Tesseracts

Just got this! First tattoo!
Another photo.

Just got this! First tattoo!
Another photo.

Horimitsu, I'm getting a nine tailed fox.

Horimitsu, I'm getting a nine tailed fox.

The problem is... (and I hate to admit it) but you'll find women with a lot of tattoos will exude and air of confidence and not give a fuck what anyone thinks. However... the more close-minded men that pervade realms of society whether it be the news, TV, movies, etc. with these ideas about women, the more women will be raised into a world that holds that mindset and ultimately, will care. Yes, I have, over time come to accept myself and my body, but I can also say that it took me the majority of my life thus far to reach that point. And even my love for myself is teetering on a delicate tight rope because women are constantly fed (even by eachother) how to feel, act.. what to say and how to say it... what we should or shouldn't put onto or into our bodies. It's disgusting and repulsive when you peel back the mask on what is happening all around us, but it is also so difficult to ignore and not be affected by it when you are raised into the ideals of men.
Sorry to get all feminist on you all, but my point is that most heavily tattooed women do not get tattoos to feel attractive, but don't assume we are above feeling "less than". Or experiencing hatred towards our tattoos and our image and being hurt by it and falling into a world of shattered self-esteem. Everyone experiences it in the world we live in and no one is truly immune. Some just learn to roll with it and take it in stride.

Finally finished up with Seth wood the other night. Here she is, the gator!

Nipple is gone, 14 hours planned for today:)

Best of luck! As for advice...plan your arrival time to the convention so there is no issue with your scheduled session time with Horimitsu. Line on Saturday can get real long, like down the block but you will get in eventually.
Be on time, be respectful, and take care of your artist ;)
Mike

Horimitsu, I'm getting a nine tailed fox.

Horimitsu, I'm getting a nine tailed fox.

Was recently at a party uptown in NY and had trust fund / rich / spoilt girls genuinely ask me how i support myself / live whilst having tattoos. No joke..
When i asked why they hadn't got tattoos themselves they simply said, because ' father would cut me off and not pay my rent' i looked blankly for a second then walked off....
They lived a 20 minute train ride to Brooklyn and had never been, even though they had lived in NY their entire life.
Blew my mind for a couple of minutes then just thought how lucky I was to not be them.

I'm interested in trying this, but honestly, I'm pretty turned off from it from the way that some of you are posting about it like you're getting paid a commission from the company.

Instagram
Instagram
Haven't seen pictures of the front of it though...

Thanks for the help everyone! I'm trying to get a spot with Horimitsu at the convention. He did this kitsune sketch, which I think is really good. I emailed him and he said he has some time available.
I emailed him back and asked him a bunch of questions, but I'm afraid I'm overwhelming him. English isn't his first language and I'm afraid he won't understand what I wrote. Some of the questions I asked are if he does tebori coloring at conventions, if he's going to draw it on the spot or in advance, if I should email him reference and/or bring it with me, and if my arm is large enough that it will be a problem for the tattoo if I lose weight. I know I already asked that on this forum and people say it's not an issue, but I'm still worried.
I sent him this photo of my arm. The leaf isn't real, it's photoshopped, I don't actually have any tattoos (yet).
I'm attaching a nine tailed fox sketch I made. I don't want a tattoo that looks exactly like this, I want the creator of the tattoo to have the freedom to design it, but I think this looks cool.

Hi, bumping this thread because I need some advice.
First of all I wish I could edit the post where I said dragon tattoos don't have character. I think at that point I just hadn't looked at enough tattoos to figure out how to judge them. You can't judge a 3d object the same way you judge a painting. Still, I wish there were more non-Asian style dragon tattoos out there, maybe I'll create a thread on that.
Anyway, after I found this website I looked at a lot of tattoos, then I stopped for a while, then came back to it. After a few months I found that Japanese traditional stuff has the most lasting appeal to me. Like I said on this thread I'm thinking of getting a kitsune and going down to the NYC tattoo convention to do that.
How hard is it to get a tattoo at a convention like this? Is there any way I can reserve a spot? Will it come out worse if the artists feel rushed and overworked at the convention?
If I don't get it at the convention, I might try to get Shinji Horizakura. I also like Seth Wood's style. Any other ideas?

I agree with Sophistre.
I looked into covering my tattoo with make up as I am into costuming and sometimes will wear costumes that reveal my tattoos if they're not covered in make up.
So far, I've only tried it once, but I gotta say the result was good, but at the end of the day the make up was all blurry and sticky due to excessive sweating and movement.
Nevertheless, I saw the video before and it was a really cool thing to see him transform like that.

Remember reading someone, somewhere, saying that every time you get a tattoo you should ask yourself why it's not a dragon.
Don't have a dragon myself (plenty of space left though) but it seems like valid advice!

