tay943

I like the idea a lot. Are you planning on having the tattoos stand alone or will you have some background tying them together?
For designs, I'd suggest looking in books. There are so many good ones out there: the Sailor Jerry books, that Zeis book (the Scott Harrison page in there is something else), the Flash From the Bowery book, the Dietzel and Burchett books, Flash From the Past/Revisited...there's so much out there. Lucky's Tattoo Museum has a bunch of flash you can look at online to give you inspiration. There's so much neat stuff out there and there's probably a lot more variety and diversity in classic flash than most of us imagine.
I think the biggest challenge with this idea would be doing traditional tattoos in a realistic style while still keeping the feel of traditional tattoos. If that's what you're going for. There's a bit in that Brian Bruno and Mike Rennie interview that really sticks out where Brian is talking about advice that Ed Hardy gave him about drawing: if you're drawing a tiger, you don't want to replicate a photo of it, you want to draw it how it makes you feel. I think that idea basically encapsulates one of the main differences between realism and traditional (loosely defined here) tattoos, and I wonder how bridging the gap between the two will work. Sometimes the most exciting things that happen in tattoos come from pushing boundaries and trying things to see how they'll work, so yeah, I love the idea.

hey everyone, thanks for paying attention to my request- i meant scales like Libra scales. Here's what Bert did!

@Cork kinda hard to get a really good pic since it wraps a bit, but i'm stoked on it

This will only make this girl's birthmark (and by association, her physical appearance) the focus of her life. By getting their daughter's 'horrible disfigurement' tattooed on them it simply highlights that her body is her most important aspect. If they really wanted to give her a better outlook on life, they should not treat the birthmark as if it has any signifigance at all, which it shouldn't. Everyone is different, and she shouldn't be made to feel that that is a bad thing, even though it is apparent that her parents (especially the mother, who cried when her baby ended up with some skin discolouration even though she was otherwise in perfect health) do.
They could have a couple of grand in a College fund by now with what they would have spent on those tattoos.

Added onto my arm yesterday with Clare Hampshire.
Could not get a decent photo at home, so pic is from her IG.

Eddy Deutsche cover/blastover from a couple of weeks ago in Oslo (Marius Meyer studio). It was such a fun day, so cool! Also met the legend Carson Vester. He told us some crazy stories!
Who said he had lost it?
New:

Old:

We ended up going with red for the cord winding through my bats after all--a dark Brick red and one called Red Velvet. Got the last peony colored and about half the cord done, so I think just one more session to finish it all up, which I think will make eight en toto. I'll post a pic as soon as the bruising around the red ink doesn't look so dire. :D

Thanks for looking. In progress neo-traditionalish Japanese sleeve. Done by Shawn VanOven at the Shamens Den Binghampton NY.

My latest and greatest tattoo on my left knee, Had a very personal battle getting this one almost tapped a couple of times.
Artist is WT Norbert so stoked to have him working just down the road from my place

"Hi! This is my daughter, Bendy Skull-Shaped Lady."

I'm with pretty much with @Graeme on this too.
I'd never planned to have any reference to my children in a tattoo, wasn't something that even occurred to me, but as it happens I ended up with one anyway.
Amongst the reference I took in before we started my arm was a copy some old botanical type drawings of eggs and nests, they weren't meant to refer to anything in particular - I just like the images. So, a few sessions in he pulled out a stencil he'd drawn up of a nest with 2 eggs in, 'you have got two children, haven't you?' he says... Well, if he'd not said that I'd probably never have associated it with them. But he did and now I have a progeny centered tattoo, which is nice. No names though.
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The only photo I can find is quite blurry and possibly not fully healed, here:
reference:
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uurg - curse of the massive photos. Sorry. This is maybe better. Maybe.

My initial two second reaction was aww.....wait...
I love my kids. I wouldn't do that.
What would they have done if their child had been born w/Down Syndrome...or missing a limb...or dwarfism? I had a coworker whose son tipped over a candle and ended up w/horrendous burns over quite a bit of his body..so to make him feel accepted by others...they what..should set themselves on fire? I don't get it. Seems more about the parents, look what we did out of love for our child..which strikes me that A. birthmarks will ruin your life and the entire world is completely unaccepting of everyone everywhere. And B. tattoos are the equivalent of "ruining" your body.
I'll stick to teaching my kids empathy and compassion for others and "different, not less".

