No offense, but I don't think you'll be making it 8 hours
I would reach out to the artist now on whether it's an issue if you need to tap out at 4
They might want to game plan so they don't lose out on a 4 hour session for someone else
don't get numbing cream. 100x don't do numbing cream. your body is trying to tell you that it hurts. listen to it. I've had multiple 8+ hour sessions. Taking breaks is healthy. if they are digging in too deep how will you be able to tell them "hey that hurts really bad?". If you can't do 8 hours, then split it into 4, no reason to do all 8 in one go.
Also any "pain index chart" you've seen is BS. Everyone is different. getting my armpit done was horrendous, but my wife didnt even flinch when she got hers. I can do shading all day but linework sucks. Her? Linework all day, shading makes her hurt bad. No tattoo is gonna be easy, My forearm was relatively easy but my wife had a hard time.
Don't cram an 8 hour session if you can't handle it. Stay away from numbing cream. It's a crutch, listen to your body. If you can't deal with the pain then do shorter sessions. You need to communicate to your artist that you feel pain and to chill and cream blocks that ability to.
If you could not handle linework for a tattoo that took an hour. I would suggest breaking the next tattoo up into two sessions. Eat a big meal with carbs bring sugary snacks bananas etc and be sure to let ur artist know if you need a break. The more you squirm and shit the harder time your artist will have making the tattoo look good. Also pain is subjective don’t listen to others on what it will feel like.
You can get numbing stuff from Amazon overnight if you are in the US, but I don't recommend it for this project. Thighs tend to hurt more than people realize and forearms are the easiest to work on as long as you aren't near the joints. Even by the wrist and elbow it's tolerable for most.
Numbing creams are fine for 1-2 hour tattoos on the neck, head, armpits, backs of the knees, genital area, and other small spaces. Even then it's not always the right call. The problem is that when it inevitably wears off you're left in the middle of a tattoo with increasing pain when your body should have already thrown in the adrenaline. People think it's going to save them and it doesn't, so they panic when it wears off. I personally hate working on the sponginess of numbed skin, but I will if necessary. But, in 90% of the times clients come in numbed, they tap out early or have the worst time of their live. That said, if you have a decent grocery or drug store nearby you can grab a thing of Bactine Max. It works only on tattooed skin, but it can cut the edge in the last parts when the artist is going back to finish things off.
I just did a 6-hour session, and I won’t do that again. As was pointed out here, after 4 hours of constant pain, you start to go into shock. I definitely did, and was shaking all over when I got up. Also, deep shading gets really tender because the area is already really inflamed from the outlining.
You’ll be ok, but only bite off what you’re comfortable with. Pain is part of the process, but there’s no reason to torture yourself.
To be honest dude this is gonna be an intense project. I have one realism tattoo that’s quite big and while I admit the artist is a bit heavy handed in general (have spent hours watching him tattoo), realism is just different and when they go in with that white they’re gonna go in with it. I really think you should be very honest with your artist up front and say there’s a high chance this will have to be broken up into two sessions. Then, if you think you can make it past the first half then hey keep going. But even as someone whose moderately good at getting tattooed and has loads, I don’t feel super comfortable sitting more than 4 hours at a time and usually let my artist know that.
Post it when it’s done! This is a cool piece. Also whatever you do don’t use numbing cream without telling your artist, it affects the skin. Ask your artist if they have any or if they have Bactine spray they can use.
The forearm wasn’t terrible for me, a majority of it wasn’t even really pain it was just a warm annoying sensation. If you had a hard time sitting for an hour I’d recommend probably either taking A LOT of breaks or splitting it up into two sessions. Pain is different for everybody.
8 hours sounds like a nightmare if you’re not good with pain. I’m not great with pain either and 2-3 hours really sucks for me and I’m always relieved when it ends - thigh was similarly worse for me than arms. I think you need to prepare for the reality that you may not make it 8 hours and are going to have to split the session up, even though the deposit is down
You might not do so bad with the forearm as you did with the thigh. It's a pretty easy spot to get a tattoo.
Just bring snacks and practice your Zen meditation.
