Not loving new tattoo

[Alicia]

Has anyone had a new tattoo that they've not actually liked once it's finished? 

I had my new tattoo coloured in a couple of weeks ago (had the outline done about 5 weeks ago) and I just don't love it. I don't hate it, but it's not what I imagined it would be when I was planning it. I'm not blaming my artist as such... I did take in pictures of the style I was looking for (flowers); I wanted realistic, life like, but what I've got is more traditional looking flowers. I okayed the stencils when he showed them to me as they did look good, they really did. I guess maybe I just didn't know how much more different they would look when coloured in. Oh, I don't know really. Clearly something got lost in translation and there's little point going over WHY I didn't get exactly what I wanted, the tattoo is done now and I can't do much about that.

I guess what I'm wondering is did anyone ever have similar feelings towards a new tattoo? If so, what did you do? Did you grow to love it or look into getting it re-worked somehow? 

I'm wondering if I had more colour added if that would help? I know that doing more work on an already done tattoo is generally advised against on here but there's quite a lot of bare skin in the flowers that I wonder would look better "filled in"? 

These pics are from when it was just finished (I'm on my own in the house at the moment so can't get any more recent ones!):

 

[Alicia]

Just wanted to add... obviously it goes without saying that I will let it fully 100% heal before I make any decision.

I'm just a little bit sad really  I wanted it and planned it for sooooo long. It cost an eye watering amount of money and I wanted to love it every time I looked at it. Bizarrely I DID love it when it was just the outline... it's since it's been coloured in that I've been left feeling a bit meh. 

[oboogie]

Alicia, I have been there. In my case, one of mine was poorly done (not by my regular artist), but it was smaller, and it was a bit spur of the moment. I think it would have been worse if I had been looking forward to it like you were. Maybe you can get it recolored/retouched/reworked? I don't know. In the end, I just had my regular artist completely rework it, and now I love it.  Just let it heal and give it some thought. You aren't stuck with it exactly as it is. Things can be done to change it and improve it.

[viezure]

Not even close to realistic, but it's a well done tattoo in a nice style so maybe you'd end up liking it.

I would even start adding some traditional birds near the flowers :)

[Synesthesia]

I think I go through a stage like this with all my tattoos. It's something new that you're going to see forever and that takes some adjusting.

I think you could definitely add some more flowers in the empty spaces and/or have them re-colored. I think I saw you mention somewhere else you weren't sure about the pink and purple flowers? Maybe try making those darker? Just sit on it for a while and see if it grows on you though, all of mine eventually did.

[bongsau]

Sometimes they don't turn out how we plan it out and sometimes we set the expectation very high for how we want that tattoo to look. But I think you're tattoo turned out very nice. Simple and readable.

You could add some green in the leaves and re-colour in the lily to make the design look a bit more finished. Or pepper some black/shading/smoke to increase the contrast and make it look less like a sticker. Re-working a tattoo always carries risk of making it worse. Talk to your tattooer, most will be happy to help you go from :\ to :)

"The tattoo is done now" - I'd leave it, accept and live with it, enjoy it for what it is. Use the experience to inform your next tattoo. 

[Alicia]

Thank you all, I really appreciate your replies and your thoughts. 

I'm going to give myself plenty of time, both for the tattoo to heal and for me to hopefully come to love & accept it. I definitely won't be doing anything to it before the summer as I'm going to New York in July and want it completely healed by then. If, by the time I get home I'm still not happy I'll look into what could be done.

Thank you again.

[Gingerninja]

I kinda dig the idea of some green leaves. I think it would balance it out. :)

[SStu]

I like it fine - but (and forgive me if I've missed the name) did this artist actually have a history of work in the realism style?

[Alicia]

10 hours ago, SStu said:

I like it fine - but (and forgive me if I've missed the name) did this artist actually have a history of work in the realism style?

Not specifically flowers, but yes he did. I don't know if naming him is the done thing or if he wouldn't like it  but here are a couple of examples of his work that impressed me so much: 

[sophistre]

I have a tattoo that I still don't love, but I don't hate it anymore, because someone here gave me the best possible advice. If you live with it for a while and your feelings never change (because sometimes it takes a while to get used to them, I suppose), then:

Get more tattoos.

I surrounded it with something by another tattooer that I love. He made his framing of it work with what it was, and now I don't hate it. I still wish I'd gotten something else there and listened to my gut instincts when I saw the stencil on, but I also learned a whole lot about a whole lot of things as a result of getting a tattoo I didn't like, so I guess it's as much a part of the experience as any of my other tattoos now. Maybe more. (Weirdly, a lot of people tell me it's their favorite of my tattoos. I cannot fathom why, but it just goes to show you -- you never know.)

FWIW, I think it's nice!

[thyes]

I think your tattoo looks decent, maybe a little too much "empty space" between the flowers for my liking, but hey. I can understand that if you imagined realistic looking flowers this is a disappointment. 

The first tattoo I got I'm not really that happy about. It's a skull with some sunrays around it on my back. It's kinda big, between my shoulderblades and stretching up and down a bit, so I'm not really sure about what do with it. Cover up is an option, lasering is also an option I guess. The rays are red and yellow, does colors pose a bigger challenge for lasers? 

