PopsBdog

Get a skull.

As above: if you're worried about getting something because you think it's trendy, it's probably trendy. But if you really like it, just get it.

From an artists perspective, i'd say go in at least with an idea of the tattoos the artist youve chosen has done that you like and explain why you like them (colours, layout,subject etc) and at best say youd like something along those lines.
dont go in saying 'do what you want', no one ever really means that and if they explain something they'd be stoked to do and you say, yeah but not that. well, then you will have a deflated and slightly annoyed artist in your hands, vague guidance is great.
the artist puts out there work theyve enjoyed or that shows their ability, all within the realm of what that customer asked for, however, so just cos you like what you see them posting doesnt mean it's what they want to do, it might be something entirely different that they simply havent gotten a chance to tattoo ever before.

It really depends on the particular tattooer. In my experience, most want some direction, but it comes down to how individual tattooers prefer to work.
With that said, I do believe in the idea that people more or less get the tattoos they deserve. Nobody begins knowing anything about tattoos and knowledge is gained through getting tattooed, though spending time learning about tattoos, looking at them and so on. So if you feel that you don't have much of an imagination when it comes to tattoos but aren't actively trying to improve that imagination, then just wanting a cool tattoo probably isn't going to hack it.

I'm bothered by it sometimes. We all have our own boundaries. An Indian Headdress, for example, is a tattoo I would not wear. I have no intention of calling out someone who would as I don't know their relationship with that imagery. I really like Ganesha as a tattoo image but will probably not have it done because I don't know enough about the meaning. I might get Isis someday as she has mostly fallen off as a current god. Perhaps she will come back someday. My daughter could use a god created in her image to look up to. Like many people I struggle with consistency.
The only caution I would have for all of us, myself included, is to not give tattoos a free pass on some of these kinds of issues just because we like tattoos. It's an easy trap to fall into.

I try to ignore them, personally. Unless intentionally and obviously a racial/ethnic/religious/national/whatever slur, there are too many people inventing and imagining slights just to draw attention to themselves and gain control over others. There are too many real problems with society to worry about reading something into someone's ink.

#breaktheinternet lol haha
thx G-man
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And we loved reading about them! Too often we just see the tattoo and don't often get the chance to hear/share the intimate details behind each tattoo experience. Really appreciated the stories, they put your tattoos in context and makes those tattoos even more powerful!

I don't really get asked this question. I must come across as the unfriendly type, which is exactly the point of visible tattoos.

My standard response to the "what do they all mean" question is....... "it means I REALLY LIKE TATTOOS!

I agree about the meaning-thing. Someone just was admiring mine the middle of last week and she said she just hasn't found anything that means enough to her yet. And everyone wants to know what the meaning is behind mine..."Um..I really like flowers and they make me happy. I love water. And I wish I could fly so...yanno..wind.." Someone did ask me years ago tho why I had Tony the Tiger tattooed on my ankle and I about came unglued. TIGGER. Get it right. And even still, the only "meaning" I can find there is that Tigger makes me happy and speaks to the kid in me who will never grow up.

