Tattoos

Hunger...

Thanks ltc.check yours in a while.
I like choosing what I get inked.
2/3/4/5/6 all been my own or improv designs

I'm hoping those are hops and barley with a chainring, advocating drinking loads of beer and riding bikes.

That's not a link to my tattoos by the way, just some of Kel's recent work.

39 x 14

I like it!

I'm hoping those are hops and barley with a chainring, advocating drinking loads of beer and riding bikes.

bang on. you know the ingredients-well spotted. not at the same time though.

Bradley Tompkins is in London in September and I really want something from him, but I shouldn't be spending any money.

Fuck.

Thought this was a better photo but not sure it is by comparison. Looks a lot better in the flesh - any tips for photographing tats?
http://i.imgur.com/ttjqMdZ.jpg

bright neutral light with no direct glare, get whatever part of your body it is on in the position where it all the lines are right, take photos from quite a few different angles as it is hard to tell which one will show it the best.

Brad on tatts
http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,17547_9257432,00.html

I had a question... I've never had a tattoo before, but there's a guy whose work I like a lot who will be in town and available for bookings so I was thinking of taking the plunge. However, the dates that he's around coincide with a few days where I have to do a three or four full days of manual labour and joinery at home.

It seems like it would be a bad idea to get a tattoo on my arm at this point, not so much for any discomfort which I imagine I can live with, but I'd be worried about damaging it with lifting / working. Is this a legitimate concern or something I shouldn't worry about?

^^ really like the image of Wiggo getting 'in the pit'

@ christian spaceman,

I've never had a problem with that..

Had a couple of sessions on my sleeve where I went straight to my metal workshop to do an allnighter, was fine. Just wear long sleeves and be mindful of it.

I had a question... I've never had a tattoo before, but there's a guy whose work I like a lot who will be in town and available for bookings so I was thinking of taking the plunge. However, the dates that he's around coincide with a few days where I have to do a three or four full days of manual labour and joinery at home.

It seems like it would be a bad idea to get a tattoo on my arm at this point, not so much for any discomfort which I imagine I can live with, but I'd be worried about damaging it with lifting / working. Is this a legitimate concern or something I shouldn't worry about?

It depends a lot on where the tattoo is. When I had the inside of my bicep done it swelled up for a good few days and I had little strength in the arm.

I had a question... I've never had a tattoo before, but there's a guy whose work I like a lot who will be in town and available for bookings so I was thinking of taking the plunge. However, the dates that he's around coincide with a few days where I have to do a three or four full days of manual labour and joinery at home.

It seems like it would be a bad idea to get a tattoo on my arm at this point, not so much for any discomfort which I imagine I can live with, but I'd be worried about damaging it with lifting / working. Is this a legitimate concern or something I shouldn't worry about?

Like Max said, it'll be fine in terms of the tattoo itself. Keep it moisturised and wear long sleeves, it'll be fine. Sumo has a point as well though. If you're getting your arm done, you will have sore muscles and might feel discomfort and somewhat reduced strength. You might also see some bruising around the tattoo, which is totally normal. I'd expect this to take a few more days to go down, if you don't rest. Nothing to really worry about though, your body will recover in time.

@spaceman It depends where it is on your arm and what sort of manual work you'd be doing. My main concern would be the movement making the skin crack but that wouldn't really hurt the tattoo much it would just mean it might take longer to heal. Does it have to be on your arm?

ok - thanks a lot for replying, that's awesome. I guess I'll mention it when I make the booking and see what they say. Sounds like it might not be ideal from a house work point of view (or at least, it sounds like a ready made excuse for lack of progress is forming...). Obviously just want to make sure I wouldn't break it somehow :)

Another thing to bear in mind if you don't really want to get it sweaty while under cling film.

you wear the cling film for days?

Personally, I keep the tattoo nice and moist with Bepanthen and covered with cling film for the first 3 or 4 days. If it dries out, you get scabs, which take much longer to heal. On the first few days I clean it and replace the bepanthen/cling film a few times, but the the extra couple of days I just keep it covered while at work so no clothes are going to rub it and dry it out then take the cling film off at home so it can get some air.
Doing this I find the tattoo heals in under a week, no scabs are formed and the top layer that would scab, comes off as normal skin, then it is just a matter of moisturising it in the morning and evening until the next couple layers of skin have been replaced and it is basically the finished article.

Me (when I went for 2/3 of my thigh) personally kept cling film just the first day (until next morning) and after just washing the tattoo 2 times a days and kept it moist with Bepathen (applied 3x a day).

Think, that tattoo should be able to breath as soon as possible and not being covered with cling film.

But of course, different artist, different method :)

The problem comes when you have the bare tattoo being rubbed by clothes.

Its fine as long as you wear soft clothes, its not going to hurt the tattoo if it rubs a little bit but obviously its not a good idea to rock 21oz denim. The most important thing with a fresh tattoo is to keep it clean and let it breath.
Personally I re-wrap the first two nights but leave it open during the day. I let it dry heal the first day and then apply a light moisturiser three times a day until its all healed up. Everyone is different though so if something works for you then theres no point listening to other people telling you you shouldn't do it.

LOVE this from wan_tattooer

Are there tattooists who are particularly knowledgeable about coverups or who are very good at them?