First Tattoo

Looking to get my first tattoo. I've wanted one for a long time and never really knew what I wanted. I think I've decided on an Irish toast

"May your glass be ever full.

May the roof over your head be always strong.

And may you be in heaven

half an hour before the devil knows you're dead."

Thinking about getting it either on my ribs or my shoulder blade. Any ideas on the style of lettering? Any comments?

haha, no looking for something that looks a bit Irish. To fit the theme.

I have a passage on my chest:

"A coward dies a thousand deaths; I brave man only once."

I can't recall the font that I used, but it's not one that is typically found on a computer. I'll try to post a picture later. If you are getting words, make sure you go to a REALLY good tattoo artist. They have to know how to do it so they aren't too close and blend at some point, but still look normal without being too spaced out. I'm covered in tats, so I'm familiar with the difference between typical art and how it translates into a tattoo. All except for two of mine are custom, so I've dealt a lot with tattoo design from concept to reality.

Yea I've always wanted one and never could find anything I really wanted. This is simple and something I'd have no problem having my whole life.

Make sure nothing is misspelled! I've seen a lot of all word tattoos with atleast one or two words misspelled.

I'd be pissed!! Like tattoo his cornea pissed.

You have zero tattoos and your first one is going to be a 4 line paragraph! Bravo.

Just double check the spelling after he applies stencil. I got my first one a little over a year ago. I got it on my rib cage right under my armpit. It's something personal that I wanted close to my heart, but lord did it hurt. Enjoy

CoalCracker said:

Yea I've always wanted one and never could find anything I really wanted. This is simple and something I'd have no problem having my whole life.

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that's where I'm at.. I have zero but when/if it's time for the kids to decide to get one when they get older, they will pick one out for me and we do it together.. oh, and they pay for it

IrregularPulse said:

Just double check the spelling after he applies stencil. I got my first one a little over a year ago. I got it on my rib cage right under my armpit. It's something personal that I wanted close to my heart, but lord did it hurt. Enjoy

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Ribs definitely hurt, my fiancee doesn't even want to finish what she started on her ribs because it hurt so much. She is also half covered in tattoos, too.

I can't imagine a tattoo of just lettering being too bad though.

Pics?

I did my rib cage with a quote going vertically the entire ways, honestly, hurt a lot less than some of my other ones, however, there were spots that made me squint a bit. My .02, ensure your spelling is correct, and any reputable tattoo artist should have font books, look through them and find something you like.

When it comes to your first tattoo, I can't stress enough going to a reputable artist. Ask people with good work where they go, if there's a tattoo fair where you live, go to it and check the local artists out. When you pick a place, go in, and check all the books they have of work they've done. First check to make sure the work is good, and then, choose the artist at the place that "fits" the style of tattoo your going to have done. (IE: Don't have a guy who's only done tattoos of unicorns and rainbows to do a skull) And remember, just because one artist wants to charge you $50 more than another artist, doesn't mean he's better. Tattoo artists aren't paid per hour, they set their own prices on work, so it might be that he doesn't really want to do it, no different than construction work.

^^^ What he said!

I have two...one a "tramp stamp" at my back belt line to match my wife's. Nothing very complex or big, but we match!

But, for my second, I wanted my wife's and four daughter's names in some kind of arm band. The owner of the tattoo shop designed it for me and it came out great! At first glance, it looks like lines and curves, but when you look at it closely, my wife's name is in the middle, two of the daughters' names on either side. I had it put on my right bicep.

Be aware that where there is less tissue under the skin and on top of bone, THAT is where the tattoo process WILL hurt!

I would love to get a large backpiece of an Aztec sun, but when you are retired and on a fixed income, other things become more important! Post a pic of that "tat" when it's done!

glenn514

Yea i'm prepared for some pain and I have a pretty large pain tolerance and needles and blood don't bother me. I watch my blood being drawn.. Nurse is always suprised by that.

I'm also thinking about telling the guy to draw something up including a hop cone surrounded by something. Something brewing / beer related. Won't ever get tired of beer. Something organic looking. I've seen some cool designs incorporating hops and barley, maybe throw a mash paddle or two in there. I'm not super creative but those guys can come up with something. Still up in the air between the two. Think it will come down to what design they come up with.

SledgeH said:

You have zero tattoos and your first one is going to be a 4 line paragraph! Bravo.

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This is what I was thinking.... Maybe for a 3rd or 4th..... Not a first.

Maybe just a Celtic Cross or Claddagh or Celtic Dragon, etc would be a better first..

As for text, don't let us decide for you.. It stays on you. Forever. Magic Eraser don't work on these.

I'd go with Unzialish from here if I was going for a Celtic look:

http://www.fontspace.com/category/gaelic

Some of the others are just to crazy.

As was mentioned before, make sure you choose a reputable artist. Do your homework. If you see someone with a tattoo that is well done, ask them where they had it done.

Do not try to go shopping around for a cheap tattoo. Good artists will charge more because they can - you easily get what you pay for. That's my two cents when it comes to tattoos. I went to a good artist that wasn't cheap, and I don't regret it. I've seen plenty of tattoos that people shopped around for and the quality isn't usually very good.

CoalCracker said:

haha, no looking for something that looks a bit Irish. To fit the theme.

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In that case make sure the font is slurred...

ok, well I decided against the paragraph haha. Ended up going with something brewing like I originally imagined. I picked a shop and went in to see the artist yesterday. I took some photos in to give him an idea of what I wanted. Basically I told him I want barley, hops, and somehow include water in there. I left out yeast since it's a micro organism. However, maybe a vial would work nicely. Then in the background will be a wooden barrel as a fermenter with it slightly over sudsing. Told him to run with it. He's a published comic book artist so.. I think he will be fine. Not to mention, his Brother works at Troegs and is a homebrewer. Getting it done next wednesday. Pics to follow. Can't wait!

