My first tattoo! =] Everyone, show 'em off!

Dionythicus, don't you have a sweet snake tattoo? Or did you post it and I missed it? Or am I confused? lol

Here's the link to the thread I started with my snake tats.

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/sho...ghlight=tattoo

I am 41 and have wanted a tat since I was in my 20's but have yet to get the nerve. My 18 yr old daughter had one done on the top of her foot over the summer..it says Believe on it. She said it didn't hurt that bad and that once the outlining was over it got numb and she didn't feel the rest. I know everyone has different pain tolerances though. And I have had 2 kids (she is actually my step-daughter) but that is a totally different experience. I wanted to get two dolphins around the ying-yang on my ankle when I was younger now since I am hooked on corns, I want to get one that goes around my ankle with its head on my foot. A guy said he could do it and add a special ink that glows in certain lighting which realllly makes me want it now...but I am such a sissy! I got so nervous when I got my belly button pierced when I was 28 but it turned out to be nothing, but my nerves got me freaking before-hand. Mike says he'll get one if I do. And he would go first. But his parents think only tramps get tattoos and got really p...ed when our daughter got hers when she visited her mom in florida. And they told him he better never get one.. 43 and his parents still kind of control him. I heard they have a shot you can get to dull the pain before hand...does anyone know if this is true? Maybe one day I will get the nerve, or I'll be 90 in a rocking chair talking about the tattoo I want one day lol!!
Also, I have been looking at tat sites on the web and haven't seen any snake ones that look realistic or ones that aren't evil looking...anyone know of a site where I can get better ideas?

I don't trust this glow-in-the-dark ink yet. I don't know enough about its chemical content to trust it under my skin.

As for something to dull the pain, part of the right of passage in getting a tattoo is the pain. It hurts, its meant to hurt. You suffer through it. And its not that bad. Truly. When I got my first one, I asked how bad it hurt, she said, "Have you ever had a baby?" That was NOT what I wanted to hear. But it felt like a constant cat scratch and was nothing. The one under my right upper arm hurt like he was peeling away the skin. I wouldn't recommend getting one there until you're a pro at it, lol.

So I say grin a bear it, then have a drink afterwards to celebrate and mask the residual pain (like a bad sunburn). Do it!!

Oh, and as for good sites, I would suggest looking for good photos of what you want, find an artist that matches your style and let them work from the pics.

It's not mine but my daughters. She has wanted to get a tribute tattoo for my mom since my mom passed away 3 years ago.
She finally went 2 weeks ago and got it. I think it's awesome and so does pretty much everyone else. Everyone except her dad of course..lol

It's not the best pic, but it still shows what she got.

Nice work everyone! I have a bunch of tattoos, and currently in the process of a large cover-up... I had some ugly old tattoos on my upper back, and decided to cover the whole area with a celestial scene. Here are some photos of my ink:

My very first tattoo... I'm a musician and love the color purple, nothing more.


Libra symbol on the nape of my neck


Strawberry anklet (it's a long story)




Right bicep, Libra scales and a random tribal-ish thing - thinking about covering these.


Left bicep, portrait of my old cat Gizmo (1994-2001)


Star of David, back of my left foot


Cheshire cat on my boobie... I was 17, LOL


I'll post the cover-up photos next...

And here are some photos of my cover-up, still very much in progress... the artist is Aaron Hodges from Idle Hand in San Francisco.

Before


First cover-up session


Second session


Third session... it's gonna be sweet after a few more.

There were 2 things I have always wanted to do : dye my hair and get a tattoo. A few years ago I took the plunge. I was born with brown hair and never liked the color. I dyed my hair black and love it. I also got a tattoo. I wanted a tat of a horse but all the horse tattoos I've seen have been really poor quality art and coming from an artistic background, that just wasn't good enough. I drew my own stylistic version of a horse's head out of swirls and it turned out very nice. I then shopped around the different tattoo shops in my area. I was concerned with cleanliness and artistic skill. I found a shop I liked with this little girl covered in ink who had been raised with horses. She took my artwork and copied it exactly on a piece of paper before I committed. You could not tell the difference between her work and mine. So I went with it and I love it. I tell everyone where I got my ink from.

As far as the pain goes, it depends on where you get the tat. Mine is on my upper arm, a pretty safe and painless area. ( Also easier to hide if work or relatives don't approve! Certain areas on the body have a lot of nerve endings close to the skin, if you get it there, its gonna hurt more. Generally the more painful areas are over the ribs, spine, that delicate skin under your arm, etc. Also different people's pain tolerance is different. The artist kept me talking to distract me from the pain. The worst part of getting my tat was the big swirl that was on the horse's chest area on the pic because it intruded a little into that delicate skin under your arm. But by the time I decided I couldn't take it, she was done. The rest was much easier. Lines also hurt more than shading and mine was mostly lines with a little shading. Afterwards it hurt like a really bad sunburn for a few days but you know what? It heals!

As far as your relatives go, well if they disagree with that they probably disagree with other areas of your life as well. ( Do they approve of your snake fetish???? ) You're bound to be judged negatively by them anyway! I know I have people that don't approve of it. I either keep it covered or realize I'm just not gonna change them and as long as they don't get in my face about it, who cares? I'm not about to live my life according to THEIR standards!

Pick a place with a really good reputation, sterile practices, and top-notch artwork and you can't go work. Don't make a snap decision. Shop around. It took me 2 months of talking to people and checking out different places to take the plunge. This is your skin. You have to be happy with the result.

I also have a friend who is a tattoo model. She gets all her artwork done at tattoo conventions with artists from around the world and her ink is fantastic!

Hope this helps!

Devon
Devon

I eventually want to be completely sleeved, but mom and dad say no more tats or they will stop paying my tuition. Lol. Oh well, just got to wait another year, gives me time to save up.

Anyways, here's the next step I'm taking. I love colorful stuff so I'm getting my left arm sleeved with an oriental piece: a chinese dragon, waves, and chinese flowers. I was born in the year of the dragon and I'm aquarius, I love water and nature. The flowers for my Grandma who is super awesome and worked in a flower shop all her life. I used to help her during the holidays. I probably will work in a symbol for my mother as well, she loves gardening and flowers too so she's kinda already in there. Here's some pics similar to what I'm thinking of, but I want more color and it less masculine looking. Anyone know a good tattoo designer? Lol.

I looked up tattoo shops in Kent and found the Myspace for Defiance Tattoo. I really like Larry Spano's work. I would love to check it out for myself. Some of those pieces are fantastic, especially the tree with the keys hanging from it.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/inde...ndID=152442624