beez

Really blurry photo of my feet,  but you get the idea! =)
Getting my feet covered was something I felt like I needed to feel completely "me", and I'm so happy I did! 

Did some shading with Greggles today. Not even in the same league as lining, though anytime he gets close to that one area on either scapula I have to bite leather. That will probably always suck. But hey - since we focused on the upper body this time, I didn't have to be completely naked in public for a whole day! Bonus. 
I am finding that 4 hours is about the time that I consistently have my pain response start to fail. Tattoo flu every time. 
 
 

Finished my full back piece last Friday. I plan to write something about the experience but need time to collect and organize all my thoughts.
by Mike Rubendall at Kings Ave:

@Naiemh
If you are collapsing and having some pretty adverse symptoms multiple times after big tattoo sittings...it's your body telling you you're putting it under too much stress and to take it easy. Try eating a simple healthy meal mid-way through the session, that may help. Or talk to your tattooer and perhaps you can schedule more shorter sessions.
Being impatient may be your other problem. Finishing a back tattoo in under a month is biting off more than most can chew, especially if you're having adverse symptoms like fainting and blurred vision. Finishing a big tattoo project in 3-4 months is still very quick and respectable. You need to give your body enough time to recover from the tattoo session and deal with healing the areas.
The numbing gel isn't going to solve your problem.
It may help you get through the last 1 hr if you and your tattooer are strategic about where/when to apply it. But you're still going to have to sit through some times of feeling everything. After the numbing wears off it is going to hurt waaay worse.
good luck

Today I learned that the posterior of my body is home to multiple portals to hell! Seriously, I kept expecting cenobites to show up and drag me off with hook chains.
Whoever said the butt crease is magical sure knew what they were talking about. But the most surprising thing for me (and for Greg, actually) is that there were a couple of spots near my shoulder blades that actually made me burst into tears instantly! It was the strangest thing...it wasn't like I just bottomed out and couldn't take it anymore, it was a huge surge of adrenaline and emotion that felt completely involuntary. And just in those spots! We tattooed well into armpit territory and it was honestly a relief after those other spots. So strange.
I would post the Instagram but I'm on my phone. :( it's on his page, though, butt crack towel and everything.

BAM

If I can offer some more advice, depending on how often you're planning on working on your back, invest in a good pair of boots or shoes before you start, because you might find money getting pretty tight at some point during the process and things like replacing worn out shoes or clothes become far less of a priority.

After doing a couple 5.5-6.5 hour sessions on my back and front this year I 100% agree that 4 hours is the perfect session length. Those longer session become a mental struggle. The pain doesn't necessarily get worse in hour 5, 6, or 7 it just gets really boring and difficult to let my mind drift off into a happy place.
@sophistre my advice is to never go into a session too confident. Tell yourself the pain is going to be 11 out of 10 so when it ends up being 8.5 out of 10 it ends up being much more manageable than the horrors you were imagining. And on the flip side, when you end up having an easy session delete it from your memory because it will set your pain expectations too low for the next session.

Spend yesterday afternoon in the chair of Jan Willem (@janwillemtattoo) in Rotterdam. Drew a Peony on my elbow ditch with this as the result: 

Pretty stoked on the end result!

pretty nice looking tattoo,I like it a lot.and you look great !  wait til you get to my age !(56) my skin is loose and getting wrinkly,but I am still getting tattooed and actually I am wearing more tank tops than I EVER have ! I am having more fun with my tattooes than I ever have as well.my wife and myself might be old,but we are fucking cool old people ! LOL 

Oh, but I actually came over here because I'd linked to the thread and wanted to add my post pregnancy belly tattoo. Here
 
 

Here's pin-up Amy. Taken today, so she's pretty healed.
 

Some of the visual impact of that tattoo has to do just with knowledge of color theory, i.e. putting complementary colors, like orange and turquoise, next to each other.  But yes, that's a fresh tattoo.  A lot of styles that are popular on the Internet right now (like virtually everything featured on Buzzfeed) really depend upon the tattoos being fresh in the photographs.  We don't know what that tattoo will look like in 10 years; certainly the colors will be much more muted, and some might fade faster than others.  If you look at an actual bound portfolio in a shop, look for healed examples of an artist's work.  I've gone back to local shops a couple times now so that the tattooer can take a photograph of a tattoo that I've healed. The livedinttattoos Instagram account is also great in terms of giving you an idea of the variety of ways a tattoo might age. I do sympathize with anyone who feels like they don't have access to a lot of healed examples of good tattoos in person because virtually nobody I hang out with regularly is interested in tattoos.  Another good option might be to go to a convention; you'll certainly see all kinds of lived-in tattoos there...

It's not really nudity if it's fully tattooed.
 
Which is my excuse for dropping trou in public places to show people my back.

