The official tattoo thread

[blackviolet]

Pics, ideas, questions, experiences, advice, discussions etc, all welcome!

Since no one started one yet, and we were starting to overrun the "Show Yourself" thread, it seems like we need a thread just for tattoos. So this will be the definitive thread, and we can come back and update it, and people can keep posting their work. How fun!

Please try to upload your pics to a site where your bandwidth won't always be exceeded. It's so frustrating to go through the thread later and not be able to see anything.


So I guess I'll start!

First tat ever, when I was 18. It's on my outer left thigh:

It's the only one that REALLY faded and blurred pretty badly. I've never gotten it touched up because I'm either going to get my legs tatted and it'll end up covered, or for years I've been thinking I'll probably get roses that climb my outer thigh from ankle to hip, and if it's faded, it'll be easier to incorporate it.


Wow, what a lousy, tiny pic, but this is the 2nd tat I ever got, on my right shoulder. It's a f*cked up fairy, haha:



Here's a pic of me getting that tattoo (can't believe it was 11 years ago!):



A tattered angel on the left shoulder. I didn't like how bright she seemed at first (this pic was quite fresh), I thought the red and purple were kinda weird, when my entire back is mostly black and gray with hints of color. But as promised, when totally healed, she actually darkened up.



The teardrop shaped tat in the lower center of my back:


As you can see, I had a running theme with naked girls curled up on the ground.


Here's a line from a dorky poem I wrote when I was young. This is is a little embarrassing to share, because it's so "gawth" and not very good, but whatever. You can see why it had to go on my lower back, beneath the teadrop:

"Muddy, hiding beneath sad, stark limbs, I feel so lost.
Sinking, I curl into myself, held by sorrow's frost.
Forlorn light beams down, glowing coldly on a still scene.
An icy world of quiet mourning; solemn stones lean.
Tears streaming, I'm betrayed by what lies beneath my skin.
Torn and bare, shivering and naked, I die again.
Stars glisten as bright as tears in the wake of violence.
In the cold blue end, we are all swallowed by silence."


I created the font, but the artist simplified it and wanted to use an ampersand. Wish I hadn't agreed. Oh well.




You can also see why this goes along with that same imagery (a line from another old poem - or two):


See how the angel's wings darkened up when healed (on the left)?


I had so many individual tattoos, I was looking like a patchwork quilt! I wanted to bring them all into one cohesive piece, so the tree branches out of the teardrop shape mand wraps around the other tattoos. Eventually, it'll wrap around everything, but it's not done. It's been YEARS since I've had any work.



You can't tell, but the branches/vines have eyes in them that look like knots in the wood, and there are violets.

Here are the only real pics I have of the front. The vines will eventually wrap around my hips and ribs on both sides, and around my shoulders/chest to incorporate the tat around my collar. He shaped them to accentuate my body, and these pics really show that.


***Photos Removed by Admin***

My tummy says, "Nothing can erase the damage done." I wanted to do it in my own writing, but I tried, and with the spacing and sizing and all of that, it was impossible to make it look decent. So I found a font that looked very similar to my handwriting, and altered it, to make it more like my writing. It's very close, but better. Love it.
(Please ignore the ridiculous push-up bra, haha)


Oh, and a super old one, where you can sorta see the vines under my boob better, without the bra in the way:


My collar says, "My soul brings tears to angelic eyes."



This is in a weird spot. I wanted it on my arm, so I'll always see it, but I want sleeves eventually too. I have small arms, and not much good flat space, haha. So I put it on the inside side of my forearm. It's a twisty spot, and it almost always looks crooked in one direction or another. The placement seems a bit silly since nothing else is there, but when I SOMEDAY get sleeves, it'll be fine.




‎"I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can ...be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized.
If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming."
-Goethe

My mom hates it because she doesn't think it's pretty enough. My husband thinks it's a bit weird, because all of the rest of my quotes are done in more decorative fonts. He said, "It's very plain. It's written like a fact." I said, "EXACTLY."



I definitely plan on full sleeves, but that will be a long time away. I'm sorta saving that for last. Besides, I need to finish my back. When all of the vines are done, then I'm going to take whatever background is still skin, and make it like a pile of dead leaves. Just really muted fall colors of rust and brown and yellow and stuff, to help make all of my blues and purples stand out more. Right now, it's so much black/gray and blue and purple, it's all sorta blah together. It needs some opposing colors.

