Fixing slightly uneven lines?

[Fala]

Suiren - my suggestion earlier was to go to a different artist to get NEW work then after the working relationship is established, and IF you still are wanting your hands fixed, ask him/her about possible remedies to your situation.

See: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/2396-what-makes-good-tattoo-page7.html#post39485 , especially Tim Hendricks' response.

[Suiren]

Suiren - my suggestion earlier was to go to a different artist to get NEW work then after the working relationship is established, and IF you still are wanting your hands fixed, ask him/her about possible remedies to your situation.

See: http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/2396-what-makes-good-tattoo-page7.html#post39485 , especially Tim Hendricks' response.

That is what I meant...I am looking for a new artist for the next project. No fixing old tattoos for now. :) But if I can dind someone decent in the area that would be best.

I have never been to Paz Tattoo just in case there was a misunderstanding.

[Fala]

Okay, sorry that I misunderstood you :)

[Suiren]

I had a talk with a tattoo artist that I got a recommendation for at a German Forum and what dhe said puzzled me a bit...

All of my tattoos are done with fairly thin lines. I wanted to continue the same way but she said the lines have to be at least 3mm thick, which would make my plans twice as big. Not what I want.

She said thin lines always look frazzled and not neat? But I have seen decent thin lines...hm. (that was for the line tattoo)

I was hoping the lettering could be done fairly small too but I guess not.

I attached my plans. Very badly drawn but just to give you an idea what I want. (The stuff on the hands and pointy bangle are existing tattoos)

[six times seven]

youd be suprised how quickly small lettering becomes small unreadable scribbles. i speak from experience.

[Fala]

Agreed @six times seven

I think the tattoo artist was trying to tell you that the smaller and thinner the work, the more quickly unreadable it becomes, and thus the longevity of the tattoo is lost - so she was trying to readjust your expectations re: your tattoo. That's my take on it at least. Most of the successful lettering and linework tattoos I've seen are not teensy tiny like your desired size, but much larger. See: Thomas Hooper, Roxx, Nazareno Tubaro, and any of the other fabulous line, dotwork, and neo-tribal tattooers out there. Robert Ryan does a lot of occult imagery, check him out to see what kinds of lines he's making. Jondix does lovely fine black and grey work, as does Rich Cahill (he does ridiculously small single needle "micro" tattoos, I would not get one because in a few years' time I'd think those micro tattoos to be blurry blobs), and many, many, many others.

Just because YOU want your tattoo to be executed a certain way, doesn't mean it is feasible to do as a successful tattoo... At this point, I suggest running a search on the forum for a list of recommended tattooers in Germany.

[Suiren]

Agreed @six times seven

I think the tattoo artist was trying to tell you that the smaller and thinner the work, the more quickly unreadable it becomes, and thus the longevity of the tattoo is lost - so she was trying to readjust your expectations re: your tattoo. That's my take on it at least. Most of the successful lettering and linework tattoos I've seen are not teensy tiny like your desired size, but much larger. See: Thomas Hooper, Roxx, Nazareno Tubaro, and any of the other fabulous line, dotwork, and neo-tribal tattooers out there. Robert Ryan does a lot of occult imagery, check him out to see what kinds of lines he's making. Jondix does lovely fine black and grey work, as does Rich Cahill (he does ridiculously small single needle "micro" tattoos, I would not get one because in a few years' time I'd think those micro tattoos to be blurry blobs), and many, many, many others.

Just because YOU want your tattoo to be executed a certain way, doesn't mean it is feasible to do as a successful tattoo... At this point, I suggest running a search on the forum for a list of recommended tattooers in Germany.

For the letters I do understand that. But when she spoke about the lines she meant for the tattoo that wraps around my wrist. For the lines to be 3mm thick and that is the first time I heard this. Basically I was hoping for it to match the line on my existing wrist tattoo which is about 1 1/2 mm thick.

I know bigger is always better with tattoos but since I don't like certain tattoos to be as big I was hoping that with simple lines I could go fairly small.

I will have a look at the artists, thanks!

