o/t tattoo guys. How did u start your sleeve?

What did u guyas use to start your sleeves? Turn 18 next monday and getting all tattooed up.

 

It all depends on what type of work you want. Japanese, traditional, new school, cholo, etc. etc... Each style has it's own "best way to get a unified sleeve"...

The Japanese stuff is probably the easiest/best way to achieve solid coverage because the style evolved as one full body suit. So a unified sleeve is all they ever did...

American traditional stuff is probably second easiest, because it's almost SUPPOSED to look piece mealed together. An eagle here, a pin-up there, and then fill it all in with stars and dots...

So it all depends on the style of work that appeals to you. I will tell you this, though. No matter what style you go with, get each tattoo as large as it will fit on whichever body part you're puting it on. If you want a panther on your forearm, get that panther from your wrist to your elbow, as long as you can maintain proportion... The idea is that you'll have less "filler" to come up with later, which, in my opinion, will lead to a better looking sleeve overall, Especially considering the fact that you already know that you want full sleeves ahead of time.

The other piece of advice I would give is that you should very carefully consider a tattooers portfolio, or work you've seen from him/her on other people before sitting down in the chair. Shop by quality, cleanliness and reputation. DO NOT SHOP BY PRICE. Even if it means that you have to get the tattoo broken up into sessions because you can only afford enough time for the outline now and will have to wait for the black shading and color... Your patience and investment will pay off in the end.

 

awesome, i think im leaning more towards the american traditional style. Thanks for the tips. Nate

 

this cant be real

 

Nate, take a thick Sharpie and scribble all over your arms. Do this every day for one year. If you still want tattoos after the year (with full Sharpie sleeves) has passed, go get yourself a tattoo.

I would suggest, however, that buying yourself a 2-door car would be a much better use of your energies.

 

I don't get it.....I still don't have a tatoo at 56 because I still haven't found one I think I could live with the rest of my life....why would anyone spend all that money on body art when they have no idea how they're gonna feel about said art later in life? Am I just being too cautious? I dunno but I damn sure know I don't feel now, like I did at 17 about anything! I gotta feeling any tatoo I would have had at 17 would illustrate approximately the exact opposite of how I feel now.
A guys tatoo DOES say something about him, right? I mean, it should because it's visible to anyone to see. Or is it just decoration with no message conveyed?
See? I just don't get it. although I really enjoyed the bellybutton tatoo of Bart Simpson bending over for it's humor content. LMAO!
'sides, I wanna spend those bucks on pontiac parts..

 

Dont be in a hurry to get all tattooed up.As someone who has been getting them for 20 years and doing them for 14 years all I can say is take your time,god knows if I got covered at 18 I would have some godawfull shit,thank god I was piss poor then(although I still have my first one, I have had to cover up quite a few of them)

 

I agree with haring and Rocky.Tats are cool.But think before you jump into something that you can't undo.Spend your money on cool hardware instead.

 

[ QUOTE ]
I don't get it.....I still don't have a tatoo at 56 because I still haven't found one I think I could live with the rest of my life....why would anyone spend all that money on body art when they have no idea how they're gonna feel about said art later in life? Am I just being too cautious? I dunno but I damn sure know I don't feel now, like I did at 17 about anything! I gotta feeling any tatoo I would have had at 17 would illustrate approximately the exact opposite of how I feel now.
A guys tatoo DOES say something about him, right? I mean, it should because it's visible to anyone to see. Or is it just decoration with no message conveyed?
See? I just don't get it. although I really enjoyed the bellybutton tatoo of Bart Simpson bending over for it's humor content. LMAO!
'sides, I wanna spend those bucks on pontiac parts..

[/ QUOTE ]Well, it`s not for everyone,dont like tattoos?dont get one.A lot of people I tattoo get something that has personal meening to them and get in places that cant be seen unless that person chooses to show them,but to me it`s art,plane and simple..and about the only thing that will last you the rest of your life

 

When I went to get my first (a pinup girl), the first guy I went to told me that he'd have to cover my whole arm, from my wrist to my shoulder. I told him I wasn't terribly excited about that idea. He asked what I was so worried about. I told him that it would be there forever. He said, "No it won't. You're only going to be alive for another, maybe 60 years. You'll forget about it after 20"
SHOP AROUND...

The way I think about it is this...

IF, on my death bed, my biggest regret is the tattos I've gotten, I'll have lived a good life.

But I agree, THINK about what you want.

 

People ask me all the time"what about when your 80?" if I make it to 80 and I can still remember my name and I`m not shittin my pants the last thing I`m going to worry about is what people think about my tattoos

 

Nate, I PM'd you.

