polliwog

Currently struggling with the whole "below the elbow" thing. My upper arm tattoos already aren't fully coverable with most short sleeves, so is going onto my forearm really going to make a difference?

Yeah, I said I wanted a flower but I'm leaning towards flower/swallow or moth. So far I just have 2 tattoos on my upper arm and am stuck on whether I want to move onto a more visible part of a limb.

Done. Getting one of his geometric flowers. No idea where I want to put it, but I'll figure that out when I get there...

Love his work! This might have to actually happen. Thank you!!

Well, my NY plans just fell through, so no impulsive tattoo for me. Seeing Chad K. isn't a possibility right now. Looks like I might be visiting a friend in Cleveland, though. Is there anyone I should check out while I'm there?

" You're welcome.

It sounds like you've been reading the Wikipedia article on tattoo ink, among other things. I looked at the 2 sources cited regarding the ingredients in ink & they basically say that very little is understood about how to measure "exposure" to ingredients when someone has a tattoo, specifically with regards to the lead content in tattoos. It sounds like it might potentially make a small difference over the long term but couldn't lead to anything like poisoning. I'm personally more concerned about hormones in the food I'm eating and stuff like that.

"Trade a cordless drill for tattoos or piercings" Sounds about right.

Shit, I JUST saw that he still had space as of yesterday. Will call tomorrow.

Came this close to having a Ron Wells/Chad Koeplinger month, too, but just couldn't justify it to myself...now wishing I had.

Hipsters don't really tan. Then again, I live in New England, where everyone looks like a fish belly or just slightly green unless they try really hard not to.

I'm on my feet 8 hours a day, so it looks I need to plan ahead a bit for a leg tattoo. Moving slowly isn't really an option, especially since I already do a lot of carrying for various other injured folks at work. Thanks for the input, though. Looks like I might make a vacation of it this summer.

If I can piggyback on that question, how much time off work do you allow yourselves for healing a leg tattoo?

I was struggling to articulate what was bothering me about the hipster tattoos tumblr earlier, but I think I've figured it out. Of course you shouldn't always make assumptions about someone's motivation for getting tattooed from looking at a picture. Cumulatively, though, sites like the one linked above create or maybe just feed a perception that sex appeal should be paramount for young women who get tattooed, or that getting tattooed is chiefly a way to enhance it, above all else. It's like thigh tattoos, even the most beautiful ones, only exist in tumblr-land to set off the thigh's slimness and unblemished (white) skin. I'm trying to get over some sort of bullshit that's somehow lodged in my brain that says that women like me don't get certain kinds of tattoos in certain places - like our lumpy thighs - lest we draw even more attention to our bodies. I've spent my whole life trying avoid that kind of appraisal. Anyway. We're all going to have faded thigh tattoos surrounded by veins in 50 years anyway, whether we started out as tumblr-worthy sylphs or not, so fuck it.

"That's really pretty. Please don't get any more."

I don't see what makes such a broad array of tattoos "hipster" other than that they're apparently all on young, conventionally attractive people with some sort of Instagram filter applied. - - - Updated - - - Though I'm pretty sure the dude with the giant thigh eagle doesn't look like a hipster.

Looks like my tattoo aftercare routine has automatically been upgraded from "lax" to "fastidious" with no additional effort on my part. I will now happily dispense with the evening wash.

I'm really into Kiku's backpieces, particularly this tiger. Makes me think that I might prefer this sort of approach if I ever get my back done. Apologies in the likely event that everyone is already well aware of these, but they're just so good.

Wendy Pham is in Berlin... Seeing Throwing Muses with Tanya Donnelly tonight, and Patton Oswalt doing stand-up next week. Then going to New York. A good month for a recluse.

Five hours total for your first tattoo strikes me as pretty badass, whether you "handled it well" or not. Congratulations on an excellent tattoo!

I'm also thinking of a coherent left arm tattoo. I still have space on my upper right arm but have an urge to do something on my left thigh next and let that empty arm space settle for a while. Just going on intuition.

I don't think I over-moisturize, at least I hope not. It's so dry at the moment that I've been putting less than a pea-sized amount on a few times a day post-peel. I use this lotion made locally that's the most boring lotion possible, just glycerin, some other emollients and jojoba. This winter in New England has been so cold and miserable for skin that it's probably just an awkward time to heal a tattoo.

Just wondering if I should be trying to encourage a slower peel, somehow - I seem to peel all at once somewhere on the 3rd day. I'm probably a little more lax about washing than I should be and usually just do 2 or 3 times a day during those first 3 days, followed by nothing on day 1 and a tiny bit of Aquaphor on days 2 & 3. I haven't really had a problem with losing color before, other than a bit of yellow, but the skin underneath's so tender that the flaking feels a little premature. It basically looks like the skin of a nonagenarian on prednisone and feels hot to the touch. Maybe this is completely normal, though. I'll be doing a second light peel soon.

I'll be in NYC at the end of March and may or may not get a small impulsive tattoo depending on how rich -- or not -- I'm feeling. I'm going with my tattoo-averse SO, though (which is another story), so my opportunities to stop by shops are limited. I was hoping to stop by Smith St and NY Adorned, anyway.

@Eilin, just incredible, jealousy-transcending work.