Heidi

My husband and I are big fans of horse racing...we decided, almost on a whim, to get this particular mare off the track and retired to a good home. We had been following her for three years and she was quickly disappearing into the cracks, so I felt compelled to at least TRY to get her.
Local writer for the Daily Racing Form caught wind of our project and did a little piece on it, it was really cool, and I hope it inspires other people:
Retired racehorses: One fan does her part to find mare a home | Daily Racing Form

My husband and I are big fans of horse racing...we decided, almost on a whim, to get this particular mare off the track and retired to a good home. We had been following her for three years and she was quickly disappearing into the cracks, so I felt compelled to at least TRY to get her.
Local writer for the Daily Racing Form caught wind of our project and did a little piece on it, it was really cool, and I hope it inspires other people:
Retired racehorses: One fan does her part to find mare a home | Daily Racing Form

My husband and I are big fans of horse racing...we decided, almost on a whim, to get this particular mare off the track and retired to a good home. We had been following her for three years and she was quickly disappearing into the cracks, so I felt compelled to at least TRY to get her.
Local writer for the Daily Racing Form caught wind of our project and did a little piece on it, it was really cool, and I hope it inspires other people:
Retired racehorses: One fan does her part to find mare a home | Daily Racing Form

My husband and I are big fans of horse racing...we decided, almost on a whim, to get this particular mare off the track and retired to a good home. We had been following her for three years and she was quickly disappearing into the cracks, so I felt compelled to at least TRY to get her.
Local writer for the Daily Racing Form caught wind of our project and did a little piece on it, it was really cool, and I hope it inspires other people:
Retired racehorses: One fan does her part to find mare a home | Daily Racing Form

My husband and I are big fans of horse racing...we decided, almost on a whim, to get this particular mare off the track and retired to a good home. We had been following her for three years and she was quickly disappearing into the cracks, so I felt compelled to at least TRY to get her.
Local writer for the Daily Racing Form caught wind of our project and did a little piece on it, it was really cool, and I hope it inspires other people:
Retired racehorses: One fan does her part to find mare a home | Daily Racing Form

You mean a hipster cross--note the thick-rimmed glasses.

You mean a hipster cross--note the thick-rimmed glasses.

I say a coverup is in order... a grizzly bear eating black licorice in a cave... that would fix it right up.
CG

Well when the book is related to illustration I think that quote goes out the window.

So I got my palm tattooed by Stewart at Frith Street several years ago and it was a walk in the park, super easy. I have also been getting tattooed by Thomas Hooper since he was at into you about 9 years ago and am fully aware of how heavy handed he is. So, I'm over at Saved and I think it's about time for Thomas to do my other palm. what could go wrong? I'd had the other one done at FST for christ's sake, it was easy! Boy how wrong I was!! Alarm bells started ringing when I was sent down the street to Alligator Lounge to have a couple of shots of Whiskey on Hooper's orders whilst he drew up the design. I get back, and within a few minutes we are ready to go. My first palm tattoo is a circular design that does not stray to far to the edges of my hand. This new one however is a lot bigger, covering my entire thumb pad and up to my fingers. The thumb pad can't be that bad I think, Thomas asks me where I want to start and I suggest that area. Boy how wrong was I!! Within seconds I had Gob from Arrested Development in my head saying 'I've made a huge mistake'. I am dripping with sweat almost instantly, this is the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life ever. Worse than Hooper hammering my chest or Koeplinger tattooing my ribs for 3+ hours. Just instant, horrifying pain. I tough it out, concentrate on my breathing and go to my happy place and 45 minutes later we are done. I am so glad I only have 2 palms because I would never ever ever do that again!

My Mother did my first tattoo. Didn't cha Ma

Figured I would add a pic of the most recent piece finished.

Thank you.... @hawk, I guess a part of the problem is who I want to tattoo my ribs--I want a realistic b/w portrait of a childhood cat, which is totally not Ben's style, so I need to find someone who specializes in this. So far the only person I have found that I would trust to do a good job is Tom Renshaw.
And yes, I saw the joke about how Detroit hurts the worst :D
RoryQ, yeah I made that mistake with my back tattoo. Did the whole outline in one sitting, then Ben started shading the lower center spine and I was dying inside. I had to call it quits after only 45 minutes of shading. From then on I went in expecting the worst on my back, and the sessions weren't as bad.

I haven't seen much mention of them in this thread--does anyone else get shooting nerve pain during tattoos? Those are always the worst for me.
IE, when I had my back done, I had nerve pain shooting into my chest, so my chest hurt during parts of my back. Then other sections had nerve pain going down to my elbows.
When I had the top of my foot done, the actual tattoo wasn't bad at all (got caught up on a novel I was reading during the session), but again the nerve pain shooting up my leg wasn't too pleasant.
As for actual area being tattooed, my lower center back over the spine was the worst for me, personally. So far, anyway :)

Yeah, he does great work...but I have not seen many animal portraits from him. I am being extremely choosy about who does this particular tattoo, unfortunately. This cat meant the world to me and he will always have a special place in my heart, so I feel that I need to find someone with a lot of experience doing pet portraits.
Hope that isn't too corny.

Yeah, he does great work...but I have not seen many animal portraits from him. I am being extremely choosy about who does this particular tattoo, unfortunately. This cat meant the world to me and he will always have a special place in my heart, so I feel that I need to find someone with a lot of experience doing pet portraits.
Hope that isn't too corny.