People ask about pain constantly and almost never about stillness, which is the thing that actually ends sessions early.
Eat properly beforehand, genuinely
A real meal within two hours, and something sugary in your bag. Most people who go faint were running on coffee and nerves.
Hydrate the day before, not just the morning of. It makes a noticeable difference to how the skin takes ink.
Plan the position before the needle
Whatever position you start in is the position you are stuck with. Work it out with your artist first, and say something early if it is uncomfortable, not at hour four when your arm has gone numb.
Headphones and something you have already watched. Nothing that needs attention.
Breaks are not weakness
Ask for them. A tense body is harder to tattoo and the work suffers. Every good artist would rather stop for five minutes than fight you for an hour.
The pain is survivable and short. The stillness is the discipline.
More of it, and everything else, is on my page.
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