what's your biggest tattoo problem??

mine is.. taking good care of them. you know being in the shade.. putting lotion on, etc. (though b4 I got tattoos.. my biggest prob was getting to trust the artist) so.. what's your biggest tattoo problem?? Armond

My clients not taking care of them.

Mine? Lack of money to cover up the bad ones!

Having absolutely no artistic talent of my own and trying to explain what is in my head to someown else.

My biggest problem is that I don't have enough of them.....

Molly..... Maybe you could sit down and write it all out, write out the ideas you have, the moods you want to create. Use keywords.... What music expresses the -feeling- you are going for with the ink? Things like that can help.

Yea Molly.. I'm bad at expressing the idea in my head too.. here's a tip the artist gave me himself! he told me to use metaphors to describe what I want. and use other designs that explain the theme of what I want. Like I took 3 designs to him.. one was really cool but deep meaning.. one was totally evil n one reflected 'fun'.. n I told him I wanted to something that had all of these.. n he understood! (n did a gr8 job too) so if you get hold of a real expert ... n use the tips above.. that'll make it.

Thanks Saiyge that's a good idea. It's frustrating for me and I'm sure the artist gets frustrated as well. :) It's funny give me a piece of steel and I can make pretty much anything but give me paper and pencil and I am all thumbs.

My biggest problem is that it looks fantastic, but still itches a bit after a month or so of having it done. Every once in a while, you get these little white heads too. Not a huge deal. I imagine, I've always thought it comes from the lotion. Maybe over moisturinzing. Maybe it's better to let em dry out a little... TAZ?

Thanks Armond....You guys all have great advice!

hey Cactus.. I think I remember my tattoo artist telling me it happens to people bcoz their body heals slower than normal. yeah I think that's the reason you still have that itchy feel. juz give it some more time to heal up totally.

Let it dry Al...when the little white bumps appear...your skin pores are gettin clogged....start washing on REALLY HOT water and always rinse in cold...try it man!!...T

My biggest problem is that what I hoped would be my prize pieces have suddenly taken a turn for the worse at half completion. Thousands of dollars in, and a really fucked up course of healing, the whole thing looks like shit!! I SO WANNA CRY!!!!!!!!!!! TCE

Tim...I don't think things are nearly as bad as you think...after the healing is done I think you will be surprised...yes you are gonna have some touch ups but no big deal...so quit yer fuggin whinin son!! Unca TAz will make it all better!!!...T

I'm not a tattoo artist but my biggest tattoo problem is not having enough skin.What do you do when you run out?Does gaining about 300 pounds add more flesh?

Maybe YOU can fix it at the TAz BASH TOOF DAY!!! I'm just kicking myself in the ass for being in such a hurry...........I'm usually very patient..............and was trying to be as such with this project as well. DAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!! TCE

Willie, SAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY, that's not a bad idea. Hmmmmmm. I don't know what it would do to your existing ink though. TCE

NIGHTCRAWLERS 1st ANNUAL TAZFEST!!!! look in "all of us "post for info

TCE... When you get to that half way and self doubting phase you should push through to completion. What most artists won't tell you is that they go through that somewhat with every piece. This is true with any worthwhile project. The hardest time I have is with clients who get started with big, multiple sitting, work and hit that "doubtful" phase while the tattoo is in progress. It leaves them vulnerable to buying in to hacks that say, "I can finish that cheaper." I have had artwork (and more importantly, client's skin) completey wrecked by this situation. Clients... if you have done your homework and are getting large multiple sitting tattoos, stick with your artist! You will be glad you did. -Kandyman Joe www.pureimaginationtattoos.com www.kandymanjoe.com

Joe ...Don't know if ya got the bulletin But you are certainly invited to the 1st Annual Nightcrawlers TAzfest her in St. Joseph, mo the weekend before Halloween....one huge party!! and you are more than welcome...would love to have ya!!...TAz

Thanks Taz! I just replied to the email you sent... too many sources of communication to deal with! yahoo, myspace, voicemail, tattoonow forum the list goes on...