The first time I travelled to Asia was in 2008. I was very privileged to have my Sifu (Master, RIP) take me along with his family to Foshan, China to learn about the roots of Wing Chun kung fu and experience Chinese culture. Then we would spend time in Hong Kong to train Ving Tsun with his Master (my Sigung, grandfather teacher).
We had some free time and went to explore the street markets one evening. We had been in the area the day before and I noticed the big blue “TATTOO” sign on the busy street. My curiousity had me drawn to it and I wanted to see what it was all about. I would say I was still inexperienced at this time, 5 years after my first piece (maybe 50hrs in?) however tattoo culture was becoming something I had become very fascinated by. If you wanted to see pictures of tattoos you would muster some courage, suffer through the intimidation of ~actually going into~ a tattoo shop; you could see what your punker friends had scratched on each other; you would sneak a peak at the BME website (the internet! Oh my!).
I went off on my own at night time to find this mysterious tattoo shop. I had split off on my own, away from my group. My time was limited to explore. I found the building underneath the big blue sign, went up several flights of a dark dingy stairwell. And there it was “JIMMY HO TATTOO”. Just an apartment door framed with classic tattoo flash pasted to the wall. So I rang the buzzer…
I thought maybe it would be cool to get a tattoo in China…but I was also very hesitant. Did I have enough time? My group didn't know where I took off too and I had to meet back pretty soon. I was uncertain about the safety of the needles and ink. Healthwise it seemed risky. China isn't exactly the cleanest place in the world. How was I going to heal a new tattoo being in the hot sun all day and then training (contact) the evening? Afterall, my focus in Hong Kong was Ving Tsun.
...I remember being so nervous when I rang the buzzer. Shaky. There was no answer. So I waited for a bit, my curiousity had brought me this far. But what the hell was I doing here? Sketchy. And then a head suddenly appeared through a gap in the flash covered window. This older gentleman opened the door, poked his head into the stairwell to see who else was around and waved me in.
I was pretty mesmerized. Here I am a younger, naïve kid, swept up in the energy of Hong Kong at night. Here I was in a sketchy, dimly lit building in an old man’s apartment studio. Old timey flash, certificates, photos, a lot of tattoo history covering every square inch of the 300 sqft apartment. What in the hell was I doing here?
“Tattoo?” He said. That was about the only English he knew and would speak to me.
He motioned at my long sleeve shirt, I didn’t have any of my tattoos showing. So I took off my shirt and showed him the work I had amassed at that point. Both my arms fully covered. Some leg tattoos. A big dragon on my ribs. He gave an approving half smile and motioned for me to sit down.
I think this man knew that I wasn’t there to get a tattoo from him that night. However he made my curiosity feel welcomed in his studio. Looking around the studio it felt like a risky place to get tattooed and I felt I wasn't experienced enough to think otherwise. Not very sanitary by North American standards (but probably cleaner than some of those tattoo conventions haha). The bench pillow was covered in ink and blood stains. I couldn’t see an autoclave. The ink bottles in the corner looked a little crusty. The older tattooer gentleman didn’t have any visible tattoos and there was a serious language barrier.
He gave me some his photo albums to flip through. It wasn’t a portfolio. It was more like family photo albums. Very old pictures of some American-classic tattoo designs he had made on people - eagles, panthers, daggers, hearts. There were pictures of him with groups of shirtless Chinese men, dragon and tiger backpieces and sleeves on display. Photos of this older Chinese gentleman with who I would assume to be elder American and European tattooers (I would be to naïve to have named at that time in my tattoo journey…I’m pretty sure there was a pic of him with Hardy, I think Pinky too? I really can’t remember).
The whole experience was very surreal, I was nervous and awe-struck. I was going to have an amazing story about meeting Jimmy Ho, but would anybody really believe me? Or care? Afterwards, I did a bit of research (in which there was and still is limited info online). It turns out Jimmy Ho was the son of the late James Ho, who opened up Rose Tattoo, one of the first tattoo shop in Hong Kong back in the 1940s. My mind was blown that I had just had an exchange with a man from tattoo royalty.
The next day I was exploring and ended up checking out another tattoo studio “Star Crossed Tattoo”. It was run by two friendly UK ex-pats Ross and Julia. I spent the afternoon talking with them about HK life, punk rock, tattoos, watched Julia tattoo and confirmed a few things. Yes, I had just met Jimmy Ho. He was tattoo royalty in Hong Kong. Hygiene standards were very questionable in Hong Kong/China at that time. Very risky, healthwise. The HK tattoo scene wasn’t regulated by the health board.
Later on in the trip I would venture back to the area of Jimmy Ho’s tattoo shop. I didn’t take any pictures inside his shop, I was too distracted by the reality of the interaction - a human exchange about tattoos that happened in spite of a language and cultural barrier - and I didn’t want to be disrespectful towards a man that had let a stranger into his studio apartment. But I wanted to get a picture of the big blue TATTOO sign from the street during daylight.

