Joe Shit

Just want to add another little gem. Some artists, especially very busy ones, can be a bit curt when communicating via email. This can be especially true if you are a new client and they don't know who you are yet. So, don't be discouraged if it appears like they are being rude. Best way to ensure you have a good consult where you can get good feedback with your artist would be to call the shop and see when he/she is available for a face-to-face. Depending on your relative location, of course.

I think provided you and the artist are both happy with the arrangement there is no 'wrong' way to do large-scale tattooing.
From a financial point of view you need to honestly evaluate what your income is, and then judge how much tattooing you are going to manage in a given year. If you're able to get in several days of tattooing throughout the year then most backpieces would still be finished somewhere between 2-4 years I would think.... Depending... Which to me is not an unacceptably long time (10 years would be, frankly, although I think that was the OP making a point rather than a serious plan).
Although I did my back piece quickly (less than a year), it was because I was in a position to get tattooed repeatedly - the artist was available and I had the money. Now, working on my front piece, I find myself in a different situation - I still have the money, but the artist is on the other side of the world. I can travel once a year for a couple of days work, but so far it is 2 years and counting. I think we might be finished next year or the year after, which would mean it took us 4-5 years.
What would probably be a bad idea is embarking on a large scale tattoo like that without knowing where or when you're going to be able to find the money to be able to commit to finishing it.

Hi all
Thought I'd give you a little update on the phoenix tattoo that is slowly (but surely!) taking shape on my back. It is very much a personal celebration of triumph over adversity (when you lose everything that is familiar to you, you almost experience a rebirth of sorts, I find). We have all gone through tough times and these experiences usually give us a chance to learn lessons about ourselves and our reactions, re-awakening our ability to grow. The phoenix to me is a symbol of strength, resurrection and survival, and now a permanent reminder that I am stronger than I think :-) It is my first tattoo so please be gentle :-p
Tattooed by Danny Rossiter of the Rain City Tattoo Collective (Rain City Tattoo Collective | Rain City Tattoo Collective, Manchester)
xccx

While I was up in Brooklyn, NY this past weekend I also added a tattoo from Peter Giaquinto of Pete & Cubo's Tattoo in Queens!
Pete is the 100th tattooer to have tattooed me!
(yes I have kept track at several peoples request in the craft)
Here are the photos.....

Got this today from Chad K. at Congress St. So happy. Taken from his Instagram.

I spent the weekend in Brooklyn....Queens....and Iselin, NJ!
I was very honored to once again be tattooed by Tony Polito......and equally as honored by what he tattooed on me!

A bunch of people on here have probably seen this all ready but here is what Rudy Fritsch and Iain Mullen did to my back today, took approximatively 2 hours all in all

I have a new found respect for people with back tattoos as of this session. Shit is brutal!
Only a small portion of it felt all right. I had to struggle really hard at times. I was trying to surf the balance between consciously being there with the agony and discomfort and zoning out and into my head as much as possible. Divine moments of pain, that's what I kept thinking, while also trying to breath slow and stable.
Getting tattooed by two tattooers working simultaneously is a good idea though. It's only about 1,568 as painful as getting hit with only one machine but it's about twice as quick! Most of the time the machine working at the most tender spot would be my focus and the other one was mostly irritating. You do get some crazy synergies and some combination of spots gives you new concepts of what pain can feel like. Recommended! Also very happy with the result so far, of course, hardly any need to say that right? Very rememberable afternoon at Imperial Tattoo in Stockholm

My horse head done last month by the super lovely Emily Rose Murray. Still a bit dry and shiny.

My newest tattoo, I sat 5 hours for it last Saturday, and this pic is from the next day. I commissioned the art from my favorite artist (Hannah Yata) and had the tattoo done by Dana Krieg at Pop's Tattoo Emporium in Kingston, NY. I absolutely adore it!! (Although the current healing phase is driving me crazy)

2Spirit Tattoo | Blackwork & Dotwork Tattoos don't know if they do Polynesian,but they do a lot of blackwork/tribal.
Philip & Dave@ http://oldcrowtattoo.com
Polynesian Tribal Tattoos | Uniquely Designed and Customized
King Afa is from Tonga.