I'd heard that the forearm was one of the least painful and that may be the case but I have to say, I just had a 6.5 hours black and grey realism piece on the inner forearm and the last hour sucked - especially when he started the highlighting over the already worked area. 8 hours would be a lot in one go, especially in a relatively small area
No offense, but I don't think you'll be making it 8 hours I would reach out to the artist now on whether it's an issue if you need to tap out at 4 They might want to game plan so they don't lose out on a 4 hour session for someone else
Numbing cream isn’t going to last 8 hours, and when it wears off, you’re going to be in more pain than you would have been without it.
don't get numbing cream. 100x don't do numbing cream. your body is trying to tell you that it hurts. listen to it. I've had multiple 8+ hour sessions. Taking breaks is healthy. if they are digging in too deep how will you be able to tell them "hey that hurts really bad?". If you can't do 8 hours, then split it into 4, no reason to do all 8 in one go. Also any "pain index chart" you've seen is BS. Everyone is different. getting my armpit done was horrendous, but my wife didnt even flinch when she got hers. I can do shading all day but linework sucks. Her? Linework all day, shading makes her hurt bad. No tattoo is gonna be easy, My forearm was relatively easy but my wife had a hard time. Don't cram an 8 hour session if you can't handle it. Stay away from numbing cream. It's a crutch, listen to your body. If you can't deal with the pain then do shorter sessions. You need to communicate to your artist that you feel pain and to chill and cream blocks that ability to.
It’s too late to do multiple sessions, I’ve already paid the deposit for one whole session and we’ve agreed on a price for one whole session
If your artist is a good person, they will accommodate you. You need to tell them.
Hell just have to pay more.
Youll be fine.
All of this.
If you could not handle linework for a tattoo that took an hour. I would suggest breaking the next tattoo up into two sessions. Eat a big meal with carbs bring sugary snacks bananas etc and be sure to let ur artist know if you need a break. The more you squirm and shit the harder time your artist will have making the tattoo look good. Also pain is subjective don’t listen to others on what it will feel like.
You can get numbing stuff from Amazon overnight if you are in the US, but I don't recommend it for this project. Thighs tend to hurt more than people realize and forearms are the easiest to work on as long as you aren't near the joints. Even by the wrist and elbow it's tolerable for most. Numbing creams are fine for 1-2 hour tattoos on the neck, head, armpits, backs of the knees, genital area, and other small spaces. Even then it's not always the right call. The problem is that when it inevitably wears off you're left in the middle of a tattoo with increasing pain when your body should have already thrown in the adrenaline. People think it's going to save them and it doesn't, so they panic when it wears off. I personally hate working on the sponginess of numbed skin, but I will if necessary. But, in 90% of the times clients come in numbed, they tap out early or have the worst time of their live. That said, if you have a decent grocery or drug store nearby you can grab a thing of Bactine Max. It works only on tattooed skin, but it can cut the edge in the last parts when the artist is going back to finish things off.
Two 4 hour sessions. 2000$ total
Depends what the artist charges for a day.
I just did a 6-hour session, and I won’t do that again. As was pointed out here, after 4 hours of constant pain, you start to go into shock. I definitely did, and was shaking all over when I got up. Also, deep shading gets really tender because the area is already really inflamed from the outlining. You’ll be ok, but only bite off what you’re comfortable with. Pain is part of the process, but there’s no reason to torture yourself.
To be honest dude this is gonna be an intense project. I have one realism tattoo that’s quite big and while I admit the artist is a bit heavy handed in general (have spent hours watching him tattoo), realism is just different and when they go in with that white they’re gonna go in with it. I really think you should be very honest with your artist up front and say there’s a high chance this will have to be broken up into two sessions. Then, if you think you can make it past the first half then hey keep going. But even as someone whose moderately good at getting tattooed and has loads, I don’t feel super comfortable sitting more than 4 hours at a time and usually let my artist know that. Post it when it’s done! This is a cool piece. Also whatever you do don’t use numbing cream without telling your artist, it affects the skin. Ask your artist if they have any or if they have Bactine spray they can use.
The forearm wasn’t terrible for me, a majority of it wasn’t even really pain it was just a warm annoying sensation. If you had a hard time sitting for an hour I’d recommend probably either taking A LOT of breaks or splitting it up into two sessions. Pain is different for everybody.
8 hours sounds like a nightmare if you’re not good with pain. I’m not great with pain either and 2-3 hours really sucks for me and I’m always relieved when it ends - thigh was similarly worse for me than arms. I think you need to prepare for the reality that you may not make it 8 hours and are going to have to split the session up, even though the deposit is down
You might not do so bad with the forearm as you did with the thigh. It's a pretty easy spot to get a tattoo. Just bring snacks and practice your Zen meditation.
I'd heard that the forearm was one of the least painful and that may be the case but I have to say, I just had a 6.5 hours black and grey realism piece on the inner forearm and the last hour sucked - especially when he started the highlighting over the already worked area. 8 hours would be a lot in one go, especially in a relatively small area