You're absolutely right, shading hurts a lot less than the outlining. You described the feeling so perfectly! Can't wait to see more of the design.

Wow! You did it! Can't wait to see the final results.

Oh yeah, outline is WAAAY shittier than shading and coloring. I can't wait to see the photos of the outline and of the finished piece!

yeah, the outline can be worse, for sure....plus, i'd imagine that the upper chest is a tad more sensitive because it's less fleshy than other parts of the body (similarly, over the ribs can be quite spicy).

also, when shading or coloring is done, more needles are used at one time, maybe it lessens the pain that way somehow, as compared to one needle doing the outline/scraping along. i always likened the pain of tattooing to someone dragging a rusty saftey pin through my skin, HARD.

also, for me, the color portion of my arm tat was very painful...i think it was just sensitive from everything else (mine was large and done in one sitting...yow!). i wanted to stop, but also wanted to get it over with! hahah.

anyway, i want to see pics when it's done. when do you go back to get it filled in/shaded?

just seeing this, btw, makes me want to go get more! (i have two).

I don't have a second appointment yet, I need to call and make one whenever I'm healed up.

yay ink

yeah the shading definately hurts way less!! i can't wait to see the outline pics

"a ton of people kept coming in and just spontaneously picking stuff off the wall to get tattooed on them. Some were letting the price of the tattoo determine what they got. Nice!"

...i worked at a tattoo shop for years and you wouldn't believe some of the stories i have. people ALWAYS chose stuff based on price. the funniest though were the people who (yes, PEOPLE.. this happened more than once) who had to call their baby mama/daddy to figure out how to spell their CHILDRENS NAMES that they were going to get tattooed on 'em.

trust me when I say it looks so goood!!!
and lol @ those pictures of me and sparklers. I looked stoked, hahaha.

thanks for the fun weekend!

yay, tattoos. can't wait to see pics!

I can't wait to see it.

It hurts so damn much, sometimes I just don't know if I'll be able to finish mine. I did a ten-hour session once and at the end I was all curled up in a ball and wanted my mom.

What's wonderful is that we tend to forget how much it hurts so we go back. When you have such a high level of adrenaline and endorphin kicks in, that's when it hurts the most.

Oh yes, and I've been wanting to ask you, how do you like it so far? It's an adaptation to see your body modified, etc.

I like seeing it on me, peeking out of my shirts and stuff, but I'm not used to it yet. I JUST got used to the new hair haha.

haha i have gotten to see it which means i am better than everyonnnnnnnne.

i love it!!!

im so jealous.

Woohoo! OMG for some reason I didn't think you meant that big. That's so awesome for your 1st tat. I always thought mine felt like someone holding a hot flame to my skin.

Congrats!

Wow, congrats! Your face in that photo really tells the story - you have the stoic visage of a Spartan woman in battle. Did it hurt more going over your scar tissue? When I got my wee little back piece, I was totally cool with the sensation till my artist went over this little keloid scar left by a chicken pox blister, at which point I was like "WTF?!! I WILL CUT YOU, MAN" and my artist (possibly fearing for his life, haha) told me it always hurts more over scar tissue. I still wonder to this day if he was telling the truth, or if he was just...maybe not the best artist.

Man, that pic makes me want to make an appointment for the next step in my sleeve plans like RIGHT NOW.

Actually I forgot to mention that. I didn't feel it AT ALL when she was going over the scar tissue. I thought it would hurt more but if I didn't look down I wouldn't have known she was even touching me.

amazing! I can only re-iterate that the outline hurts way worse...I cannot wait to see the finished thing. I am "blessed" with something call dermatographia, which means basically that you can write on my skin with your fingertip or anything and it will swell up totally legible. (It's actually by no means a blessing except when it's tattoo time...)I think I'm swollen and numb instantly so it's not as painful for me, if that makes any sense. Which is not to say it doesn't still hurt!

Did they not have problems tatooing over some scars? I found that with my last tattoo, he hit a tiny scar on my arm and then wasn't able to do as much detail on that one spot or something. you'd never know it to look at it, but my impression was that it was more difficult to tattoo over scars...

My scars are a really soft texture, they're more thinned out skin than a raised scar, kind of like a stretchmark, so it's not like tattooing over a keloid or something.

The outline ink is bleeding a bit in that area, but Ashley said she expected this, we're filling in all around it with color, so it shouldn't be an issue when we're done.

Woweee, I had no idea you were getting such a big one! You are so brave! I'm terrified of needles, so no tattoos for me evereverever. It looks so hot!

Just like so many others have said...the outline is absolutely THE worst part and that looks like a lot of outline. I can't wait to see more pics AND the finished product.

I'm in a rush right now, but remind me sometime to share my Miami Ink story. :-)

"the dull letter opener being dug in and dragged across my skin feeling"

Right. Cancel the tatoo idea here.

It does look beautiful and very tasteful Amber. I like it a lot.

Shading is gravy compared to the outline--my chest tattoos hurt 499402 times more during outlining that color-work.
Does you mom like it? Mine won't even look at mine. If your mom does, tell her to put in a good word for me!
Can't wait to see the whole shebang.

if you have a lot of color, shading and blending, then the color will hurt worse in the long haul becuase of all the over and over in the same spot. its not so bad at first, but when they have to blend color in the same spot you feel like your skin is roast beef.

wow that's big. All I ever wanted was a barcode on the back of my neck (yes, it's from dark angel..shush!) and I'm frightened. I guess I've never been THAT drunk. Yet.

That's a quite ambitious design, and I'm proud of you for doing it. I'll look forward to seeing the pictures.

Wow, I can't wait to see it when it's finished! Like yours, mine ended up being a lot bigger than I expected, but I love it. It's a huge change seeing it in the mirror but now I don't even notice it.

I have to respectfully disagree, the shading hurt like a motherfucker when I got mine done. That might be due to the fact that it was not only near my spine, but also required a lot of blending because there are so many different colors. If I'd had to have 2 sessions, I wouldn't have gone back for the 2nd, lol. Because yours is a traditional tat, maybe the shading won't be so bad because the colors will be in discrete blocks and won't have to be blended as much.

Anyway, looking good, can't wait to see it!

"the dull letter opener being dug in and dragged across my skin feeling"

I'm sorry to laugh at your misery. I can't wait to see the finished piece -- uber rad!

How is the tattoo feeling? I can't wait til you post some bigger photos of it. I think outlining/shading feels the same to me. I went in for another touchup on my arm last night (the third time I've had this particular design worked on, and the sixth time I've had my arm in general worked on) and it swelled up like a mofo. I've never had swelling like this before. And I was in the chair for only 20 minutes! Grrr. I feel like I have a baseball in my arm.

It's itchy! I can't wait til it stops peeling/flaking.

how hot are you now with your ink done!?
I love it!