Hello

[Tesseracts]

Hi, like I said I like to paint things, I'll attach an example of one of my digital paintings, to prove that I know what art looks like. I'm a 25 year old female and I have wanted a tattoo for my whole life, which is why I am here. I like this forum because it focuses on the artistic quality and longevity of tattoos, instead of just hyping the newest fads.

I'll also attach an image of the most appealing tattoo idea I have found so far. This isn't a picture of me. I really like both the placement and the design. I like that it's simple and elegant, and it looks like something I won't need to find a super expensive artist to pull off. I'll need to figure out what to change so it isn't a complete rip off of what this guy has, though.

[David Flores]

Hi, like I said I like to paint things, I'll attach an example of one of my digital paintings, to prove that I know what art looks like. I'm a 25 year old female and I have wanted a tattoo for my whole life, which is why I am here. I like this forum because it focuses on the artistic quality and longevity of tattoos, instead of just hyping the newest fads.

I'll also attach an image of the most appealing tattoo idea I have found so far. This isn't a picture of me. I really like both the placement and the design. I like that it's simple and elegant, and it looks like something I won't need to find a super expensive artist to pull off. I'll need to figure out what to change so it isn't a complete rip off of what this guy has, though.

Welcome to the forum, Hope you find it helpful.

The first thing that stands out to me is the idea the whole I don't need an expensive artist to do my tattoo, which in part is true, but you do need a good tattooer to do a good tattoo, not all people who are good are expensive and not all expensive are good. I think people assume they they have to settle for lesser quality tattoo. The price of a tattoo is relatively small in regards to how long you will be wearing it, and a cheap wrist tattoo and an expensive one, aren't going to vary that much. Also I have found professionals are way more efficient with their time and end up costing less in the long run, even if their price is more per hour.

Second, what is the image in the tattoo reference you posted. Not trying to be a smart ass, but it's hard to ask someone to create a custom tattoo of a design that really doesn't have a description. I think people gravitate towards these ideas because they can't commit to an actual image on their body, or don't know what they want, I would say this is the reason there were so many tribal tattoos in the 1990's. That being said, these types of designs can make a nice tattoo if you find the right tattooer, you probably just need to find someone with a knack for this kind of design or still has their Spirograph from when they were a kid. Just saying may not be the design to price shop on.

You could draw something yourself, but I have always found it best to advise people to let tattooers design tattoos, even those who are artistic, hence the expression "artists pay double", nothing set in stone, just all things to consider.

[SStu]

Welcome and kudos for researching your 1st tattoo.

It's good that you can recognize good artwork. Get familiar (here and elsewhere) with what makes a good tattoo good - the physical process and application. DO NOT assume that because your desired image is simple that just any artist can pull it off. That is definitely not so. In fact, the simpler the design (especially a geometric one like a bisected shell) leaves NO room for error. The artist has to be perfect the 1st time. No way to hide mistakes.

Take money out of the equation. You'll likely end up paying the shop minimum in any case.

[Graeme]

Welcome to LST.

I have a nautilus tattooed on my forearm so I like the idea, but that one does nothing for me. It looks like something pulled off of Google Image Search and just looks kind of cheap. To give you a couple of ideas of what you can do with a nautilus, here's a picture of my forearm, which was tattooed by Thomas Hooper (it's kind of hard to get a good picture of it because it wraps around my arm):

And here's a picture of one Seth Wood did that I also think is super cool:

[Tesseracts]

Welcome to the forum, Hope you find it helpful.

The first thing that stands out to me is the idea the whole I don't need an expensive artist to do my tattoo, which in part is true, but you do need a good tattooer to do a good tattoo, not all people who are good are expensive and not all expensive are good. I think people assume they they have to settle for lesser quality tattoo. The price of a tattoo is relatively small in regards to how long you will be wearing it, and a cheap wrist tattoo and an expensive one, aren't going to vary that much. Also I have found professionals are way more efficient with their time and end up costing less in the long run, even if their price is more per hour.

You're right.

Second, what is the image in the tattoo reference you posted. Not trying to be a smart ass, but it's hard to ask someone to create a custom tattoo of a design that really doesn't have a description. I think people gravitate towards these ideas because they can't commit to an actual image on their body, or don't know what they want, I would say this is the reason there were so many tribal tattoos in the 1990's. That being said, these types of designs can make a nice tattoo if you find the right tattooer, you probably just need to find someone with a knack for this kind of design or still has their Spirograph from when they were a kid. Just saying may not be the design to price shop on.