At that time I realized that I must have been a batshit crazy kid (even if I did know some kung fu!) to take a back alley into this area at night time, as there were a bunch of strip clubs, bath houses, massage parlours and gambling going on in the area with Triad looking Chinese (dragon/tiger halfsleeves) working the doors on the block. Not a place a young white tourist would want to find himself alone at night time. No guts, no glory I guess haha.
I didn’t get a tattoo on the trip. And I have no regrets about that. But what Jimmy Ho did give me was an incredible memory and experience. Another story to go along with all the pictures I wear on my body.
Thank you for reading :)
PS If anybody has any further info about Jimmy Ho, James Ho, Hong Kong tattoo history please do share, love to learn more about it.
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I did find this https://www.facebook.com/jimmy.ho.7127/media_set?set=a.292623604111543.71717.100000917175393&type=3

Thanks so much for saying that- I sincerely can't tell you how much I needed to hear that. They definitely are awesome tattoos, and I don't think I'm going to mess with them.
My wife and I were out walking the dogs last night, and I looked back to see our little female Boston crossing the street. She was excited and panting and looked exactly like the tattoo. I think the artist kind of unknowingly captured her "crazy look." She looks the same way when she has been running around the dogpark and is in the process of stalking her older brother for whatever he has in his mouth.
I think you hit the nail on the head, though- I guess the look doesn't quite match what I had in my head, but it's still her and it's still some very cool ink that I will grow to love over time.

Too fast? ...tattooing isn't a race
Going too fast is when you have a bunch of tattoos lined but none are actually finish. I'm surprised how many people I see and know that don't finish what they start (and not just in tattoos, but in the ins and outs of life). If your arm is only lined in, why are you getting hand and neck tattoos? The ADD generation of tattooing.
Focus, commit and get the project done. Take your time to enjoy the experiences and the tattoos. Enjoy watching the tattoos heal and age. But most importantly take the time to enjoy the other things in life aside from tattooing. Balance.
I'll pass on the 'too fast' and stick with the tried and true method of the tortoise, 'slow n steady'. That's how I achieved my coverage over a dozen years thus far, the way I've made my pictures and my stories. I like what was said before about "the journey" and about "the larger experience". cheers :)

And perhaps most notably: some of the stuff that I _absolutely_ wanted to get 2 years ago, I am really happy I didn't get. Not that it would be really bad tattoos, they would probably be good, but more so that now I know better, and don't want to waste the space with anything less than optimal. Also goes for changing my taste and finding artists that I like better. For example I have this idea for a lady head and at first I was so sure I wanted to have Sarah Carter do it, but now probably two years has passed since I first got the idea and about 10 tattooers have been considered, and I am still not sure haha

i always tell people to get the tattoo they want, where they want it. don't let friends or others opinions of size/pain/location of tattoo affect your decisions.

The Horitoshi documentary is fantastic. I got it a few years ago on DVD. You can get it here:
LA VOIE DE L'ENCRE Lardux Boutique
In terms of which Traditional Japanese artists I like the most it's kind of like trying to pick your favorite sweet in a candy store. Obviously Horiyoshi III is very high but I feel that kind of goes without saying. Beyond him I love the work of Horiyasu. The black that he gets is so dark and smooth and the colors are incredibly vibrant to go with it. Horitoshi is obviously very good as well. I would also mention Horimasa from Isesaki. He did a phoenix on my lower right leg a couple of years ago at the Brighton Tattoo Convention. He worked incredibly quickly and produced an amazing piece. I am thinking about getting something else big from him in the future but that depends on time and money. This is the phoenix I got though.

HAHA, you'd have to pay me to do the whole thing, but the discussion around 16:00 about successors is pretty interesting. He says that until three years ago, he had a successor (Horitoshi II) lined up, but that the successor did not abide the rules of the family and was expelled. Then, he had a Horitoshi III lined up, but that this potential successor had no intention of leading the family. So, he has decided that they will elect a Horitoshi III democratically between him and his three oldest "sons." The ideal successor, he says, has to be good at tattooing, but also a man of character. He has to be mild-mannered because he (Horitoshi I/the family) has various domestic and international relations to maintain, and dedicated to the family.
In another really interesting bit of the interview, at around 24:00, he says his "family" differs from other families in that his relationship with his "family" members is really one between father and son rather than master and apprentice. The apprentices start as such, but after spending some time apprenticing and being deemed worthy based on character, they become his sons. That is why they call him "Oyaji" (Pops) rather than "sensei." Despite this, in the most unfortunate case, he says, an apprentice/son left the family after six years.
Finally, towards the end, Horitoshi expresses his devotion to the preservation of tebori as a Japanese tradition. He says that ultimately, he is teaching his apprentices to maintain tradition. The Horitoshi Family, in Japan, he says, is the family most dedicated to tattooing as a Japanese tradition. Machines could be used for lining, but shading has to be done by hand to preserve tattooing as a Japanese art. He doesn't think tattooing will be accepted in Japan anytime soon, but maybe in fifty years, Japanese people will have a more "casual" attitude toward it.

