Ragen

Sigh, I knooowwwwwww. I was just way off in my own internal estimation of how long this would take. Little teeny-tiny scales with little teeny-tiny shadows and little teeny-tiny glints of sun off of each one. Aughghgh! :rolleyes:

Just file this in the bitch-bitch-whine-whine folder.

As my tattooer once said while working on my backpiece "be thankful you've got a tiger there, not some dragon - just imagine how tattooing all those damn scales would feel and how long would it take!". lol

@misterJ Those are some solid wind bars. I love the ones that look like that. Very traditional. That guy over your shoulder, straight 'mirin.

Ah boy, tattoo anxiety settling in. The back is such a mind game. Even a few beers deep and I'm still apprehensive. I'm going to be so happy when this is over with. Anyone else who has a completed back piece ever get to that stage where you just want it over with? I've been pretty patient with this whole process, and it's completely worth it, but damn, it would be nice to have this thing done, ha. Been 13 months so far.

I totally feel you. So glad it's finished! Here are the photos, btw. Done and done, yay!

@Cork whoa, that's totally awesome!

Blue sessions are always draining for me... Last time my skin just wouldn't take the blue colour in.. had to ink and re-ink the area 3 times and it still required correction, ugh...

That great feeling in the morning when you're not only completely stuck to the back of your shirt, but have gooped up the the bedsheets, and your hair is trapped and dried to the outside of the shirt. Took 15 minutes in the shower to soak off the shirt. I hate this part. Barf.

Reading posts like this makes me realise how lucky I am. I've never experienced anything like this and I've got my back fully covered. I always heal fast. Like, REALLY fast. The bleeding stops completely in about 30 minutes after getting tattooed and my tattoos are always dry and clean. Still, I do get my fair share of pain and itching ))

I'm almost done with mine! Can't beleive it, haha

Everyone's tattoos are so awesome! This thread is killing it.

Here's a pic of mine from yesterday's session.

Had my oni coloured yesterday.. Took about 4 hours and some work still needs to be done as you can see..

Update on my back ) Next session's scheduled for February 10. There should be only about 5 sessions to go..

Holy shit! It's beyond awesome, @Cork

Three words: my effing back. I heal pretty fast but first 2-3 days are always rough..

@Ragen Very unique style, really good work. How many hours are you into your back now?

Cheers! :) Three sessions so far, about 16 hours in total. I've got another appointment scheduled for January 31 - gonna get that oni coloured. Can't wait!

@<a href="http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/member.php?u=22726" target="_blank">Ragen</a> -- that is killer. Who's the artist again?

Nadezhda 'Norma' Gnatyuk. She's a local artist in Moscow, Russia.

One more session down ) Spent about 4 hours on the raven. Those damn feathers, ugh..

Got some shading done last Saturday. Can't wait for more!

Hey, there's book called 'Yurei attack', it's good way to start. You can decide what kind of yurei you're looking for and then google the crap out of it, heh Also 'The illustrated book of japanese monsters' might be useful.

My dad absolutely hates my tattoos. Mum, on the other hand, is planning on getting one herself, haha So I guess, my dad should just suck it up.

Same artist. I've got four fairly large pieces from her so far and now she's working on my back right now. It's very important for me to feel comfortable with the person and we definitely have this kind connection.

The small of my back... gosh... Also, my calves. For some reason they are like, super sensitive. And tend to I get awful muscle spasms. :/ My leg would jerk every 5 seconds and my artist (who's rather tiny) had to hold it down with all her weight. That was embarrassing as I normally sit like rock, ugh

That looks awesome who's the artist?

Nadezhda 'Norma' Gnatyuk. She's a local artist (Moscow, Russia) and I just absolutely love her work. I've got a half sleeve from her as well.. And a couple more tattoos, actually, haha

You don't see many tattooed people here in Russia, especially girls. So I get plenty of obnoxious stares... Not to mention that people are absolutely viscious here... and very rude! haha Mostly I just ingnore them. Why the heck would I let some stranger affect my mood in any way? I love my ink and I couldn't care less about people's opinions..

I can see that petroleum based creams cause can cause scabbing , but the creams themselves dont cause staph. As you say we are all covered in staph , but it doesn't become a problem until the skin is opened. I have been using bepanthen for years and have never had an infection. I think good hygiene ad not layering huge amounts of cream on the tattoo is key to preventing infection . On my most recent tattoos I have been rewrapping for 3 days and this has turned out the fastest healing scab free tattoos I have ever had.

Bepanthen's totally amazing. Well, it works for me at least. I never rewrap, though. But then again I heal weirdly fast - the bleeding stops pretty much in ten minutes after I was tattooed so my tattoos are always clean and dry and I never get any scabs.. for which I am eternally grateful, haha