 

a big "Taz" on your forearm is a good start. hell, one on each forearm. ask any tattoist(yes i think thats the word) its their fav-o-rite.

don't worry about sleeves yet, worry about individual tats that are what you want. each one should tell a story about you, and where your life was when you got it done.

i should really get another one, its been 8 years or more now that i think about it.

funny thing is, the older you get, the less tattoos mean, people are generally not offended by ol guys with tats, they just know the guy has prolly been thru hell and back, and thats their scar.

 

MAXIMUMO ROKU-BIRRY!

sleeves are so 1998.... I wanna get a vagina tatooed on my forehead.

 

Take it slow Nate. K-Member is about 3/4 done w/ my entire back. It looks killer...but I thought about what I wanted back there for a long, long time.

Try to do stuff w/ meaning. I know it sounds stupid and cliche', but it helps the cause. I've seen killer looking sleaves on guys who had em' done over the course of 12 months, and I've seen killer sleaves done over the course of 12 yrs. I liked the 12 yr. ones cuz' the guys have a little story for each tattoo.

I'm going to be a dick here for a minute, so bare with me. You're X number of yrs' old and all of the sudden you have a child and a wife. You're still marching to the beat of your own drum...but ya' gotta' pay the bills and you're burnt out on cars. Think about sitting behind a desk in the sweltering, hot summer heat wearing long sleeves to cover up your tat's your boss doesn't allow. This happens. We'd all like to think we can be "the guy" who breaks the rules and can hold down some type of killer job and still be all inked up. It's not likely. I know. What I do for a living is extremely white collar and would be viewed by many as a big-deal, corporate whore job. I'm two offices down from the CEO of the 41 billion dollar co. I work for. I assure you that although I love my tats and do a bang-up job at work, said CEO would not dig on seeing a bunch of tat's. It's just the way it is, hence my having my back done instead of sleeves.

Sorry about the rant Nate, but I've been (and continue) down this road. Don't rush into it. If you do though, come out here to Seattle and have K-Member do you up He's an ink pimp.

 

Nate,
I wasnt going to even post cause this is so O/T, but I have to add my 2 cents

it's your body & your money so do what you want...

BUT
do your homework, find a good guy that's not a dickhead or a junkie and get a shitload of tattoos. Get them everwhere you can, but wait until you are at least 30 to get full sleeves or hand/neck tattoos...

&
some more advise is work your way down the arm not up. you dont want to look like one of those "hardcore" rockasilly fags with birds & shit on their necks and forearms and nothing else...

 

first off choose your artist wisely. plan ahead as much as you can if your thinking sleeve even in traditional work go ahead and try and have as much of it planed out as possible ahead of starting the sleeve. you'll come out with a much better looking sleeve. second i don't know how much you know about the business but good tattoos ain't cheap. i'd say average is around $100 an hour for good work can be more if you want work by a rock star. if you don't like the feel you get from an artist in talking with them find a different artist. if their heart isn't in it you will not get the best work possible. now after all that i know a guy close to you that is an amazing artist and traditional americana and jap are his thing. he did mine and my wife's day of the dead skulls a few years ago. Marcus Kuhn is his name and he would surely be worth your trip to him. he also does day rates during the week which can help with cost. i'm posting a link to his site and the pics of our skulls so you can check him out. i will say not only is he an amazing artist but also an amazing person. one of the nicest people i've ever met. we still talk when we can get each other on the phone or by email. waiting to get more work from him but he hasn't came down this way and i haven't been up that way so. oh yeah i'm sure caddyman will agree that marcus is truely a great guy. as far as them being there for life well thats what you gotts to live with. i'll be 32 the 25th and have full sleeves chest piece, most of my back, clavicals, feet,etc. i worked retail management for years. a tattoo shop all of last year and am now a pressman at the local newspaper. never really had that much problem. the only regrets i've had were the bad tattoos that are all covered now. good luck. and if you need any more advise just yell...ken....

 

That skull is AWESOME! Marcus is a real nice guy and does great work.If your close by Nate I`d check him out...............tattoos, the milemarkers of this crazy roadtrip called life

 

marcus's site www.marcuskuhn.com . and my wife's skull by him.

also check out the guys at redemption tattoo. grez is amazing. www.redemptiontattoo.com

 

Getting a Tat just because you can isn't a very good reason.
If you're going to get something you'll have to live with, get something you CAN live with. Same advice for women. But then I'm a 51 year old single ex sailor with no tats so what do I know. I knew it all when I was 18. Been forgetting it all ever since.