You guys are amazing so I thought I better give you all an update on how I'm feeling about the tattoo and in general! The past month has been a bit up and down for me personally so Sick is totally right, I have a few things to start to sort out. And some lessons to learn. I agree with Hands On as well that I wish the fox didn't warp around as much, but you are all right to say that I need to learn a lesson from the whole experience and just learn to love it. Which I wouldn't say I'm at "love" yet but I'm starting to feel really cool and have had some good and bad reactions to the tattoo and am starting to take both in stride. And the main thing from the fox is that I want to get more tattoos! So it's not diminished my passion for ink.
To address some of your questions. I went in with a totally different design and the artist suggested origami and I suggested a fox. Foxes have meaning for me and my best friend lives in Japan so origami does too. The fox is in that place on my arm because I have a scar represented a bad time in my life and I wanted it covered for about 2 years but never could decide on exactly what to get. I do like to trust the artists because I don't see myself as a creative person, but this is difficult because I am not a heavily inked person so by no means an expert. That's why I'm glad to have found you guys.
Anyway, that was a bit rambling. But thank you all for your honesty and for your help and advice. I will take it to heart, and it means a lot to me when people tell it like it is. So thank you again. Xx
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I use the 10/10 rule. If you probably not going to be able to tell what it is in 10 years from 10 feet away, then it's too small

yes ! get it bigger , get a larger tattoo that won't look like a "bubble gum pack" sticker.
yes,don't get a fucking tiny souvenir tattoo then.

Basically this. At 20, I would definitely have hesitated, and probably stayed above the elbow. I'm turning 34 this year, I'm financially secure and settled into a profession that allows me to work at home, I live in an area of the country that's pretty liberal, and I've been waiting for over 15 years to get tattooed -- I really didn't think twice, to be honest.
It was still nice to have a tattooer ask me if tattooing down to my wrists was okay, though. It felt nice to know it mattered to him. It was also kind of nice to know he was okay with tattooing them, because I felt like I had maybe officially crossed the line between being a plainskin noob and being A Tattooed Person. (It was Gilsdorf, if anybody's curious.)
Here's a funny tidbit, though: During that appointment we were talking about the experience of getting tattooed generally, and I was laughing about how, even though I'm not very tattooed, I still find myself wringing my hands about running out of space. And Dan goes, 'I don't think you're 'not very tattooed' anymore, by civilian standards,' and I had to tell him that I think my perspective is now permanently warped by all the time I spend lurking around here, hahaha. Compared to LST's crew, I've barely even gotten started.

I just realized the same thing...
My wedding ring for sure always shows, but all the rest just peek an inch or two out of the sleeves of a t-shirt.
My next tattoo is going to be on my right forearm. Once I figure out who is doing it, it is done.
During the summer it will always be out. I like dat. :)

If there is one thing I learned in this 8 page thread that I created; you shouldn't have just called it San Fran!!!
Had I known more about tattooing back when I made my trip to SF, I would have gone to Oakland to visit Temple and FTW.

The City, SF, San Francisco. That's it!
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When you say vintage, I immediately think of Paul Dobleman, Stu Cripwell, Theo Mindell at Spider Murphy's. Heath Preheim at Temple would be your guy too. Juan Puente at Blackheart can do anything and everything. Jason Phillips at FTW in Oakland, too. Shit, too many options! This is why I don't really want to travel for a tattoo anymore (with the exceptions of Regino, Santoro, Boltz, etc.)
Jason McAfee at Temple kills it with the California tattoos. I would like to get one myself from him.