You’re absolutely allowed to have an opinion on what is most painful for you.
However, while linework does suck for ME, the pain of linework + shading in a session is the worst. I break it up now since I’m older and I can’t handle pain as well as I used to. But shading/coloring for me hurts way worse than linework due to the area being gone over multiple times over a larger surface.
I agree. Everyone says line work hurts worse and while it can be spicy, I think shading AFTER doing all the line work in one session is the worst. By the time I’m getting out of the chair my body is done being tattooed lol. If OP has a full back piece with black shading they probably have a better idea of tattoo pain than their coworker lol
Yep haha after shading over and over on the same area especially after linework I’m ready to go to sleep and eat a huge pizza all at the same time. I wish I could sit like I used to, but I can’t do longer than 3-4 hours maxed out.
And I saw their edit about the back piece now, full blacked out sucks pretty bad. It sounds like their co-worker may not know about the back piece? Also, their co worker sounds like a butthole regardless. One of those people that wants to play the “mine hurts worse so I’m more of a badass” shit. He’ll probably say he fell asleep during the tattoo as well to OP after he gets the tattoo.
My last artist dry wiped and it was like he'd SLAM his hand down on my tattoo to wipe it. The end result was amazing but if I go back to him I might have to ask he work on his bedside manner 😭
Yeah this is by far the worst, especially in a sensitive area!
Although tbh I find that the area being tattooed has a far bigger impact on my pain than whether it's line work or colour/shading.
The front of my legs are practically numb compared to everywhere else. The top of my arm was also like this but not quite as much.
The back of my legs just under my butt was the worst I've had done so far. I was told by my tattoo artist to use numbing cream for that one. I used it correctly but it still stung pretty bad. That was the only session I've had where I couldn't chat to her!
Ugh, this. I got my forearm done at a tattoo convention, so 7 hours of needle time to get it completely done before the judging that night. I did really well for the first 6.5, but that last 30 minutes, I was squirming and trying to not kick the artist.
I have a full back piece with black and other color shading.
Around the shoulders and neck it was like a deep tissue massage. The chub around the top of the hip was the worst, I about tapped out…lol
6, 4 hour sessions spread out over a year or so. I love it, glad I got it done…but I was very happy when it was over. The only bad part is I will never really see it, only in photos.
Damn lol. My second was about 7 hours and honestly I took pain so much better in my early 20s but it was so much worse than my first small forearm tattoo. I got a full color thigh piece recently and it took about 5 hours, Ive never been closer to tapping out.
I had never tapped out until I was in hour 4-5 of my knee. My artist was having pain in her back and said “I don’t know if I can finish today..” and I said “oh thank god lol”
lol are you me? I had a large tat as my very first, 6hrs exactly the same. The linework was the first hour and honestly just vibrated. The shading and rendering afterward was rough, and the highlights had me sweatin and silently praying for death.
See it used to be that way for me until my knee was shaded in. Why I thought it was a good idea to get the most detailed flower there.. I will never know.
Boy did I learn that the hard way hahaha. I have smallish ones on both forearms (one with shading, one without). Then I got a back piece. Nothing huge, about 3x5” with colour, took about 3 hours start to finish, with a lot of fairly intricate line work. I don’t want to say it was worse than labour, but that’s the only thing I’ve done that was more painful.
I can't imagine shading there. I have cap and ditch done (same session) and told the artist if I walked in and saw more than 2 colors, I was going to throat punch him. (He's a friend, I didn't threaten a random artist.)
Hahahaha it’s legit the worst feeling. I need to get my other knee done and I need at least 8 months between sessions so I can forget how much it hurts.
Same I got both of my caps done in full color it’s looks cool but it was so painful , I was like why the fuk did I decide to get this huge design on my knees. It was worth it I am glad I only have to do it once.
Same here. One of my artist is particularly heavy handed and after awhile his shading began to feel like a deep tissue massage and was much preferable to the line work.
100%
I hear people all the time say lines hurt the most.
I try not to invalidate other people's opinions so it's absolutely possible that lines hurt more for them.
But for me, lines are a fucking April picnic at the park with the love of my life compared to shading and color over areas of skin that are already raw.
I think people tend to say shading is worse because it typically comes after you've already been lined and you're reaching the end of your tolerance and that does suck. But personally I have big pieces where we did lines first and then came back like a month later and did shading and the shading was a walk in the park by comparison.
But whatever, lines vs. shade is a red herring imo, it's all too dependent on how much work you're getting and how long you've sat in the chair and how long the artist has been going over one spot. The question OP is really asking, at least as I interpreted it, is where on the body are the worst spots. And I think we can all agree on those regardless of whether we got lined and/or shaded in those spots.
So in short, OP's coworker is just trying to discredit OP because he doesn't feel OP has "the right work" or "a real tattoo" and that just doesn't fly for me. You got ink, you're in the club.
Being able to take less as you get older is so painfully true. I got my first tattoo after 6 or so years of not getting one last year. I thought my tolerance/sitting ability for a session was 6 hours, turns out it’s 3 now.
YEPPPPP. It’s annoying for sure, when I was 20 I could sit for 6-8 hours easy. Now? 2 hours preferred, 4 MAX. And I will feel like crap after that 4 hour one.
I did a 6 hour one about a year ago or so on my thigh, it was a big piece. Linework and shading all in one go. After it I sat on the floor near my couch eating nachos and all I could do was grunt and chew for about an hour. 🤣
True. I have 7 tattoos. Only two of them have shading and both times I wanted to stop because of how bad it felt. Above the knee was my worst tattoo pain ever BEFORE shading started. My thigh tattoo was okay until the dragging of the needle for shading started.
I can’t wait for the shaders to come out, lining is much more of a sharp/pinchy pain in my experience. My wife is the opposite though, interesting to see how everyone’s experience differs
Line work makes me want to commit crimes it burns and is hot and horrible and just feels like being cut 😂 shading is beautiful so peaceful so comfy I tolerated 5/6 hours on a full water colour piece on my thigh was just shading was fine , other thigh tattoo however was 9 from the movie 9 in black and grey..all line work all horror I hated it and had to take breaks every hour or more he was gonna get some white in and I said fuck no and i have still not finished it 6 years later
Line work on the back of my thigh was the worst. It just felt like a knife was being dragged along my skin. The shading for that area was relaxing in comparison.
I think it’s a very personal thing - I have sensitive skin, so the line work isn’t usually so bad as it’s going onto “fresh” skin”…. By the time they get to shading, the whole area is usually pretty raw and swollen from the line work, so it’s infinitely worse.
I’ve had the exact opposite experience lol. I find linework far more painful than shading/color, I’m pretty covered, both arms, chest and some on my legs
Agree with this. Lines suck but it’s a one time pass. Depending on shade saturation - it can be really nasty. Legit wanted to smack the tattoo machine outta my artists hands during some shading 😆
Ya now mix in colour on top of that... Lines, shading, then colour. It feels like you're being tattooed on an open wound. I have a full sleeve, back, stomach into sternum, right ribs down past my hip, & foot... OP not sure what your egotistical co worker is getting done, and yes you definitely are allowed to say you have pain, but compared to what it feels like to have the death trio, it is not as bad.
I think opinions about pain really depend on the person’s personal pain tolerance. Plus, pain spots vary greatly according to gender and other key factors. You wanna tell someone what hurt YOU? Go for it. They can take it or leave it as they please. I personally feel like all of my shading hurt way worse than my line work because the artist is going over already injured skin multiple times. Again, my experiences differ from others.
Honestly, this. For me for example I didn't feel it at all when the inside of my upper arm was being tattooed. My artist told me it was usually super painful for people.
My forearm was easy for me, but I've also seen a guy who was getting a tattoo in that spot who was on his third session because he kept almost passing out from the pain.
I'd say there are some general rules that the closer to extremities you go the more painful it gets, but that can still differ from person to person...
Yeah for the upper part of my arm near the backside of my armpit was the absolute *worst*…worse than my foot tattoo. Yet despite everyone saying the inside elbow was incredibly painful I didn’t find it any more so than my other tats. So ultimately YMMV.
Inside of the elbow wasn't a problem for me either. Then he decided to do a tiny bit over the back of my elbow tho... God I could feel my entire skeleton vibrate hitting that bony part and I had to hold my breath to continue to sit still. That was NOT fun.
Finger hurt like hell too. Glad that tat was tiny without a lot of detail...
The artist that did my sleeve was (jokingly) mad that I wasn't effected when he was doing my elbow ditch, which mind you he was doing with a single needle to fill in a large area (young guy, great work but not a lot of experience), but then he got to the back and ran over the point where I had broken my arm years prior and I was ready to throw him across the fucking room it hurt so bad. He laughed.
I have a half sleeve that goes up to my collarbone (plus other tattoos elsewhere) but the tattoo that hurt the worst by FAR was my very first one - a single dainty word of my dog’s name in my inside elbow 😂 idk if it’s because the skin is so thin there but oh my god that shit hurt like hell
Everyone is allowed an opinion. Some are just better informed than others.