You could draw something yourself, but I have always found it best to advise people to let tattooers design tattoos, even those who are artistic, hence the expression "artists pay double", nothing set in stone, just all things to consider.

Like others pointed out, it's a nautilus. I think you are right that I don't really know what I want. I found this picture on a Nine Inch Nails forum, I think it is supposed to represent The Downward Spiral, but I have found a few other tattoos on the internet that are very similar so it's probably flash.

Graeme, those tattoos are awesome. I especially like the one from Seth Wood. I've never seen anything like it.

What I really want is something like an awesome dragon, or phoenix, something like that. I feel like I would need to take a lot of space on my body and find an exceptionally good artist to get anything even close to what I have in mind though. So I've been looking into smaller tattoos just for the sake of having a tattoo. I suppose I need to do more research even for something small, though.

By the way I'm glad you guys are willing to be honest and tell me that the thing I found is boring. I don't like it when people are afraid to express their opinion, that's not helpful at all.

Lately I have been saving all of the good tattoos I can find. I'm going to upload some of the ones I like the most. They are all different styles so I guess I'm not narrowing it down much.

[Graeme]

What I really want is something like an awesome dragon, or phoenix, something like that. I feel like I would need to take a lot of space on my body and find an exceptionally good artist to get anything even close to what I have in mind though. So I've been looking into smaller tattoos just for the sake of having a tattoo. I suppose I need to do more research even for something small, though.

If you really want to get something big like a dragon or a phoenix, I'd say to wait, do your research and save your money, and go for that instead of getting something smaller just for the sake of getting a tattoo. Take a look around here at the Latest Tattoo Lowdown thread, the Tattoo of the Month contests, and because you're thinking of going big, the Full Back Piece thread to see the tattoos people here are getting and who they're getting them from. That tiger you posted is on a poster here, and it's amazing.

[tatB]

Welcome to LST!

If you are interested in Japanese style dragons and pheonix's I recommend checking out these Boston area artists:

Erick Lynch at Redemption in Cambridge, MA

Mike Shea at Redemption in Cambridge, MA

Forrest Cavaco at Cobra Custom in Plymouth, MA

Jason Loui at Iron Works in Portsmouth, NH

also don't be afraid to expand your search to New York, its a short trip that I've done numerous times. Places to check out in NY for Japanese work include:

http://www.kingsavenuetattoo.com/

http://invisiblenyc.com/

http://www.nyadorned.com/

[CultExciter]

Mike Shea Mike Shea Mike Shea!

[Tesseracts]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I definitely don't mind going to NYC, I've done that plenty of times. I'm also moving to LA in a year or so, so that gives me some more options. I wouldn't mind going even farther than that, I was actually considering saving up to go to Tattoo Temple in Hong Kong at one point. Although, after reading about tattoo longevity, I'm not sure if the brushstrokey stuff will hold up.

I should add that part of the reason I'm hesitant to get a large tattoo is, I'm overweight. I'm afraid of what will happen to the tattoo if I lose weight. The wrist seems like a safer area than my torso, or even my upper arm. Although, I recently talked to somebody who lost a lot of weight and has a lot of tattoos, and she says as long as it's not on your stomach it won't be harmed.

[Graeme]

I should add that part of the reason I'm hesitant to get a large tattoo is, I'm overweight. I'm afraid of what will happen to the tattoo if I lose weight. The wrist seems like a safer area than my torso, or even my upper arm. Although, I recently talked to somebody who lost a lot of weight and has a lot of tattoos, and she says as long as it's not on your stomach it won't be harmed.

As I see things, your body is going to undergo a lot of changes over the course of your life. You'll gain and lose weight, you may get pregnant and your body will undergo changes then, as you get old your skin and your muscles are going to slacken and sag, and your tattoos along with it all. That's just bodies, and it isn't a reason to not get tattooed. So what I'm saying is that you should get the tattoos you want to get regardless of how you feel about your weight. A well-designed, well-executed tattoo is going to fit your body and age gracefully with it, so make sure you get a good one. The list @BrianH gave above is a great start, I'd add Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn to it (Seth Wood works there and he rules), and if you're going to move to LA there are plenty of great shops there too. That tiger you posted is by Bryan Burk in LA, some people here have gotten incredible work at Memoir Tattoo, and I'm sure somebody who knows LA better could recommend plenty of other great shops there.

[Tesseracts]

I've done some searching on this website, and found plenty of other fat people with decent tattoos, so I suppose I'll be fine.

