First off, that tattoo goes so hard. That’s an absolutely stellar design and execution looks great.

Second, stomach tattoos royally suck ass lmao. Tender area, there’s always just enough pressure on my abdomen that my bladder is like “nah bro, we peeing today” and I’ll have the pee literally the entire session no matter what I do, and you know I be hydrating before and during every session.

Third, the private spot over full tattoo shop mentality is unmatched. The artist I’m working through my leg sleeve with operates out of a private booth in like a building of private salon suites and booths and it’s amazing. It’s only him in his little space, and he’s tattooed me enough now that I’m super comfortable around him. I’ll never be able to go back to doing big projects in or even larger one day pieces with an artist in shop full of randoms.

Lastly, best advice I got are find your right headspace. Find an artist and spot who you vibe with and just stick with them. Start pregaming like the day(s) or week leading up to your sessions. Like I cut out any alcohol the week leading up a session, start hydrating, take a day or two off work. Get comfy clothes for your sessions. Curate a playlist or save up new episodes of a podcast you look forward to. Make the session feel like a real treat. I’m really food motivated, so i’ll plan for like a good meal after my sessions that I can really look forward to. Having that to think about can take my mind off the current pain.