Have you had a chance to see the video of Buckwheat as he was shot?................................Let's take a look.........

Kandy Man, Oh, believe me, I'm not out to save a buck here..................just my own skin, at any cost!! I'm going to give this a few months to heal and see how it looks before doing anything else. This is on my feet, and it's not quite the same as any other part of the body. You don't need me to tell you that an infection there can spell major disaster. I just feel at this point that I'm dodging bullets. I've had two other tattoos reworked in the interim, and the healing was textbook perfect. Thanks TCE

Kandyman, I suppose that I should add that my artist has said exactly what you did with regard to people not finishing their pieces. Part of the problem, no doubt, is probably money. At $150.00 an hour, without any idea how many hours a piece will take, it's easy to run over budget real quick. And there are major differences with what speed different artists work. Slow work doesn't always equal better work. As far as switching artists.........................HUGE dilemma!!!! After you've sat 20 or so hours with a particular artist, you do develop a rappoire with them, and in my case, the dude is a really great guy! So jumping is a trying matter of conscience, and a very, very difficult thing to weigh in. But in the end, it's my health, my skin, and double time for every hour put in if I have to pay someone else to fix it later, if it can even be fixed. TCE

TCE, From your first post, I mistakenly thought you were the artist doing the project, instead of the collector. I agree you should be cautious of your skin. If the piece is too far gone... by all means do what you gotta do. Thing is, sometimes there is a "rough" period a multiple sitting piece will go through before all the layering of color pops out. This is, of course, under the assumption the artist knows what they are doing. Multiple layers between healings is how I personally prefer to saturate and blend color. Only you can be the judge. Perhaps get second opinions from other artists. To do that though, you need the understanding that many will just "talk shit" to get your money. Its up to you to determine who is shooting staight with you, and who is degrading the artist's work to get your money. Portfolio research is the biggest key in the process. Ideally, an artist who is worth their salt will stand behind the work if you had a hard heal. And as it goes, hard heals are just sometimes part of the game. -Kandyman Joe www.pureimaginationtattoos.com www.kandymanjoe.com

tryin to find a person who can take the tattoo from a picture and put it on paper but with a little change done to it.

Pretty much any artist worth his salt can do what you want

Kandyman, Like I said, I'm not going off half cocked in search of another artist. I just want to give the work that is already done enough time to heal so that an accurate assessment of the situation can be made. TAz and I have talked about this a bit, and I think we have agreed that switching artists is an agonizing proposition at best, and it's something I'd rather not do if not necessary. In your experience, how much time would you say is sufficient to give a colored area enough time to show it's true condition? Thanks TCE

TCE, USUALLY 2-3 weeks is suffucient. However... I have personally had work on me (and seen on others) where the secondary healing took as long as 4 or 5 weeks to flake off. There are a lot of factors involved including: health, skin type, the area that was tattooed, pigments used, after care routine, etc. Also, I have had large work by some world class artists which healed with a few minor "holidays." Sometimes touchup areas are unavoidable, no matter who does the work. I try to remind clients that this is skin we're talking about, and not paper (paper having a somewhat more predictable outcome).

Kandyman, Whatt do you do when it's been two months, and the colored area is still rough and shiny, but no longer peeling? As I said, I've had two reworks done by another artist, and the healing was more or less complete in 2 weeks. Thanks TCE

Cocoa Butter. Minimum twice a day on the affected area. Will probably smooth it out faster than you expect. Do NOT do use it on a fresh, open tattoo.

Itching is my biggest problem! Sitting through the actual tattoo, keeping it clean and moisturized... that was fine. The damn itching is driving my crazy!!!

