cltattooing

I've only used painkillers to get tattooed on one occasion, and pretty much what I noticed is that they don't take the pain away, but rather, make you not care that it hurts. Like the painful sensation is still there and feels the same, minus that it sucks. I'm probably going to use them for my back if I can't handle it straight. I must say, I do romanticize the idea of hurting for your tattoos.

Thank you, Alex!

this is the full sized piece that I have as my profile picture: oil and liquid leaf on pine

Get a part time job and keep tattooing. I've had to do it for the last 3 years, it's not so bad. There are a few other really talented newbies who have had to do the same, its nothing to get down on yourself about. Great advice in this thread so far. Welcome to LST!

Welcome to the community!! Can we see some of your work?

no problem, dude. happy posting! this forum is such a great resource for learning, I hope you enjoy the community :)

@Pugilist I want to see pictures! If you'd be so inclined :)

gonna go through the thread and add a bunch of people! mine's @cltattooing, could you have guessed? ;P

That's awesome!! good on you, that hunger for knowledge will get you far :)

She is so precious!! look at that beaming little smile!! you can tell she's so proud. congratulations, man :)

First off, I want to welcome you to LST and I hope that you find yourself a happy contributing member of the community. This place has become home to many for some really great reasons. Secondly, I'm sorry that I'm going to end up being THAT asshole, as I don't mean to offend you but maybe provide some clarity into your situation. Everything that I'm about to say is going to be hard to hear, but when we take this sort of advice gracefully, we always grow. I think that your attitude about tattooing is horribly entitled. Nothing about tattooing is easy. Not drawing tattooable designs or script, not the clients, not your boss, not how your machines work, not getting into a good shop, nothing. Being good at these things takes years of really hard work!!! Now I'm willing to bet that your neighbor tattooed you out of his garage, so I'd imagine that it does look pretty easy to make a garage turd(I assume garage because you said neighbor, not neighbor who tattoos). I am also an artist who works with a wide variety of media, and the first thing that hit home for me when I did my first tattoo was "holy shit, this completely different from anything I have ever attempted in my life and it is HARD." I have noticed that the hard work ethic aspect of tattooing gets lost on a lot of people who have not served an apprenticeship. I also live in an area that is hypersaturated with great tattoo shops, and let me tell you something. *F*T*W* Tattoo - Oakland - CA doesn't even own a computer. George Campise of War Horse Tattoo is an accomplished illustrator and graphic designer who drafts everything he does by hand including t-shirt designs and skateboard decks. Of course using illustrator and Photoshop saves time, but it also cuts corners and ultimately limits your skillset as an artist. Nobody is going to hold your hand through this, if you want it, you have to truly want it and put in the proportionate work on your own. Again, I say this to help you out, and I do mean it gently. I would start by studying traditional tattooing and immerse your mind in traditional tattoo designs and history. I wholly believe that if anyone is to be a half decent tattooer, they need to be able to lay down a solid traditional tattoo. The design theory and application principles of traditional work apply to every other style of tattooing across the board. And also what @BrianH said, watch the interviews, do some reading, and commit yourself to learning about what it is that you do.

yay marketing tatctics ;P if I pay for their publications, I'm just gonna buy TAM. But I suppose that's not an option on everyone's table.

welcome to the forum! your tattoos are looking pretty good, especially the botanical ones. how long have you been actually putting needle to skin?

Hey Chuck, welcome! That eagle is truly killer, love the movement! I'm sure you'll be right at home here, this forum rules.

I still want to see all of these awesome tattoos you have!!

After the second peel should be fine. When all of the skin is smooth, has no flakes or dry patches, and isn't waxy anymore. When in doubt, keep it covered.

when you have a folder on your hard drive titled "machine porn" which contains multitudes of photos of beautiful/interesting/antique tattoo machines.

Darl Gnau at Charmed Life Tattoo and Gallery in Maryland I really can't speak highly enough about this dude. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of neo-traditional tattooing, he just kills it on so many levels that you can't help but love what he does. Darl’s Portfolio | Charmed Life Gallery

Oh dear, marketing... a whole other conversation, haha. Yeah! That was an awesome way to put it. Right on, it's pretty clear that you really like what you do. Were you always interested in brewing?

Now that is really fascinating, thank you for sharing that! I had no idea making beer was such an intensive process. So now I have to ask, what is your favorite to make and to drink?

@Graeme that's so cool! Sounds like a lot of hard work though, haha. It blows my mind that people think hops are the only tangible ingredient in beer. Also... vegans drinking beer, contradiction or no? Isn't there pig intestine somewhere in the filtration process?

So the shop got this gem sent to our facebook yesterday...

I also get little white dots in my tattoos, usually ones with red in them(although not always in the red). I think they're just a natural reaction to a foreign substance in the skin. Mine are calcium deposits, they don't ooze if I pop them, they're just these little white beads that pop up every so often. I'm no doctor or anything, but it would be helpful to see a picture that isn't blurry. edit: come to think of it, the only place I've ever gotten them was my inner biceps as well... hm

I think that something everyone should strive for in their tattoos is timeless design. Fashion trends come and go, and it's highly unlikely that you'll have the same fashion tastes at 55 as you do at 21. If you want a tattoo to have a tattoo, go get something really beautiful that has strong imagery done by a talented artist. If you think you may have regrets, don't do it, flat out. The possibility of regret outweighs the short term satisfaction of the process. And research, research, research.

@Rob I cheers, thank you!