Tattoos

[kit99bar]

sneak preview.  It's a snake, representing my mother's Chinese Zodiac, on a tree next to a waterfall.

The snake will be bright orange when it's all done. I'm not sure when I'll be back, hopefully later this year. I love it!
We only got the shading and a little of the water done.  Will have an updated pic of it tomorrow.

[kit99bar]

my Artist told me to let it dry heal.  The tattoo has been removed from it's wrapper for about 5 hrs now and it's getting dry/wrinkling.  I googled and there are a lot of spots that recommend a tiny bit of non-scented moisturizer to prevent scabbing.
I want to listen to my artist though.

What do you guys think?  help a noob out!

[Katsushin]

It's probably going to scab (at least lightly) no matter what.  Although I can be lazy and I've done it, I wouldn't recommend a dry heal unless you've got a bunch of tattoos and been through it.
The lotion route is pretty universal and works great…

Remember this...the body wants to be healthy and heal itself, so if you're a reasonably clean and decently healthy person, it should be fine.  There are as many opinions on how to heal a tattoo as there are styles of tattoo art out there.  Basically many different roads to the same destination.  If the tattoo was applied properly you'll be fine either way, but I do believe that some moisture for it is a good thing.

[kit99bar]

thanks Katsushin, I will rub a thin layer on top.  It's aired enough I though.    the wrinkles are worrying me.
The skin on my shoulders is super nice though and should heal up really well.

[kit99bar]

i used some unscented lubiderm

[jbphoto23]

myself and a lot of people i know use aquaphor for the first few days and then unscented lubriderm after that

[kit99bar]

thanks guys.  Tattoo has not scabbed and it's been 17 hrs since I took the bandage off.  awesome

[elclintor]

Looks great kit!

[kit99bar]

thanks El! 
Arm is now flaking and itching a tiny bit.  No scabs that I can see.

[elclintor]

you better post that pic Flo, before I have to… She did a great job!

[kit99bar]

Tattoo does not look as vibrant as when it was freshly done.  Is this normal?

[zhivago]

Yes, but a little moisturizer should bring it back to pretty close.

[injunjack]

@kit99bar:

Tattoo does not look as vibrant as when it was freshly done.  Is this normal?

The colors "fade", and also pretty fast IMO. That's normal.

Maybe our tattoo artists want to chime in here?

[Lucifer]

[madmonday]

so many reasons lucifer is my guy, above is just one of them.

[Katsushin]

Not really into bringing my work life over here, but started this back piece on an old client the other day (it will continue on down to the back of the thigh) and realized I got a good shot of the Busters patch in there…

[Blackheart]

WOW!

[Finn666]

tbh i really would love to see more of your work…this looks brilliant!

[Katsushin]

Thanks so much…

truenaturetattoo.com

[bagley920]

Looking for ideas on how to cover this up or incorporate it into something else. It was my first tattoo when I was 18. Don't dislike it, just want something different there. It's on my left shoulder and it's about 3-4 in height. Ideas? The shape is throwing me off. Would obviously have to be something circular or spiral in fashion, and don't really want to do the cliche barbed wire-esque stuff.

IMG00027-20110304-0722 by bagley920, on Flickr