Ugh, he is so ridiculously good-looking.
And that video was amazing. But speaking as someone who puts make-up on on a daily basis just on the face, I don't think it's really viable to plan to do that over a large area. It's not easy to get coverage that full, even with a heavy product, and keeping it 'set,' especially in humid weather, would be pretty much a nightmare. It's a neat option for smaller things, but even then...anywhere that clothing makes contact you'd get a lot of transfer.

Don't know if this is helpful at all, but it has been a fun trip down memory lane for me. The progression of how my nautical star changed... Based on your drawing, I'd say that the thicker line would not make it look better, but there is still hope for making it better if it's in the hands of the right artist.

Grez Eagle, Chris O'Donnell Snake, Mike Rubendall Dragon

Instagram view of this battle royale insanity

Hi, bumping this thread because I need some advice.
First of all I wish I could edit the post where I said dragon tattoos don't have character. I think at that point I just hadn't looked at enough tattoos to figure out how to judge them. You can't judge a 3d object the same way you judge a painting. Still, I wish there were more non-Asian style dragon tattoos out there, maybe I'll create a thread on that.
Anyway, after I found this website I looked at a lot of tattoos, then I stopped for a while, then came back to it. After a few months I found that Japanese traditional stuff has the most lasting appeal to me. Like I said on this thread I'm thinking of getting a kitsune and going down to the NYC tattoo convention to do that.
How hard is it to get a tattoo at a convention like this? Is there any way I can reserve a spot? Will it come out worse if the artists feel rushed and overworked at the convention?
If I don't get it at the convention, I might try to get Shinji Horizakura. I also like Seth Wood's style. Any other ideas?

Might it be worth having a specific thread for questions that might be considered dumb, or for people to post in when they have something to say that isn't worthy of its own thread? People can avoid or refer people to it at will then.
I'd also like to say that I've been impressed with how literate even the arguments here are! There doesn't seem to be the usual pile-on I've seen on other forums. People still take time to post rationally and have a proper discussion over the issue.

Keepcalm, it's entirely possible you won't be a lucky as to have an artist or situation where you feel you don't need some input. Like above people said, personally I have never changed a design simply because I approached them for their style.
99% of most clients are not like that. That's a special breed. Ok maybe 97%.
I have been stuck redrawing something a bit too many times and it does get aggravating in some cases. It happens but thankfully not often. It's kind if part if the deal; we try to make you what you want, with the exception of professional judgement calls of technical aspects such as design structure. But if it's as simple as "I'm not sure I like the way those wings look, it's too ____ for me" then it's part of the job to try to make it more appealing to you, without the ego of "this is what I wanted to do so that I can get a picture of it.". I would rather re-draw the wings and make you happy than have you go to a different shop later and say "this isn't what I wanted".
The other day I drew up a bird and roses and banner for someone brought in some shitty JPEG that they liked. I took down what they wanted, made an appointment, and then spend some time making a drawing for that tattoo. When he came in for a follow-up before the actual tattoo he looked at it and I could tell something bothered him. Apparently the bird I used (thanks Jerry) wasn't to his liking, he wanted it closer to the lame one on the JPEG. To me it looked rad because it was a classic looking bird. To him he just wanted a different style, and there's nothing wrong with that, it's just a matter of personal taste. I was a little bummed, but I gave him the kind of bird he wanted. And he left super happy. Which means he'll be coming back and bring his friends and maybe one of them want the 'cooler' bird.
Don't be scared to speak up. You live with this tattoo until you're dead. I will see that tattoo maybe once in my life at the most. You should be comfortable with what you wear, I often hear that they didn't want what the artist wanted to do. Well if you don't speak up then it's not our fault!
Be assertive and make sure that if you don't like it then don't get it.
Edit; Siri made all kind of blunders here, Apologies for odd sentence structure or the use of wrong words.

Searched for this but didn't see anything -- point me in the right direction if there's already a thread covering this...
So, even when I make an appointment far in advance, my experience so far (4 one-shot sessions) has been that the artist doesn't have anything drawn up until I come in to actually get the tattoo. And I get this -- people are busy and like to do one thing at a time. However, it has me wondering about the etiquette for if you see the drawing and want to change something about it. There you are, staring at your artist, and s/he's ready to start working on you, because you booked this appointment time, but you want to ask him/her to change something about the design s/he drew up. Do artists expect this? Do they work possible re-drawing time in to the time you booked for your appointment? Or do they expect you to just agree to the design and get started right away?
It's been a very uncomfortable moment for me the times I've asked if something could be changed. I didn't know if I was offending the artist, or doing it wrong? How much is too much to ask to be changed?
Like I said, I understand they can't work up a drawing for everyone far in advance, but I always feel pressure to accept the first thing they show me when I arrive to get the tattoo done, and it gives me anxiety, ha.
What does everyone else do? What is expected?
Would love perspectives from tattooers on this, too!

I think every tattoo collector needs to ask themselves this after every new tattoo.