thou shalt only be concerned if it doesn't get better after weeks, or if it smells or looks infected.
Next?

Nothing better to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon than hang out in the park with this goof:

Browsing around the board just now, I was struck by how often folks asking questions about tattoos they want to get or tattoos they have gotten end up getting similar responses, as their issues often correspond to a fairly narrow set that come up again and again. I thought it could be cool to have a thread where we list our generally accepted "tattoo advice" and wisdom in one centralized location. We could point people to it when appropriate.
For example:
1. Thou shalt never haggle in a tattoo shop.
2. Thou shalt not try to force a tattooer to tattoo an exact replica of an image you've brought in. If you are going to a skilled tattooer, you will always be better off letting them turn your idea into an actual tattoo design that will work for this medium.
3. Thou shalt consult with your tattooer for questions re: design, sizing, placement, ideas, aftercare instructions and any touch-ups.
4. Thou shalt not stress about how your new tattoo looks until it is fully healed.
5. Thou shalt accept that flaking, scabbing, swelling, itching, and a whole bunch of other uncomfortable stuff is all totally normal when healing a tattoo. Thou shalt only be concerned if it doesn't get better after weeks, or if it smells or looks infected.
Next?

Browsing around the board just now, I was struck by how often folks asking questions about tattoos they want to get or tattoos they have gotten end up getting similar responses, as their issues often correspond to a fairly narrow set that come up again and again. I thought it could be cool to have a thread where we list our generally accepted "tattoo advice" and wisdom in one centralized location. We could point people to it when appropriate.
For example:
1. Thou shalt never haggle in a tattoo shop.
2. Thou shalt not try to force a tattooer to tattoo an exact replica of an image you've brought in. If you are going to a skilled tattooer, you will always be better off letting them turn your idea into an actual tattoo design that will work for this medium.
3. Thou shalt consult with your tattooer for questions re: design, sizing, placement, ideas, aftercare instructions and any touch-ups.
4. Thou shalt not stress about how your new tattoo looks until it is fully healed.
5. Thou shalt accept that flaking, scabbing, swelling, itching, and a whole bunch of other uncomfortable stuff is all totally normal when healing a tattoo. Thou shalt only be concerned if it doesn't get better after weeks, or if it smells or looks infected.
Next?

I feel like "collector" is a term used to differentiate "serious" tattoo clients from regular ones. I get why it's used, but it always sounds really snooty to me!

I think it's also worth noting that the "labour of love" thing is also often used as a cover to underpay/overwork people, i.e. if you are doing it because it makes your soul sing or whatever, then that is reward enough. Loving what you do does not mean you don't deserve to be properly compensated for it! You get a lot of that shit in academia too.

Augh, last year I was taking driving lessons (yes I am a little behind!) and as I got into the car for my first lesson, the instructor spotted an early iteration of my back piece peeking out of my shirt, and he started talking about how he had tattoos too, and TOOK OFF HIS SHIRT to show me the piece on his bicep. I was nervous enough about driving for the first time in 15 years as it was! He even looked around beforehand to make sure no one was walking by, because he "didn't want to seem creepy".

@HaydenRose, would love recs for bandeaus that work for well-endowed ladies. I find the bra thing very tricky when going without is not an option. When I did my back, I just wore bras that didn't dig much (I have a couple of VS ones that are very soft and don't really have seams) and found it did not affect healing at all, thank goodness.
The other thing I think is worth sharing on this topic are strategies for what to wear to appointments when getting particular spots worked on. For my back I always wore a button down shirt that I could put on backwards (often with a halter bikini top that we could untie) - this was Stephanie's recommendation and is brilliant. For my thighs (particularly upper when shorts may be obstructive), a friend once recommended wearing a skirt with men's briefs, which give you just a bit more coverage while still allowing the person to get all up in there!