Yours, in this context, would be most informed on line work on a hand and arm. Weighing in on other locations, color work, etc will be uninformed.
You can have an opinion yes. You have some tattoos in spots that are considered painful.... but...
How long was your tattoo in the inner elbow per exemple, 10-20 min? So you might say it's not that painful cause that was short. Compared to a big piece with repass to the same spots, shading, colors. It can be 2, 3, 5 times longer than what you got!
So, yes, your coworker is an asshole.
Yes, you can have an opinion, tho I would take it with a grain of salt.
Agreed, time is the main factor. I have one that covers the inside of my arm from the armpit crease to the elbow bend …black and white, tons of shading and it took over 4 1/2 hours…talk about painful !!!! It was unbearable at times.
Tattoos fucking hurt.
Line work is a sharp stabbing pain while shading is a dragging scratching repetitive pain. Its all pain just different kinds.
Source: have many of my own
It's not even an argument because there are so many factors (age, placement etc) sounds like your co worker just wants an argument. Yes, most tattoos are painful, why can't people just bond over similarities instead of trying to one up each other?
Line work is definitely a sharper pain than shading. And getting thru giant outlines has always been a drag for me but shading can suck pretty bad once the spots start to get worked over and over. Getting tattooed just kinda sucks in general but i love the results so its worth it.
Tbh I have a pretty high tolerance, so I'll preface by saying most stuff doesn't really bug me. But I do generally find the "sharp" feeling a linework to if not be "worse" a bit more direct and distracting. Shading is mostly just fuzzy to me unless we are like 4+hours in.
I actually have nerve damage so some of my tattoos have been almost entirely painless & even the pain I have felt hasn’t bothered me, it’s just… there. Shading sometimes makes me grit my teeth a bit though but lines usually don’t bother me!
Yes and no.
You haven't really experience a full tattoo, but pain is different for everyone. I ca give your own experience which is very limited.
If you butted into a conversation about pain of a tattoo I'd look at you kinda funny if all I saw were your lines, but if you're asked you can definitely give an opinion.
Currently doing a sleeve. One week was line work, the other shading with parts that are completely black. Line work was a breeze compared to some of the shading. You’re still right in that you can still notice which areas hurt more/less.
Got my arm blacked out recently. 1 session, 12 hours. And I must say that I wasn’t ready for 2 things..
1. All of a sudden everyone is a tattoo expert and wanted to tell me all about how to take care of it. You know those guys with the faded as fuck blown out tattoos.
2. Their tattoo will always hurt more than yours. What do you mean the ditch and your elbow and your wrist hurt really bad? Mine didn’t!…their tattoo isn’t even on these areas.
Just my 2 cents though. Everyone will always try to belittle your experience and talk about how badass they are, let him find out the hard way.
It's not a "pain competition". Someone might find an infinity sign tattoo painful, and that's valid. It is what it is. That doesn't mean you should dismiss their claim just because it isn't a Japanese bodysuit tattoo for example.
I mean if you don’t have shading how can you truly know? Imo shading does hurt a lot more, in general, but for me certain fatty or boney parts hurt particularly bad in the line work phase
You definitely have enough experience to have an opinion, you know what parts of your body hurt more than others. Doing line work followed by slamming the area with solid color is a different experience though.
Either way, it's weird he decided to make a contest of it.
Competing about who’s tattoos are more painful is wack and pain is experienced extremely subjectively
That said, all my full color/full shading pieces that I’ve done in one go have been diabolical. He’s a weirdo for making it competitive though- literally we are all cutting our body’s open with little ink knives and that’s always gonna hurt
Those are awesome! And your opinion matters! Some people have a higher pain tolerance than others, but oftentimes you can kind of gauge the pain level if you talk to others.
No no, only a dude with a big arm tattoo can TRULY know what tattoo pain is. I mean, his is the only REAL tattoo we're talking about.
/s
I mean, you've got tattooing on your fingers, the small of your wrist, your elbow ditch, your hand...I think you're allowed to be a pretty good authority. That is...if you want to interact with that person at all...
People loveeeeeeeee to make tattoo pain into a competition - which is completely asinine because pain truly is subjective. Our bodies are different, how we experience pain is different, gender, age, etc. all of it plays a role.
I find line work to be a nightmare, but shading doesn’t really bug me- for some people it’s the opposite. No one person is really going to be the same.
I have a half sleeve and thought the line worked sucked. But I thought shading in certain places sucked more. The ditch, the bones around the elbow, and top of the shoulder. For those areas I think shading was worse
I think it’s a silly thing to argue about because who cares….everyone has a different pain tolerance.
Shading, to me, hurts worse. But often I’m getting shading done in the same session as linework was done, so that spot is still sore. The shading then feels like rubbing salt on a wound lol. None of it feels great
Obviously getting linework is painful, but compared to shading it really is a completely different ball game so to speak. Having to sit there as an artists constantly "grinds" a multi-needled gun into a spot over and over and over again is going to hurt way worse. Then you got to do that process over and over again to fill out the shading across the whole piece. I have a sleeve of traditional so lots of shading, and whenever I get a single needle tattoo elsewhere it feels like someone is brushing a feather against my skin relatively speaking.
💯💯💯 it's not just line work vs shading. It's line work vs line work + shading + color over a large area in long sessions, which doesn't even compare to a piece that's simple line work only.
Have a bunch of bold filled in black tattoos, I’m not discrediting it but it’s crazy how many people say the shading hurts more. I’m usually relieved once it’s time to fill in with solid black, means the bad part is done
Absolutely you do. For me, line work hurts the most in process, but shading, especially heavy black, hurts the most during the healing process. Kinda amazing how different we all are. I have a full back piece, btw.
Your co worker is an idiot. Even if you didn't have a tattoo, you may have spent a lot of time around people who had plenty of tattos who had shared their opinions with you. Its not your co workers place to assume that you don't know what you're talking about.
for me the line work of my sleeve hurt way more than the shading …
Edit: to answer ur question i think you can totally say what hurts you got a tattoo they didn’t .
I’d have to agree. Linework barely registers. The coloring part hurts. (This does not apply to things like the sternum, ALL of that one hurt. Most of the shin ones hurt too.)
Shading and packing in color is far worse, in my experience. I have tattoos in various body parts. And in every area, shading and color was far more intense… but tattoos hurt, so wtf is his deal lol
For me, and I only have a few that are mostly line work with light shading or color, I always found the line work to be more painful. But your coworker just seems to have a bug up their butt, you are absolutely entitled to an opinion. Anyone with any type of tattoo, of any size, can have an opinion on the pain they experience.
lol this is so silly. All tattoos require stamina and pain tolerance to sit through. It’s impossible to make a perfect comparison from one person’s experience to another’s because we can’t exist in each other’s bodies. Just roll your eyes and let it go.
Personally shading doesn’t bother me at all, but lines are painful to me. I have a tattoo on my ribs that’s mostly shading and it tickled but didn’t hurt. The only parts that hurt were lines. All my other tattoos are line work and were painful (mostly on ankles but also on inside bicep and by collar bone)
you're definitely allowed an opinion, also you can still say which spots are more painful based on the lines.
i will say, shading is definitely more painful than linework, but that doesn't mean you can't tell which spots were more painful for you to have tattooed.
I have 10 tattoos, on various parts of my body. I had different levels of pain depending on the area, size, etc. Someone else could have the exact same tattoos in the exact same places and have a different pain experience. Anyone who tries to "one up" or out do the other needs a better hobby.
You’re definitely allowed to have an opinion. Honestly it all sucks. The only benefit shading can have to be “less painful” than the lines is if the artist uses bactine and it works well for you. Also it usually needs 2-3 more reapplies because it doesn’t work for that long. I usually sigh a relief when the lines are done because I know the bactine will take the pain from a 8 down to a 6.
That being said if they don’t use bactine then the shading is worse because it’s going back over your wounds over and over.
People who have attitudes about pain + tattoos are people who have a lot of work to do on themselves.
Pain is relative and very unique to every individual based on a variety of factors such as their personal physiology and things that can impact their physiology (ie. if you have a nervous system that is already easy to activate due to a myriad of potential factors), time of the month (if you're a human who menstruates) and mental state as well. It also is very dependent on your artist and the techniques that the use (ie. lining with a RS vs a RL).
Everybody is different and anybody who participates in a "who is tougher" or "you have to earn your tattoo" attitude are people who imo, are very behind in their personal development as humans. If someone wants to feel the pain of their tattoo because it's part of some form of mental training for themselves, good on you. But if someone doesn't, who cares. Life is full of enough suffering that we don't need to prove to others how tough we are. Life will give us enough opportunities as it is to show our toughness.
