Hello, and please give me some advice :)

[suaske666]

Hi everyone my name is Matias. I live in Croatia but I have three nationalities, which is why I'm getting tattooed in the first place.

See, I'd like to get a tattoo which combines the Symbols of Croatia, Australia and Mexico. I have made a sketch in paint of what I think I'd like but as it's such an important subject I went to my friends for opinions before making a decision. Obviously they had mixed opinions but none offered any ideas. So I though I'd have nothing to lose coming here for some advice.

Anyway to avoid boring you with text here is my sketch and please post your opinion on it regardless of wether it be positive or negative, and if you have any ideas on how to improve it, I'd love to hear the suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: I've also made a simpler version

[tatB]

the best advice will come from meeting with an artist and discussing your idea.

but since you asked for opinions i will offer mine: snake and eagle is an awesome tattoo classic, but i don't like your idea of blacked out silhouettes

[petes67bird]

I agree with Harry on mot having it completely blacked out

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[suaske666]

the best advice will come from meeting with an artist and discussing your idea.

but since you asked for opinions i will offer mine: snake and eagle is an awesome tattoo classic, but i don't like your idea of blacked out silhouettes

Hmm ok thanks! Like I said this is just a sketch which I had composed in paint heh, and the eagle i put was from the Wikipedia flag of mexico in the 19th century. the eagle itself looked pretty bad so i thought it looked better if i blackend it out, but perhaps the artist can make a better looking one.

I agree with Harry on mot having it completely blacked out

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thanks

[SStu]

the trick is going to be finding an awesome artist. Don't just settle.

[suaske666]

the trick is going to be finding an awesome artist. Don't just settle.

trouble is, I live in croatia. so far I've been given the following recomendations:

Gandalf Tattoo - Marin's gallery // 1

Galerije slika: tetoviranje, piercing, konvencije - Zagreb Tattoo & Piercing by Zele & Crew

Galerije slika: tetoviranje, piercing, konvencije - Zagreb Tattoo & Piercing by Zele & Crew

and this one though for this one I'd have to travel away from my city:

Tattoo Cimmeria

They all seem equally skilled, what do you think? are they good?

[SStu]

If you absolutely can't travel further then Mario at Cimmeria seems to be the strongest (when he's using black outlining) of that group, but I would consider saving up some traveling cash and heading elsewhere.

How big and where?

[suaske666]

If you absolutely can't travel further then Mario at Cimmeria seems to be the strongest (when he's using black outlining) of that group, but I would consider saving up some traveling cash and heading elsewhere.

How big and where?

I have enough cash to travel, just don't know of any other shops. maybe someone here can give me a few reccomendations? i was hoping to make it a medium size tattoo across the left peck.

[Graeme]

Beppe Strambini in Verona, Italy.

Ink Addiction

[suaske666]

Beppe Strambini in Verona, Italy.

Ink Addiction

thanks a lot for the suggestion. I've taken a look and even though it looks good, his tats all seem to be in the same style, a style i don't really care for. And besides that while he does look good he doesn't look better than Mario from Tattoo Cimmeria I hope i'm not being too much of a bother, but could you please give me some more suggestions? thanks!

[Graeme]

I don't want to be a dick about it, but if you think that Beppe's tattoos and that Mario's tattoos look more or less equivalent, you really need to learn about tattoos. There are plenty of resources here on the forum--I would start with this thread about what makes a good tattoo--watch the artist interviews, watch Vice's Tattoo Age series and the Gypsy Gentleman videos, read Guen Douglas's guide on how to examine a tattoo portfolio, and then come back here, because it's a waste of everybody's time to suggest other shops and artists to you if you don't even know how to look at tattoos in the most basic sense.

[SStu]

Beppe's style is basically American Traditional - which would be perfect for your subject matter.

What style do you prefer?

[suaske666]

I don't want to be a dick about it, but if you think that Beppe's tattoos and that Mario's tattoos look more or less equivalent, you really need to learn about tattoos. There are plenty of resources here on the forum--I would start with this thread about what makes a good tattoo--watch the artist interviews, watch Vice's Tattoo Age series and the Gypsy Gentleman videos, read Guen Douglas's guide on how to examine a tattoo portfolio, and then come back here, because it's a waste of everybody's time to suggest other shops and artists to you if you don't even know how to look at tattoos in the most basic sense.

wow I keep offending tattoo lovers wherever i stick my nose! :S

I'll check the threads you mentioned out. sorry I guess

Beppe's style is basically American Traditional - which would be perfect for your subject matter.

