Advice needed for my first tattoo

[Johnirish]

Hey Im John and I have decided to get my first tattoo in about a week. I joined the forum because I am a little stuck on what I want to do and im looking for some advice and also some suggestions! Really anything would help. A little bit of a bio: I am 19, I live in the US, the tattoos im going to mostly concentrate on are those that honor my heritage and my life. I am Irish/Norse, I'm going to college to be a Cop, and I love tattoos. Only reason I haven't had a tattoo done yet is due to me waiting to find the right design and ideas. I have an idea of what I want and a couple designs but I want some advice from people that know what they are doing.

Thanks!

-John

[Dumpleton]

"Maybe this will help you" Find the best artist to do the work you want to get, so many great artists all over the world but you just got to find the one. If you let everyone know your rough location the good people here on LST will point you in the direction that will give you the best chance of getting the best end result.

When you do finally decide on the artist that you would like to do the work go into the shop and talk to them, tell them your ideas show them some good reference and ask them the questions you might need answering.

Hope this helps

[sighthound]

My advice might not be what you want to hear. But the best thing you can do now is to put it off. Give it a few more years. And I don't mean ponder and think about it for a few years, I mean put it out of your mind. Live, experience, and enjoy life then come back to it when you are 24-25.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, will give you the insight that that experience and time will give you. You'll be a much more complete person and, hopefully, won't need to turn to an internet forum for advice on your tattoo. At that point there'll be no hesitation if it is still something you want and you'll be ready for it.

In all honesty, you're 19 - you will change sooooooooooo much in the next 5-6 years. Trust me, wait it out.

Edit:

Also, welcome lol

[Johnirish]

Sighthound thank you for your insight that is something I have thought long and hard about but I have decided that this year is a good year to get my first. Thank you for trying to make sure I was making the right decision. Dumpleton thank you for your advice that cleared up some questions I was going to ask thank you!

[Tornado6]

Oh just get it. You may not feel the same way about it when you're 50. So what? It is who you are, where you are now. Be ready to spend a little money on the thing, and wear it with pride.

[knucklehead211]

All good points here. I've been getting inked on a yearly basis since I was legal and I can say that I don't regret any of my ink. However, there have been plenty of times where an idea bounced into my head, rattled around for a few months, and then suddenly I realized "man, that would look so dumb". I can say that the ones that I attach personal meaning to (like my modified irish family crest) are my favorites, simply because I can look at them and say yes, that is who I am, and I'm proud of it.

[MarvelAvengers]

I speak from personal experience. If you going to do something based on genealogy, spend the money on ancestry dot com. Much of the family history claimed by the family was far off.

[pidjones]

I speak from personal experience. If you going to do something based on genealogy, spend the money on ancestry dot com. Much of the family history claimed by the family was far off.

I'm not that confident in some of the a.c research, either. Not convinced my Great-granddad was a Morgan's Raider (family sez not), but if he was, so cool (if you're a Southerner at heart)!

[knucklehead211]

I went simple with mine (pic is on my intro page). My mother's side is very irish, so my artist did a knights helm with my mother's maiden name (also my middle name) under it, and beneath that the family motto. To denote the origin he did the plumes in the irish flag colors (green, white and orange). Simply put, I couldn't have thought of a better way of doing it. Not as classical as a crest, done more in the old school tattoo style.

[DJDeepFried]

Celtic knot. If you're gonna be a cop better get it someplace you can cover it up.

[sighthound]

Yea, tattoos are fun to get for the experience and memories. I wasn't trying to scare you off or say you might regret it. Those can be some of the most memorable ones, and I've gotten my fair share of tattoos on a whim. I can say, that at 18 or 19, I wanted a tattoo but wasn't ready for it. I'm glad I waited.

Just wanted to shed a little light, and maybe test your resolve a little. Just get what you want, it's all good - no one lives forever.