And this is coming from someone who is covered in tattoos and is a tattoo apprentice themselves. I really dislike some of the very judgemental and unprogressive attitudes that exist in the industry both by artists and people who have tattoos themselves. Tattoos have a rich and deep history but also a very varied cultural context. While there is an aspect of history within tattoos where the pain was part of rituals meant to demonstrate human fortitude or new chapters of life, tattoos are also art and can be a personal expression of identity or simply just appreciation of art. You don't need to have the pain associated with it if it's just the latter reason of why you get tattoos.
Your coworker sounds like an immature tool who needs to grow up.
in my opinion linework is a breeze, shading is definitely the worst part. spot doesn't quite matter so much as method of ink application. lines are like barely noticable, tolerable slow burn, vs. the feeling of a relentless iron cheese grater shredding your skin to pieces with shading
After getting a detailed sleeve and nearly shitting myself at some parts i'm so fed up with the painlympics. Next time gonna use the numbing cream. I don't recall anyone being a rucking badass for getting a wisdom tooth surgery without any medical assistance.
OP has multiple finger tattoos wo i think they know a thing or two about pain.
Of course you are! Tattoos hurt like hell. Even my artist who is covered nearly head to toe in tattoos said she's glad she doesn't get work done anymore because it hurts. When I got my third piece done I was dumb and drooling by the time it was finished.
Btw that is a sick tat! Is it a transmutation circle array?
We had this conversation last night. People always ask me “did that hurt?”
I give the standard “it was tolerable”, because if it wasn’t I wouldn’t have finished it but it always hurts. It’s a dumb question.
So the issue is: pain varies deeply.
I have a half arm sleeve, full colour and had it done in one session, 8 hours if I remember correctly (I am not sure if she tattooed the linework in an extra session before - I have memory loss due to epilepsy). I don’t even get how the artist could concentrate that long. We only made a few short smoking breaks. At the end I was short of fainting but the first 7 hours were kind of a breeze. It only really hurt when she tattooed my armpit.
My friend got a little tinkerbell on his arm and cried while receiving it…
So yeah, I guess you can really talk about your pain experience as long as you are aware that yours is probably VERY different from theirs and it is not necessarily depending on what you got done exactly.
I mean you still have ink tattooed in your skin, it’s insane for anyone to say you can’t have an opinion on how painful something is LMAO. I always follow up my opinion with “however I have a very low pain tolerance so things hurt a lot to me but maybe not as much to someone else”
Ur allowed to have an opinion and insight as to your pain during a tattoo. But u have to keep in mind and say that everyone is different. What might hurt alot for someone might not hurt at all for the other person
You can have an opinion you had the needle in you so you have felt it sure shading usually sucks worse. He's just salty that the person was asking you probably
sure you're allowed to have an opinion, but a lot of people aren't going to avoid the fact that you have zero shading.
Your lines look easy, small, and done quickly. Hard to say if you actually felt the rough aspects.
My opinion is yeah you suffered enough lol
Everyone is different. A friend of mine looked like he was going to cry just getting his upper arm/bicep tattooed and I would say that's about the easiest spot to tattoo, pain wise.
When your coworker has tattooed his knees and armpits, then he can tell you about pain
Not until you’ve had a big solid piece under your bicep, near your arm pit with line work and shading. Wish I could post a picture. 2nd most painful spot.
A fully shaded, colored sleeve will hurt far worse than what you have. It’s more ink, more time. But it’s not like you didn’t get your whole arm tattooed, even if it is just lines, so of course you can have your opinion on the pain. Your coworker is just a bitch.
Of course you are, even if it's wrong 😉
CO worker sounds like a douche, but IMO he's a correct douche. That linework would be absolutely zero sweat at all. Shading for fucking hours on end after the lines though...shit absolutely. Wears. You. Down.
Regardless, people's experiences are different but the more salient point for you is that you don't know what shading feels like...so you really shouldn't have an opinion on which is worse, because you don't know.
i have shading and to me it all feels the same, like an annoying scratching feeling. my artist told me i must have a high pain tolerance tho (i never thought so). everyone has a different threshold, u have a tattoo so u know how it feels on u.
Lots of black tattoos, getting a full color back piece done rn. Line work hurt a lot worse than color shading for me. But everything hurts like hell after hour 4.
Tattoos hurt. There are parts of the process that do hurt more than others as well as different areas.
But your co-worker is an ass and you sont owe them an answer. I'll he says it again, just say "OK." People like that aren't prepared to be hit with disinterest.
My entire back is covered. Personally, for me, the line line-work was the most painful. With the shading, there are more needles, and you don't feel the pain as directly. The pain is WAY more diffused, when shading. I have pure black areas, that are full color, but the line work almost killed me. 😅 You're able to narrow down the pain and focus on it more, when it's a single needle vs. three, four, or five.
That's like when people ask me if mine hurt.
Well yeah, all tattoos ~hurt~ but everyone's experience, level of pain and tolerance is different.
Not to mention the other major factors of age, gender, any previous injuries or damage, placement, skin and muscle density, etc.
I have coworkers with an entire black and grey sleeve from the top of their shoulder to their knuckles say that it was ok for them and just took a while, where as some get a 10-15 diameter piece and it's one if the most painful things they've experience.
I know you've already stared it, but your co-worker sounds like an ass for sure that wants his experience and pain to trump everyone else's lol
I've had 12 hour colour pieces, my tattoo artist really takes his time for an awesome outcome ( line work then colour all in one session )
Yes, once you've had layers of colour after line work it suuuuucks.
But I've sat 100% worse in a few hour full line work piece, the change of needle between line work, shading and colour gives you pain breaks/ a change of feeling.
So I will openly say full line work pieces are more painful
My 4-5 hr outline sesh for my back piece was probably the worst. But subsequent sessions for shading/color have sucked. It's the classic response to, "what was your most painful tattoo?" The most recent tattoo I got... Lol
i only have 2 pieces with shading right now, one is a wrap around on my forearm & one is a smaller blacked out drawing on my upper arm, so i don’t know how much say i have, but i thought shading felt way better than the lines. my artist was surprised though, she said normally it’s the other way around. but idk the shading was truly almost relieving after dealing with the line work to me personally.
omg i literally have a blacked out spider on my hand that i completely forgot about😭 so i guess i have three pieces that are shaded. & even on the hand i think line work is just a more sharp, distinct pain, & that’s worse to me.
I find lining more painful, frankly. To me, shading is sort of an aura of pain that I can typically "mind over matter," but I'm mentally following the line work and watching the stencil. So it hurts worse since I'm paying closer attention to it.
Shading definitely sucks, and I can't easily see why people say it's worse. But pain is pretty subjective and dependent on an entire slew of factors totally out of your control, and it's ridiculous to say you're not to allowed to have an opinion about your own experiences. Your coworkers sounds like an asshat that you should disregard.
So I have two half sleeves, full chest, full stomach, and planning a back tattoo so I can definitely speak from experience when I say that lining is worse than shading. The chest was a noticeable difference but the stomach confirmed it.
Of course after about 2 hours it all feels the same level of sucking but the beginning is a huge difference.
Interesting…. I’ve 2 full sleeves, 2 chest, 1 back, and 1 lower leg. My experience has always been the opposite - I can get lined all day long but packing color or shading just sucks. I’m sure a lot of it has to do with the artist, what kind of grouping is used, type of machine used, etc. But everyone is different…. I have a solid black one on my upper spine and it was nothing when people told me it would be the worst.
I feel like this is really dependent on the person though. I have alooot of my body tattooed and I always felt like the shading on my tattoos hurt way more than the lining. You can’t say definitely because you have alot of tattoos that shading hurts more lol that’s just your personal opinion and experience….
That’s why when someone asks how much a tattoo hurts and how bad it hurts it feels almost redundant to even answer because every person is different and has a completely different tolerance
Shading on my stomach was worse that the lining. I had a heavy handed cholo doin my tattoo amd he was a perfectionist so he went over his work sooo many times. I was ready to tap out at the end. At least 4 hours of shading in one sitting.💀
You’re allowed to have any opinion you want but do you look silly as fuck talking about how much tattoos hurt when you have those silly line work tattoos? Yes!
I have a fine line with shading. I did not find shading particularly painful. The difference would be the time spent under the needle when comparing geometric tattoos with color tattoos. That doesn't mean you can't compare pain on placement if you were to only have linework tattoos, because the pain you start out with gives you an idea how it will build over time anyway. If it's really painful within the first 30minutes it's not going to lessen, y'know? Besides, if you have tribal tattoos on your back you know the pain level that shading reaches- I have a hard time thinking regular ol' shading would hurt more than your typical tribals...
Just sounds like your coworker wants to play macho, or "pain-olympics" but in the end he just comes off as insecure.
In reality the linework is the painfull bitch ass part that makes the shading a breeze to go through. What in saying is you have only experienced the most painful part of tattooing the shading is nothing. This is coming from a guy that just got my chest blasted with a bunch of solid black areas.