This completely flies in the face of all the talk of sobriety here, but it looks like I'm going to be teaching a course on beer tasting in the fall.

I love this!

Thank you, again! Yeah I know, especially the ROA could be more dramatic in color. Also done by Peter Lagergren and his ways with doing color tattoos is just beyond. I've seen some quite complicated healed ones by him and they look truly amazing. If you don't know him I highly suggest you check out his stuff.
I don't know about how popular it is to get only b&g and only/mainly traditional but to me, judging by "the internet" it seems that quite a few people are doing it. I think it's a great strong look, a bit more primitive and raw looking than having a lot of color and fine lines. Actually I'm trying to get some prettier pieces as not to look too grim

OK, I'll play. These show most of my legs. I won't bore you with the sides of my knees or ankles. And I'm too lazy to type out who did what, but I'm happy to answer any questions.

Here's my right leg, taken post run (#shortshorts). Slowly chipping away at it. I'm starting my right leg with Grez in July and (hopefully) Scott again.
Rose and dagger - Scott Sylvia
Blue crab - Todd Noble
Wolf and genie lamp - Ron Henry Wells
Cats - Grez
Pineapple - Drew Rash
Lilacs and mom banner - Keith Reed (unpictured, but posted in latest tattoo lowdown recently)

Great thread. love it! I´m going to add some stuff to the collection in October. Jeff Rassier is going to do a good-sized filler in crazy style on the calf, between the Horimasa and Garver tattoos. Chris O´Donnell a skull/snake on the other thigh, and Timothy Hoyer the other calf with ladie/demon/tiger hybrid (based on a painting he did last year).

A little in-progress shot my wife posted on Instagram of the peony on her elbow from Martin Lacasse at Olde City Tattoo. You can see the back of the snake as well. That's also the first peony that bloomed in our yard this spring.

Here's an in-progress shot he posted of the snake. From @lacassetattoo.

Finally, here's the ditch peony.

Sorry for my absence! Been so busy moving, traveling and getting tattooed! haha :cool:
Here's some healed pictures of my dragon-koi by Lehi, and monmon cat by Horitomo!
And a tiny lil memory-cat by Mary Joy at tattoo city! Had the best trip ever, even got to see Ed Hardy's studio!

Tattoos take as long as they take, there's not much to be gained in comparing the speed at which different tattooers tattoo, especially when they're working in very different styles.

Dmitry vision to wild cat leg sleeve

photo hosting

Just started this with Seth Wood!
Edit: ahh posting images from Tapatalk is confusing. Hopefully one of these worked!

I got this last night from Dave Regan while he is guesting at Classic Electric Tattoo in Frederick, Maryland. Beautiful shop, and town. I had just met Dave, but it felt like I was getting tattooed by an old friend. Fun times all around. Photo pilfered from Dave's instagram account. (@dutchraven)

At the request of @polliwog , here's that tattoo from @cltattooing .

This was after it was all healed except for the smoke, which later lightened to where you can see the outlines.

My pegs, tattoos by RHW (snake and rose), Cris Cleen (lady in the mirror), BHR (vulture head), Carolyn Le Bourgeois (snake, Niña Blanca), Scott Sylvia (candle burning at both ends), and Nick Colella (eagle and flag). No plans but to fill them up with rad tattoos.

In the spirit of "fuck-it" I present my left leg. @gougetheeyes now we can feel weird together.
Snake/torch by El Monga last summer at spider Murphy's
Candle/Skull by El Monga March of this year at tattoo city
Cattle Head by Stefan Johnsson Jan of last year at California electric
Planning a panther on the knee at some point but it'll have to wait a bit. The other leg has some odds n ends on the thigh, but not enough coverage for me to feel it can hang in this thread yet!