Shaun1105

I had an absolutely awesome time at my first convention. It was great to meet up with everyone, thanks for making my brother and I feel so welcome! I will definitely try to get back to Montreal next year (or maybe sooner!).

I'm working on a theme of "awesome tattoos". Same theme on both arms, actually.

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But seriously though, I did start out with the idea of a theme on my left arm, but I've kind of relaxed it as time has passed. I'm kind of down to this:

Left arm - bright and bold. Right arm, dark(er) and bold. We'll see how my plan holds up as I get more coverage.

Who says getting a face tattoo is a bad idea? NFL minimum salary is $420,000.

NFL Player gets a face tattoo to prevent himself from settling for a normal job.

@peaceridge - I came across these today on instagram, by Stefan Johnsson:

I know which one I'd prefer, but to each their own! ;)

On a space as big as a back , you want a bigger tattoo. A small tattoo usually just looks out of place and sort of lonely. And as mentioned, by going bigger you can get a lot more detail. The portrait of your mother is especially nice. I hope your tattoo always brings you happy memories of her.

skip to 28:15 to hear Tony talk about tiger tattoos; also watch the whole thing cuz it's rad

As soon as I got to my computer I was going to post exactly this! Well done.

A couple of questions: I'm getting a tiger on the outside of my lower right arm. Why are all the tigers snarling? I like the expression on this one - confident, but ready to do what needs doing: my insert image from my computer is still greyed out -anyone know why? I'll wait for a reply before putting it up in my gallery (which has no place to put pics of real animals, I guess I'll put it in animals later.

My second question - er 4th - but second tattoo question. I'm such a nooby, please don't laugh. If I decide to have the full body on my forearm, is the tiger going up or down my arm? I've looked through the gallery, but can't tell where the elbows and wrists are! If it is just the head, I think the chin is towards my hand?

They're all snarling because that generally just looks more awesome. :)

As for which way the tiger goes, it can go either way, but there's a different design for each direction. I think you more often see animals going up a forearm though (head by your elbow). If you're going to a quality artist they will know what to do.

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I agree that this artist does solid work, just not in a style that I would ever get. What I think bothers me most is that some of the designs would be better (imo) if they were smaller. Like the skele-dog and flower on the girl's back. So much great space there and it's all empty.

Let's all just take a moment and imagine that the dog was actually a tiger and the flower was a giant snake. And they were fighting.

Here's another question from a tattoo convention noob: Should I be planning to pay my artist in $US, or $CAD? I made a deposit in $US, so my assumption was to pay that way as well but I thought I'd ask. Same thing if I buy prints or merchandise from American tattooers - do they just add 10% to their normal price and take Canadian dollars?

Save your neck and hands for last (or nearly last). Other than that, go with what feels right.

I'm like you, I'm leaving my lower arms empty for now due to the t-shirt issue. I do enough with people who may not be fully comfortable with tattoos to leave them until the rest of me is well covered.

Last year there was a long line before the doors opened on Sunday. If you have an appointment at 6pm I would buy your ticket in advance so you can skip the line.

I also have an appt at 6pm. Who are you getting tattooed by?

Ron Henry Wells!

Thanks for the advice, I will be sure to buy tickets in advance then.

The convention opens/starts at 6pm? :eek:

Yes (at least I think so) but only on Friday.

ADMISSION GÉNÉRALE/GENERAL ADMISSION:

FRIDAY/VENDREDI 5sept.: 6pm-12am: 20.00$

SATURDAY/SAMEDI 6sept.: 11am-11pm: 20.00$

SUNDAY/DIMANCHE 7sept: 11am-8pm: 15.00$

@HaydenRose Get tickets at the door. You'll probably have to wait in a bit of a line to get your tickets but it's never that long. You should totally come if you can!

I was meaning to ask that question too. I have an appointment at 6pm, and I now see that doors open at 6pm. Would it be a good idea for me to get tickets in advance?

Also, my plainskin brother has decided to come with me for the weekend, which is awesome because now I don't have to drive 6ish hrs each way alone! And we don't hang out together that often even though he lives only 20 mins away. Anyone who can convince him to get a tattoo gets drinks on me!

My employer is doing its best to make sure I don't make it to Montreal. They just fucked up my pay, and as a result I might not have any money to take the trip. Looking grim at this point. Even worse, I'll lose my spot with RHW.

This really sucks! If they screwed up your pay, won't they make it right eventually? There's still 3 weeks before the convention!

