New tattoo

[Rockinruby]

Wow! I love how all the colors play so beautifully off each other! No wonder he is so difficult to get an appt with! Congrats!

 

[packrat]

I forgot last night-one of the guys who was on this last season of Inkmasters, Chris Blinson, was one of the guys who opened up the shop in Omaha that we go to. The other one who started the shop is still there. He did viewing parties at a place down there every week for the show. It's a pretty nice place. When they started it they wanted it to be different than other shops-they get insurance and other things "regular" jobs provide. They're taken on a paid vacation every year..the last couple years they've gone to Costa Rica! (I'm pretty sure that's where they said anyway) Just a nice place and nice guys. I'm comfortable there.

 

[packrat]

Slowly but surely....

 

[gregchang35]

it coming along nicely... love all the colours....

 

[NOYFB]

Looks awesome, Packie!!! I'm starting to get the itch for more ink...but have no plans at the moment.

 

[packrat]

Thanks guys! One more session to finish under the arm and then this big piece will be done...sadly I'm a wuss and am not going to do my armpits and the rest of my back. Now I need to figure out what I'm doing after this....traditional above the knees possibly.

 

[NOYFB]

Oh, the inside of the upper arm was one of the worst for me! The skin is so thin and sensitive. Good luck!

 

[packrat]

Yeah it's quite unpleasant! This side goes closer to the armpit than the other side..not looking forward to it! I was *done* mentally by the end of this session. By then it's almost as if the pain is amplified bc you want it to be over and it seems like it's been forever. I love being there tho....the artists all come around and talk to you and check out each other's work. I told my artist they should have shop shirts that say tattoo snob. We'd totally sport them!

 

[Tuckins1]

Wow, beautiful!! There is some great, inspirational ink in this thread, i'm starting to get the itch again!!

 

[momhappy]

Wow - gorgeous colors, packrat.
Do you find the pain gets easier to handle the more you have done?

 

[packrat]

ARGH I just lost my entire post.

Thank you streem!

The pain varies. Some places it's not so bad at first and then after a couple hours I'm trying to send my mind to a zen place to get away from it. Other places, right off the bat I'm thinking oh good gawd why do i insist on doing this to myself and has it been four hours yet..this is the dumbest thing I do. I know what to expect, the pain is fresh with every sit..I know it's going to hurt and it's going to suck, but I'll be thrilled to pieces when it's done. (and not just b/c it looks pretty hahahahaha)

I refuse to give any outward sign of pain, ever. Sometimes I have to be quiet and not talk, just concentrate on sending my mind out, like I did when I was in labor w/London. I will be thinking some really colorful bad swears and I'll make a crazy face at JD. I've found that the more you react to the pain, the worse it feels. Tho, after a while, it doesn't matter how much I "reason" with myself, my body does what it does and around the 2 hour mark I need JD to put on my big fuzzy socks and put my jacket backwards over my arm so I can warm up. Later comes the shaking and the feeling that the pain is amplified more than what it really is. I'm usually done in my mind around 3 hours and can last until four. I know that the body reacting to the trauma by going into shock is normal, but it makes me feel weak and I don't like it.

I have also found that how I feel in general affects how keenly the pain is felt in my head. Last time i was sicker 'n a dog and that made it worse. It also was not the best uh..time of the month to have work done, compounding it. When I feel rested and hydrated, I've eaten, it's not as difficult.

 

[jordyonbass]

Packrat your tats look great!! Do you find that you have had fading with colored inks? I had some done in color and they have faded pretty badly over the last 10 years

 

[packrat]

Thanks Jordy! Um...I dunno..mostly they just look..aged? I guess? I had my artist redo my frog when he did the big orange mum on my back, and if you look at the pictures in the beginning of the thread, you can see he looks just kinda..not fresh. A little lackluster-but not so much that I would really notice-until newer stuff was close. When he asked if I wanted him to make him pretty again I was all for it--and he redid him completely and made him amazing. I got him originally in 1998 and for being about 17 years old he looked pretty good. My feet have faded. Again, not bad, but enough that I'm like ugh I *really* don't want to go thru that again but I can see what was under that was covered up and I am not digging that. Mostly I think where things have rubbed on clothes/shoes etc, it speeds up the aging process. My first was a rose, two days after my 18th birthday and that's almost 24 years old. It's getting to that stage where it's looking a little smushy, and so is my almost 22 year old dragon. Good thing I think my artist hung the moon--I'll be keeping him busy for a long time!

 

[jordyonbass]

Yeah I think the sun is probably what causes the fading effect more than anything, some of mine aren't looking fantastic and I think it's from the constant sun that I get. I am thinking my future tattoos will all be black and white with grey shading as they hold their definition better over time in my opinion.

Your thread reminds me that I have a marlin on my back that needs to be shaded and want to get my left sleeve and right half upper sleeve done eventually but I need ideas for the sleeves. I don't ever go in and pick a design, I always come in with my own design or at least a concept and work with the artist from there. I'm thinking I may have to get a gem related tattoo at some point

 

[packrat]

I need to be better about sunscreen. I stay out of the sun as much as I can but still, I know it's bad for my tattoos. My first two I picked designs the artist already had, then my next one was Tigger and I had my cousin draw it. Then I used a blanket that had a bunch of tree frogs and the artist drew from that. I had a circlet around my upper arm and that was from what was in the books. The cherry blossoms on my back, peony on my feet and then on my upper arm were all from a different artist-his own ideas from our chitchat. Then this whole big piece that started out as just to be a cover up of the circlet was based off "um..I like flowers..someone suggested Japanese water and flowers would be good to cover it..will that work?" and that evolved into what it is now w/the water/wind idea, which was mine-I was pretty darn proud of that. It's all drawn on w/a sharpie-amazing to me the skill involved. I was initially pretty anxious about it, b/c I didn't know what I was going to get but it's been an awesome experience.

I love black and grey tattoos!

 

[Kelinas]

After a year, I finally found time to start the coloring prices.
I present Stage 1.

My back is swollen and I've gained a bit of weight so I thought I'd blur my body but it looks worse. Oh well.

 

[the_mother_thing]

Wow! There is some seriously beautiful art in this thread! My hats off to those of you brave enough to go through multiple sessions to complete some really magnificent work!

I just had my second crab done last weekend; I have another similar one (different colors) on my back. Didn't know there was another tat thread (and mine PALES in comparison to some in here), but it's ink nonetheless, and I love it, as well as the event for which it commemorated.

Link: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ink-tattoos.224309/#post-4057168#p4057168']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ink-tattoos.224309/#post-4057168#p4057168[/URL]

 

[MayuYou]

My back


My right arm


My left arm


My back and the insides of both arms that you can't really see in the other pics


I also have a ring of roses around my navel and a matching rose with a long curly stem on my right hip, a Hawaiian fish hook with plumeria on my left hip and a pawprint with a ribbon with EQ's name on my right wrist, but I can't seem to find pics of those.

Oh wow it is so great! It's huge. I'm interesting how long it took to do it and how many sessions. Hmm, I'm a bit scared to get something this big. I can get only like these http://flowertattooideas.com/top-30-awesome-small-cherry-blossom-tattoos/ small but colorful and cute. Well, I like num 4 particularly.