AverageJer

I don't know how to answer this without lying, sounding like a douche, or both. I have several I could choose. 

I'll narrow it down to the first one I got that my wife also got that is a stick figure faimly portrait I drew her for mother's day or the dragon I got at Three Tides in Tokyo- both for obvious and different reasons. 

Men have hearts and feelings. 

If I happened to read that on someone- as an employee. socially, whatever- I would 100% interpret it as a general motto not some kind of needed reminder because otherwise you would be bad. It's possibly the most benign, least offensive words possible on a tattoo. I ❤️Mom is edgier and more controversial. Tattoo looks good. If you are taking votes mine is to not change it. 

As others have said. This really sucks and as contact employees tattoo artists are hit hard. Wife and I looking into buying a painting or maybe some gift cards. 

It's a good tattoo- but it doesn't matter what I think or what anyone else here thinks. It's your tattoo. I don't agree that people with OCD shouldn't get tattoos. That's not a reasonable barrier. Besides, what a great opportunity to practice letting go of control of details. You put your faith into someone else and will now have it forever. It's a good tattoo from a good artist. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the experience of getting it. If you do get more tattoos in the future enjoying the process is something to aspire towards. Now you get to work on accepting the tattoo, learning to love it - flaws and all (not that I can see any but I believe you there are some because there usually are). It's a good tattoo with safe content in a "safe" location on your body. I believe you can learn to love it in time. 

New frog from the annual Sailor Jerry Day party at Leviticus Tattoo in Minneapolis. Done by thomas_titus.  

Koi in the background done by Flip McCoy at Steve's Tattoo in Madison about two months ago. 

I got a (much smaller than yours) tattoo on Sat and plan to skip the gym today because of it but I do plan to play basketball tomorrow. I'll cover it with aquaphor and some kind of non-stick bandage and then wrap with that awesome kind of athletic tape that sticks to itself. Anyway- good luck! 

MN State Fair? My god, don't skip that... I'll be there tomorrow myself. Looks ok. Only your body knows if the pain is a serious concern. I have a lot of leg tattoos and some of them hurt pretty bad for a few days but I haven't experienced any kind of "can't walk" pain but also I haven't yet had one single tattoo that large. Get some cheese curds (the good ones up on machinery hill, not the poser food building ones with the long lines) and a few beers and look at the DNR pond and you will be ok. Unless you leg falls off. That would totally suck. 

45 minutes ago, Oiocha said:

I'm concentrating on not dying.

lol

On 7/17/2019 at 6:33 PM, Hands On said:

- I hate Chris Paul and I'm glad he got traded to OKC to hopefully wither away.

Best post I've seen on LST yet. 

I was explaining to my daughter that it's both exhausting and exhilarating in a weird way. I find the first cut hurts and then it doesn't hurt for a while and then after awhile it hurts again. I also find the shading worse than the lines but my wife disagrees with this. I think the longest I've sat for a tattoo is about 3-4 hours but I don't have anything at all on my left arm so maybe someday. 

I have a tic disorder- pretty minor one admittedly- but in general I don't sit completely still ever. I usually tell my artists up from that I am twitchy and I know I am twitchy and then I work on being still while they are tattooing and allow myself to move a little while they are getting ink ect... So far I haven't had a problem but off course there are degrees of this insatiable need to move around and I think some tics are more involuntary than others. Good thing to be thinking about in advance and best of luck. 

My wife's suggestions is more different birds/animals and more different geometric shapes. 

10 hours ago, Dan said:

LOL  that's a thing ?

Totally, sometimes the Cost Cutters I go to gets mad when they find out I went to the other Cost Cutters I sometimes go to...

40 minutes ago, JAC1961 said:

Great subject.  I really enjoy a talkative, friendly artist.  I really enjoying talking to the artist while they work, it really helps keep my mind off the pain and makes the time fly by.  I also like getting to know someone with completely different skills and abilities than I could ever hope to have.  That being said, I guess if I had that choice, I'd take the quality work.  The artist that did my japanese half sleeve told me during the consultation that he doesn't like to chat while he works, preferring to concentrate on what he's doing.  At first I was a little put off, but he was friendly and chatted while putting on the stencil and sketching.  I appreciated his committed attitude and his work is the best that I've gotten so far.