If it helps at all I can pick you up on the way through T.O. I won't feel right driving past there knowing that an LSTer has been left behind...

I'm getting tattooed first thing Friday (6pm) but after that I'm available for whatever. Brunch is awesome, and poutine seems like it should be mandatory. I am planning to stay overnight Saturday now and leave very early Sunday am.

Got back home yesterday after a week long kid's camp. My oldest son attends and so for the last 5 years I've volunteered so I'm there to support him if he needs it. I am pretty tired and I have very little voice left, but I have no regrets.

On a (very slightly) less awesome note, I wore long pants all week in case any of the children were frightened of panthers; and to avoid offending any of my fellow volunteers (it's a christian camp).

Welcome to the forum! Glad you found us.

Two weeks after my first tattoo I had to go to Vegas, and with two young kids with me I pretty much had to go swimming. My tattoo is high on my shoulder so while it did get wet, I never really let it soak (unlike a foot tattoo like @growltiger 's). It was also healed enough at that point that I put sunscreen on it and also stayed in the shade as much as I could. My tattoo suffered no ill effects.

But there's no way I would have done any of that after only a week. I would have been sitting in the shade, and I would have been mad at myself for not planning my tattoo date better - which I think should be the lesson that you learn here.

It's been a couple weeks now, but I recently got a promotion at work (for a 6mo. contract). First time in 17 years that I won't be working shifts, or nights. Not that I ever really minded, actually, but working night shifts isn't actually very good for your health.

Last week my wife and I celebrated 15 years of marriage.

But even more exciting than either of those....

My oldest son has autism, and we've tried for years to teach him how to ride a bicycle. Of late we had kind of given up, because he's much too big for training wheels, and he refused to ride an adult tricycle. We enrolled him in a week long bike riding camp for kids with disabilities, and it was last week. It was an hour drive every day (plus the wait at the border as it was in Clarence, NY) but it was totally worth it. He can now ride a two wheel bike, all we need to do is keep him practicing and work on his starts. I've posted two videos on my instagram (@shaunsomers), one that I took on day one, and one that I took on day 5; those were the only days I was able to go. Actually I called in sick to work on Friday because I just had to be there!

Chad Koeplinger eagle? Aaron Coleman Panther? Stewart Robson Pharaoh's Horses? SO GOOD!! All the rest are great too - a great month and we're only halfway finished.

So I have been away for over a week on vacation, no internet. Logged on today, saw that there was a bunch of posts in this thread, and started to catch up. Got halfway through @mmikaoj 's post and decided to leave it until tonight after my son's soccer practice.

While there I was talking to my buddy's wife, who apparently hasn't seen me in shorts since December. So I proceeded to answer just about every single question on here - pain, cost, meaning, where, why, etc., etc.

Started out like this:

Her- "Whoa, when did you get that?!?

Me - "December"

Her- "What's the meaning??"

Me - "It means I have an awesome panther on my leg. With a sword. And some roses."

Her - "Oh, three roses! For your wife and two kids.

Me - "Uh....OK"

I felt like the conversation was happening because of this thread.

Welcome to the forum! Looking forward to seeing pics of your upcoming tattoos.

Check out Gastown Tattoo in Vancouver. They have a wide variety of artists, someone will suit you I'm sure.

Unfortunately Matt Houston is leaving there and moving to Amsterdam. He is, however, doing walkins on Saturdays July 5th, 12th, Aug 9th, 16th & 23rd. If I were you I would make myself available one of those days and get there early.

That only happens to women. And that would happen whether you were tattooed or not as long as you're (semi)attractive. Men are the sex that have to do the approaching. We have to seek out female sex and companionship. A man will find any excuse to talk to and touch a woman he finds attractive. It just so happens that your tattoos are an excuse for him to touch you and speak to you. It really has little to do with your personally or him being a "creep". If he was Brad Pitt or whatever male stereotype/archetype you find extremely attractive he would cease being a "creep" and you would probably find it charming or flattering. I wouldn't get too worked up about a stranger of the opposite sex trying to speak to you or talk to you unless they are being extremely inappropriate. They probably just think you're attractive and want a reason to try and flirt with you. If you don't like it just tell them.

It doesn't only happen to women. My tattoos are not fully covered by some t-shirts and I've had people who were basically strangers lift my shirt sleeve to get a look at them. And I - and probably most women - would consider a stranger grabbing your arm without permission to fall pretty squarely under the category of "extremely inappropriate".

Brunch is such a great meal.