Justin Bieber head on the butt crack

Hi All!
I really like the look of well-executed munewari. I have only seen it on men and a few smaller breasted women.  As a larger breasted woman I am interested to see how munewari reads on...big boobs.  So.  To that end, does anyone have pictures to share? (lol good thing i've been here before because that ALMOST sounds creepy). Anyway, pictures of women, preferably with larger breasts, with munewari to the nipple.  (definitely sounds creepy. but i'm doing it for the tattoos guys!)
Thaaaankkks!
beez
(ps SF peeps, think i'll be down in the last half of august for tattoo!)

@Musashi DO IT! I know I'm late to the party but trust me, you'll love yourself (fatty or no!) more with an awesome tattoo on you.  Also subconsciously you just told yourself that you and your body are worth an aesthetic treat, which goes a long way for long lasting self esteem, in my humble and personal experience.  
I disagree with the poster who said not to tattoo the tummy because it could change.  Your whole body will change over your whole life.  Don't wait. Live for now.  DO IT!

@Musashi DO IT! I know I'm late to the party but trust me, you'll love yourself (fatty or no!) more with an awesome tattoo on you.  Also subconsciously you just told yourself that you and your body are worth an aesthetic treat, which goes a long way for long lasting self esteem, in my humble and personal experience.  
I disagree with the poster who said not to tattoo the tummy because it could change.  Your whole body will change over your whole life.  Don't wait. Live for now.  DO IT!

Hi All!
I really like the look of well-executed munewari. I have only seen it on men and a few smaller breasted women.  As a larger breasted woman I am interested to see how munewari reads on...big boobs.  So.  To that end, does anyone have pictures to share? (lol good thing i've been here before because that ALMOST sounds creepy). Anyway, pictures of women, preferably with larger breasts, with munewari to the nipple.  (definitely sounds creepy. but i'm doing it for the tattoos guys!)
Thaaaankkks!
beez
(ps SF peeps, think i'll be down in the last half of august for tattoo!)

Hi All!
I really like the look of well-executed munewari. I have only seen it on men and a few smaller breasted women.  As a larger breasted woman I am interested to see how munewari reads on...big boobs.  So.  To that end, does anyone have pictures to share? (lol good thing i've been here before because that ALMOST sounds creepy). Anyway, pictures of women, preferably with larger breasts, with munewari to the nipple.  (definitely sounds creepy. but i'm doing it for the tattoos guys!)
Thaaaankkks!
beez
(ps SF peeps, think i'll be down in the last half of august for tattoo!)

Hi All!
I really like the look of well-executed munewari. I have only seen it on men and a few smaller breasted women.  As a larger breasted woman I am interested to see how munewari reads on...big boobs.  So.  To that end, does anyone have pictures to share? (lol good thing i've been here before because that ALMOST sounds creepy). Anyway, pictures of women, preferably with larger breasts, with munewari to the nipple.  (definitely sounds creepy. but i'm doing it for the tattoos guys!)
Thaaaankkks!
beez
(ps SF peeps, think i'll be down in the last half of august for tattoo!)

Hi All!
I really like the look of well-executed munewari. I have only seen it on men and a few smaller breasted women.  As a larger breasted woman I am interested to see how munewari reads on...big boobs.  So.  To that end, does anyone have pictures to share? (lol good thing i've been here before because that ALMOST sounds creepy). Anyway, pictures of women, preferably with larger breasts, with munewari to the nipple.  (definitely sounds creepy. but i'm doing it for the tattoos guys!)
Thaaaankkks!
beez
(ps SF peeps, think i'll be down in the last half of august for tattoo!)

Hi All!
I really like the look of well-executed munewari. I have only seen it on men and a few smaller breasted women.  As a larger breasted woman I am interested to see how munewari reads on...big boobs.  So.  To that end, does anyone have pictures to share? (lol good thing i've been here before because that ALMOST sounds creepy). Anyway, pictures of women, preferably with larger breasts, with munewari to the nipple.  (definitely sounds creepy. but i'm doing it for the tattoos guys!)
Thaaaankkks!
beez
(ps SF peeps, think i'll be down in the last half of august for tattoo!)

Hi All!
I really like the look of well-executed munewari. I have only seen it on men and a few smaller breasted women.  As a larger breasted woman I am interested to see how munewari reads on...big boobs.  So.  To that end, does anyone have pictures to share? (lol good thing i've been here before because that ALMOST sounds creepy). Anyway, pictures of women, preferably with larger breasts, with munewari to the nipple.  (definitely sounds creepy. but i'm doing it for the tattoos guys!)
Thaaaankkks!
beez
(ps SF peeps, think i'll be down in the last half of august for tattoo!)

Hi All!
I really like the look of well-executed munewari. I have only seen it on men and a few smaller breasted women.  As a larger breasted woman I am interested to see how munewari reads on...big boobs.  So.  To that end, does anyone have pictures to share? (lol good thing i've been here before because that ALMOST sounds creepy). Anyway, pictures of women, preferably with larger breasts, with munewari to the nipple.  (definitely sounds creepy. but i'm doing it for the tattoos guys!)
Thaaaankkks!
beez
(ps SF peeps, think i'll be down in the last half of august for tattoo!)