What style do you prefer?

You know what? in order to avoid further looking like an ignorant imbecile i'll go ahead and look at the different styles so I at least know the names. be right back

EDIT: ok i'm sure i'll still look bad because there must be a smaller grouping but the only name i found is "Black & Gray"

[lupoavanti]

Hi! I think it's great that you are trying to get feed back from people that know their tattoos! Tattoos have many styles but this particular one would be difficult for an artist to do. If you want to get the best result then find a tattoo artist with a style you like, then give him this image and tell him to make it his own. You should feel comfortable enough with the abilities of the artist to trust his vision. If you are trying to save money or assume every artist can draw then the artist will give you this exact design to please you and it probably won't stand the test of time.

[suaske666]

If you are trying to save money or assume every artist can draw then the artist will give you this exact design to please you and it probably won't stand the test of time.

Well, to be blatant I really don't feel like going to far out of my way for nothing. I'm sure that the artists here in croatia cannot really compare to those in other European countries. I may not know about tattoos but I can spot when something is well drawn. I think the links I posted of reccomended artists here do a pretty good job at precise and bold lines. All of this brings me to say that I see nothing wrong in going to see some local artist. This however doesn't change the fact that if I get a generous suggestion here which seems to be on another level to the ones we have in croatia I will be ready to travel. So if someone would find the time to give me good suggestions that'd be great.

As for the tattoo specifically I think I've already decided to scrap the sketches i've made in paint. Hopefully the artist will be more creative than me :)

[SStu]

wow I keep offending tattoo lovers wherever i stick my nose!

EDIT: ok i'm sure i'll still look bad because there must be a smaller grouping but the only name i found is "Black & Gray"

You're not offending anyone here. It is excellent that you've come to a place like this to learn how to not make a mistake in obtaining the artwork you want.

Now, in order to clarify; "black and grey" is generally spoken of as "realism" - mostly like non-color photographs. There is also "blackwork" which is mostly just black (and a wide range of sub-styles therein).

Slow down. Stick around and read posts for a couple of months. Drink in the pictures and the discussion on the board. Educate yourself to the process, the styles and the artwork. Wait and see what resonates with you. The journey is fun.

[suaske666]

Slow down. Stick around and read posts for a couple of months. Drink in the pictures and the discussion on the board. Educate yourself to the process, the styles and the artwork. Wait and see what resonates with you. The journey is fun.

I don't know about months but i'll give it a few weeks of lurking on the forum. I might be doing it wrong but I don't feel as if the information is easily available. i'll keep at it for now though. thanks for the advice.

cheers

[MsCandyPants]

Okay, I'm speaking for the Australian bit and you can't get a more Australian tatt than the Southern Cross unless it's the flag. As for the eagle being blacked out, does it have to be that exact eagle? It's your depiction of showing your nationalities so an eagle in a similar pose maybe? Just a thought. Talk to an artist anyway

[suaske666]

does it have to be that exact eagle? It's your depiction of showing your nationalities so an eagle in a similar pose maybe? Just a thought. Talk to an artist anyway

of course it doesnt have to be the same eagle. the only important ting is that it's a mexican eagle with a snake in it's beak. I only chose that one because of the ones i found on the mexican flags on wikipedia that one looked the best, but I expect the artist to do better than that. By the way, do you know of any other Australian symbols other than the southern cross, the commonwealth star, the kangaroo and the emu? I honestly don't think they are cool, and yet I don't want to leave australia out of the tattoo.

cheers

EDIT: I'd never consider getting the flag of any country done because they are prone to change in a single lifetime. and especially the Australian flag is in my opinion bound to change soon, so then the flag might no longer represent the nation, but instead the governments in the era of the flag. for example if the current flag changes it will obviously loose the Jack, so anyone with the old flag tattooed would be suspected of being a loyalist of the british crown, which I've heard doesn't go down well with most Australians :)

[MsCandyPants]

errrr, maybe the outline of Australia? I'm not too sure because I'm not really a bogan. Not really into patriotism although I'm a proud Aussie

[deadsp0t]

I use Bing and Google for images.. Get creative with the key words.. There are endless images out there and also links to sites where specific images can be found.. Chances are the images you really want are out there or images your artist can tweak into tattooable images..