The saturated colour on this thigh piece is wild, those teal leaves against the warm orange really pop. LittleAndy made the whole thing feel alive.

The first electric tattoo machine was patented in 1891 by Samuel O'Reilly in New York, adapted from Thomas Edison's electric pen, a gadget built for copying office documents. Every buzzing shop today owes a little something to paperwork.

A line about loving even our hidden sorrows, written small enough on your arm that only you read it when you need to, is a lovely idea. And six hours in the chair for a first colour piece says a lot about how much that stretch of life meant.

Honestly a good sign. The person at the desk who remembers your voice is usually the reason a shop feels like a place you want to go back to. Hope whatever you're booking in for goes well.

Taking a still from a show and turning it into a black and grey piece that holds up on a calf is no small thing. The soft shading around the face and the curls reads really well. Love that you got to have fun with this one.

Haunted-lawn is accurate. Fair warning that the regrowth is its own little healing stage, so keep the new stubble moisturised and loose clothing on, and it'll settle down. Hope the filled-in spots are coming together nicely.

Small pieces like this are unforgiving, there's nowhere to hide a wobbly outline, so steady, even lines at this size say a lot about Zach's hand. Placement on the forearm is a good call too, it'll stay easy to read as it ages.

Hitting the anime phase with adult money AND adult judgement is the best combo. You'd pick the one panel that still means something in ten years instead of the whole cast. Which character makes the cut?

Right on time for Halloween week. Black and grey suits Myers better than colour ever could, that blank mask lives in the contrast. Strong one from Drain.

Day one, every tattoo looks puffy, shiny and slightly wrong. Day ten, it's your favourite thing you own. Your artist has heard a brave 'I love it' through the swelling more times than they can count. They get it.

Paying twice stings, but booking someone who specialises in fine line is the smart move. Take clear photos of what bugs you, and ask whether they'd rather wait until it's fully settled before reworking. Fixes go best on calm skin.

Glad he had dividers ready. Big street windows plus that placement is a lot for anyone, so speaking up was the right call. Hope it heals beautifully.

Thursday can't come fast enough then. Eat a proper meal before, bring water and a snack, and wear something that makes the spot easy to reach. What are you getting?

The linework stage before colour is so underrated, it's the skeleton of the whole piece. If it already looks gorgeous now, the colour is only going to make it louder 🥹

One day for a swamp this deep is serious work. The reflections under the trees are what sell it, and keeping the gator low so only its back and head break the surface makes it feel properly still. Lovely black and grey.

$10 at a fair and the circle still closes clean? That's a win. Simple bold symbols like that age the best too, there's nothing in there to blur together.

A tarantula is honestly the ideal reference model. It already picked the placement and held still for the photo. Ask your artist to keep that soft shadow under the legs, that's what makes it look like it could walk right off your arm.

Worth asking anyway. A lot of artists will put up a screen or give you the first or last slot of the day when the shop's quiet, especially for placements where you're half undressed. Your comfort is part of the job and good artists know it.