how is my tattoo turning out? and also, i would like opinions on what colors to do.

[seattleite]

i got my first tattoo a week ago. i admit, i know nothing of what makes a good tattoo, a good tattoo. what a good tattoo artists' portfolio looks like compared to a bad one. what i do know is, that the place i went to has excellent yelp reviews, and also i am very satisfied with my tattoo so far and thats what matters the most!

http://i.imgur.com/H7R4VVY.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/EX6KdvL.jpg

so theres the outline that we got done with. the coloring will be done in another week if im done flaking by then. but what are your opinions on it? do you see anything horribly bad with it that i could ask my tattoo artist to fix while im there? after having the tattoo im kind of wishing the compass was a little more interesting. and also had NESW on it as well. maybe that could be easily added? i imagine the tattoo as a whole will look a lot better when the shading is actually there. speaking of which, what colors should i do? my tattoo artist and i were thinking that the colors we do end up putting on it, wont be flamboyant or dominant. nice, subtle colors. brown for the boat, blue to black water, maybe red/green/blue on the compass?

[Mick Weder]

Don't over analyse the line work. Don't worry about the compass. Go with your tattooers recommendation using subtle colours. Don't look for any flaws, and especially raise any going by the line work. Kick back, cruise with it, enjoy the process, put trust in the tattooer and just say...yeah man, subtle colours sound the go, whatever you think will work best. Slam it in and make it solid.

Take a couple of beers along for your next session too. One for you, one for them before you get underway.

Looking forward to seeing the final touch.

Good luck.

[Mark Bee]

I think @Mick Weder has summed it up nicely. Good advice.

[misterJ]

.02$

The outline looks fine as does the compass.

I understand sweating the "good tattoo"

A simple clean well done tattoo will stand the test of time.

Listen to your artist and be pleased with the healed product.

Besides who doesn't like a good traditional ship and such

[Lance]

Looks good to me @seattleite. Any perceived slight may be in your head. As your first it's understandable to want it to be perfection incarnate. Tattooing is a hand craft however so personally I kind of dig the small imperfections now. It used to drive me nuts so I get where you may be at.

As for colors go with what your artist likes and feels comfortable with. I've seen simple colors and a limited palette and seen crazy bright purples, yellows, etc being used. Both can look real good. But it also can depend on the artist's comfort level with the color spectrum. Check out the latest interview,on Uzi, that's been posted. They mention it a bit. But it looks cool. Post progress shots. Got to love those progress pics.

[seattleite]

thanks for all the kind words and advice everyone! ill post pics of it done later on when it happens.

[Hogrider]

The time for worrying is BEFORE you get your tattoo. It's a little to late afterwards. I wouldn't worry about this one. It looks good to me even with my glasses on!