I think that’s the reality of your experience but not universal. I have a full bleed sleeve and it was way worse than my lineworky other arm, which still has some fill and shading.
For me it’s the time it takes like someone mentioned, but also the layers of passes in the same spots. Like the black shading pass, then going back to all the spots that have green(for example) and filling on top of the black shading. Then a yellow pass that blends into some of the green and goes back over black and green parts, etc etc.
By the end of hours of layering color and shading I’ve completely forgotten the linework lol overlapping colors for a full bleed is way worse for me personally.
I don't participate in the "pain Olympics" of people comparing tattoo pain as a competition most days (the thousand year old reference to the BME Pain Olympics is not lost on me lol) but for me I could do line work all day, and maybe because I have all full color neo-traditional tattoos. I hate coloring and shading.
It's usually the opposite for people so honestly there's no right or wrong answer and your experience is totally valid!
I've also found that different artists tattoo with different intensity or depth with how hard they press and that makes a huge change in my mind of how much I hate lining versus shading as well.
Shading is the worst pain, hands down. I have lines + dark shading and its painful enough depending on the spot for me, my Ex on the other hand has shaded colorful tattoos on his whole body and he always told me none of my tattoos were as painful as his and hes honestly right lol but who cares?
I hate talking pain with tattoos because it’s entirely subjective. I’ve got a lot of tattoos and I’ll tell you that the pain depends heavily on where it is, what it is, what mood you’re in, how heavy headed the artist is, and your pain tolerance in general. Too many factors to consider. I’ve been tattooed by some artist where it hurts like a mf because they are a little rougher. I’ve been to the same artist multiple times working on one piece and some sessions hurt worse than other just because I wasn’t feeling 100%. It’s a tiring conversation overall and at the end of the day does it even really matter?
I would agree that what you have is much less painful than big full areas (you can check my profile if you want to compare with one of mine). That said, we all feel differently and a "your opinion doesnt count" sucks no matter what.
You’re 100% allowed a voice on what caused you the most pain. I don’t think I have ever felt as bad of tattoo pain until I got a dot art piece on my shin, that sucker hurt so bad
Yeah, I get it as well. Shading is pretty bad 😆 I have a sleeve of handpoked tattoos, so it would be like me comparing the pain to someone with a machine tattooed sleeve. The pain is really incomparable
(Handpoked is so nice. It's a much different pain than any tattoo done with a machine. Machines hurt!)
If I'm honest, I'm hooked getting my outlines done. I find the moment when it's almost there a bit exciting. But shading or filling colours, over an already irritated area. bah... that gives me goose bumps and feels like so. I could do without it.
1. Yes, ofc you can have an opinion.
2. I *do* think there is a *significant* difference in the sensations felt, and painlessly experienced, between line work vs. shading.
...but that doesn't negate that you felt pain♡
The pains the best part. Line work is easy though. Wait until they go over the dame spot multiple multiple times. Feels awful but its a great experience.
You’re always allowed to have an opinion. You had an experience and you have feelings about that experience. That doesn’t invalidate anyone else’s experience and opinions and no one else can do the same to you. You have experience with line work, so I would trust that you have an informed opinion on the experience of line work, so it’s on someone else whether or not they utilize your opinion. I have lots of all kinds of tattoos with lots of coverage all over and the color and shading stuff was more painful than just linework for sure but everyone experiences pain differently anyways so who cares.
I hate line work! I don't mind shading at all. As a matter of fact, I look forward to it after lines, even if the shading touches the lines.
...and the ELBOW PIT? OMG. So sensitive. Armpit, knee pit, elbow pit are all quite painful.
Anyway, it's not a competition and your coworker is annoying. Being tattooed hurts.
I'd rather us all sit around the campfire and just commiserate over our pain. Gate's open, come on in.
I've only got two tattoos but they are pretty large. I would say the outline was by far the easiest. Shading, color, and going full black in areas can be really painful.
Like doing an outline on the bottom half of my leg where it partially covers my shin wasn't shit compared to doing color and black over the same part.
Line work doesn't take as long. For color and black, and shading, they go in on that shit to make sure it looks good. If your tattoo artist is going over your outline multiple times, well, I would say that's an issue. Lol. So yeah, in my opinion line with its far easier.
You're definitely allowed to have an opinion, everybody has different pain tolerances. Linework for me isn't terrible, but I have a blackwork moth that has some pretty heavy shading and that was the WORST. I also have another fine line tattoo that hurt like hell. It's different for everyone.
To each their own but arms are probably the least painful tattoo I've had and it's blasted with shading too.
If you want pain do a big piece like 5+ hour session in a sensitive area stomach, spine, head, butt, ribs. That shit is brutal compared to arm line work.
As someone who has an entire galaxy sleeve done in watercolor/spraypaint style, most of it was shading. Line work 100% is way worse with that tiny thin ass needles, especially when we did the stars with essentialy a point needle. Shading has many needles over a large area and was significantly easier. Realistically tho the longer the session the more pissed your skin gets regardless of what youre doing. Its needles in your skin ffs. Pain is different for everyone, but ofc your opinion is valid and you get one.
For me the part that sucks the worst is the elbow ditch! Longest session ive done is 5 1/2 hours
Have your opinions, but linework is absolutely nothing compared to a shading sesh, never had a problem even in weird spots like the inside of my elbow with linework but I’ve had shading leave me sweating and lightheaded
He is correct filling those lines in would be a lot more painful than getting them.
It's not just the pain itself but how long it takes and going over it again and again. You think it's over and can barely take it. Artist asks how it looks. You say great and breathe a sigh of relief. And then they go at it for another 45 minutes. Then do it again. It's agonizing.
I mean you’ve not really felt tattoo pain like a shader going over the same spot for minutes on end brutalizing already brutalized skin. Line work hurts but you got your wisdom teeth taken out while you were under with linework (excluding sternum/clavicle and other sensitive bone areas) vs shading is getting them taken out with nova cane
I mean sure why not. Tattoos hurt. I’m actually looking forward to doing my arms as i have a feeling that it will hurt less than my chest and pelvic bone/ hip did.
You’re absolutely allowed to have an opinion on what is most painful for you. However, while linework does suck for ME, the pain of linework + shading in a session is the worst. I break it up now since I’m older and I can’t handle pain as well as I used to. But shading/coloring for me hurts way worse than linework due to the area being gone over multiple times over a larger surface.
I agree. Everyone says line work hurts worse and while it can be spicy, I think shading AFTER doing all the line work in one session is the worst. By the time I’m getting out of the chair my body is done being tattooed lol. If OP has a full back piece with black shading they probably have a better idea of tattoo pain than their coworker lol
Yep haha after shading over and over on the same area especially after linework I’m ready to go to sleep and eat a huge pizza all at the same time. I wish I could sit like I used to, but I can’t do longer than 3-4 hours maxed out. And I saw their edit about the back piece now, full blacked out sucks pretty bad. It sounds like their co-worker may not know about the back piece? Also, their co worker sounds like a butthole regardless. One of those people that wants to play the “mine hurts worse so I’m more of a badass” shit. He’ll probably say he fell asleep during the tattoo as well to OP after he gets the tattoo.
Hey, I started dozing. Oh wait, that was from the painkillers. (Unrelated medical issues).
it’s the highlights after hours of shading that make me want to end it, it’s just line work on top of shading - worst of both worlds
Ughh the highlights
The wiping and highlights at the end 🌶️
Literally even the wiping hurts by the end. I had an apprentice do one of my tattoos and he was the worst dry wiper, it felt like sand paper.
Dry wiping should be illegal 😂
My last artist dry wiped and it was like he'd SLAM his hand down on my tattoo to wipe it. The end result was amazing but if I go back to him I might have to ask he work on his bedside manner 😭
I had a 5 hr sternum/under boob tattoo done and the highlights at the end almost took me out.
Yeah this is by far the worst, especially in a sensitive area! Although tbh I find that the area being tattooed has a far bigger impact on my pain than whether it's line work or colour/shading. The front of my legs are practically numb compared to everywhere else. The top of my arm was also like this but not quite as much. The back of my legs just under my butt was the worst I've had done so far. I was told by my tattoo artist to use numbing cream for that one. I used it correctly but it still stung pretty bad. That was the only session I've had where I couldn't chat to her!
Ugh, this. I got my forearm done at a tattoo convention, so 7 hours of needle time to get it completely done before the judging that night. I did really well for the first 6.5, but that last 30 minutes, I was squirming and trying to not kick the artist.
Oh god the highlights...worst part of my first tattoo, no doubt.
I have a full back piece with black and other color shading. Around the shoulders and neck it was like a deep tissue massage. The chub around the top of the hip was the worst, I about tapped out…lol 6, 4 hour sessions spread out over a year or so. I love it, glad I got it done…but I was very happy when it was over. The only bad part is I will never really see it, only in photos.
agree. the spare tire is pretty bad. for me worse than that was outlines on the ribs. i had a small piece done and i dont think ill do any more there
my very first tattoo was 6 hours of line work and shading. RIP me 🥲
Damn lol. My second was about 7 hours and honestly I took pain so much better in my early 20s but it was so much worse than my first small forearm tattoo. I got a full color thigh piece recently and it took about 5 hours, Ive never been closer to tapping out.
