Suiren

Same here, but what I intended to ask was what others say too ;)
I find it interesting how they view it.

I have encountered this attitude about lasering. My friends asked what I will do if I don't want my tattoos anymore and before I could answer they said "Oh I forgot they can can be lasered off much better these days."...To which I responded I would never ever let a laser near my tattoos...(OR take out piercings). Is it so weird wanting to look this way as a senior too? People think that with (more) age I must automatically not want it anymore :P.

I don't share them on social media. Or do you mean you don't wish to see them on the forums? I posted here because I felt it is worth talking about some of the nonsense in it. Just like others like to discuss "dumb hipster tattoos" etc. ;)

Looks like a legit study on a legit website.

"Natural News" "We polled 300 people in central park." Yeah....what Graeme said.
Spurious Correlations

Try reading their sources:

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com - self proclaimed magazine of record for the last days
About Chemistry: Chemistry Instruction, Projects, and Periodic Tables - about.com says it all anybody can post anything
Wiley Online Library - I don't know WTF this is
Live Science: Scientific News, Articles and Current Events - cites the dermatologist from the original article, basically using yourself for a reference
Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post - another article that cites the dermatologist in the original article
Science or not? | Separating science from nonsense - a blog by someone with no significant credentials, but says, "I have to withhold judgement in this case. On the positive side, I couldn’t find any evidence that tattoo pigments are responsible for serious harm."

Further, according to the FDA's Arkansas-based National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), research chemist Paul Howard, Ph.D, "There have been no systematic studies of the safety of tattoo inks."
If you read through this nonsense, it is basically saying, "We don't know anything for sure, can't prove anything, haven't done any studies, but bad shit could happen."

A crazy old dude came up to me in the street a few weeks ago, he was pointing out his wrist to me. He had a tattoo on the top of his arm and so do I, so I started showing mine thinking he was looking to talk tattoos. Turns out he was just trying to do the universal signifier for 'do you have the time'.
I guess Decoratedskins say the darndest things too. Haha.

rofl. I love this thread.
You guys have had some horrrrrifying experiences, though. I must just be lucky. Maybe it's because I live in the PNW, where people are either a) pretty laid back and progressive or b) too pass-agg to tell you what they think directly...?
The other week I did have someone grab me without asking to look at my arm. It was a little old Japanese man working at the post office. I went in to buy stamps and reached out to pay him, and he grabbed my wrist and said 'let's see what you've got.' First time for everything, I guess.
Mostly, I just get people telling me they really like my tattoos, and asking me where I got them. Sometimes I get asked if they mean anything. The cutest was this weekend at my family reunion, when my cousin reached out to touch the one on my forearm (second one I got, well healed by now) and then yanked her hand back quickly with big eyes and said, 'Oh sorry, does it hurt?'
She is 30. haha. I told her they all cause me perpetual agony and she hit me with her napkin.
...I wasn't sure how my extended family would react to the tattoos -- they are all Talbots people. Boat shoes and sweaters around the neck. It all went better than expected, though! Most of them were just curious. It was kind of nice.

The other day I went to my favorite Chinese restaurant (I'm kind of a regular, the workers usually make small talk with me). I was wearing a dress, and the lady at the front counter approached me and touched on her arm where my butterfly tattoo is and said "Beautifur! Butterfry?" We had a broken English conversation where she asked where it was done and implied a lot of the tattoos she's seen come into the restaurant are pretty bad. Tattoos transcend all languages. :)

I have encountered this attitude about lasering. My friends asked what I will do if I don't want my tattoos anymore and before I could answer they said "Oh I forgot they can can be lasered off much better these days."...To which I responded I would never ever let a laser near my tattoos...(OR take out piercings). Is it so weird wanting to look this way as a senior too? People think that with (more) age I must automatically not want it anymore :P.

If there's any good thing about that stupid article it made me come back to this website to see if anyone was talking about it.
The thing I dislike most about the article is her argument that it's her body and she can do whatever she wants to it. That's not how bodily autonomy works, the right to do anything to your body does not mean she has the right to tell OTHER PEOPLE what to do to her body. By not respecting the artist's right to refuse work, she's dehumanizing him. It's sad we live in a world where a feminist website will publish an article by somebody who doesn't even understand agency.

Rrrrrr. Rrrrrr. Brrrm. Trying to restart this cool thread. A week or two ago I sat with about a dozen motorcyclists (not 'bikers" - most of us were on GoldWings) at our end-of-weekend-gathering BBQ. I sat next to one that I had ridden in group with for two days, known him for about six years. We mainly know each other through internet forums (gee, what a novel idea!) I had on a sleeveless shirt, and he stared most of the evening at the tattoo on my right shoulder. I wish that I had asked him if he wanted to ask any questions about it? It is the one with world map outline and population in red dots.

Now I know how girls feel when guys are always staring at their boobs. I find that when having conversations with new people, I lose eye contact with them and they start staring at my tattoos.