Kandyman, I finally got so fed up last week, that tattoo be damned, I stuck the worst afflicted area of my left foot in front of one of those water jets in the swimming pool for about an hour. I didn't care what it did to the tattoo, all I know is it felt really GOOD blasting into the open sores, and it alleviated the ferocious itching. I know that this was probably the worse thing to do, but ironically, the sores began to heal the next day, and are now completely closed. The work still looks like shit, but it was probably inevitable anyway. I've been using an exfoliating scrub once a day on the areas that are two months old, and either cocoa sunscreen, or cocoa butter lotion, so we'll see what happens in the next few months. Thanks again TCE

type-o I meant do NOT use cocoa butter (or any other hand lotion for that matter) on an open/fresh tattoo. I've found Cocoa Butter is good for smoothing out problematic or slightly scarred areas AFTER the tattoo is healed. Other wise Bacitracin and Tattoo-Goo are good products.

Kandyman, Are you talkin' to me.............are you talkin' to me, huh, are you talkin' to me? Or were you referring to type-O? TCE

My biggest Tattoo problem is that the guy who is working on my next one is really awesome, but he's in demand and overworked and he sent me just a little taste to tease me with it, and now it's fucking killing me! I wanna see some more!!

Ok Ok Al...I' will have some more this coming week!!! H8TR!!!!

NO UR A H8TR TAZ!!!!! H8TR! H8TR! H8TR! (Hey man, no worries. If it takes 10 years man, I don't care. I'm grateful to have you workin' it for me!!!)

Mine is thinking about my next one, while I am getting one! Tima

Mine is having to wait until September to get my first one...urg!

Getting a little carried away with the amount of Badger Balm during the first four days after I have work done. I know, I know, less is best....

Yeah...Jwerk you are a prime example...you use Badger Balm...I get the feelin some people may think I am joshin them about this stuff...I know you have used both it and before we fond th Badger Balm you used triple antibiotic ointment...tell the good people what YOU think!...TAz

Oh, for real! It works very well. You just have to take the leap of faith and try it. Just because it doesn't say "tattoo" or "ink" on it doesn't mean squat. I don't know what else to say other than it honestly does work really well as a tattoo after care product.

My ONLY tattoing problem is that i'm running out of skin!

My new problem is just wanting it all to be over for another 20 years! Fuckin' shitty old ass skin!! (Not ass skin) TCE

having to find a new artist AND having to wait til after i pop the baby out. less than 2 months to go....

Wondering if I am going to have post-partum depression after we are done with my sleeves.... Someone hold me...

ALLRIGHT!!! THATS IT!!! GAWDDAMMITT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TCE...you get here 3 days early and we are gonna fix up yer fuckin tattoo!!!...We cannot have a member of the tribe with a faulty tattoo on em can we?....Just take really good care of it til october man!!!

TAz Baby, I love you man!!!!!!!!!!! My wizard is gonna work on it some before then, but he's so damn hard to schedule appointments with. Right now all that can be done is what's still uncolored. The other still looks like ostrich skin.................so I doubt he would even consider poking into that again. I'm just pissing and moaning because I've been walking around all summer with a less than half done tattoo on each leg, when I wanted to have them done by the end of May. We'll see what we can get knocked out by October, and in the meantime I got some of that Tummy Butter per Kandyman's suggestion, and I've been using that religiously. Thanks Buddy!! TCE

...............or should I switch to the Beaver Balm?

Badger Balm is da SHIT!!!!....at $6.00 its worth a try...you will never use anything else!!!!

$6.00.....................................shit, look at how much Aquaphor and the cabinet full of other smothering crap has cost me. No problem! At the Cracker Barrel you say? Now all I have to do is find one......... TCE

Is badger balm the same as bag balm?(the stuff they put on cows teets)

NO!...go to .www.pcfallon.com its BADGER BALM healing salve or you can buy it at any Cracker Barrel restaurant and sometimes Barnes&Noble(go figure...a bookstore!...GREAT STUFF!!!

TAz --- Check your email! :)