Years ago I was getting my ribs done. The piece is fairly large, from my waist to the tip just under my armpit. About 8 hours of work (3 sessions). Lots of shading. The shop was more of a "street" shop than a studio shop, so the work areas were pretty open. A guy walks in to look around the shop and sees me laying there. He asks exactly that question...does it hurt? I don't remember exactly how I replied, but I'm pretty sure my response would have gotten my ass kicked had my very large and intimidating tattoo artist buddy not been in the shop that night.
Been meaning to post this here for a bit. Found this series on vimeo by Marcus Kuhn. He basically travels the world chatting to different artists. Up to the seventh episode now, where he travels to Japan. Each episode runs about half an hour and is worth a watch if you're looking to kill some time or for some inspiration....
Before my niece was born and names were up for grab I politely suggested Moxie Possum. They ended up naming her Nina Grace but thankfully Possum or Moxie P. has stuck as her FUCKING BRILLIANT nickname.
Finally got to meet her this past weekend and opted to get some ink on my ribs.
Some are born to move the world to live their fantasies...
"the fun outweighs the suck, and the suck hasn't killed me yet." -- chasea
"Sometimes, as good as it feels to speak out, silence is the only way to rise above the morass. The high road is generally a quiet route." -- echelon_john
I have a 9 hour long (3 session) piece on my ribs. Absolutely horrible. It's 17 years old and I can still remember the feeling of the first line. I'd put my elbow and the crease where my arm, chest, and armpit all meet as being just as bad.
And since we're sharing ink, here's part of one I'm still working on. It's mostly done, but we need to do a full round of touchups and finish a few small spots that we didn't get to on the last session.
You can see the wing starting to touch my elbow. Those lines, and the ones you can't see in the photo, felt like I was getting stabbed. Good times.
i got something that goes up my bicep into my armpit just a little bit, didn't think it was that bad...or not as bad as i was thinking it might be.
the chest is pretty brutal. i imagine the ribs and the stomach are just as bad or worse...
i got something that goes up my bicep into my armpit just a little bit, didn't think it was that bad...or not as bad as i was thinking it might be.
the chest is pretty brutal. i imagine the ribs and the stomach are just as bad or worse...
Fair point. I should clarify that it felt like I was getting stabbed with a large knife by an angry assailant and not a tattoo machine by a friend.
My chest really wasn't bad. Nothing right on the sternum, though. Ribs were brutal. The part that extends onto my stomach, that was even worse.
As of now I only have bike-related ink, so I have nothing to add. That's going to change eventually, when I get something to commemorate my dearly departed best buddy (shown here supervising as I did some bike maintenance):
I have a 9 hour long (3 session) piece on my ribs. Absolutely horrible. It's 17 years old and I can still remember the feeling of the first line. I'd put my elbow and the crease where my arm, chest, and armpit all meet as being just as bad.
I have a large piece on my left ribcage/abdomen that my tattooer had expected to be able to get done in two long sessions. It was terrible, it hurt so fucking bad. The worst part was a couple hours into the second session when he says to me "we're going to have to finish this up in another session." Talk about deflating.
Taught me a lesson though: don't do midday or morning appointments because there's going to be a hard stop on the back end since they have to get ready for their next client. Get the last appointment of the day and you can go until you're done, or at least at a good stopping point.
For what it's worth, the top of my ankle was the worst, with most of my back being fairly not fun.
I've spent the last 10 years or so going back and forth on what to get for my back. It's really my only remaining uninterrupted space and I want to do it right. I recently had an allergy skin test done and because of all the tattoos on my arms they did the test on my back. It hurt so bad to have them prick my back (like way more than any area I've been tattooed) that I think I've given up on ever doing it.
Originally Posted by C.Dyer
I have a large piece on my left ribcage/abdomen that my tattooer had expected to be able to get done in two long sessions. It was terrible, it hurt so fucking bad. The worst part was a couple hours into the second session when he says to me "we're going to have to finish this up in another session." Talk about deflating.
Taught me a lesson though: don't do midday or morning appointments because there's going to be a hard stop on the back end since they have to get ready for their next client. Get the last appointment of the day and you can go until you're done, or at least at a good stopping point.
Great advice. I always schedule my appointments to either be the entire day or to be at the end of the day. Plus, I'd so much rather go home and crash for the night than have to deal with a fresh tattoo and a normal routine.
I've spent the last 10 years or so going back and forth on what to get for my back. It's really my only remaining uninterrupted space and I want to do it right. I recently had an allergy skin test done and because of all the tattoos on my arms they did the test on my back. It hurt so bad to have them prick my back (like way more than any area I've been tattooed) that I think I've given up on ever doing it..
The only part of mine that was bad was the fill-in on and around the central triskele, right on the spine. It just burned... Otherwise was easily tolerable.
Some are born to move the world to live their fantasies...
"the fun outweighs the suck, and the suck hasn't killed me yet." -- chasea
"Sometimes, as good as it feels to speak out, silence is the only way to rise above the morass. The high road is generally a quiet route." -- echelon_john
Likes: 
Paceline
Show Your Ink
Originally Posted by Eric Estlund
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks