omeletta

Hm, do you mean you wouldn't want any of your original skin tone in the tattoo? Not sure this would look good TBH.

But your image examples are rather extreme as they really only use lines. If you look at Susanne Koenig's stuff for instance, you can see that she uses different lines, dots as well as shading which makes it looking much more interesting IMO.

Also, Morg Armeni's tattoos seem woodwork inspired to me and they are filled with colour and are very cool:

Maybe one of these are closer to what you're looking for?

I have fantastic apps for this already and they are called instagram and tapatalk ;-)

Feel free to browse this forum for ideas though and do let us know if you need help picking an artist...

This is where we are at present.

Even getting close to the nipple sucked so I can't imagine what it feels like on it.

My thoughts are it isn't as stark not being done as I expected as it flows with the clouds etc.

Comments?

I think it looks fine and nobody is going to notice. Just leave it.

Not strictly 'news', but it made me chuckle this morning, so I thought I'd share:

Man's Tattoo A Constant Reminder of Time He Stabbed Panther In Face - The Hard Times

Thank you! I used Tegaderm for my piercings when I go swimming, and I love how sterile it is, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to find one that is sized right for my sternum (going between my breast and under them from one side to the other).

Interesting, I didn't know that you can use Tegaderm for piercings, too. I'm not into piercing though, so why would I... ;-)

Anyway, it comes in different sizes but if it's still too small, you can use several pieces. Just make sure they overlap a little. I think I used two about A4 sized ones on my thigh. You'd want to make sure to give it enough space around the actual tattoo so it doesn't leak. If you do consider using it, it's probably worth going through the above thread or post specific question in there.

Hi, welcome!

What are you going to get and who's doing it?

Check out these threads for stories and tips:

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/crazy-tattoo-stories/5-your-first-tattoo-story.html

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/crazy-tattoo-stories/250-pre-post-tattoo-rituals.html

I haven't had to fly yet but you might want to look into Tegaderm/Saniderm. Some people hate it, some love it. I've used it for my thigh tattoos and are pretty much sold. Super easy and worry free healing.

Lots of info about it in this thread:

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-after-care/4795-tegaderm-saniderm-tatuderm-healing-process-page4.html

Happy reading :-)

It is way in the bowels of his instagram.

Wow, when you said chest piece I was thinking of upper half only, but this is almost like a full front, isn't it? Crazy good and also crazy fast!

@sophistre much respect for going for a full back! Looking forward to seeing pics soon

Hi Billy,

A few thoughts...

To be honest, I don't think I'd actually want my son around when getting tattooed. This would only be feasible for very short sessions anyway. Unless perhaps there is someone around who actively entertains them and looks after them. Probably a matter of age (of the kids). My son is only four, so I'm thinking along the lines of "Mummy, I need a wee" and "I'm hungry" and "I'm bored". Argh. On the other hand, it would make coming in for a consultation easier. So, why not. Might be raising the next generation there ;-)

Graeme's link will give a bit food for thought re opening a shop as a collector. It sounds all rather negative I suppose, but I don't think it's impossible. After all, the owner of Frith Street Tattoo in London is not a tattooer as far as I'm aware. The shop has reputable artists and I believe a lot of people on this forum would happily get tattooed there. No idea how and why it works in that shop, but I reckon it comes down to how you handle it and what the deal is for the artists.

I wouldn't put a foo dog on an arm as I think more space would do the animal more justice. The arm foo dogs I have seen so far, were all lacking IMO. I may be slightly biased though as I have a largish shishi on my thigh and do think the size is pretty much perfect ;-)

I'm not familiar with the tennyo story, but how about 'just' adding some nice Japanese flowers? Peonies, chrysanthemums and lotus flower tattoos tend to be very pretty! Water i.e. fingerwaves could be nice, too.

I've seen kids of different ages at the London as well as Brighton Convention and it seemed to be fine. After having been to those two conventions I'd totally take my now four year old next time to show him how mummy got her pictures on her legs ;-)

The thing is though, that it would be less relaxed for me and my partner and that we wouldn't be able to stay as long and take in as much as we'd like because our boy still needs quite a bit of attention. And to be fair I guess he would be bored after an hour or two. Still would be quite an experience for him, I image.

I wouldn't worry about the kids distracting the artist at all, unless they are likely to walk into the stall and cause havoc which might be a bit of a problem ;-) But there is so much noise and so many people around anyway, kids don't make a difference.

Let us know how it went and whether they liked it!

Hey crafty, welcome! Very sorry for your loss!

To be honest, my first reaction to your idea was 'ugh creepy', but on second thought I have to say it's actually quite lovely and will probably feel very powerful and intimate at the same time.

As for the placement, to me, on the chest near where the heart is seems like a very appropriate place if your chosen design fits.