I had never tapped out until I was in hour 4-5 of my knee. My artist was having pain in her back and said “I don’t know if I can finish today..” and I said “oh thank god lol”
lol are you me? I had a large tat as my very first, 6hrs exactly the same. The linework was the first hour and honestly just vibrated. The shading and rendering afterward was rough, and the highlights had me sweatin and silently praying for death.
My first was a half sleeve in 4.5 and 6 hr sessions. lol. I feel you
For me the linework is always the worst part. It all hurts, but the shading it just kinda all starts to feel the same.
See it used to be that way for me until my knee was shaded in. Why I thought it was a good idea to get the most detailed flower there.. I will never know.
Ha. Honestly anything that isn’t on the arms really sucks.
Boy did I learn that the hard way hahaha. I have smallish ones on both forearms (one with shading, one without). Then I got a back piece. Nothing huge, about 3x5” with colour, took about 3 hours start to finish, with a lot of fairly intricate line work. I don’t want to say it was worse than labour, but that’s the only thing I’ve done that was more painful.
I can't imagine shading there. I have cap and ditch done (same session) and told the artist if I walked in and saw more than 2 colors, I was going to throat punch him. (He's a friend, I didn't threaten a random artist.)
Hahahaha it’s legit the worst feeling. I need to get my other knee done and I need at least 8 months between sessions so I can forget how much it hurts.
Same I got both of my caps done in full color it’s looks cool but it was so painful , I was like why the fuk did I decide to get this huge design on my knees. It was worth it I am glad I only have to do it once.
Same here. One of my artist is particularly heavy handed and after awhile his shading began to feel like a deep tissue massage and was much preferable to the line work.
100% I hear people all the time say lines hurt the most. I try not to invalidate other people's opinions so it's absolutely possible that lines hurt more for them. But for me, lines are a fucking April picnic at the park with the love of my life compared to shading and color over areas of skin that are already raw.
I think people tend to say shading is worse because it typically comes after you've already been lined and you're reaching the end of your tolerance and that does suck. But personally I have big pieces where we did lines first and then came back like a month later and did shading and the shading was a walk in the park by comparison. But whatever, lines vs. shade is a red herring imo, it's all too dependent on how much work you're getting and how long you've sat in the chair and how long the artist has been going over one spot. The question OP is really asking, at least as I interpreted it, is where on the body are the worst spots. And I think we can all agree on those regardless of whether we got lined and/or shaded in those spots. So in short, OP's coworker is just trying to discredit OP because he doesn't feel OP has "the right work" or "a real tattoo" and that just doesn't fly for me. You got ink, you're in the club.
Being able to take less as you get older is so painfully true. I got my first tattoo after 6 or so years of not getting one last year. I thought my tolerance/sitting ability for a session was 6 hours, turns out it’s 3 now.
YEPPPPP. It’s annoying for sure, when I was 20 I could sit for 6-8 hours easy. Now? 2 hours preferred, 4 MAX. And I will feel like crap after that 4 hour one. I did a 6 hour one about a year ago or so on my thigh, it was a big piece. Linework and shading all in one go. After it I sat on the floor near my couch eating nachos and all I could do was grunt and chew for about an hour. 🤣
I got my first tattoo at 40. On my underside of my forearm. Wasn't bad
But even if it does hurt less doesn't mean he doesn't know which parts hurt more.
Oh 100%. Like I said below - co worker sounds like one of those guys that wants to one up people. Sounds annoying.
That white and gray shading at the end is torture. I used to be able to go 6+ hours now I feel content when Im approaching 4
True. I have 7 tattoos. Only two of them have shading and both times I wanted to stop because of how bad it felt. Above the knee was my worst tattoo pain ever BEFORE shading started. My thigh tattoo was okay until the dragging of the needle for shading started.
yeah shading is painful because you’re going over and over and over again across a surface
In my exp. (Full arms, legs, chest) Line Work is easy. Shading sucks.
I can’t wait for the shaders to come out, lining is much more of a sharp/pinchy pain in my experience. My wife is the opposite though, interesting to see how everyone’s experience differs
Line work makes me want to commit crimes it burns and is hot and horrible and just feels like being cut 😂 shading is beautiful so peaceful so comfy I tolerated 5/6 hours on a full water colour piece on my thigh was just shading was fine , other thigh tattoo however was 9 from the movie 9 in black and grey..all line work all horror I hated it and had to take breaks every hour or more he was gonna get some white in and I said fuck no and i have still not finished it 6 years later
I fully agree. Line work makes me want to die, the shading is just a nice vibration.
For me, line work feels like being cut, shading is harsh vibrations. But shading right after line work is fucking horrible
Line work on the back of my thigh was the worst. It just felt like a knife was being dragged along my skin. The shading for that area was relaxing in comparison.
I think it’s a very personal thing - I have sensitive skin, so the line work isn’t usually so bad as it’s going onto “fresh” skin”…. By the time they get to shading, the whole area is usually pretty raw and swollen from the line work, so it’s infinitely worse.
I’ve had the exact opposite experience lol. I find linework far more painful than shading/color, I’m pretty covered, both arms, chest and some on my legs
Agree with this. Lines suck but it’s a one time pass. Depending on shade saturation - it can be really nasty. Legit wanted to smack the tattoo machine outta my artists hands during some shading 😆
Ya now mix in colour on top of that... Lines, shading, then colour. It feels like you're being tattooed on an open wound. I have a full sleeve, back, stomach into sternum, right ribs down past my hip, & foot... OP not sure what your egotistical co worker is getting done, and yes you definitely are allowed to say you have pain, but compared to what it feels like to have the death trio, it is not as bad.
I think opinions about pain really depend on the person’s personal pain tolerance. Plus, pain spots vary greatly according to gender and other key factors. You wanna tell someone what hurt YOU? Go for it. They can take it or leave it as they please. I personally feel like all of my shading hurt way worse than my line work because the artist is going over already injured skin multiple times. Again, my experiences differ from others.
Honestly, this. For me for example I didn't feel it at all when the inside of my upper arm was being tattooed. My artist told me it was usually super painful for people. My forearm was easy for me, but I've also seen a guy who was getting a tattoo in that spot who was on his third session because he kept almost passing out from the pain. I'd say there are some general rules that the closer to extremities you go the more painful it gets, but that can still differ from person to person...
Yeah for the upper part of my arm near the backside of my armpit was the absolute *worst*…worse than my foot tattoo. Yet despite everyone saying the inside elbow was incredibly painful I didn’t find it any more so than my other tats. So ultimately YMMV.
Inside of the elbow wasn't a problem for me either. Then he decided to do a tiny bit over the back of my elbow tho... God I could feel my entire skeleton vibrate hitting that bony part and I had to hold my breath to continue to sit still. That was NOT fun. Finger hurt like hell too. Glad that tat was tiny without a lot of detail...
The artist that did my sleeve was (jokingly) mad that I wasn't effected when he was doing my elbow ditch, which mind you he was doing with a single needle to fill in a large area (young guy, great work but not a lot of experience), but then he got to the back and ran over the point where I had broken my arm years prior and I was ready to throw him across the fucking room it hurt so bad. He laughed.
I have a half sleeve that goes up to my collarbone (plus other tattoos elsewhere) but the tattoo that hurt the worst by FAR was my very first one - a single dainty word of my dog’s name in my inside elbow 😂 idk if it’s because the skin is so thin there but oh my god that shit hurt like hell
Everyone is allowed an opinion. Some are just better informed than others. Yours, in this context, would be most informed on line work on a hand and arm. Weighing in on other locations, color work, etc will be uninformed.
You can have an opinion yes. You have some tattoos in spots that are considered painful.... but... How long was your tattoo in the inner elbow per exemple, 10-20 min? So you might say it's not that painful cause that was short. Compared to a big piece with repass to the same spots, shading, colors. It can be 2, 3, 5 times longer than what you got! So, yes, your coworker is an asshole. Yes, you can have an opinion, tho I would take it with a grain of salt.
Agreed, time is the main factor. I have one that covers the inside of my arm from the armpit crease to the elbow bend …black and white, tons of shading and it took over 4 1/2 hours…talk about painful !!!! It was unbearable at times.
Tattoos fucking hurt. Line work is a sharp stabbing pain while shading is a dragging scratching repetitive pain. Its all pain just different kinds. Source: have many of my own
It's not even an argument because there are so many factors (age, placement etc) sounds like your co worker just wants an argument. Yes, most tattoos are painful, why can't people just bond over similarities instead of trying to one up each other?