Maybe they'll all get lasered together when she gets older, so she won't have to feel different then either.
I think this is about making the parents feel special, rather than making the child feel accepted. I don't think they had the foresight to think about how the child will feel about it when she gets older. My guess is she won't like it. There are better ways to go about making a person feel accepted and loved. Making a big deal about of their faults, or "blemish" as the article says, is not the way to do it. To me, this is sending the message that how she looks is more important than her other qualities. And since she doesn't "look perfect" the parents are going through great lengths to make sure she doesn't feel bad about it. It doesn't sit well with me that the mother says she was "heartbroken" and that she "sobbed and sobbed knowing my baby was going to permanently marked for the rest of her life." It's just a birthmark! That baby is still beautiful! And beauty isn't everything anyway.
I dunno, maybe I'd feel differently if I had a birthmark. Or a child, for that matter.

just don't post a picture because we might critique the amount of butter/salt and the number of unpopped kernels.

I echo that sentiment!
If someone posts a picture of tattoo on LST that you don't like, please don't shit all over it. Even if someone ask for critique, try to be gentle with your feedback, and educate rather than simply state how shitty you think it is.

By the time thst child is in her 20s the birthmark will most likely only cover some of her thigh, where as her parents' tattoos are going to be giant and red more-or-less forever. I saw this article on my facebook feed earlier, and at the risk of sounding heartless (I am sure they are very thoughtful and lovng parents) I feel that they should try and help their child embrace their individuality, as everyone is different - rather than go to such extremes just to make your child feel 'normal'. I dunno, just found it kind of odd.
Edited because I just read through the article and saw that her birthmark appears to be growing with her. So this could be something that could cause her to feel self-conscious. However this does bring up an intetesting question, how will she feel about her oarents tattoos as she grows older?

By the time thst child is in her 20s the birthmark will most likely only cover some of her thigh, where as her parents' tattoos are going to be giant and red more-or-less forever. I saw this article on my facebook feed earlier, and at the risk of sounding heartless (I am sure they are very thoughtful and lovng parents) I feel that they should try and help their child embrace their individuality, as everyone is different - rather than go to such extremes just to make your child feel 'normal'. I dunno, just found it kind of odd.
Edited because I just read through the article and saw that her birthmark appears to be growing with her. So this could be something that could cause her to feel self-conscious. However this does bring up an intetesting question, how will she feel about her oarents tattoos as she grows older?

By the time thst child is in her 20s the birthmark will most likely only cover some of her thigh, where as her parents' tattoos are going to be giant and red more-or-less forever. I saw this article on my facebook feed earlier, and at the risk of sounding heartless (I am sure they are very thoughtful and lovng parents) I feel that they should try and help their child embrace their individuality, as everyone is different - rather than go to such extremes just to make your child feel 'normal'. I dunno, just found it kind of odd.
Edited because I just read through the article and saw that her birthmark appears to be growing with her. So this could be something that could cause her to feel self-conscious. However this does bring up an intetesting question, how will she feel about her oarents tattoos as she grows older?

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/tattoo-designs-books-flash/2069-chest-torso-tattoos.html
Have a look through this thread, there's a lot of great work in there in the exact area you're looking for.

Wait, wait, I'VE GOT IT.
If you don't know, better go J.D. Crowe!

here's my thigh tattoo, done by Mikael De Poissy

My Kings Ave NYC experience was similar to @suburbanxcore and @CultExciter . A few artists were accommodating walk-ins between appointments. The 21 year old girls getting wrist initials and rib feathers had the pleasure of seeing me get my ass tattooed.

Just updating to say that I decided to go with it. I had an unhealthy relationship with my ex in which I would make every personal decision about my appearence or otherwise based on his approval and opinion, and I lost a lof my self-respect (and independance) that way. This is something I have made changes to ever since, and while the dymanic had definetly changed for the better with my current partner, I decided that I really didn't need his approval for something I really wanted. In talking to him, I realised that he was a little nervous about the change, but I have changed things about my appearence since we've been together that he has been suprised about, but quickly loved. So, in short, I got my crystal, and he will still love me because I am the exact same personbas before (with a little more colour).
@Coloredguy just adding to say that I'm sorry for what happened.

Latest session with Fill Wood @ Black Crown in Leeds. Gotta say, the underside of my buttocks is really tender right now. https://instagram.com/p/zVIWUtGza9/

@tay943 Originally, we were going to do teal because it is complementary--cool to go with the warm flowers. The bats are the point of the tattoo for me, as the flowers lose color over the years, the bats will still be center stage. I feel like the red (depending on what shade) would probably stand out about as much for me as the teal, overall.
Thanks for all the thoughts, you guys! She's going to end up picking anyway--I'll just go with what she decides--but she always asks, and since before I started the tattoo I wasn't intending to get color at all, I usually just go "Uhhhh..." :D

@CShaw do you really want the cord to stand out, or be harmonious with the rest of the peonies? The teal would be nearly opposite on the colour wheel to the pink flowers, so the colour would be really defined against them. A deep red cord would blend into the background a little more. Iboersonally like the idea of using teal, but I like lots of colours.