I'm also REALLY thinking that I want to get the backs of both legs, from ankles to the crease under my butt done solid, with lots of dark and vibrant colors, but tons of detail - ALL HALLOWEEN THEMED, and/or something like the graveyard scene at the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

I'll probably get my neck done too, but that will wait as well. I'm still not positive on what I want yet.

But alas, that all takes money - which I never have.



YOUR TURN!!

[Dainerra]

I don't have pictures of mine and I must say I've never seen any as nice as yours! Very awesome work. And I agree with you, that last one wouldn't work anyway other than the straight declarative font.

ETA: that should say I don't have any readily available to post. too lazy to hook up the external HD this morning

[LaRen616]

I have 8 tattoos but I dont have pictures of all of them, the pictures I have were taken right after I had them done.

1) I have angel wings with my sister Erin's name on my lower back
2) I have 8 stars on my left arm
3) I have 2 hearts on the back of my neck
4) Tinkerbell on my left leg
5) Tigerlily flower with the name NuNu on my right leg
6) I have the words "What Goes Around Comes Around" that wrap around my left arm
7) "Chaos" is written on my back between my shoulder blades
8) A pair of lips on my left wrist (I hate it and I am getting it covered up in Feb.)

There are 8 stars going down my left arm


I have the word Chaos written on my back between my shoulder blades, in this picture you can see my 2 hearts on the back of my neck too.


I have a Tiger Lily with the name NuNu written on it, I call my mom NuNu, it's on my right leg



I have Tinkerbell on my left leg

[Dmoseley]

Allrighty here I have my diseased heart, my zombiefied sugar skull and my voodoo doll all on my right arm.

[JakodaCD OA]

Cool tats I'll have to do pics of mine I have 4
1. 4 dog paws going up my leg from ankle
2. celtic symbol on my wrist
3. celtic heart symbol on my lower back
4. fairy/type thing on my right shoulder

[AbbyK9]

I have seven currently, but don't have pictures of any of them, some are in places that would be hard for me to photograph by myself. XD

On my right ankle, I have a little black dog paw.
On my left shoulder, I have the Japanese kanji for "Tiger".
On my right shoulder, I have a Celtic knot design of two intertwined dragons.
On my upper back, I have the POW/MIA flag.
On my lower back, I have a large tribal design.
On the inside of my left wrist I have Latin text.
On the inside of my right wrist I have Russian text.

Except for the text, all my tattoos are just simple black or black/shaded work. My text on the inside of my wrists is red, so it does not stand out as much and most people don't even notice I have them, even in summer when I'm wearing short-sleeve shirts.

[Good_Karma]

After seeing the art on this thread, I'm embarrassed to show mine as they look really amateur in comparison.

1. Yin-yang with fire and water on right hip
2. Black yin-yang sun on left ankle
3. Heart-shaped yin-yanks with tribal background on left shoulder blade
4. Green turtle on right shoulder blade.

[jaggirl47]

I have 5. Well, #5 is a cover-up of #2 but I still count it as 5.
1. Exploited skull on my left shoulder blade (punk rock forever when I was 18)
2. My initial "K" on my right arm (now covered up)
3. Japanese anime down the center of my back
4. Tribal Aquarius symbal on my center lower back
5. 1/2 sleeve on my right arm consisting of teddy bears with my kids initials in them with a skyline and sunbeams shining on them

I will get more eventually. I am just very picky now that I am older. #5 took me 5 years to decide on.

[mroutdoorsman]

I have a total of 8(9 if you include the one inside my upper right arm). Will get some new pics tomorrow of all of them. All of my current pics are fairly old.

1. Celtic knot work on my upper right arm to shoulder
2. Group of small portraits with a skull on the lower part of my upper arm
3. Inside of the upper right arm is a Star of David
4. Right pectoral is the Naval Intelligence emblem
5. Left pectoral is a Dawn picture
6. Left upper quarter sleeve is Dawn also
7. Full back of Dawn
8. Right calve is the 3rd Special Operations Squadron emblem

[DJEtzel]

I like everyone's tattoos! Can't wait to see more.

I'm getting my first in a couple of months hopefully. I have the money, I'm just waiting on the time.