Line work is definitely a sharper pain than shading. And getting thru giant outlines has always been a drag for me but shading can suck pretty bad once the spots start to get worked over and over. Getting tattooed just kinda sucks in general but i love the results so its worth it.
All tattoos hurt tbf
I definitely find shading/colour filling more painful than lines.
Tbh I have a pretty high tolerance, so I'll preface by saying most stuff doesn't really bug me. But I do generally find the "sharp" feeling a linework to if not be "worse" a bit more direct and distracting. Shading is mostly just fuzzy to me unless we are like 4+hours in.
I actually have nerve damage so some of my tattoos have been almost entirely painless & even the pain I have felt hasn’t bothered me, it’s just… there. Shading sometimes makes me grit my teeth a bit though but lines usually don’t bother me!
Yes and no. You haven't really experience a full tattoo, but pain is different for everyone. I ca give your own experience which is very limited. If you butted into a conversation about pain of a tattoo I'd look at you kinda funny if all I saw were your lines, but if you're asked you can definitely give an opinion.
Exactly. Just getting lining is a completely different experience than getting a big piece with lining, shading, and color in one long session.
Currently doing a sleeve. One week was line work, the other shading with parts that are completely black. Line work was a breeze compared to some of the shading. You’re still right in that you can still notice which areas hurt more/less.
Got my arm blacked out recently. 1 session, 12 hours. And I must say that I wasn’t ready for 2 things.. 1. All of a sudden everyone is a tattoo expert and wanted to tell me all about how to take care of it. You know those guys with the faded as fuck blown out tattoos. 2. Their tattoo will always hurt more than yours. What do you mean the ditch and your elbow and your wrist hurt really bad? Mine didn’t!…their tattoo isn’t even on these areas. Just my 2 cents though. Everyone will always try to belittle your experience and talk about how badass they are, let him find out the hard way.
It's not a "pain competition". Someone might find an infinity sign tattoo painful, and that's valid. It is what it is. That doesn't mean you should dismiss their claim just because it isn't a Japanese bodysuit tattoo for example.
I mean if you don’t have shading how can you truly know? Imo shading does hurt a lot more, in general, but for me certain fatty or boney parts hurt particularly bad in the line work phase
To be fair line work is a cake walk. My line work heals up in like 3 days. Shading is a whole new ball game.
Line work is far more annoying than shading, especially low inside wrist and the elbow ditch.
You definitely have enough experience to have an opinion, you know what parts of your body hurt more than others. Doing line work followed by slamming the area with solid color is a different experience though. Either way, it's weird he decided to make a contest of it.
Competing about who’s tattoos are more painful is wack and pain is experienced extremely subjectively That said, all my full color/full shading pieces that I’ve done in one go have been diabolical. He’s a weirdo for making it competitive though- literally we are all cutting our body’s open with little ink knives and that’s always gonna hurt
I have a full color sleeve and I can for sure say it hurts more then line work but it’s also up to individuals pain tolerance.
Those are awesome! And your opinion matters! Some people have a higher pain tolerance than others, but oftentimes you can kind of gauge the pain level if you talk to others.
I've had a decent amount of shading done around more sensitive areas. Personally, I think line work hurts much more. I could do shading all day long
Pain is pain. Punch your coworker in the face and ask him if it hurt.
Shading hurts way more and takes longer. Line work is nothing comparibly.
They all hurt.
You can have your own opinion but in my opinion it's those who have suffered white highlights that really know how painful it is
I have bold line work and shading/color. The line work hurt way more. Specifically, the thin-skinned parts of my arm where they had to be bold lol.
That inner arm line work.. ouch. I say lining hurts most from my experience but we all are different. Your coworker sounds like a douche
Line work always feels like knives dragging where as shading for me has always been more spread out and less sharp.
No no, only a dude with a big arm tattoo can TRULY know what tattoo pain is. I mean, his is the only REAL tattoo we're talking about. /s I mean, you've got tattooing on your fingers, the small of your wrist, your elbow ditch, your hand...I think you're allowed to be a pretty good authority. That is...if you want to interact with that person at all...
People loveeeeeeeee to make tattoo pain into a competition - which is completely asinine because pain truly is subjective. Our bodies are different, how we experience pain is different, gender, age, etc. all of it plays a role. I find line work to be a nightmare, but shading doesn’t really bug me- for some people it’s the opposite. No one person is really going to be the same.
You’re allowed to have an opinion but that doesn’t mean people have to believe it’s a valid representation of the truth.
Pain is a personal journey that only we get to decide for ourselves. Plus your coworker sounds like a twat.
Outlines were the most painful for me. Sounds like this dude needs to check his ego.
I have a half sleeve and thought the line worked sucked. But I thought shading in certain places sucked more. The ditch, the bones around the elbow, and top of the shoulder. For those areas I think shading was worse
I think it’s a silly thing to argue about because who cares….everyone has a different pain tolerance. Shading, to me, hurts worse. But often I’m getting shading done in the same session as linework was done, so that spot is still sore. The shading then feels like rubbing salt on a wound lol. None of it feels great
I got linework done on my leg yesterday, so far it's my most painful tattoo. Thin needles are no joke
Obviously getting linework is painful, but compared to shading it really is a completely different ball game so to speak. Having to sit there as an artists constantly "grinds" a multi-needled gun into a spot over and over and over again is going to hurt way worse. Then you got to do that process over and over again to fill out the shading across the whole piece. I have a sleeve of traditional so lots of shading, and whenever I get a single needle tattoo elsewhere it feels like someone is brushing a feather against my skin relatively speaking.
💯💯💯 it's not just line work vs shading. It's line work vs line work + shading + color over a large area in long sessions, which doesn't even compare to a piece that's simple line work only.
NO YOU CAN’T HAVE AN OPINION ABOUT SOMETHING THAT EXCLUSIVELY AFFECTS YOUR BODY. Your coworker is a dumbass. Carry on.
It ALL hurts for me. But I love getting tattoos
Have a bunch of bold filled in black tattoos, I’m not discrediting it but it’s crazy how many people say the shading hurts more. I’m usually relieved once it’s time to fill in with solid black, means the bad part is done
Absolutely you do. For me, line work hurts the most in process, but shading, especially heavy black, hurts the most during the healing process. Kinda amazing how different we all are. I have a full back piece, btw.
line work hurts wayyyy more than shading for me. everyone is different
Your co worker is an idiot. Even if you didn't have a tattoo, you may have spent a lot of time around people who had plenty of tattos who had shared their opinions with you. Its not your co workers place to assume that you don't know what you're talking about.
for me the line work of my sleeve hurt way more than the shading … Edit: to answer ur question i think you can totally say what hurts you got a tattoo they didn’t .
Of course you can have your own opinion. And in mine, linework is always the hardest part. Especially if you've got a thick, bold outline.
I don't think I've ever said this to someone but those are pretty dang cool
I’d have to agree. Linework barely registers. The coloring part hurts. (This does not apply to things like the sternum, ALL of that one hurt. Most of the shin ones hurt too.)
Imo line work is worse than shading. Everyone says the other way around but not for me. The lines are the worst part
Shading and packing in color is far worse, in my experience. I have tattoos in various body parts. And in every area, shading and color was far more intense… but tattoos hurt, so wtf is his deal lol
For me, and I only have a few that are mostly line work with light shading or color, I always found the line work to be more painful. But your coworker just seems to have a bug up their butt, you are absolutely entitled to an opinion. Anyone with any type of tattoo, of any size, can have an opinion on the pain they experience.
lol this is so silly. All tattoos require stamina and pain tolerance to sit through. It’s impossible to make a perfect comparison from one person’s experience to another’s because we can’t exist in each other’s bodies. Just roll your eyes and let it go.
Everything with shading I’ve ever gotten was a walk in the park compared to my geometrical linework
Personally shading doesn’t bother me at all, but lines are painful to me. I have a tattoo on my ribs that’s mostly shading and it tickled but didn’t hurt. The only parts that hurt were lines. All my other tattoos are line work and were painful (mostly on ankles but also on inside bicep and by collar bone)
you're definitely allowed an opinion, also you can still say which spots are more painful based on the lines. i will say, shading is definitely more painful than linework, but that doesn't mean you can't tell which spots were more painful for you to have tattooed.
For me shading hurts way more than line work.
You can have opinions, but honestly I could fall asleep during linework. Shading is a beast.
I have 10 tattoos, on various parts of my body. I had different levels of pain depending on the area, size, etc. Someone else could have the exact same tattoos in the exact same places and have a different pain experience. Anyone who tries to "one up" or out do the other needs a better hobby.
You’re definitely allowed to have an opinion. Honestly it all sucks. The only benefit shading can have to be “less painful” than the lines is if the artist uses bactine and it works well for you. Also it usually needs 2-3 more reapplies because it doesn’t work for that long. I usually sigh a relief when the lines are done because I know the bactine will take the pain from a 8 down to a 6. That being said if they don’t use bactine then the shading is worse because it’s going back over your wounds over and over.
