Show Your Ink

[Eric Estlund]

The lower central bits were a fair bit different than the upper bits.

Not to kid, it all hurts. But it's elective, and generally not so bad.

[Cookietruck]

The lower central bits were a fair bit different than the upper bits.

Not to kid, it all hurts. But it's elective, and generally not so bad.

yeah i've heard that not all of the back is bad, but there are some spots. just think about where some of the vital organs sit...

first side of my chest i had done by a dude, who a few years earlier had tattooed some girls knee next to me at a convention. it was very rough for her, she even had her chest done, and most of her legs and arms. she was grasping her leg right above the knee, staring at me, breathing very fast and heavy and i was just like wth is going on there...
not sure why i decided to get something on my chest by him but i did. i think maybe i was thinking since he's fast...
it was brutal. so brutal. that first line, right down there just above my nipple, i stopped breathing and i just kinda thought. wtf. what have i done...should i ask him to just stop right now. lol.
then i had the other side done by a friend, he took 3 times as long, and all the lines are deep dark and solid, outlined, then went back later for the shading. right at the end i thought we were done, and this is a very solid chunk of black, and he says i think this needs some gray all throughout. don't worry it will be quick.
the worst.

if i get a back piece i already know who it will be from. i keep hearing how painful he is. and also there is no session after if it's getting an outline. it's an all night session, probably 6-8 hrs to get the outline done. why am i even thinking about getting that done?

[Eric Estlund]

Cause tattoos are cool. Even if they are the cool of the moment, they were real cool before and will stay that way.

[Eric Estlund]

Just to follow up- I mean "cool" on on a couple levels. They are pretty badass. But on a "gee-whiz" level, it's pretty cool you can essentially pour ink on your skin, pound some pins through it and have it heal into something cool and permanent. It's just sort of amazing that it works and that we've been at it for so long.

[Cookietruck]

agreed eric, also hopefully most people are into the tattoos for the experience. sitting through all that pain isn't easy and it put your mind in a different place during and for a time after. if you know, and have respect for, the person putting all that pain on you then it's even better.

[robp]

My arm's progress over last two years. He only visits from Japan twice a year. This is traditional tebori tattoo - all done by hand.

[Matthew Strongin]

So rad, rob

[Eric Estlund]

Who's the "he"? Looks good.

[robp]

Shunho-san
俊� - Shunho (Japanese traditional hand poke tattoo)
Next session we will start color. Plan to let Shunho do whatever colors he wants.

[airedale]

Wow. Looks great robp. How do you find the hand poked versus electric tattooing? My guy had a chest piece hand done by Horiyoshi 3 and he said it was intense and he wished that he'd gone electric just to make it stop sooner.

Worst I've had was line work in the armpit and the below which was on the inside ankle bone. I swore that was the end of it, and it was, till I booked my next appointment, in a month's time. Was contemplating some work on my chest but after the above commentary am reconsidering.

Attachment 85465

[jdp211]

So I'm thinking about getting a first tattoo. Being a particularly impulsive person, I've got a design in mind, but trying to hold off for a while to make sure its something that I really want to do.
Along those lines, anyone have recommendations for someone in NYC to do something relatively simple, but high quality?

[Cookietruck]

airedale just do it.

i'm getting the itch to get something, my dude is probably coming back to town in a few months.
this is it right here, empty shop, late night, we pick the tunes and down the cheap beers...

https://instagram.com/p/wKuNU6NAlm/?...by=cookietruck

[robp]

Wow. Looks great robp. How do you find the hand poked versus electric tattooing? My guy had a chest piece hand done by Horiyoshi 3 and he said it was intense and he wished that he'd gone electric just to make it stop sooner

In terms of pain it doesn't hurt nearly as much to me. In terms of time and money it hurts a lot more

[Eric Estlund]

Jason- lots of good artists in NY. Check out King's Ave, Saved and Three Kings. Walk in, look at some books, and if you see some folks who's work does it for you, ask to book a consult.

[Eric Estlund]

After commenting from the cheap seats, here is the latest one.

10 Days in Paradise

*There is some butt in this. Don't click it if that doesn't work for you.

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10

10 days in 10 weeks. The last three sittings were over 4 days.

Some bonus footage

Don't ever accuse me of not oversharing.

All of that can be seen on Lewis Hess' Instagram feed. Lew works at Atlas in Portland, OR. Lew also did my legs- keep digging in his gram and look for black.

[spopepro]

Woah. No wonder you were posting pics of some stupid-wide shading needle. I remember mentioning to my artist and he was like "yeah, I don't even keep those around, but I guess if you need to cover large areas in black, that's the ticket". Lots of coverage indeed. Looks spectacular.

I think (think...) my recent work (sleeve) will be done in nov. 30 hours down, 16 to go?

[Mabouya]

Jason- lots of good artists in NY. Check out King's Ave, Saved and Three Kings. Walk in, look at some books, and if you see some folks who's work does it for you, ask to book a consult.

And if you want to do some research before going in, often studios have info on their various artists online, including lots of samples from each person. That will give you a good idea of the type of work done and who you might want to talk to (i.e. abstract traditional vs abstract modern vs nature vs Goth vs "Mom" etc etc etc.)

[airedale]

airedale just do it.

I'm locked in just tossing up what to do. Start another leg sleeve or go onto my chest. I'm feeling somehthing like this mastodon cover on a chest piece could go alright.....

Attachment 85498

[boots2000]

Crazy black- does black like that need touch up once healed? I am only asking because I have no idea.

[Eric Estlund]

If I do my job keeping it happy while it heals, not so much. Much of that last picture is healed (mostly in the middle, the upper is fairly fresh, and the butt was in the shiny/ peeling stage). Over time stuff ages and softens just like any tattoo, but my arms are single pass and parts are 15 years old. The stuff on my back and legs are more solid from the get-go.

At some point I'll likely add some pattern to the arms for a subtle black on black effect.