Not sure about the taboo factor, but as you're not going to be dealing with bankers or lawyers (no offence to anyone on this forum of course) but tattooists, I think your chances are good not to get kicked out straight away ;-)

@ironchef You're ahead of me then...they are meant to go up in my bedroom as well, but I haven't even managed to buy frames for them. May be a good job today though, as I'm down with a stupid tummy bug. It might make me feel better ? Did you go for white frames?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Looking absolutely fantastic! Would also love to see it in person, but as that's unlikely to happen, how about a little video at least....? ? And I agree, Mike Rubendall's waves are superb! I bought finger wave prints from him at the London convention the other day coz I love waves and I think they are among the best!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Hey welcome! As everyone said already, it's a good tattoo! You don't mention in which way it's different from what you envisioned, so I guess you're not quite sure yourself. Maybe it's the fact that it's quite straight and not very...curvy?

In any case, I wouldn't try to change this one but rather add more around it. Something along the lines of vines, butterflies, birds, or even just more flowers perhaps.

If you're not happy with the communication with your tattooer, don't go back. People on this board will be more than happy to recommend someone in your area. And remember, there is no rush!

TEGADERM

Gentle warning: when you take off the dressing it will LOOK like you're taking off some colour, this is perfectly normal though and no reason for concern...

Seriously, you found getting a tattoo too expensive and therefore bought a tattoo machine instead???

This will probably the nicest reply you'll get on this forum: Good Luck!

Hey, welcome! That's gonna a be a massive torso piece!

If you like, post your drawings in this thread: How about an art show?

Only your second tattoo? Sorry, I think I must have confused you with another poster over on the convention thread! :o Regardless, that is jaw-droppingly beautiful and you are a badass for finishing it.

Lol, no worries, I'm working on it, even though slowly ;-)

@omeletta's lion just made my jaw drop. You have been getting some of the coolest tattoos!

Thanks @polliwog, that's too kind :-) I'm well happy with it! I don't have that many though, not yet anyway...

Just posted the shishi in latest tattoo down.

Didn't get to see much of the convention unfortunately. I only picked up a few stickers and also a set of awesome finger wave prints by Mike Rubendall. Would have loved to see the Ed Hardy stuff but was so hungry and tired after getting tattooed I just ate something and headed home as it was getting late.

Really like the venue though. I've only been to the Brighton convention before where all the tattooing was happening in one huge hall and I remember it being super noisy. In London everything felt better spaced out and at least where I was sitting, it was quiet enough to relax somewhat.

Got this Shishi Lion from Alix Ge at the London convention yesterday (pic nicked from her instagram):

When I arrived, Alix was still drawing. She told me we couldn't put the tattoo on the side of my thigh like I had asked for because for that I would have to lie down and she only had a chair. Well, alright then. When I came back from a short tour around the convention she had obviously done another drawing which was much bigger than the first. She thought the animal had to be rather large to be nice, good with me. But she didn't think we could fit peonies as well, would I be happy with cherry blossoms instead...? Bummer...what? Noooo...! Oh well, so we agreed to put on the lion stencil and see then. Stencil went on, peonies were added freehand. No problem, all fitted on there nicely....but...that was gonna be a looong session. If I was a strong woman, she asked. Ermmmmm, well, I bl**dy hoped so...what else could I say? She looked at me particularly sceptical after she found out it was only my second tattoo....

Obviously, we made it, yippie!!!

Six hours on a folding chair with two breaks. Even though I got some odd looks and remarks for running around with a pillow under my arm, I was well glad I had brought it because it made the chair way more comfortable! Apart from that, getting tattooed at the convention was actually surprisingly good as there was so much to watch and get distracted by. I could openly stare at all the tattoos walking by and quite a few people gave me encouraging smiles and words. That was really cool.

Alix is super lovely and I kinda felt a little bad for her having to sit on her small suitcase for hours. Towards the end she told me that she wouldn't be able to do what I did and that she'd never get a tattoo that takes more than one hour herself. I doubt that's actually true, but it was a sweet thing to say anyway.

Suffice to say I'm super chuffed but also glad it's over!

And this morning my 3 1/2 year old greeted me excitedly with "Mummy, I have a tattoo, too!". Turns out the entire family has tattoos now, some of them of the temporary type, some rather not ;-)

Slightly surreal. Sitting at London convention, watching lots of people/tattoos walk by and listening to French chansons with Alix singing along while tattooing me...quite entertaining actually.

Just got there, no queue whatsoever, so far so good.

I have a Tapatalk account, and have used the registered Pro version (hated it). Still the likes don't stick for LST.

That's lame! Not you, Tapatalk of course...

Damn you're right :-(

Do you have a Tapatalk account? I don't as I didn't see the point for that. But I had to find out already that this is the reason I can't unsubscribe from threads using the app. Maybe these problems are related??

Can anyone tell me if I have to turn up real early to get in by noon? Looking at photos from the previous years I see terribly long queues and according to the convention website they open the gate at 9am so people can get into the venue at 11.30am....?!?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk