peaceridge

Yeah, I misspoke - it is Horitomo that I like - it is his color work along with the grey that attracts me. I do like Horitaka's stuff, but he doesn't quite do the color quite the same as Horitomo, although, to be sure, I'd be quite honored to be tattooed by either. Having confused the names, I'll be much more careful in the future. Thank goodness, I did double check before I called and asked for Horitomo. I have the Perseverance catalog in which I checked out both artists.

@peaceridge: I'm a little confused. Are you talking about Horitaka or Horitomo? They both work at State of Grace, but only Horitomo does monmon cats. Just curious.

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@peaceridge Look into Tick in Las Cruces NM. She does really good Japanese. Really good everything, really.

Thanks, I'll look at her work - especially since I'm currently camped close to there.

Thanks Kbeee, You gave me the push to call. Which I did. Of course, non unexpectedly, he has a 2 year waiting list. I'm kind of sorry he's so popular, because I really like his work - of course, that's why he's so popular! Anyway, I'm to get in touch with his assistant when she gets back in the country in a week or so. I'm going to get on his list, but probably not for the dragon as, at my age, 2 years is really long and I want to enjoy it - I'll probably ask for a monmon cat on my leg.

Anyway, do you know of some one, maybe not as popular, who does good Japanese work?

Thanks for your reply, or I wouldn't have had the nerve to call them!

Honestly, as clear as you are about Horitaka...you should do it. NM really isn't that far of a drive (15 hours). Not for something like that. You can grab a like-minded buddy and split gas. And State of Grace is so awesome. Sitting in the little traditional room getting a Japanese tattoo from one of those guys, especially if you are into the history/tradition/evolution of tattoos in general...it's just really cool and sort of its own thing in a way. I can not recommend it enough if you have the hankering to do it. And then when you are done getting tattooed you can go around the corner and eat really yummy Ramen/noodle. You should call the shop tomorrow and see what his schedule is like....you never know.

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Jumping in here. I, too, have very small arms. Lou at ten penny tattoo in Albuquerque was great in both my cover up and in my tiger covering my right arm from elbow to wrist. Now I'd like to have my left arm, from tattoo to wrist, covered in a dragon (would really like it intertwined with a phoenix, but my arm is just too small - I also have 5 1/2" wrist).

I probably will go back to Lou for my dragon, but would really, really like to have it done by Horitaka is at State of Grace Tattoo - since that is probably impossible - any suggestions - I'm currently near Deming, NM, but have RV will travel.

Hi @Vaas!

You'll read it on this forum time and time again...its's really important that you find the right artist...a good one. There are tattooers that can put incredible detail in a very small space and even more tattooers who can't make a large tattoo readable (especially over time). A good tattooer will work with you and be unafraid too tell you what will or will not be legible and why.

Perhaps if you give us a better idea of what you mean by "intricate" and your locale, we can point you in the direction of some good artists in your area to check out.

Thanks Jimmyirish, I appreciate the feedback. Will do as you suggest.

First the background: A tattooer's work that I like so much is very famous - actually one of the greats. I don't really care about his fame, I just really like his style and color work. I do find a couple of tattooers in his shop acceptable, but not the others so much. I want a "laughing" dragon (which is probably not his tradition) intertwined with a phoenix. I probably wouldn't get in to see him for a couple of years, if then, but I might get into one of the others in his shop that I like.

My question - is it impolite to inquire about the kind of tattoo I want even if I think it is not his tradition, i.e. the laughing dragon? If he doesn't want to do it, is it impolite to list his shop tattooers that would be acceptable to me?

I love my current tattoos, but I'd really like an outstanding one for my arm.

Thanks,

Welcome.

I have dog hair to contend with - 2 that shed a lot all the time! My solution is to crate them the first night, then I apply Saniderm for 4 days. Once it is off, the new tattoo is healed enough that the dog hair is not a problem.

Here's my new white tiger:

Tiger on forearm Tattoo Picture | Last Sparrow Tattoo and

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/gallery/member/17265-tiger-on-forearm.html&imageuser=50982

@peaceridge - I came across these today on instagram, by Stefan Johnsson:

I know which one I'd prefer, but to each their own! ;)

Yeah, I figure you like the second one - thanks, I really do like the first one best!

Appreciate your finding them.

I painted this several years ago, just pulled out a pic of it and am trying to decide if I want to use it on my upcoming tiger tattoo.

To catch up with everyone nice enough to answer (I’ve been traveling today), Thanks

“Shaun1105 : They're all snarling because that generally just looks more awesome.

sighthound: Because tigers are fierce, aggressive, and lethal - lords of the jungle.”

Yes, I can see the point – will consider those elements for a fierce looking one.

polliwog - really pretty, but not quite what I’m looking for – I’m wanting a different expression, more like that of TrixieFaux – yeah I saved that one to think about!

Graeme – I’m still looking through the ukiyo-e tigers – really like them, too.

exume and Graeme – thanks for reminding me – I really love his episodes – I wish the Japan 2 would come out.

Thanks to all of you – I have more research to do – and, of course, my artist will be the final determiner – I have a very small arm and it has a couple of tattoos coming over from the one on my inner arm. So, I’m going to let him decide how to best place it.

A couple of questions: I'm getting a tiger on the outside of my lower right arm. Why are all the tigers snarling? I like the expression on this one - confident, but ready to do what needs doing: my insert image from my computer is still greyed out -anyone know why? I'll wait for a reply before putting it up in my gallery (which has no place to put pics of real animals, I guess I'll put it in animals later.

My second question - er 4th - but second tattoo question. I'm such a nooby, please don't laugh. If I decide to have the full body on my forearm, is the tiger going up or down my arm? I've looked through the gallery, but can't tell where the elbows and wrists are! If it is just the head, I think the chin is towards my hand?

It worked fine for me in Firefox in Win7. I suspect it is the Flash plugin that is giving your problems. BTW, interesting read!

You are totally correct. Once I upgraded to the newest version of the Flash, it enlarged so I could read it. I also agree, it is an interesting read.

I'm on a Windows machine, using Firfox and can't zoom with it - zooming works for all the pages except the ones I mentioned. I'll try on my android and if it that will work, although my tablet is really small. I'll also try on Chrome and the microsoft browser - I hadn't thought of that, so thanks.

Unfortunately most of the pages are unreadable - font too small and no way to make them bigger - not true for all the pages, but true for pages 39, 40, and 41.

Ok, you folks have convinced me - I need to get a monmon from him. Maybe he would be open to doing one of my dog - I've been thinking about how to do that, anyway. Here is my textured Cardigan Welsh Corgi. I just put it in http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/gallery/member/17191-thinking-of-this-for-a-tattoo.html&imageuser=50982[/img] - can't figure out how to upload it from my computer (the little icon is greyed out - probably because I haven't posted 10 quality posts)

Look at my 38 year old one in my Gallery! I'm still astonished that the colors are still good, even if the outline has "grown".

Remember I know nothing - I'm trying to go through the whole forum to understand the different types of tattoos, especially the traditional.

I just saw the Ed Hardy video on black panthers that someone linked to on this forum somewhere - omg I had no idea of the tradition and wonderful simplicity of these panthers - I have so much more appreciation of them, now. I don't think I want one (yet!), but maybe I would like a traditional white tiger in the style of the panther - just black and greys (except for those blue eyes). I never would have thought I'd go for something that traditional - maybe the panther or tiger coming out of the traditional rose.

Perhaps to get an appreciation for any art, it's important to see many good examples of it - the gallery is really helping me, and I'm "making" my way through the "What makes a good tattoo" thread. After all, I was attracted to tattoos from the beginning looking at my Uncles WWII Navy ones.

Hope this is not out of line here.

Glad to know I'm not the only newbee trying to figure out good from bad. Yes, one bad comment can ruin your day! It is really hard, though, to find out what is good - there's a thread on here about that. However, with the internet every comment can find it's opposite somewhere. I haven't had the nerve to put up my coverup that I just got - I'm really happy with it, so I want to have time loving it before some comment crashes it! Good luck with yours and glad to meet another newbee on the list.

Yeah - amazing! I suspect it's because it is on my thigh and seldom sees the light of day! However, my 4 year old phoenix still looks great, too, and it's on my arm. But my 8 month old owl and galaxy faded rapidly - that's why I just got it re-done.

Um, I'm not really into black/grey or tribal, but thanks as I can see the movement in it. I think that the business of black ink holding in the color is probably a myth according to what I'm reading here - however, while it doesn't hold in the color, it is still the bones of a tattoo once the color fades. Saying that, I just uploaded my 38 year old dragon. The colors are still really good - sorry about the poor picture - not easy to get one of one's own thigh!

Bummer - I like the look of movement. Are there some traditional ones that show movement? Maybe I should consider them. If I ever get mine up here, perhaps folks can give me some ideas and help - although I really like mine now.

Kind of an old thread, but I have a question that fits here. I have heard that tattoos will "disperse" if they are not surrounded by black ink. Is that a myth? If not, what about the watercolor tattoos that are only color with some black lines? I'm very attracted to that type and actually have some areas that don't have black around them, so should I go back and get black lines around the colors?

Welcome and great profile.

Have you done a full US east to west coast?

Yes, I've been traveling for 10 years and have crossed the entire country (from east to west coast) 4 times. Been on the road 7-8 months per year. I finally sold my house in May of this year so can now call myself a full-timer! I would like to investigate Canada more next summer.

I just joined as I just found this thread – thought I’d let you know my experience. I found out about Saniderm from the Needles and Sins blog. I ordered it for one main reason. I knew I was going to have a fairly large (for me) arm tattoo redone and since I’m traveling in a tiny RV with 2 majorly shedding dogs, I needed a way to keep it clean and protected. It seemed like Saniderm would solve the problem.

I got my tattoo last Friday (July 25) pm, came back to the campground, washed it (in my RV) and covered it with saran wrap until Sat am. I then put on the Saniderm and have just removed it this am (Thurs) for a total of 5 days. Thank goodness I found this forum before I took it off today – hot water and soap did the trick – thanks guys, I would have been in major pain trying to do it dry!

So, my conclusions YMMV – I still have a very few spots that need more healing (look like tiny blisters). I should have left it on at least one more day. However, I have very sensitive skin and as I’m 67, it is thinning. So, the edges around the tattoo were really starting to hurt today – that’s why I took it off. Will I use it again – oh, yeah, but I probably will not be able to stand it for more than the 5 days. Or maybe I can depending on where the next tattoo is located. This tattoo is on the inside of my arm up against my elbow fold, so all the skin is even more fragile.

I do want to say how very much I appreciated this thread – it really helped – hopefully the wrinkling that folks talk about will also go away for me, too.