fizz7283

When I first started getting tattooed I did all walk ins and all at the same shop. They were all decent artists, but quite a few were kind of rude. I finally found two artists from that one shop who were really friendly and sociable and I really like their work, so I've stuck with them over the last six years. I honestly don't like the silent types when getting tattooed. It makes it very awkward for me sitting there for hours just completely quiet. So I have to have an artist who is willing to engage in conversation with me.
In the end I'd rather have a good balance of a good artist who gives me a good tattoo rather than an asshole who gives an amazing piece of art or the most amazing person I've ever met who tattoos a piece of shit on me. Neither of those are pleasant sounding to me. I'll take the less than perfect tattoo though, which might sound dumb to some people, but I like to be comfortable while I'm getting the tattoo as well and I don't want to line some assholes pockets with cash and be uncomfortable getting the tattoo the entire time.

I don't see why you can't have both. I don't think necessarily I need to have like some deep cosmic connection w/an artist, but I want to feel comfortable around them. The shit hurts. Why put yourself thru pain and be irritated or uncomfortable right along w/it? The first 5 I got were all from the same guy, and he was gruff/abrasive. It wasn't anything I couldn't deal w/but later on it got to just be too much. He did bend the rules for me a few times since I'd been there so much and had referred others to him, like no deposit, and he came in 2 hours early and left the closed sign up to tattoo my husband who worked crazy hours and couldn't get in any other time. But then when we went back another time he acted like we were idiots b/c we didn't bring a deposit (which he'd not asked for the last 3 times I'd been there) and b/c I wanted mine on the back of my neck.
We tried a different shop on recommendation from someone in town I met by chance who has some gorgeous work. When we went in, we were not greeted nicely or treated nicely, and it just about got to the point my husband almost said something. The rudeness was coming from the apprentice, go figure. We met who would be doing my cherry blossoms and he was really nice, and we felt comfortable immediately w/him. It's nice to be able to chat about stuff during-he and my husband are into guns, so they spent a lot of time talking about that. He's moving however, so we'll be switching to the owner, who we've met and both really like.
I wouldn't want to see a dentist who was a jerk, or a physician who berated me, so I'm not going to sit and have my skin ground on by someone who thinks he/she is the cat's ass.

When I first started getting tattooed I did all walk ins and all at the same shop. They were all decent artists, but quite a few were kind of rude. I finally found two artists from that one shop who were really friendly and sociable and I really like their work, so I've stuck with them over the last six years. I honestly don't like the silent types when getting tattooed. It makes it very awkward for me sitting there for hours just completely quiet. So I have to have an artist who is willing to engage in conversation with me.
In the end I'd rather have a good balance of a good artist who gives me a good tattoo rather than an asshole who gives an amazing piece of art or the most amazing person I've ever met who tattoos a piece of shit on me. Neither of those are pleasant sounding to me. I'll take the less than perfect tattoo though, which might sound dumb to some people, but I like to be comfortable while I'm getting the tattoo as well and I don't want to line some assholes pockets with cash and be uncomfortable getting the tattoo the entire time.

Why does it bother you? I find it kind of endearing, as it usually means that said client gets tattooed by the same person consistently. We don't own our friends or our coworkers or our dentist, but we still say "my friend, my coworker, my dentist."
I don't see much of a difference?

To be quite honest, amongst my peers my feedback on my tattoos has been almost all positive. Anyone amongst my age group (18-23) typically likes my tattoos. But EVERYONE who is older has been nothing but negative feedback. My parents, employers, family friends, etc have all had nothing but negative things to say about my tattoos. Especially since one of them slightly peeks onto the front of my neck so it is often visible if my t-shirt sags a little. I remember one time my mom's friend came over and asked me about my tattoo and her tone of voice was so droll and the look in her eye was so put off I could tell she instantly thought I was an absolute fucking moron the instant she saw me. In fact I would say that a majority of people over 40 instantly think anyone with heavy tattoos is an absolute moron and a waste of life.
Even my cousin and her husband who are about 5-7 years older than me at around 27/28 were very judgmental about how heavily tattooed I've decided to be, despite my cousin saying she wants a small one on her back, and her husband having 2 pretty conservative ones on his upper arm.
The good thing however though is it has helped me not to care or live solely based on the opinions of others. It has really helped me realize that I should not live my life looking for the validation of others. Whether the decision is about my body, my significant other, or my career, I've learned that I should live for myself. I can never be free or true if I go through life wondering what will make other people happy or sad. Furthermore, I've found that a lot of people are ignorant, close minded, and unwilling to go against the status quo. Why should I want so hard to fit neatly into society's little box for me, if society is so fucked up in the first place? If I do something that I desire, and someone else doesn't approve that's their problem. I've got one life to live and I'm going to live it how I want to, with or without anyone else's approval or support.

Eh, it's your opinion, you're entitled to have it, just like others are entitled to have their text tattoos, their tribal tattoos, their tramp stamps and so on. As long as we are happy with what is on our own skin that's all that matters. I'd still much rather have a novel written on my skin that means something to me than a tattoo that I got just because I like the way it looks. I have both types of tattoos and in general, have been much more pleased with the tattoos that actually mean something to me and those are always the ones that have some sort of text in them.
I'm happy with them so I really have no clue why I'm trying to justify it to anyone else? Lol. I feel like trying to justify why I got my first tattoo to my mom.

I'm hoping it's just because it's on the leg. My gray shading is still very red and most the tattoo is still very red all around the outside as well. Very swollen too. At least it's not as hot to the touch today, so that's good.
I'm probably worrying too much about the normal healing process considering the placement of the tattoo.

Yes they have. Most notably would be the post it note tattoo I got with lyrics from a panzer AG song. I got it two years ago right after my dad got out of the hospital. Every day I look at that tattoo and realize I need to make my parents proud and honor them. They may not agree with or like all the tattoos I get, but they sure as hell influenced that one and it will forever be one of my favorite pieces of work that I have on my body. It will always remind me of how you can lose your parents at any given time and you need to respect them and spend as much time with them as humanly possible while they are alive. Luckily my dad pulled through and after two weeks in ICU he was released, but it could have easily taken a turn for the worse and not have happened that way. I am thankful that it did not. I have the utmost respect for my parents and love them with all my heart.

Yes they have. Most notably would be the post it note tattoo I got with lyrics from a panzer AG song. I got it two years ago right after my dad got out of the hospital. Every day I look at that tattoo and realize I need to make my parents proud and honor them. They may not agree with or like all the tattoos I get, but they sure as hell influenced that one and it will forever be one of my favorite pieces of work that I have on my body. It will always remind me of how you can lose your parents at any given time and you need to respect them and spend as much time with them as humanly possible while they are alive. Luckily my dad pulled through and after two weeks in ICU he was released, but it could have easily taken a turn for the worse and not have happened that way. I am thankful that it did not. I have the utmost respect for my parents and love them with all my heart.

Yes they have. Most notably would be the post it note tattoo I got with lyrics from a panzer AG song. I got it two years ago right after my dad got out of the hospital. Every day I look at that tattoo and realize I need to make my parents proud and honor them. They may not agree with or like all the tattoos I get, but they sure as hell influenced that one and it will forever be one of my favorite pieces of work that I have on my body. It will always remind me of how you can lose your parents at any given time and you need to respect them and spend as much time with them as humanly possible while they are alive. Luckily my dad pulled through and after two weeks in ICU he was released, but it could have easily taken a turn for the worse and not have happened that way. I am thankful that it did not. I have the utmost respect for my parents and love them with all my heart.