Love this idea! I am not sure I've ever been tattooed while in the crampy/painful part of my period, thank goodness, so no insight on that. I did get tattooed a few months back while having other kinds of lady problems (but during the tail end of it) and I think I did take it harder, but it was a quick tattoo in an ok spot, so it wasn't particularly difficult.
As I just spent like, 20 minutes trying to find tights opaque enough to cover my leg tattoos for work, I think that is a worthy topic for discussion too, as ladies' clothing tends to cover up less tattoo-wise. For those of you who don't show tattoos as work, strategies for making sure backs, legs, etc. are covered are helpful! (For example, my collection of shrugs has massively expanded since I did my back.)

I agree with the skepticism over the legal stuff, but I also wanted to highlight this point that @Mick Weder made. Why does everyone want everything so fast these days?

Yeah, I think the thing some people need to remember is that these days most people seem to get their tattoo info from a format which involves looking at teeny tiny digital pictures, out of context, unhealed, etc. Instagram is basically bullshit for seeing the quality of people's work. If you've ever been lucky enough to see a Horiyoshi III tattoo in person, you would realize how seriously wrong you are.
(This is kind of a digression, but what I hate about Instagram is that it ends up prioritizing tattoos that photograph well over tattoos that have soul. I'm going to go like, rearrange my crystals now.)

I've been tattooed by some super "famous" tattooers and by some people no one's ever heard of. I am very, very wary of a sort of "starfucker' mentality in tattooing. There are so many amazing people that aren't as well known as they should be because maybe their style isn't trendy, or they're not on social media, or they just don't prioritize instagram like others do, or they don't travel to conventions as much, etc. People who are well known only gets you so much. And that one tattooer is more well known than another is not necessarily because they are "better".
There is a lot of noise in this subculture, and I am very careful to pay attention to what really turns me on, so to speak, about a tattooer's work, and not get swept up in their name, hype, trendiness, whatever. I had a really good chat about this with a fairly "famous" tattooer recently, who said that while they get a lot of "collector" types coming to them, they can immediately tell the difference between someone seeking them out because they are really psyched on their work, and someone who is more interested in their name and adding it to their list. Apparently there is a pretty big difference in the experience of tattooing these different kinds of people. It was a nice conversation in that I sometimes feel self-conscious when people ask me who my stuff is by, or who I am planning to get tattooed by in the future, and this person was basically like: don't worry. If you are genuine in your enthusiasm, people can tell. If you're a douche and just want to cover yourself in big names, people will know the difference. Our true intentions show through, and it's important to me to connect with a tattooer's work in a very primal way. Basically, to this person, there is an upside and a downside to having a "big name".
All of which to say that I think there is an important difference between recognizing, talking about and respecting the work of people who are doing awesome, creative and inspiring things, and getting wrapped up in names and tattoo celebrity. The former is what makes this community so great, but I think the latter is basically poison to any sense of creativity and authenticity. And the line between them can be thin.
I also agree with others that the experience of getting a tattoo, or if I can put it in hippie terms, the vibes that go into it, is super important. At this point I am unlikely to get tattooed by someone that I haven't heard about through someone else as being awesome. Instagram photos are not enough.

It doesn't matter how he meant it - it's a shitty, patronizing, objectifying thing to say and has no place on a board where people are meant to behave respectfully towards each other.

@ThatGuy - I love when I gawk at awesome shit on IG and then find out it's on a poster! Totally worth the nausea. :)
I am not sure if I ever posted my completed back on here. Done by Stephanie Tamez at Saved in Brooklyn, from summer 2012 to summer 2013. I loved the journey and love the tattoo(s?) and it feels like it's been on my back forever. The map was my first ever tattoo from a long long time ago that we worked around, although she pumped it up a bit to integrate it into the larger composition.

Let's be clear: neither getting tattooed nor not getting tattooed helps to assert you as an "individual" who is outside some kind of norm. Subcultures are cultures too.