The only advise (unsolicited as it may be ) I can give is make sure you dont rush into it, and make sure you'll want that same tattoo in 10 years. I have a couple that I rushed into that I really dont like. On the converse, I have a couple that I thought on for a bit, didnt rush, and still love!

I'd get that picture of a hand clenching a molotov cocktail of homebrew on the first page of Radical Brewing.

RainyDay said:

The only advise (unsolicited as it may be ) I can give is make sure you dont rush into it, and make sure you'll want that same tattoo in 10 years. I have a couple that I rushed into that I really dont like. On the converse, I have a couple that I thought on for a bit, didnt rush, and still love!

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I'll throw in another couple words on what RainyDay said. I went to school for graphic design, so all of my tattoos, basic and ornate, maybe take sometime to play with Photoshop and tweak anything you might wanna change.

Thats one of my favorite toasts to make at the bar, nice choice!! I have an entire back piece and my ribs done. Theres no point asking any of us for ideas really, I mean this in the nicest way possible.....you need to talk to your tattoo artist. They're the one thats going to be able to tell you what will fit where and why you should do it in one place opposed to another for it to come out right. I originally thought my back piece could be done as a half sleeve until my tattoo artist explained the problems. Theres a lot more planning and design that goes into a good tattoo than most people expect. Dont be one of those people that rushed into getting inked and has some ****ty ass eye soar, and dont be cheap, you get what you pay for!!! Also get yourself a tube of A&D ointment, its same stuff they will try to sell you at the tattoo shop but probably $5+ cheaper. Never use neosporin or lotions, and stay out of the pool or salt water for a month or 2 after you get it. I hope this helps and best of luck to you

Here's a Gaelic tattoo I have on my collarbone, written in an irish style. Might give you an idea, but like some others have said, any reputable artist will have books filled with different letter styles.

The artist doing it is a published comic book illustrator. I spoke to one other artist at the shop and he didn't have a clue about home brewing or really beer in general. I then spoke to this artist who was very familiar with it all. Not to mention his work was a bit nicer and more to style. Here is his site. Portfolio Real down to earth nice guy and is a very popular artist in the area. Can't wait to see what he comes up with.

could try a font like these. My preference would be for the first two. May even consider having it translated to gaelic on one of the many forums. If you take that route, though, make sure to wait for multiple translations before going ahead as gaelic is not easily translated word for word like most latin based languages and you will see arguments over proper translations - very similar to when someone asks about the need for a secondary .

As for the actual text, keep in mind that a lot of these 'toasts' and 'blessings' were all commercially created and hold little stock in irish culture (if that is what you are shooting for). I found this out the hard way on a business trip in Ireland. Though if you like the toast and it holds a personal meaning to you, then definitely go for it. I myself have the following:

"May those who love us, love us;
and those who don't love us, may God turn their hearts;
and if He doesn't turn their hearts,
may he turn their ankles so we'll know them by their limping"

All done! Took 4.5 hours.

Nice! That's some quality ink!

Very nice!

Thanks! I'm super pleased with it! Came out better than I imagined it would. He was great to work with.

Really nice work and I like the design!!! Be ready to get the color touched up in a few years though. A great tip I learned is wrap it in plastic wrap before you go to bed. Otherwise your bed sheets are going to have prints from where you were laying. This will only happen for the first few days until its set. Congrats!!

Barnzy02 said:

Make sure nothing is misspelled! I've seen a lot of all word tattoos with atleast one or two words misspelled.

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Lol... We knew a guy named Jeremy Stone who wanted to get "STONE" tattooed on his chest in 3" high letters in old English. Turned out the artist was a retard and used a C instead of a T ( they do look similar). So he went full on english with freakin SCONE tattooed on his chest. Jeremy was also a retard so he didn't even know for months. Then he hung himself with a bed sheet in county jail. True story.

KeyWestBrewing said:

Really nice work and I like the design!!! Be ready to get the color touched up in a few years though. A great tip I learned is wrap it in plastic wrap before you go to bed. Otherwise your bed sheets are going to have prints from where you were laying. This will only happen for the first few days until its set. Congrats!!

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I've always been told not to do this, as it doesn't allow for air flow thus the ointment will bleed the ink from the tattoo. I've always put on a light amount of ointment, covered and tapped with paper toweling.

Think about what that tattoo is going to look like when you are 90!

kh54s10 said:

Think about what that tattoo is going to look like when you are 90!

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Ugh, there's always one......

kh54s10 said:

Think about what that tattoo is going to look like when you are 90!

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You can't think like that. Before I got my first tattoo my friend and I always talked about gettin one and we never did because we were always worried about employment and all that petty future talk. Needless to say my best bud passed away at the age of 27 a week after my wedding. Since then I told myself that I would do things that I want to do(obviously within reason I am a father now and do have responsibilities) and not worry about with others think and what the distant future would bring. Now I am heavily tattooed and I don't care what people think. I once heard some say the difference between someone that is tattooed and someone that isn't is that the tattooed person doesn't judge the other person for not being tattooed

Quality work. Nice styling.

kh54s10 said:

Think about what that tattoo is going to look like when you are 90!

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It'll look like he's a badass old dude

As someone with extensive coverage, my advice is GO BIG or don't go. Don't let price be a factor in what you choose.

CidCitrus said:

It'll look like he's a badass old dude

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