If that is a trend now it sucks for me because I have been into the occult since the early 90's :( I hate when people get occult symbols tattooed, yet they never even invoked a demon...
Haha jk

Just wanted to add something to the "sleep around" advice.
If you plan to be with a female in the future, which I assume, keep in mind that many aren't fond of a man having slept around just like a man would not prefer that their future woman slept with a lot of guys.
Just to add a different perspective.

I have never even thought of armpit tattoos! :eek: That really does sound difficult.

Idk what most artists think about home sketched tattoo designs, but I got 4 of my hand drawn designs tattooed and the artist improved it a bit while tattooing.
I am continuing to draw my own stuff because the ancient tattoo designs I like can't be found online to be printed.
I like what you drew up, it looks great imo. I think a good artists should also understand that sometimes customers just want exactly what they want and no improvements to the design. It is most important that it is perfect to you isn't it?

I honestly don't think you'll get grief from any tattooist when you bring in your own sketch. It's better to give them an idea of what is in your head and, let them play about with the design to improve it. My own has said several times, if I want to bring him a rough sketch even if it is shite, just to give him an idea of what is in my head, then to go for it. Personally I think as long as it's not on a phone the day you go in, then it's all good.
That's my 2d's worth anyway.

Considering the relatively small size, I will have to say the armpit is my least favorite spot so far.
Worse than back of the heel, back of the knee, ribs, lower belly, top of the foot and on par with the worst parts of a back piece painwise. The thing that really does it is how the skin is not really meant for tattooing (as opposed to the skin on the rest of the human body that evolved over millenia with the specific goal of getting tattooed...)
All the hair follicles, how spongy the skin gets there, and the fact that the artist has to work in a hole that you are trying to strech flat to the best of your ability , makes the process take so much more time than you would have thought. The guy who did the tattoo said he could have made something three times as big in any other spot during the same amount of time. You get _really_ sore while the machine just keeps grinding the same spots. On top of that you are bending and lying in the most uncomfortable position for extended periods of time.
Don't do it unless you are stupid. Now I will have to get my other pit done too...
(Bonus: I didn't consider it at the time but when talking to my "regular artist" he told me that the armpit is one of those scary places to get tattooed where you have a lot of nerve endings and pretty sensitive biomechanisms lying right under the skin. Basically, if you are not careful, you are jacking ink straight into that and it could cause some problems. The guy who did his foot way back messed up and now he still gets small electric sensations whenever he puts on his socks.)

I wonder.... @peterpoose how did your session on your foot was like? :D
I am looking about 6 to 8hrs. Not sure yet.

Oh wow! I imagine toes must be uncomfortable!

MisterJ
It will be more than one line.
I was just personally curious, trying to learn more about the tattoos and process. I wasn't planning to go in and ask can you do it with this needle.
I was simply wondering about line thickness and if it must be 3 mm or if a thinner line like the ones I have would work.

So far artists have really worked with me when it comes to money. Over ten years ago I paid only 80 Euros for a 4x4 inch tattoo. Now that would cost me more than twice as much.
What I usually do is I print or draw everything I want on a piece of paper and ask before making the appointment. So when my appointment comes around I have the same paper with me and ask if X Eur ist still okay. Last time the artist wanted more but when I said then I will have to do only this many symbols he agreed to do all for what I had saved up.
I can't afford to be shy about prices because I'm just not a wealthy person. I don't buy anything for myself when saving for tattoos.

so, try this. take a really thin pen or pencil and draw a perfectly straight line on a piece of paper free handed.
then, take a nice thick sharpie (marker) and do the same thing.
im not saying tattoo artists cant tattoo a straight line with a single needle, im just saying its harder and and harder to hide. especially when were talking about wrapping it, making it work with your body and skin/movement.
same thing for the longevity as the words though, the slightly thicker line will last longer, the thinner one might fade and blur out in spots destroying the look of the line, because there is not much to it.
this is my two cents from a visual artists standpoint though, not a tattooer or anything of the sort. you will probably find an artist that will do exactly want you want, but it will be good to go into it knowing how it may turn out.

Agreed @six times seven
I think the tattoo artist was trying to tell you that the smaller and thinner the work, the more quickly unreadable it becomes, and thus the longevity of the tattoo is lost - so she was trying to readjust your expectations re: your tattoo. That's my take on it at least. Most of the successful lettering and linework tattoos I've seen are not teensy tiny like your desired size, but much larger. See: Thomas Hooper, Roxx, Nazareno Tubaro, and any of the other fabulous line, dotwork, and neo-tribal tattooers out there. Robert Ryan does a lot of occult imagery, check him out to see what kinds of lines he's making. Jondix does lovely fine black and grey work, as does Rich Cahill (he does ridiculously small single needle "micro" tattoos, I would not get one because in a few years' time I'd think those micro tattoos to be blurry blobs), and many, many, many others.
Just because YOU want your tattoo to be executed a certain way, doesn't mean it is feasible to do as a successful tattoo... At this point, I suggest running a search on the forum for a list of recommended tattooers in Germany.