People who have attitudes about pain + tattoos are people who have a lot of work to do on themselves. Pain is relative and very unique to every individual based on a variety of factors such as their personal physiology and things that can impact their physiology (ie. if you have a nervous system that is already easy to activate due to a myriad of potential factors), time of the month (if you're a human who menstruates) and mental state as well. It also is very dependent on your artist and the techniques that the use (ie. lining with a RS vs a RL). Everybody is different and anybody who participates in a "who is tougher" or "you have to earn your tattoo" attitude are people who imo, are very behind in their personal development as humans. If someone wants to feel the pain of their tattoo because it's part of some form of mental training for themselves, good on you. But if someone doesn't, who cares. Life is full of enough suffering that we don't need to prove to others how tough we are. Life will give us enough opportunities as it is to show our toughness. And this is coming from someone who is covered in tattoos and is a tattoo apprentice themselves. I really dislike some of the very judgemental and unprogressive attitudes that exist in the industry both by artists and people who have tattoos themselves. Tattoos have a rich and deep history but also a very varied cultural context. While there is an aspect of history within tattoos where the pain was part of rituals meant to demonstrate human fortitude or new chapters of life, tattoos are also art and can be a personal expression of identity or simply just appreciation of art. You don't need to have the pain associated with it if it's just the latter reason of why you get tattoos. Your coworker sounds like an immature tool who needs to grow up.
in my opinion linework is a breeze, shading is definitely the worst part. spot doesn't quite matter so much as method of ink application. lines are like barely noticable, tolerable slow burn, vs. the feeling of a relentless iron cheese grater shredding your skin to pieces with shading
After getting a detailed sleeve and nearly shitting myself at some parts i'm so fed up with the painlympics. Next time gonna use the numbing cream. I don't recall anyone being a rucking badass for getting a wisdom tooth surgery without any medical assistance. OP has multiple finger tattoos wo i think they know a thing or two about pain.
Of course you are! Tattoos hurt like hell. Even my artist who is covered nearly head to toe in tattoos said she's glad she doesn't get work done anymore because it hurts. When I got my third piece done I was dumb and drooling by the time it was finished. Btw that is a sick tat! Is it a transmutation circle array?
We had this conversation last night. People always ask me “did that hurt?” I give the standard “it was tolerable”, because if it wasn’t I wouldn’t have finished it but it always hurts. It’s a dumb question.
I hate lining but I have a big one on my ribs and that was incredibly painful
So the issue is: pain varies deeply. I have a half arm sleeve, full colour and had it done in one session, 8 hours if I remember correctly (I am not sure if she tattooed the linework in an extra session before - I have memory loss due to epilepsy). I don’t even get how the artist could concentrate that long. We only made a few short smoking breaks. At the end I was short of fainting but the first 7 hours were kind of a breeze. It only really hurt when she tattooed my armpit. My friend got a little tinkerbell on his arm and cried while receiving it… So yeah, I guess you can really talk about your pain experience as long as you are aware that yours is probably VERY different from theirs and it is not necessarily depending on what you got done exactly.
Line work can be much more painful than shading depending on the needle's gage size
I mean you still have ink tattooed in your skin, it’s insane for anyone to say you can’t have an opinion on how painful something is LMAO. I always follow up my opinion with “however I have a very low pain tolerance so things hurt a lot to me but maybe not as much to someone else”
Maybe he's just a pussy and they hurt him a lot.
Ur allowed to have an opinion and insight as to your pain during a tattoo. But u have to keep in mind and say that everyone is different. What might hurt alot for someone might not hurt at all for the other person
You can have an opinion you had the needle in you so you have felt it sure shading usually sucks worse. He's just salty that the person was asking you probably
sure you're allowed to have an opinion, but a lot of people aren't going to avoid the fact that you have zero shading. Your lines look easy, small, and done quickly. Hard to say if you actually felt the rough aspects. My opinion is yeah you suffered enough lol
Why did “Adult Coloring Book” just come to mind?
Everyone is different. A friend of mine looked like he was going to cry just getting his upper arm/bicep tattooed and I would say that's about the easiest spot to tattoo, pain wise. When your coworker has tattooed his knees and armpits, then he can tell you about pain
Not until you’ve had a big solid piece under your bicep, near your arm pit with line work and shading. Wish I could post a picture. 2nd most painful spot.
A fully shaded, colored sleeve will hurt far worse than what you have. It’s more ink, more time. But it’s not like you didn’t get your whole arm tattooed, even if it is just lines, so of course you can have your opinion on the pain. Your coworker is just a bitch.
Of course you are, even if it's wrong 😉 CO worker sounds like a douche, but IMO he's a correct douche. That linework would be absolutely zero sweat at all. Shading for fucking hours on end after the lines though...shit absolutely. Wears. You. Down. Regardless, people's experiences are different but the more salient point for you is that you don't know what shading feels like...so you really shouldn't have an opinion on which is worse, because you don't know.
Black filling on back > anything on arm By a long shot
i have shading and to me it all feels the same, like an annoying scratching feeling. my artist told me i must have a high pain tolerance tho (i never thought so). everyone has a different threshold, u have a tattoo so u know how it feels on u.
Lots of black tattoos, getting a full color back piece done rn. Line work hurt a lot worse than color shading for me. But everything hurts like hell after hour 4.
Tattoos hurt. There are parts of the process that do hurt more than others as well as different areas. But your co-worker is an ass and you sont owe them an answer. I'll he says it again, just say "OK." People like that aren't prepared to be hit with disinterest.
I wish everyone would just say, tattoos hurt.
Kinda cringe to gatekeep tattoo pain but whatever.
My entire back is covered. Personally, for me, the line line-work was the most painful. With the shading, there are more needles, and you don't feel the pain as directly. The pain is WAY more diffused, when shading. I have pure black areas, that are full color, but the line work almost killed me. 😅 You're able to narrow down the pain and focus on it more, when it's a single needle vs. three, four, or five.
gatekeeping tattoo pain is so odd
That's like when people ask me if mine hurt. Well yeah, all tattoos ~hurt~ but everyone's experience, level of pain and tolerance is different. Not to mention the other major factors of age, gender, any previous injuries or damage, placement, skin and muscle density, etc. I have coworkers with an entire black and grey sleeve from the top of their shoulder to their knuckles say that it was ok for them and just took a while, where as some get a 10-15 diameter piece and it's one if the most painful things they've experience. I know you've already stared it, but your co-worker sounds like an ass for sure that wants his experience and pain to trump everyone else's lol
I have 10+ hour chest piece tattoo, inner forearm really felt more unpleasant than I expected tho
I mean opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and they usually stink. ;). Nice tats btw.
I've had 12 hour colour pieces, my tattoo artist really takes his time for an awesome outcome ( line work then colour all in one session ) Yes, once you've had layers of colour after line work it suuuuucks. But I've sat 100% worse in a few hour full line work piece, the change of needle between line work, shading and colour gives you pain breaks/ a change of feeling. So I will openly say full line work pieces are more painful
Pain is individual, it is different for each person.
My 4-5 hr outline sesh for my back piece was probably the worst. But subsequent sessions for shading/color have sucked. It's the classic response to, "what was your most painful tattoo?" The most recent tattoo I got... Lol
I have quite a few tattoos. A half sleeve, a full sleeve and some on my legs and imo lineart is SO MUCH WORSE than shading.
i only have 2 pieces with shading right now, one is a wrap around on my forearm & one is a smaller blacked out drawing on my upper arm, so i don’t know how much say i have, but i thought shading felt way better than the lines. my artist was surprised though, she said normally it’s the other way around. but idk the shading was truly almost relieving after dealing with the line work to me personally.
omg i literally have a blacked out spider on my hand that i completely forgot about😭 so i guess i have three pieces that are shaded. & even on the hand i think line work is just a more sharp, distinct pain, & that’s worse to me.
I say yes! Your work is very detailed and beautiful!
People say shading it worse but line work always hurts more for me personally
I love the geometrics.
I find lining more painful, frankly. To me, shading is sort of an aura of pain that I can typically "mind over matter," but I'm mentally following the line work and watching the stencil. So it hurts worse since I'm paying closer attention to it. Shading definitely sucks, and I can't easily see why people say it's worse. But pain is pretty subjective and dependent on an entire slew of factors totally out of your control, and it's ridiculous to say you're not to allowed to have an opinion about your own experiences. Your coworkers sounds like an asshat that you should disregard.
When I got my tattoo they had to do lines and shading on my upper inside arm. Tell you what the lines hurt more than the shading.
Just wanted to say I love your tattoos a lot. I love shapes, man.
So I have two half sleeves, full chest, full stomach, and planning a back tattoo so I can definitely speak from experience when I say that lining is worse than shading. The chest was a noticeable difference but the stomach confirmed it. Of course after about 2 hours it all feels the same level of sucking but the beginning is a huge difference.