I've wanted a dragon tattoo my whole life, but I have a problem. I'm kind of picky about dragons. All of the Japanese dragon tattoos I have seen look generic. It's hard to describe what I mean by that... I'll try to use examples. I think this dragon has character, but this doesn't. Don't get me wrong, it's a great tattoo, but it looks like every other dragon. I don't want the most original thing on Earth, and I think good execution is more important than being unique, but I don't want a design that is like everybody else's. I don't know, maybe I just haven't looked at enough dragon tattoos.

I see more character in a lot of the snake tattoos I have found, for example this.

How come all of the European style dragon tattoos I have seen look completely stupid? Does nobody have a decent one? They always seem to be either some tribal nonsense, or look like this.

I'm going to attach a bunch of pictures of dragons that look cool. I've never seen tattoos like any of these.

[Tesseracts]

Hi, bumping this thread because I need some advice.

First of all I wish I could edit the post where I said dragon tattoos don't have character. I think at that point I just hadn't looked at enough tattoos to figure out how to judge them. You can't judge a 3d object the same way you judge a painting. Still, I wish there were more non-Asian style dragon tattoos out there, maybe I'll create a thread on that.

Anyway, after I found this website I looked at a lot of tattoos, then I stopped for a while, then came back to it. After a few months I found that Japanese traditional stuff has the most lasting appeal to me. Like I said on this thread I'm thinking of getting a kitsune and going down to the NYC tattoo convention to do that.

How hard is it to get a tattoo at a convention like this? Is there any way I can reserve a spot? Will it come out worse if the artists feel rushed and overworked at the convention?

If I don't get it at the convention, I might try to get Shinji Horizakura. I also like Seth Wood's style. Any other ideas?

[tatB]

Its usually best to contact the artist beforehand to make an appointment at the convention. How large of a piece do you plan on getting? And on what part of your body?

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

[Killercook76]

Hi, bumping this thread because I need some advice.

First of all I wish I could edit the post where I said dragon tattoos don't have character. I think at that point I just hadn't looked at enough tattoos to figure out how to judge them. You can't judge a 3d object the same way you judge a painting. Still, I wish there were more non-Asian style dragon tattoos out there, maybe I'll create a thread on that.

Anyway, after I found this website I looked at a lot of tattoos, then I stopped for a while, then came back to it. After a few months I found that Japanese traditional stuff has the most lasting appeal to me. Like I said on this thread I'm thinking of getting a kitsune and going down to the NYC tattoo convention to do that.

How hard is it to get a tattoo at a convention like this? Is there any way I can reserve a spot? Will it come out worse if the artists feel rushed and overworked at the convention?

If I don't get it at the convention, I might try to get Shinji Horizakura. I also like Seth Wood's style. Any other ideas?

There is one coming up soon in NYC . I'm not sure if it's too late to get an appointment with these artist since they fill up very fast. They also do guest spots around that time at like invisible nyc. I know Horimitsu is doing some guest spots at Invisible. I would email these guys and see if they can fit you in. There are a couple of NYC tattooers that do traditional japanese like shinji and also kiku from invisible.

[Tesseracts]

I was thinking on my upper arm. If not that probably my leg. Fairly large because my body is larger than average, so a small tattoo won't look good, especially if I lose weight.

I also wouldn't mind my lower arm, but people told me not to do that because it will keep me from getting a job. I'm not convinced that is a big issue these days but I guess I shouldn't take the risk at my age.

[Graeme]

Hi, bumping this thread because I need some advice.

First of all I wish I could edit the post where I said dragon tattoos don't have character. I think at that point I just hadn't looked at enough tattoos to figure out how to judge them. You can't judge a 3d object the same way you judge a painting. Still, I wish there were more non-Asian style dragon tattoos out there, maybe I'll create a thread on that.

Anyway, after I found this website I looked at a lot of tattoos, then I stopped for a while, then came back to it. After a few months I found that Japanese traditional stuff has the most lasting appeal to me. Like I said on this thread I'm thinking of getting a kitsune and going down to the NYC tattoo convention to do that.

How hard is it to get a tattoo at a convention like this? Is there any way I can reserve a spot? Will it come out worse if the artists feel rushed and overworked at the convention?

If I don't get it at the convention, I might try to get Shinji Horizakura. I also like Seth Wood's style. Any other ideas?