Music. I've been listening to indie folk and bluegrass on Spotify lately... Dead South, Trampled by Turtles, Colter Wall, The Devil makes Three, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, The Bridge City Sinners, etc.  When I'm feeling especially neanderthalic I listen to Heilung.

Good comments. It's interesting to me that Trampled by Turtles has gotten big outside of Minnesota. I think they really have gotten better over the last few years. 

16 hours ago, AtomicMagpye said:

I absolutely love the atmosphere in the shop I go to - they are a fine and marvellous bunch of people and it really does make a difference.  The experience is always filled with laughter, positivity and a sprint of adventure - It's fantastic to see how genuinely enthusiastic they all are about their art and they have created a place that is truly inspiring.  I have a fair amount of work done now and I would not be interested in adding to it in a place that was not in some way magical and inspirational - but that's just me. 🙂

New music -see below for a new video of a folk band I play guitar in (that's allowed right?) 

I am from the UK and have no idea what an NBA is or why it is being played off.

 

Sounds like a fun shop and thanks for sharing the music- I like the sound of it. 

Hi all-

I thought I'd start a little discussion about something I sometimes think about. Essentially this question boils down to the question of the extent to which a spending money on a tattoo equates to spending money on a thing or an experience? 

I'll frame it this way- to what extent is the experience of getting a tattoo important to the overall product? Would you rather get a tattoo that is perfect in everyway from an artist that is no fun to spend a few hours with (maybe even actively an asshole) or are you willing to wear a tattoo that is a little lesser in quality from an artist that you have a great time enjoying your time with? 

Obviously the idea is to get great quality AND have a great time- and I have been fortunate to hit this ideal many times. I guess I'm just more curious how others here think about this issue- if you do at all. Getting a tattoo is an intimate experience in a lot of ways but it also produces a piece of art that we carry with us for the rest of our lives. 

What do you think? 

Bonus topics: 1) Have you discovered any new music lately? 2) Who do you like in the NBA playoffs? 

Done by Doug Hardy at Aloha Monkey near Minneapolis. 

Going to finally get a tattoo at Aloha Monkey next week. A bunch of guest artists are coming in for there 20 year anniversary weekend party and I'm booked with Doug Hardy. It's going to be a good time and hopefully it doesn't hurt at all. 

Seems like it would work fine. Maybe share your concerns with your artist and see if they have thoughts on how to tie it all together. 

I have a similar gap on my knee and I'm thinking some kind of lizard because they have four limbs, a head, and a tail that can all be twisted into whatever angle the space requires. Good luck! 

Dragon head done by https://www.instagram.com/j_s_heike/ at the annual Sailor Jerry Birthday Party at Leviticus Tattoo in Minneapolis. 

6 hours ago, SStu said:

Nothing against honoring your children here, but I've seen some pretty horrible tattoos where the artist was asked to reproduce little kid's work. Either way you're going to end up explaining the result for a long, long time . . . 

None of my business but I agree with SStu. As it stands it's a nice tribute to the girls and their unchanging birth year. Let them color it in and it will likely become a less good tribute to one moment of their lives- when they are young. If your goal is to add color and also have your daughter's participate maybe have them choose the colors but then let a professional artist decide how to apply them?

Again- do what you want- it's your family and your arm- but as long as you asked for advice from internet strangers my advice is to come up with different plan. 

For what it's worth I like the tattoo as it is currently. 

2018 started out with a Sailor Jerry ship at Leviticus Tattoo's annual Sailor Jerry Birthday bash and then a very small filler sparrow at the Minneapolis tattoo convention- both in January. May brought me a nice fish at Smith Street and the tattoo year finished up with a rocket ship back at Leviticus. 

2019 will bring another one from he Sailor Jerry Birthday party and then who knows what? Most of the tattoo budget will go to support my wife in getting a sleeve on her blank arm for her 40th year. 

Dragon