 

[nicolep]

Oh man I've been there with every one of my tattoos. Only one of them I'm still (five years later) really meh about. I get serious buyer's remorse with everything so I knew to expect this. I say, before you make any changes or additions, live with it for awhile. This isn't the same as a poorly done tattoo. Yours looks great. That doesn't mean you shouldn't want to change it, but at least live with it a bit and see how you feel. I love the idea of adding birds and some leave, etc to fill it in. I think that would look amazing.

[dotcommie]

This makes me feel a little less alone. I really like my new tattoo (posted it here) but it was my first time letting a tattooer freehand it, which I wasn't expecting, and its size is kinda tripping me out. He did let me check it out beforehand, but it was hard for me to visualize how it would translate...and for all my other tattoos with stencils, I've never changed anything, just let the tattooers do their thing. My thinking is that it'll turn out better when they are given creative license, and I'm not an artist so I'm probably not going to have better ideas than they will. It's everything I asked him to do - Japanese style, blackwork, with whip shading, above the elbow - but every time I glance at my arm I'm like HOLY SHIT THAT'S A LOT OF INK. I also had a family emergency happen while I was getting tattooed - mom was blowing up the phone while I was under the needle - and I spent the evening crying on the couch afterwards. 

 

This all just happened yesterday, I'm hoping that when the negative feelings about life stuff blow over I'll get used to it :) it really is a beautiful piece of art, I love the little details and the linework and unique shading, etc. And three different tattooers in the shop came over to peek at the work and all of them commented that they love how it fills my arm. I hear people regret getting too small of tattoos more often than too big ones!

[dotcommie]

And also...I really like the style of your tattoo! I hope it grows on you. Love the cherry blossoms.

[oboogie]

11 hours ago, dotcommie said:

This makes me feel a little less alone. I really like my new tattoo (posted it here) but it was my first time letting a tattooer freehand it, which I wasn't expecting, and its size is kinda tripping me out. He did let me check it out beforehand, but it was hard for me to visualize how it would translate...and for all my other tattoos with stencils, I've never changed anything, just let the tattooers do their thing. My thinking is that it'll turn out better when they are given creative license, and I'm not an artist so I'm probably not going to have better ideas than they will. It's everything I asked him to do - Japanese style, blackwork, with whip shading, above the elbow - but every time I glance at my arm I'm like HOLY SHIT THAT'S A LOT OF INK. I also had a family emergency happen while I was getting tattooed - mom was blowing up the phone while I was under the needle - and I spent the evening crying on the couch afterwards. 

 

This all just happened yesterday, I'm hoping that when the negative feelings about life stuff blow over I'll get used to it :) it really is a beautiful piece of art, I love the little details and the linework and unique shading, etc. And three different tattooers in the shop came over to peek at the work and all of them commented that they love how it fills my arm. I hear people regret getting too small of tattoos more often than too big ones!

Your new tattoo is beautiful. I'm sorry about the family emergency, but seriously, your tattoo is stunning.

[dotcommie]

3 hours ago, oboogie said:

Your new tattoo is beautiful. I'm sorry about the family emergency, but seriously, your tattoo is stunning.

Thanks ? a few nights sleep and some time for family bullshit to blow over and I'm seeing that I was being silly...funny how we can transfer feelings about one thing to another. I do love it, just not used to being so freewheeling with my tattoos but I think it's good for me!

[Colored Guy]

I like it as-is, A nicely done tattoo. I find that it takes a while to adjust to a new tattoo, something has been added to your body. It takes a while to sink in.

[JazzyMac]

Hello!  How are you feeling now about your tattoo?

[NeilNorton]

Wait some time, before making something. And how do you think now?

[Rovvo]

I think yours is a nice tattoo Alicia, if you're not really happy with it you could always try to add to it, but eventually it'll be just part of you instead of being a new tattoo and maybe then you won't feel bad about it.

In my case I don't love my new tattoo because of blowout that looks like a giant bruise easily seen in my very pale skin. I'm so bummed about it because I loved it when I got it and a couple hours later all the ink "spilled" and it just ruined it for me. It's been a month of feeling regret and something between love and hate. I know I'll learn to love it again, though.

[Alicia]

Hey everyone 

To cut a long story short, I'm booked in tomorrow with another artist to have it re-done. He's going to cover all the colour with black and shades of grey, add shading to the bare bits and make the whole thing more realistic looking. Well that's the plan anyway.

It didn't grow on me sadly... every time I look at it I like it less and less. The final nail in the coffin was some smart arse saying that the roses looked like Captain America's shield. So of course, now that's ALL I can see 

[Alicia]

On 16/06/2017 at 3:52 AM, dotcommie said:

And also...I really like the style of your tattoo! I hope it grows on you. Love the cherry blossoms.

I LOVE your tattoo, that's amazing. 

[Devious6]

I hope it turns out to be just what you want!

[Alicia]

13 minutes ago, Devious6 said:

I hope it turns out to be just what you want!

Me too Devious6! If this doesn't work out I'm going to get the whole thing covered with a massive, f*ck off dragon