Finished off my second rib panel today with Dave C. at PSC tattoo. I'll use the royal "we" and say that we knocked this out in three sessions starting in late September, about 8 hours total. I'm super stoked on it, the colour in the tiger really pops!
Dave is a great guy, and his work speaks for itself, seek him out.

I've been tattooed by some super "famous" tattooers and by some people no one's ever heard of. I am very, very wary of a sort of "starfucker' mentality in tattooing. There are so many amazing people that aren't as well known as they should be because maybe their style isn't trendy, or they're not on social media, or they just don't prioritize instagram like others do, or they don't travel to conventions as much, etc. People who are well known only gets you so much. And that one tattooer is more well known than another is not necessarily because they are "better".
There is a lot of noise in this subculture, and I am very careful to pay attention to what really turns me on, so to speak, about a tattooer's work, and not get swept up in their name, hype, trendiness, whatever. I had a really good chat about this with a fairly "famous" tattooer recently, who said that while they get a lot of "collector" types coming to them, they can immediately tell the difference between someone seeking them out because they are really psyched on their work, and someone who is more interested in their name and adding it to their list. Apparently there is a pretty big difference in the experience of tattooing these different kinds of people. It was a nice conversation in that I sometimes feel self-conscious when people ask me who my stuff is by, or who I am planning to get tattooed by in the future, and this person was basically like: don't worry. If you are genuine in your enthusiasm, people can tell. If you're a douche and just want to cover yourself in big names, people will know the difference. Our true intentions show through, and it's important to me to connect with a tattooer's work in a very primal way. Basically, to this person, there is an upside and a downside to having a "big name".
All of which to say that I think there is an important difference between recognizing, talking about and respecting the work of people who are doing awesome, creative and inspiring things, and getting wrapped up in names and tattoo celebrity. The former is what makes this community so great, but I think the latter is basically poison to any sense of creativity and authenticity. And the line between them can be thin.
I also agree with others that the experience of getting a tattoo, or if I can put it in hippie terms, the vibes that go into it, is super important. At this point I am unlikely to get tattooed by someone that I haven't heard about through someone else as being awesome. Instagram photos are not enough.

I've been tattooed by some super "famous" tattooers and by some people no one's ever heard of. I am very, very wary of a sort of "starfucker' mentality in tattooing. There are so many amazing people that aren't as well known as they should be because maybe their style isn't trendy, or they're not on social media, or they just don't prioritize instagram like others do, or they don't travel to conventions as much, etc. People who are well known only gets you so much. And that one tattooer is more well known than another is not necessarily because they are "better".
There is a lot of noise in this subculture, and I am very careful to pay attention to what really turns me on, so to speak, about a tattooer's work, and not get swept up in their name, hype, trendiness, whatever. I had a really good chat about this with a fairly "famous" tattooer recently, who said that while they get a lot of "collector" types coming to them, they can immediately tell the difference between someone seeking them out because they are really psyched on their work, and someone who is more interested in their name and adding it to their list. Apparently there is a pretty big difference in the experience of tattooing these different kinds of people. It was a nice conversation in that I sometimes feel self-conscious when people ask me who my stuff is by, or who I am planning to get tattooed by in the future, and this person was basically like: don't worry. If you are genuine in your enthusiasm, people can tell. If you're a douche and just want to cover yourself in big names, people will know the difference. Our true intentions show through, and it's important to me to connect with a tattooer's work in a very primal way. Basically, to this person, there is an upside and a downside to having a "big name".
All of which to say that I think there is an important difference between recognizing, talking about and respecting the work of people who are doing awesome, creative and inspiring things, and getting wrapped up in names and tattoo celebrity. The former is what makes this community so great, but I think the latter is basically poison to any sense of creativity and authenticity. And the line between them can be thin.
I also agree with others that the experience of getting a tattoo, or if I can put it in hippie terms, the vibes that go into it, is super important. At this point I am unlikely to get tattooed by someone that I haven't heard about through someone else as being awesome. Instagram photos are not enough.