 

fuck that,if you don't get every inch of your arms tattooed,your a fucking pussy!! .........just don't make the mistake everyone makes,and get flash off the wall for your first one that means nothing to you.i pesonally have six,and they all have personal meaning to me,and still to this day,i enjoy looking at them and talking about there meaning to those who ask[which is also part of the fun]if you give it alot of thought,you'll have no regrets....go for it...quickrod

 

If they only could invent some tatoo ink that would dissapate after about a year I would get all tatted up myself!

 

it's funny when i met marcus i had just had a disagreement with one of the big guys in the business because i didn't like the pice he had drew up for me. look thru marcus' portfolio started talking with him next thin you know he drew that skull up for me in just a few minutes. the rock star i had draw the piece was $150 an hour and slow. that skull takes up most of my outer forearm. done in two and a half hours $200. hahaha. pissed civ off i think. $350 for a day rate(5 or so hours) is unheard of nowdays. the guy just loves doing fun tattoos...ken....

 

I really can't say more than what was already said. I agree, you are 18 and still have lots of life experiences to go. That's really the cool part for me, usually getting tattooed after some kind of event in life & what not. I got tattooed about a month ago when my son was born. Take your time and really think about what you want and try to plan things out ahead of time. I've been getting tattooed for about 13 years now and finally feel like things are starting to flow and come together; whereas if I would of planned ahead my tattoos would have more balance and flow. But then again sometimes the impulse of just getting a tattoo is fun also. Anyway, good luck and post pics when it happens!

Sorry about the poor photo quality. Tattoo done by some guy named =Mike=

 

I changed my mind... ooops, doesnt work with tats, does it?

I wanna get a vagina tatooed on my upper lip, so I can eat pussy all day long....

 

Have you ever seen someone with a lot of Oriential lettering tatoos? How dow you know for sure the spelling is correct?

 

<font color="red"> OK..here is some straight poop.....I gots more ink on my body then 99.99% of these fools on here...it does not make me cool(I make ME cool)......but one thing it does is make me knowlegable on this subject....THINK BEFORE YOU INK......I got a bunch of work that does not work together..does this mean I like the work any less. . .NO....does it make me wish I had planned it out better. . .sometimes.....do I like all my ink for some reason....yes.......I could care less what you do just get a good artist that you can work with....Kmember has done most my work(hell the fucker made me famous as I have been in all the major magazines out there today)and as we did more I have got to know him and count him as one of my closest freinds......look for an artist that you feel that way about...if you go to the shop and seem like you are costing them money by asking questions or do not feel welcome WALK......also I find the best work comes from an artist that enjoys what he is doing !.......SOOOOOO....find an artist that digs th e style you like. . .give him/her an idea that you like and let them run with it let them pick the colors to some extent(you have final say but remember they are artists they know colors and they way things flow on the body)

GOOD LUCK AND ENJOY

R E D M E A T </font>

 

Bro, the thing about tattoos is that there is nothing but time..... Make sure you really feel right about it, then wait a while and think some more. If you really want something, it will be there when you sure about it. its not like buying a car, where if you take a while to think about it, it may be gone.

Also, Im with MYTLO56 about the story thing....All these cool guys with all thses tats that dont mean shit, arent shit. In my opinion, tattoos are part of your personality, not a fashion accessory. And yeah, just cuz your 18, doesnt mean you should jump right into it... Buy a lottery ticket and a porno instead.

Now I should point out that I dont have any tattoos... Not that I dont want any, I do, but Im still thinking about what I want and where, and especially how it will effect my life down the road. Most all my homies growing up got these tattoos starting when we were about 16, cuz we knew a guy who would hook us up. Now most of them are regretting most of the ones they have...Go to a shop that does the removal, and they should have some pics of ones they have lasered off....Nuff said. "Thats all I got to say about that". -J.

 

I've got two full sleeves and most of my back done and the best advice I could give is:

1, Don't get names of girls or bands in too prominent a place. You might like them now, or next year, but eventually you'll probably have second thoughts, or second marriages, or total changes of music addiction.

2, think of it in the longer term. Don't get some pissy little skull in the centre of yourn forearm next month, because you can't afford a full piece, because you will have a hell of a job fitting it into an overall sleeve, without it looking like a small skull fitted in a big sleeve

Other than that, you pays yer money, you takes yer choice.
Here's my right sleeve in progress:

 

kool thanks for all the advice, i wasnt planning on getting my sleeves done in a week or anything like that i am going to take my time with them and pick the shop wisely and choose what i get done wisely. Thanks Nate