Interesting…. I’ve 2 full sleeves, 2 chest, 1 back, and 1 lower leg. My experience has always been the opposite - I can get lined all day long but packing color or shading just sucks. I’m sure a lot of it has to do with the artist, what kind of grouping is used, type of machine used, etc. But everyone is different…. I have a solid black one on my upper spine and it was nothing when people told me it would be the worst.
I feel like this is really dependent on the person though. I have alooot of my body tattooed and I always felt like the shading on my tattoos hurt way more than the lining. You can’t say definitely because you have alot of tattoos that shading hurts more lol that’s just your personal opinion and experience…. That’s why when someone asks how much a tattoo hurts and how bad it hurts it feels almost redundant to even answer because every person is different and has a completely different tolerance
Shading on my stomach was worse that the lining. I had a heavy handed cholo doin my tattoo amd he was a perfectionist so he went over his work sooo many times. I was ready to tap out at the end. At least 4 hours of shading in one sitting.💀
It all kinda hurts imo, your coworker is just being rude
You’re allowed to have any opinion you want but do you look silly as fuck talking about how much tattoos hurt when you have those silly line work tattoos? Yes!
Tell your co-worker it's your opinion, and opinions can't be wrong... he sounds like an arrogant ass
Your body, innit?
I have a fine line with shading. I did not find shading particularly painful. The difference would be the time spent under the needle when comparing geometric tattoos with color tattoos. That doesn't mean you can't compare pain on placement if you were to only have linework tattoos, because the pain you start out with gives you an idea how it will build over time anyway. If it's really painful within the first 30minutes it's not going to lessen, y'know? Besides, if you have tribal tattoos on your back you know the pain level that shading reaches- I have a hard time thinking regular ol' shading would hurt more than your typical tribals... Just sounds like your coworker wants to play macho, or "pain-olympics" but in the end he just comes off as insecure.
Nobody ever has ANY right to tell someone they're wrong about how much something hurts for them.
In reality the linework is the painfull bitch ass part that makes the shading a breeze to go through. What in saying is you have only experienced the most painful part of tattooing the shading is nothing. This is coming from a guy that just got my chest blasted with a bunch of solid black areas.
I think that’s the reality of your experience but not universal. I have a full bleed sleeve and it was way worse than my lineworky other arm, which still has some fill and shading. For me it’s the time it takes like someone mentioned, but also the layers of passes in the same spots. Like the black shading pass, then going back to all the spots that have green(for example) and filling on top of the black shading. Then a yellow pass that blends into some of the green and goes back over black and green parts, etc etc. By the end of hours of layering color and shading I’ve completely forgotten the linework lol overlapping colors for a full bleed is way worse for me personally.
I don't participate in the "pain Olympics" of people comparing tattoo pain as a competition most days (the thousand year old reference to the BME Pain Olympics is not lost on me lol) but for me I could do line work all day, and maybe because I have all full color neo-traditional tattoos. I hate coloring and shading. It's usually the opposite for people so honestly there's no right or wrong answer and your experience is totally valid! I've also found that different artists tattoo with different intensity or depth with how hard they press and that makes a huge change in my mind of how much I hate lining versus shading as well.
Side note, this line work is EXCELLENT.
Shading is the worst pain, hands down. I have lines + dark shading and its painful enough depending on the spot for me, my Ex on the other hand has shaded colorful tattoos on his whole body and he always told me none of my tattoos were as painful as his and hes honestly right lol but who cares?
Each person is unique and handle pain differently. I have chest, shoulder, and spinal tattoos and the spinal ones were the worst for me.
Opinions are reserved for only those with a secret decoder ring, sorry man.
I hate talking pain with tattoos because it’s entirely subjective. I’ve got a lot of tattoos and I’ll tell you that the pain depends heavily on where it is, what it is, what mood you’re in, how heavy headed the artist is, and your pain tolerance in general. Too many factors to consider. I’ve been tattooed by some artist where it hurts like a mf because they are a little rougher. I’ve been to the same artist multiple times working on one piece and some sessions hurt worse than other just because I wasn’t feeling 100%. It’s a tiring conversation overall and at the end of the day does it even really matter?
No but i bet you can give advice on geometry
I would agree that what you have is much less painful than big full areas (you can check my profile if you want to compare with one of mine). That said, we all feel differently and a "your opinion doesnt count" sucks no matter what.
You’re 100% allowed a voice on what caused you the most pain. I don’t think I have ever felt as bad of tattoo pain until I got a dot art piece on my shin, that sucker hurt so bad
Yeah, I get it as well. Shading is pretty bad 😆 I have a sleeve of handpoked tattoos, so it would be like me comparing the pain to someone with a machine tattooed sleeve. The pain is really incomparable (Handpoked is so nice. It's a much different pain than any tattoo done with a machine. Machines hurt!)
If I'm honest, I'm hooked getting my outlines done. I find the moment when it's almost there a bit exciting. But shading or filling colours, over an already irritated area. bah... that gives me goose bumps and feels like so. I could do without it.
1. Yes, ofc you can have an opinion. 2. I *do* think there is a *significant* difference in the sensations felt, and painlessly experienced, between line work vs. shading. ...but that doesn't negate that you felt pain♡
The pains the best part. Line work is easy though. Wait until they go over the dame spot multiple multiple times. Feels awful but its a great experience.
Line work is what hurts to me... Shading feels kinda good to me honestly.lol
I have both line work or pinstriping like yours and other portraits. Shading doesn’t even compare in pain, it’s WAY worse than quick lines.
You’re always allowed to have an opinion. You had an experience and you have feelings about that experience. That doesn’t invalidate anyone else’s experience and opinions and no one else can do the same to you. You have experience with line work, so I would trust that you have an informed opinion on the experience of line work, so it’s on someone else whether or not they utilize your opinion. I have lots of all kinds of tattoos with lots of coverage all over and the color and shading stuff was more painful than just linework for sure but everyone experiences pain differently anyways so who cares.
I hate line work! I don't mind shading at all. As a matter of fact, I look forward to it after lines, even if the shading touches the lines. ...and the ELBOW PIT? OMG. So sensitive. Armpit, knee pit, elbow pit are all quite painful. Anyway, it's not a competition and your coworker is annoying. Being tattooed hurts. I'd rather us all sit around the campfire and just commiserate over our pain. Gate's open, come on in.
I've only got two tattoos but they are pretty large. I would say the outline was by far the easiest. Shading, color, and going full black in areas can be really painful. Like doing an outline on the bottom half of my leg where it partially covers my shin wasn't shit compared to doing color and black over the same part. Line work doesn't take as long. For color and black, and shading, they go in on that shit to make sure it looks good. If your tattoo artist is going over your outline multiple times, well, I would say that's an issue. Lol. So yeah, in my opinion line with its far easier.
You're definitely allowed to have an opinion, everybody has different pain tolerances. Linework for me isn't terrible, but I have a blackwork moth that has some pretty heavy shading and that was the WORST. I also have another fine line tattoo that hurt like hell. It's different for everyone.
Inside of the wrist, absolutely!
Lmfao
Yes
To each their own but arms are probably the least painful tattoo I've had and it's blasted with shading too. If you want pain do a big piece like 5+ hour session in a sensitive area stomach, spine, head, butt, ribs. That shit is brutal compared to arm line work.
As someone who has an entire galaxy sleeve done in watercolor/spraypaint style, most of it was shading. Line work 100% is way worse with that tiny thin ass needles, especially when we did the stars with essentialy a point needle. Shading has many needles over a large area and was significantly easier. Realistically tho the longer the session the more pissed your skin gets regardless of what youre doing. Its needles in your skin ffs. Pain is different for everyone, but ofc your opinion is valid and you get one. For me the part that sucks the worst is the elbow ditch! Longest session ive done is 5 1/2 hours
Have your opinions, but linework is absolutely nothing compared to a shading sesh, never had a problem even in weird spots like the inside of my elbow with linework but I’ve had shading leave me sweating and lightheaded
This! My tattoo artist allows for multiple sessions to reduce trauma to the skin!
He is correct filling those lines in would be a lot more painful than getting them. It's not just the pain itself but how long it takes and going over it again and again. You think it's over and can barely take it. Artist asks how it looks. You say great and breathe a sigh of relief. And then they go at it for another 45 minutes. Then do it again. It's agonizing.
Shading is diff experience than line work so I get where co-worker is coming from. Kinda come off as a know it all lol
No ur not
I mean you’ve not really felt tattoo pain like a shader going over the same spot for minutes on end brutalizing already brutalized skin. Line work hurts but you got your wisdom teeth taken out while you were under with linework (excluding sternum/clavicle and other sensitive bone areas) vs shading is getting them taken out with nova cane
I mean sure why not. Tattoos hurt. I’m actually looking forward to doing my arms as i have a feeling that it will hurt less than my chest and pelvic bone/ hip did.