Back piece session - half or full day?

[Sarah]

The tattooist that is doing my back piece is based in a different city from me, but is going to be doing a guest stint in a local studio for a week. She's being fabulously accommodating and now I have to decide whether to play safe and opt for a half day session (presumably to be followed by a trip to her home studio later) or to opt for a full day and get as much done as possible. She's more than happy to do the full day if I'm game.

Anyone endured a full day of tattooing? Should I go for it or be a little more restrained?

[Diamond Dave]

go full day, it may take a bit of time to layout and draw the tattoo before she starts with the needles. If it's local, take advantage i say.

good luck! whatcha gonna get?

[Sarah]

The concept is based around a combination of my European/British heritage and finding my place in my new home in NZ - main elements = a wolf, a pohutukawa (tree) & the riroriro (bird). Erin & I are just starting to play around with designs! It's winter here in NZ, won't be doing the work until after Christmas when the weather is warmer and I can get some fresh air to it to help healing.

[Chris aka Creepinbean]

If your up for it I would go full day its better to knock everything out at once especially if the artist is going to be around your area.

Good Luck

[Inktman]

If you'll have the outline of a backpiece it will take a full day to draw it and to hammer it in.... But then you're artist won't have to add to the design or change her mind or get doubts or forget how she wanted to do it. Have fun!

[gookymo]

i would say first try to get all the main lines in. if you feel ok to continue then start some shading!

[Judy]

I'd go full day too. Even if only half of it gets done, you can heal it then go back for color. I tend to pink up and swell after outline, my color turned out great because we waited to do it till I healed up.

[Chris aka Creepinbean]

Same here I tend to swell a little bit so I always get outline done one day and shading and detail a week or 2 later.

[Erin]

i would also say go for a full day. you want to take advantage of the artist being near you!

[Black is the new Black]

Everyone's pain is different. For me I've only ever done full day sessions (full as in, when the artist gets tired out we quit, so typically 6-7 hours).

In my experience it doesn't ever hurt worse than it does during the first hour and right after a long break mid-session. So if you can handle the second hour you can probably handle the sixth too.

For me I found that the more exhausted I got the easier it became so typically by the end of a long session it was far easier than at the beginning.

Having said that I'm with gookymo though - try to get the lines done and decide from there. If you get a full back worth of lines done in a single session I highly doubt your artist will be upset if you decide to call it a day. For me that first day of lines was the worst day of all.

[Sarah]

Thank you so much for your kind & considered advice - I'm going with full day! If nothing else we'll get a big chunk of the piece completed and there will be no time pressure. I'll just plug into my ipod, bring a decent book, enjoy a good night's sleep & a sturdy breakfast and I'll be all ready to go.

Black - Hope you're right that the first hour is the worst; I'll think of it like running i.e. the first 10 minutes is terrible and then you hit the zone. I trust Erin, the artist, implicitly so I'm in good hands.

Roll on the New Year!

[Black is the new Black]

I should probably admit to now being a little worried this might be an awful experience for you (though I don't think that's likely).

Also that I did once pass out in the shower after a long session (just out of the blue, I wasn't in any particular pain at all and actually felt fine overall).

[Sarah]

Awww...thanks for worrying, but I'll be fine. Even if it isn't the most fun I've ever had, it'll be worth it. The drive home afterwards should be interesting though.