That said looking through various state legislation on the matter the artist is liable for physical or sexual assault on a minor (depending on where the tattoo is) and so would be double sure to check any and all ID presented.

If they don’t bother to do this despite the possibility of…[Read more]

I found it quite an exciting piece to look at. Also makes a great cover up.
I think with the face it could always have a little shadow or rouge to the cheeks (but that is personal preference).

I am a sucker for butterflies and moths as well as floral so that aspect is a great piece of art for me.

Take care
Matthew

Really pleased for you both.

Matthew

I am thinking of a fairly old school style inspired by an artist called Giora Eshkol he did some really…[Read more]

As for extending there are many things that you can do. If you want to continue with the religious element you can have the angel overlooking Mary and Yeshua as a baby.

You can have the hand extended so that it is pointing down to a symbol or scene of choice;

Examples

Templar knight kneeling in…[Read more]

Oddly a reshade on my arm was hardly anything but a light scratch.

I asked a friend who had their lips fully…[Read more]

Constructive criticism;

First of all I would suggest a relining on the outline of the cat on the left. It needs to have thicker and bolder lines, especially around the ear and nose.

I would make better use of shading around both cats – they both look a little fuzzy and with better depth it will help with the size perception.

The cat on the…[Read more]

@ Graycat you got your vulva inked? Out of thousands of tattoos seen in person/correspondence you are only the third person I know to have had that done. Both the other 2 told me they ended up throwing up…[Read more]

I will have to keep saving.

Take care
Matthew

I have censored the worst but left it on as he does have the right to an opinion – as do those who have previously responded, or may want to respond.
That said we are adults and I don’t want…[Read more]

I like the layout and the work. Having spent years editing as a favour to friends (everything from Doctoral Thesis to a couple of published books – I even got my own chapter 🙂 ), I have a few tips.

1. Know your target audience and write to them. (Do not try to change your style to accommodate all tastes – it waters down your style).

2.…[Read more]

Having suffered the same condition for over 20 years I know where you are coming from -heroin wouldn’t budge the paid once it starts 🙁

Can I ask who the artist was?

Take care
Matthew

The 2 things to bear in mind are:

1. That the pigment sinks into the skin and fresh skin grows over it so it will never look as shiny and bold as when fresh on and bleeding.

2. Tattoos are pigments that are held in place by scar tissue pockets. If you have constant touchups over the same area without giving proper healing time (which can be…[Read more]

The positioning of the name is fine. Not all text tattoos have to be straight and it does as previously mentioned have some organic flow across your chest.

What I think that you are really looking for is a way to make it ‘pop’ so that it really stands out against your chest. (It is going to be your most important tattoo really because it is…[Read more]

Take care
Matthew

Yes life has thrown me some curves i’d rather of avoided but still around.

Hope you are good.

Matt

Took a good long look at the spacing, sizing, colour etc of your tattoo.

The answers really depends on how you fel about the tattoo and how much you wish to spend.

If you want to start over then laser surgery would shift the ink enough to get a cover-up done so that you would never know it was there in the first place. Green pigment…[Read more]

Needless to say that now when I have my thrill-kill face on the ink adds a certain flair to the situation…

Actually my stepfather had his entire body…[Read more]

1. Dead skin – as your tattoo heals new layers of skin form over the wound. These can often take the appearance of web like strands or small patches of dead skin. Don’t pick them. This is the most common reason.

2. Some creams especially…[Read more]

Also you have to remember that tattoos are shaped to the body and since that guy is extremely ripped you would be best getting a…[Read more]

The pain is worth the quiet time from my wife 😉

I can see the potential once he gets in with more detail and some block shading. I also love lions so looking forward to seeing the end result.

Take care
Matthew

The issue with your arm is that the area got overworked and you have a small scar pocket that has inflamed (like a pimple). You need to give it a couple of weeks to heal and then get a touch up once the swelling has gone down.

That said your skin is not holding the ink at all well and the pigment is seeping beyond the line (what we call a…[Read more]

That tattoo is a tribal influenced lion.

‘Tribal’ being the genre we use to describe tattoos that have a celtic or polynesian influence which incoporates solid black lines to form the shape or pattern.

Take care
Matthew

Makes me think of dusting off my blog again at some point. Keep it up with the hard work it is great!

Take care
Matthew

You would get charged for a full hour by the artist as they need to cover set up costs etc. As to how much? Have to ask individual artists what they would charge for an hour as it depends on skill, demand etc.

Take care
Matthew

Otherwise it should heal up within a couple of weeks and see how…[Read more]

I would personally suggest lidocaine of 3-5% as a topical cream but may only last upto 40 mins or so.

To save you time here is a run down of the most common painkillers pro’s and cons

Alcohol

This section will be brief as alcohol is a well known…[Read more]

In reality this means it can take upto an hour to take effect and then usually lasts around 30-45 mins before having to apply another dosage.

A few ppl run risk of reaction to it incl shortness of breath, dizzyness, swelling of skin etc -…[Read more]

Take care
Matthew

Take care
Matthew

I personally don’t have an inner lip but when I was studying tattoos and tattoo culture many ppl I spoke with all stated the same issues from theirs;

The inside lip has softer tissue so that the pigment of the ink tends to blowout much easier leaving the tattoo looking blurred and messy.

It fades very quickly as tissues get a lot more damage…[Read more]

Also there are many fine techniques that an artist can show you on machine control, pressure, use of contrast etc that unless shown you will not learn.

If you want to practice on skin then I suggest chicken or pig carcass similar skin depth and also has bone…[Read more]

The style of tattoo you want is called naive style art (child like drawings).

Check out the Haitian artist Préfète Duffaut for style (or simply look at artists who draw in this style using google images) and then find a tattoo artist and say can you do something similar to this style but showing your idea.

Write the idea down and break it d…[Read more]

Nice piece for your nan.
My grandad used to make them as toys when he was a boy/teenager in Russia.

I think they are called Matryoshka (nesting) but sometimes ‘babushka’ which meant woman (in traditional sense).

I know that they sometimes used to make them as love gifts to girlfriends or fiance’s (I think because they had no money so…[Read more]

First of all I like the tattoo idea and think it will look good with the right font – just make sure you go 12 pt or bigger so it don’t blur out in future.

The ribs it has to be said are a sadist’s playground of pain. 😮

I spent 33 hours on my back and when the artist did the edges of my back ribs I was in serious pain. Frankly it was…[Read more]

First of all apologies for not commenting earlier – work and other demands take up far too much of my time and not enough on my hobbies (posting here 🙂 ).

I like your sleeve a lot and think that it is a good mix as not too busy and can really focus in on butterflies and lady birds which set the piece off nicely.

Sometimes less is…[Read more]

Whilst I am happy to ‘agree to disagree’ on the matter of conspiracy sources – we are all entitled to our own opinions, I would express concern at citing David Ike as a source.

This guy back in the early-mid 90’s started a turqouise coloured shell suit wearing group of followers and convinced them he was their religious leader and was…[Read more]

The simple truth is that most conspiracies are actually very boring ones. By this I mean that it is usually big business and lobby groups sponsored by big business who splash huge sums of cash around for influence, political favours/concessions, cover up of health scares (tobacco industry is a prime example).

Every government in the…[Read more]

Scarification is the last thing you want to do if you are planning on tattooing over the area again.

They cut away the skin to leave what will form into a deep scar – this can be in the shape of the letter or just a square.

The shape and healing of the scar is not guaranteed as down to individual healing.

However in order to tattoo back…[Read more]