How easy or difficult it is to get tattooed by somebody at a convention really depends on how they handle their booking, but if you're interested in anybody in particular, get in touch with them asap to see about convention availability. I'd recommend calling the shop they work at over emailing because you're more likely to have a quicker response, and if you're on instagram, follow the tattooers you're interested in because if they have availabilities or cancellations those often go up on instagram first.

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of getting tattooed at conventions because it's loud, it's chaotic, you're in public so people are watching, space is more cramped than in a shop, etc., but it still is worth it just because you can get tattooed by people you wouldn't otherwise be able to get tattooed by without travelling to them. With that said, I wouldn't get tattooed by a NYC tattooer at the NYC convention, I'd rather go to the shop they normally work at. You shouldn't get a worse tattoo at a convention though. I think (good) conventions are worth going to even if you aren't planning on getting tattooed, especially if you're new to getting tattooed, because you can see tattoos in person and you can actually talk to tattooers and get a feel for them.

About wishing to take back what you said about dragon tattoos, it's cool! Like anything else, learning to look at tattoos takes time and experience and I think it's rad that you've done that and want to go the traditional Japanese route.

[Tesseracts]

Thanks for the help everyone! I'm trying to get a spot with Horimitsu at the convention. He did this kitsune sketch, which I think is really good. I emailed him and he said he has some time available.

I emailed him back and asked him a bunch of questions, but I'm afraid I'm overwhelming him. English isn't his first language and I'm afraid he won't understand what I wrote. Some of the questions I asked are if he does tebori coloring at conventions, if he's going to draw it on the spot or in advance, if I should email him reference and/or bring it with me, and if my arm is large enough that it will be a problem for the tattoo if I lose weight. I know I already asked that on this forum and people say it's not an issue, but I'm still worried.

I sent him this photo of my arm. The leaf isn't real, it's photoshopped, I don't actually have any tattoos (yet).

I'm attaching a nine tailed fox sketch I made. I don't want a tattoo that looks exactly like this, I want the creator of the tattoo to have the freedom to design it, but I think this looks cool.

[tatB]

Thanks for the help everyone! I'm trying to get a spot with Horimitsu at the convention. He did this kitsune sketch, which I think is really good. I emailed him and he said he has some time available.

I emailed him back and asked him a bunch of questions, but I'm afraid I'm overwhelming him. English isn't his first language and I'm afraid he won't understand what I wrote. Some of the questions I asked are if he does tebori coloring at conventions, if he's going to draw it on the spot or in advance, if I should email him reference and/or bring it with me, and if my arm is large enough that it will be a problem for the tattoo if I lose weight. I know I already asked that on this forum and people say it's not an issue, but I'm still worried.

I sent him this photo of my arm. The leaf isn't real, it's photoshopped, I don't actually have any tattoos (yet).

I'm attaching a nine tailed fox sketch I made. I don't want a tattoo that looks exactly like this, I want the creator of the tattoo to have the freedom to design it, but I think this looks cool.

Congrats on taking the first steps to setting up an appointment!

I think you are correct and you might be overwhelming him a little. I doubt he needs any reference but maybe email him that sketch from his blog and say you love that and would like something similar.

Also don't worry too much about your other questions. Just go for it. Let Horimitsu do his thing and you will have one of the best 1st tattoos ever.

[Tesseracts]

Congrats on taking the first steps to setting up an appointment!

I think you are correct and you might be overwhelming him a little. I doubt he needs any reference but maybe email him that sketch from his blog and say you love that and would like something similar.

Also don't worry too much about your other questions. Just go for it. Let Horimitsu do his thing and you will have one of the best 1st tattoos ever.

Ok, I emailed him telling him I don't want to be unclear and he can ignore the other questions, the important question is what times he has available.

One thing I want to know is, do people at these conventions usually take credit cards or checks? Or do I need to bring a bunch of cash?

[tatB]

Ok, I emailed him telling him I don't want to be unclear and he can ignore the other questions, the important question is what times he has available.

One thing I want to know is, do people at these conventions usually take credit cards or checks? Or do I need to bring a bunch of cash?

Cash is usually the best bet. I would ask him for a general price estimate so you can bring an appropriate amount.

Also my preference with cash is to go to an actual bank instead of an atm so I can get 100 dollar bills to make it easier to count and less bulky.

[PickingUpDust]

Cash is king, just take a load of it with you, remember to tip well and you'll be all set.

[MattBernson]

Looks good, go for it

[Tesseracts]

I got the appointment set up, I'm going in this Saturday.

I keep worrying if I should get it on my upper arm or lower leg. I think the arm is generally a better spot for this, but my leg is more muscular and less fat.