Tattoo Addiction

[Ancalagon The Black]

I have a few and am definitely feeling the urge for another one very soon. My policies are also very simple in that, it must be my original idea and I must only get one after achieving some milestone in my life. I am a big fan of scripts and lettering and have affinities for certain languages. The next one will be in my mother tongue (I have the idea already) - which needs to be done soon after I get to a certain milestone in my graduate student life now. There is a very good artist in these parts who specializes in scripts - very lucky to have the guy here and a very nice tattoo culture as well.

[Wicked Pixie]

Another of my favorite topics! I have 15. I'm always jonesing for more. Each and every one has a story! I didn't get my first until I was 29- I'm only 34 now so yeah I've dumped a little money into my skin art!!!

[Dio]

I only have two little tattoos and my wife gives me a hard time about it. Granted she's the shop manager for an amazing shop outside of Boston... I think we've officially stopped counting her tattoos and are now going by "% coverage"... I'll have to ask her what percent she's at.

[SimplyTsundere]

Sigh. I love talking about tattoos. Hearing about everyone else's (or their partner's) tattoos is making me really hype to get mine. I enjoy even more hearing about women with tons of tattoos! So many people frown down on it but it's such an empowering thing!

[ModernSpartacus]

Not yet old enough to get a tattoo but I have dyed my hair all the colours of the rainbow and it's currently red/purple. I love the look of tattoos and piercings but I probably won't get them myself apart from a small HP related one and perhaps one dedicated to Spartacus. I'm afraid of what they'll look like when I'm old and wrinkly!

[SimplyTsundere]

I'm about to dye mine blonde. And then probably blue afterwards. Maybe blue and purple. I'll have to figure it out. I adore body modification as a whole (I have piercings as well).

[Tarmac]

I've got three tattoos currently, and am actively planning my fourth. All of mine are my tattoo artist's original artwork, since I can't draw to save my life. The only problem for me, frankly, is that I'm headed to law school in the fall, and I have to be able to cover them all up for professional occasions - though it's widely becoming more accepted, it can still be a deal breaker with some firms. 

 

I actually just went with my girlfriend on a consultation to talk to my artist about her next one, and I probably shouldn't have...I think it might force the decision for me... 

[Wayne_Kent_Seago]

I have two small tattoos on my shoulders, and want more. My wife is not a big fan, but I got both of mine before we met so she can't do anything about those. A while back I said that if got under 200 lbs, the gift to myself would be a half-sleeve. At the time I weighed almost 235 and had no motivation at all, so it didn't seem like I would ever get there. She said ok, but in that way that women do that means "whatever, I am sort of agreeing because you probably won't ever do it". Well some time went by and I would remind her of our "deal" and she would say whatever (an usually give me a cookie LOL). Over the past 6 months, I have been eating better and some weight came off. Then about 3 months ago I found Nerd Fitness and joined the rebellion. I have been exercising and really watching what I eat. Long story short, now I weigh 204 and she is a little nervous about that half-sleeve that will be mine shortly...

[I-Jo]

go for it.  Just make sure you really plan it out and find yourself a great artists.  I think half sleeves are amazing- when done well of course. My boyfriend wants one- I just wish he would get back in shape- he would look ridiculous with it otherwise.  (IMHO)

 

good for you on the weight loss  can't wait to see what you come up with for your ink!

[Guest Dirty Deads]

I have 4. The one on my head is the most personal although they all are. The last one I got I paid $50 and it is the most amateur pos I've ever seen. Should look like  a puzzle piece removed with fire underneath, but you'd never know it's fire it's so bad.

[smazzon1]

Getting a tattoo is a huge commitment and it's permanent (unless you want to spend a lot of $$$, time, and pain to get it removed). I only have one and got it a year and a half ago but I thought about it for three years. My tattoo represents my dad's parents who passed away within 2 years of each other. I plan on getting my next one for my mom's parents. 

 

But like others have said, make sure you think about it for a while (a year is a good time frame) and find a good artist. I got lucky with mine since I found out about him through a friend. 

[CharlieBoston]

I woke up this past Saturday morning 100% certain I was going to end the day with a new tattoo. My wife and I were excited to get an ambigram of our kids' names on our left wrist. We got a design idea from an ambigram generator, because they don't have an equal number of letters in their names (Grace & Wesley). So looking at it one way, it should read "Wesley" and when you look at it upside down, it should read "Grace."

As you can see, while Wesley's name looks good, Grace's name looks like it read Gram. Unfortunately, the artist didn't have any ideas that made it look more like Grace without compromising the W in Wesley.

So it's back to the drawing board. One idea is to have their initials as an ambigram (GDW / WAW):

or getting their astrological signs (Gemini and Leo) as one interlocking symbol:

These are rough sketches and not close to a final design, but it's where the ideas are at right now. I'm going back this weekend to suss it out with the artist, but I think I'm leaning more toward the astro signs. I'm hellbent on commemorating my kids in tattoo form!

[tseecka]

It's always interesting to me to see people talking about their tattoos. I only have the one, and I certainly don't understand tattoo addiction as anything that could ever apply to me--I was screaming and nearly broke my best friend's hand throughout my session! Then again, I had it done in Thailand, using the traditional method as opposed to by machine...getting an image etched into your skin essentially pixel by pixel has got to be more agonizing than a quick machine tattoo! But then again, I don't really know. I got the one, and while I often think of other options that I might consider, the memory of that pain is enough to chase me away.

 

Still though, I am loving the stories and images that you guys are all throwing up here! Body mod culture, and tattoo culture in particular, is really interesting to hear and read about, and I love the unique "nerdy" twists that so many of you have put on your body art! Bravo!