jesgri

I waited two weeks after my half sleeve on my forearm. I do parkour and free running, so there is a huge risk of cutting/scraping/scratching that part of the arm.

His face looks like the bumper of some college kid's car.

Holding off on my next one. I had originally planned to get it a couple weeks ago, but I've already missed out on so much training this summer. Moving my date closer to the middle of autumn. The piece is already drawn up (a darker Alice), so it's pretty hard not to run on in and get it done.

The colours in that piece pop so beautifully.

I'm lucky: I have a greyhound. He's a lazy stinker. Couldn't be bothered to lick my ink because it would have meant he'd have to get up.

Thank you.

I definitely will be getting more. I have another planned for the end of summer, and a sleeve idea for my left arm that I need to deal with my carpal tunnel before acting upon.

I've always loved the look of a single, cohesively themed back piece. There are some truly amazing pieces in this thread.

welcome, lets see the tattoo!!!

Thank you! I posted it in the "Tattoo Lowdown" thread. I thought I replied last night but apparently my message didn't go through because I linked to the thread.

Healing anxiety is the worst. I still have nightmares about healing fresh tattoos. My first few attempts at healing were really rough but I finally figured out a method that worked for me thanks to some recommendations on this site.

These threads are worth reading through:

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/32-best-post-tattoo-care.html

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/2406-re-wrapping-tattoos.html

Awesome, thanks. I was so paranoid about it. I thought I new what to expect, and then my forearm ballooned and I spent a couple days thinking I had an infection.

I just posted it in the "Lastest Lowdown" thread, sorry for the massive and obnoxious size:

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/15-latest-tattoo-lowdown-page398.html

About 7 weeks ago, I got my first tattoo, which was the words "Love will tear us apart again" written down the centre of my forearm. Almost four weeks ago I got my second tattoo, the reading of the first discovered pulsar, also the cover of Joy Division's "Unknown Pleasures," completing the piece.

A little background on the piece: when I was 16, quite a few serious events unfolded in my life. I was a foster child at the time, and I had some mental health issues that resulted in me being volleyed about from hospital to hospital as psychiatrists picked apart my brain and my behavioural problems. At some point I ended up at a hospital in up-state New York, where I saw the movie "Donnie Darko" for the first time. To cut the story down to size, I identified with the movie. One song in it particularly caught me: Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart." I listened to it daily. Fast forward a year, give or take, and while living in a group home, one of the boys I lived with gave me the "Unknown Pleasures" CD for Secret Santa. He never got the help he needed, or the family he needed, and wasn't as fortunate as I was. So while this piece is also a tribute to one of my favourite bands, it is mainly a reminder of a time in my life, and of how lucky I am.

I've already had several kids in big glasses and flannel come up to me in New York and complain that "Love Will Tear Us Apart" isn't on "Unknown Pleasures." Having to deal with them is probably my only regret about this tattoo.

EDIT: Sorry about the huge pictures. Is there any way to resize them so they don't punch everyone in the face with how big they are?

Hello to everyone. I'm a 21-year-old freelance writer from Connecticut. I was previously a guitar teacher, and before that, a lesson-planner for a guitar-oriented web site. I live for music, anything from post-punk to technical death metal, and good books. I got my first tattoo, a half sleeve, about a month ago. I joined mostly to admire others' body art, but also to learn more about tattoos, especially the healing process, which triggered my anxiety pretty badly.