I know what I want, need to find an artist in Pennsylvania

[KouroupasaurasRex]

my names Zach I'm a 22 year old college student at Pennsylvania college of technology in Williamsport pa and love it there, but I'm graduating in December... Off to the real world. I've been wanting to get this tattoo for over two years and know exactly what I want but I just don't know who to go to. I'm not impressed with any of the local artists I've found but that's only a few. I joined this forum seeking advice from other people who have gotten tattoos in pa. I'm willing to drive a few hours for quality and I know there's a lot of shops in philly, just not sure who's good.

Anyway I think the style I want is called blackwork. I want to get a dead tree tat up the outside of my forearm with a howling wolf at the base, either a silhouette or a detailed wolf. Here's two pictures to get you an idea similar to what I want, imagine the wolf at the base with the black base of the tree tattoo as the background behind the wolf's head. The top of the tree extending up just slightly past my elbow.

Any advice would be appreciated for who to talk to. Someone who is good with realistic work and black ink. Yes this is my first tattoo and yes I know it's big for a first tat but I don't care. Thanks in advance!

[Joe Shit]

https://instagram.com/kenkiletattoo/

https://instagram.com/boblewistattoos

https://instagram.com/black_casket/

[Graeme]

Welcome Zach. You're heading in the right direction by being careful about the artist you choose, and if I can offer further advice, you should listen to what the artist says about the design. I've seen tattoos of that tree before and they look terrible: to begin with, the picture you posted is a photoshop and not a real tattoo and so you can't expect an actual tattoo to look like that, it's upside down, and the design just isn't very applicable to tattoos so it will look aged really quickly. Something like that will be very hard to cover up if you become unhappy with it. The wolf is a cool idea though. Good luck.

[KouroupasaurasRex]

https://instagram.com/kenkiletattoo/

https://instagram.com/boblewistattoos

https://instagram.com/black_casket/

Thank you! I'm really impressed with boblewistattoos, trying to contact him tonight

Welcome Zach. You're heading in the right direction by being careful about the artist you choose, and if I can offer further advice, you should listen to what the artist says about the design. I've seen tattoos of that tree before and they look terrible: to begin with, the picture you posted is a photoshop and not a real tattoo and so you can't expect an actual tattoo to look like that, it's upside down, and the design just isn't very applicable to tattoos so it will look aged really quickly. Something like that will be very hard to cover up if you become unhappy with it. The wolf is a cool idea though. Good luck.

I didn't realize that is a photoshop, but that makes sense looking at the picture. I appreciate your advice, I definitely want the wolf with trees as the background. You have me debating the dead tree, I have seen a lot of poorly done tree tattoos as well. But that is something I will be able to discuss when I find an artist. Thank you for your input