[six times seven]

so, try this. take a really thin pen or pencil and draw a perfectly straight line on a piece of paper free handed.

then, take a nice thick sharpie (marker) and do the same thing.

im not saying tattoo artists cant tattoo a straight line with a single needle, im just saying its harder and and harder to hide. especially when were talking about wrapping it, making it work with your body and skin/movement.

same thing for the longevity as the words though, the slightly thicker line will last longer, the thinner one might fade and blur out in spots destroying the look of the line, because there is not much to it.

this is my two cents from a visual artists standpoint though, not a tattooer or anything of the sort. you will probably find an artist that will do exactly want you want, but it will be good to go into it knowing how it may turn out.

[Suiren]

I see what you mean. I don't know much about tattoo needles but what type would be used for slightly thicker lines then what I have?

The lines on my existing wrist band aren't perfect, but I'm thinking maybe I would rather have somewhat imperfect lines than too thick. Though I would not mind going a tad thicker...like around 2mm. 3mmm and more however...that seems very thick. It would really change the style...

I drew a 3 and 2mm line on my wrist to show what I mean. The ornament would be a black blob with both and my wrist is too small for it to be much bigger. :)

[Fala]

@Suiren - you need to stop controlling the tattoo process down to every last detail. Knowing or not knowing what type of needle you need to make the tattoo you want will make no difference in the end - except to piss off your tattooer for being an overly controlling customer who has no idea what they are talking about.

Either go to a tattoo artist you feel comfortable working with, and trusting said artist, or don't get the tattoo.

This boils down to 1. going to a good tattoo artist, and 2. trusting that your good tattoo artist will give you a tattoo. Without either of those things in place, the last piece (your tattoo) will fail.

[misterJ]

I feel like you need more than a single line on a big piece of paper...

[Suiren]

MisterJ

It will be more than one line.

@Suiren - you need to stop controlling the tattoo process down to every last detail. Knowing or not knowing what type of needle you need to make the tattoo you want will make no difference in the end - except to piss off your tattooer for being an overly controlling customer who has no idea what they are talking about.

Either go to a tattoo artist you feel comfortable working with, and trusting said artist, or don't get the tattoo.

This boils down to 1. going to a good tattoo artist, and 2. trusting that your good tattoo artist will give you a tattoo. Without either of those things in place, the last piece (your tattoo) will fail.

I was just personally curious, trying to learn more about the tattoos and process. I wasn't planning to go in and ask can you do it with this needle.

I was simply wondering about line thickness and if it must be 3 mm or if a thinner line like the ones I have would work.

[six times seven]

yea man, if you want the nice detailed thin line artwork you've been posting, go for it, and dont worry if every line will be perfect? itll look cool if its what you and the artist want.

have faith in thee artiste.

[Suiren]

yea man, if you want the nice detailed thin line artwork you've been posting, go for it, and dont worry if every line will be perfect? itll look cool if its what you and the artist want.

have faith in thee artiste.

Yeah I'm considering that. I don't need the lines super perfect if that means I have to go for much thicker lines. My personal taste happens to be rather thin lines, not much I can do.

[Synesthesia]

I don't know how feasible going to Hungary would be for you, but have you looked at Robert Borbas' work? (Maybe he travels to Germany?) At the very least, it might interest you: https://instagram.com/grindesign/

I think it's up to you what you want. In my experience, you can't have a single line tattoo (at least not a small one) and also have a tattoo that looks good in 20 years. It's either going to satisfy your immediate aesthetic (small, single lines) or you're going to have to compromise your vision slightly to get something that will hold up. You're going to have to think about what's more important to you...and maybe longevity isn't a priority, that's okay. But artists are just trying to steer people towards thinking of the future.

And I don't necessarily think getting a world class artist to do these kinds of tattoos would make much difference as far as them being "perfect"...I've seen world class artists make mistakes, on tattoos big or small, simple or complex. Especially with single needles. It happens, they're humans putting art on other humans, there's a lot of room for error. These mistakes are part of what makes tattoos interesting. Like someone else said, your tattoos look hand poked, which can be a cool aesthetic (I personally am not keen on it, but whatever). If you like them, don't be too hard on yourself about it.