Tattoos and art recommendation needed

[DazzleKitty]

Hey ya'll!

So today at work a coworker showed me his new tattoo and I was in love. I've been wanting a tattoo for years but was scared of the pain. He said this place he got it at has a numbing solution (though it takes two hours to take effect). Does anyone know if this numbing solution REALLY works? If it does, I'm all up for getting a tattoo.

I'm looking for G1 art to pick from to choose a tattoo. All I see now is G4 art. I really wanted to get a tattoo of Firefly because I really love her but I can never find art of her anymore. But other G1 ponies could work too. Could someone give me links to sites that have lots of G1 art so maybe I could save some images to give the tattoo artist something to work with? Bonuses internet cookies given to anyone who can find something with Firefly!

Thanks in advance to any help given.

[True]

Iv gotten a few tattoos but never heard of a numbing process, Might be new? I dont think Id go with it personally, but thats just because I'm weird and like the pain? xD

As for art, I would be careful, I know it's a bit tricky with tattoos, and most people don't really consider it. But personally I see getting a tattoo of someone else's art, similar if not the same as, using it and reposting it without permission, even if you do explain it's not your art. I know its a tattoo and its not like someone can have it removed lol but IDK its always a bit iffy.

Even if the artist did give you permission, I feel like there are probably more original routes. Many great and affordable artists, even on the arena who would probably be willing to help make you an original piece of art for a tattoo. And at least in that case, you know you're getting something uniquely made for you.

[Duenia]

I'm not sure if it's the same stuff but when I got my tattoo done about half way through the artist applied a numbing spray because it started getting pretty sore while he was adding some of the shading. After he applied it, it pretty much felt like when he had started which I didn't find it too painful. But that all depends on tattoo location and individual pain tolerance.

[lostpony]

Well I turn down Novocaine for anything less than a root canal, but...

Great Firefly and Medley drawings are in the book Spike and the Magic Shoes!  Is all over ebay starting at $1. 

I LOVE this book, here's some shots I took with my droid to get you started:

This first one is my favorite and is about to be my third pony drawing attempt: just look at those sweet little faces...
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Sorry about the blurry one if you want it reshot tell me and I'll see what I can do
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This last one is real nice too.
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Normally I'd recommend against any tattoos but, a nice G1 pony drawn like the books, yummy...I love the way they draw the G1 ponies in the books, so peaceful and sweet and just, the absolute bestest thing in two dimensions EVER

Have fun with that and forget the spray, have a little pain, it's nice.

Oh yes I just read what True said and a little pain is nothing to be concerned about but, Hasbro doesn't enforce any sort of ownership on their copy rights especially to G1, ask anypony and look at eBay stuff.  Unless you are directly competing with their current generation in a way that undercuts their profits you have nothing to worry about from Hasbro.  I think G1 art is especially simple and 2 dimensional and will make a great tat so I hope you are getting it somewhere you can do brag post for us!

[shadowlark]

I would just take some pics of Firefly to the tattoo artist you're going to and have them draw something original. They are more than willing to work with you to get it just perfect.

Having said that, I wouldn't go to somewhere that uses a numbing solution just cause every artist/shop I've been to have advised against it, so I wouldn't trust it not to have a reaction with the ink or my skin. Yeah, it hurts a bit but it's nothing major. I've got 7 tattoos and and 8 piercings and the pain isn't that bad so I'd rather take the pain and not have a reaction by using numbing solutions.

[True]

What I mainly meant about the art comment, was if you planned on using someones fan art, that can get a big complicated.

Getting original art from the tattoo artists itself can be a bit complicated, I know many places will do it, but this generally is an added cost, at least with my experience so far. Since its a seperate process, 1. Making some unique piece of art, 2. actually tattooing said art on body. Just something to think about, I know that if you were to commission a unique piece from anyone it would cost money (most likely) but Iv actually had a friend go in and then get really angry at both the tattoo artists (a well known/respected artist around here) AND ME (because I referred them to him) because they didn't expect to pay as much as they did for an original design commission AND a tattoo lol.

A ton of people will either say "it doesn't hurt much" or "it hurts like HECK!" I have a ridiculously high pain tolerance, and have my whole life, to me I feel a dull throbbing in the area as its happening. Everyone is different, and you won't know until you get it done. Not only that but it hurts differently, more or less, depending on where you get it.

Ill admit that i'm a bit uptight about tattoos, I'm the type of person who looks at it like an experience, everything needs to mean something and I don't get tattoos on a whim (not that I have anything against other people doing this xD) So just keep that in mind when reading my words. Tattoos for me are almost on a level with like a religious experience. xD

[kaoskat]

Yeah, honestly, I'd head to the art forum and see if someone will make you your own Firefly piece maybe similar to G1 style but unique too. And the bright side is here you may be able to trade ponies for it!

[retrogradenova]

I've never heard of a numbing spray for tattooing. its been a few years since I got my last one, but I was with my husband when he got his re-inked last year and the artist never mentioned anything about it.

The pain is really subjective. It all depends on your personal tolerance for pain, which several people have mentioned. BUT! It really depends on the location where the tattoo is too and the size of it and what type/style. To be more specific, from what i understand to do shading on a tattoo is a lot different than just applying outlines or solid color. Larger tattoos may require more than one sitting to be done properly. As for location, generally speaking fleshier areas of the body generally thought to hurt less. I've had two basic solid black tattoos with no shading done, approximately the same size. One was on the small of my back and the other on my ankle. The one on my ankle hurt a lot more than the one on my back. The one on my back I barely felt. So those are all things to consider. Personally, when I get my next tattoo I would not use a numbing spray. The pain is part of the art for me. Its a reminded this is a permanent decision.

In terms of art, I agree with the others on either bringing sample images for the tattoo artist to draw their own, or commission an artist you like to design you something to take to the tattoo artist. But I would also stress pick your tattoo artist carefully!!! Tattoo artists vary so greatly even inside the same shop. If it was me, I would make sure the artist I chose to do Firefly had experience drawing horse anatomy, wings, cartoons, color and shading (if you're doing shading), and any other big features you want in the tattoo. Make sure you go through the artist's sample books, don't take their word that they have experience without seeing proof. Even if the tattoo place you go to is the best reviewed on yelp for your town/city, if the artist has no experience with wings it could look really bad. 

Sorry for the super long post. I just really enjoy tattoo art and have been on a personal quest lately to find the right artist to do a pair of matching themed tattoos for my husband and I (as soon I finish drawing them). I hope this information helps and I would love to see the final tattoo once you get it done 

[LadyMoondancer]

My only advice is to be picky.   A tattoo artist is not going to specialize in MLP art, especially G1.  Even with a reference to base the drawing from, a lot of them are going to produce work that looks "off" or "muddy."

Personally this is the most impressive MLP tattoo I have ever seen, it looks spot-on like RaMC art. <3

http://www.offthemaptattoo.com/Tattoos/Kristel/tattoos_33734.html

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[True]

retrogradenova Makes a very important point! EVERY self respecting and professional tattoo artist will have a book on site of their work. Definitely ask to see it.

[DazzleKitty]

Thanks everyone.  I actually was looking for Hasbro art. Maybe I should have clarified that  more from the beginning. I never wanted to steal someone's fanart. I love the official Hasbro art of Firefly. I think I actually have that book in storage. Maybe I could take it to the tattoo parlor and they could work from that. I need to dig it out of storage, though.

[Kanchii]

There are a couple numbing things I've heard of out these days that supposedly do work. The most prominent is Hush, which comes in gel form before the skin is broken, and then if you need to reapply after it wears off you can use a foam version on broken skin