Hello good people

[Boo This Man]

As of January 1 2017 I had 0 tattoos. As of today I have 3 tattoos. They are all on my left arm as I thought I may like to do a sleeve. Their connection at the moment is that they all 3 have significance to me . . . not exactly a unifying them to others looking at them! I want to put something on my forearm/outer forearm, and its not that I can't find tats I like, I feel like it is SUCH a prominent place that I dont want just anything there.

 

I have a Miami Hurricane related tattoo on my inner forearm (#2), Life's a Gamble with some gambling items on my shoulder (#1), and a Jeckyll and Hyde tat below my Life's a Gamble (#3).

 

Any thoughts on a unifying theme?

 

I have seen some compass, clock, rose, map tats I like. Im just not sure that is a great forearm spot.

 

Oh and all my tats have atleast some color to them!

[Gingerninja]

Welcome! Post a photo...it may be easier to visualize what you have going on. Sounds like you have a traditional-type theme going on? Any of the ideas you mentioned would be fine. :)

[jaimilyn]

Welcome! I have a similar story - I got my first tattoo in March, second in May and the third a couple weeks ago tied those two together and now they all overlap around my forearm (what do we call that here, bottom half sleeve? :))

Unlike you, mine are fairly tied together- black and grey and all at least half mandala.

Before I got the third, I'd also put in enough hours on Instagram and knew what I liked and what I wanted my sleeve to eventually look like. So when I was ready, I told the artist I'd chosen to be the one to do the whole thing where I wanted the sleeve to end up, but that this session I wanted to just attach those two and fill in the blank space. Other than my budget, I gave him free rein. When he showed me the proposed design I wasn't entirely sure, but I've got a lot of trust for his art so we went for it. And now I'm getting even more people telling me how attractive and eye catching the whole piece is.

So in summary: find an artist you trust, preferably have an idea of how you'd like the finished arm to look (not necessary but can help clarify your intent when you're consulting with the artist). Take your ideas and if possible go see your artist in person for a consult, they'll be able to see the canvas and work with you on a design you both like.

Alternately, depending on artist/shop preferences, they may ask you to send over pictures of what your arm looks like now, and your ideas.

So in summary of my longwindedness, find an artist you trust, know your budget, and give the artist as much leeway as you're comfortable with.

One other thing I've learned on this board: some of our tattoo choices are deeply meaningful and have a story and emotion to go with them, it's also fine to pick something just because it's pretty, you like to look at it, or artistically fits in a spot. My first two tattoos have that deep meaning and I'm always flustered if anyone asks about what they mean because the long version could take half an hour or more to tell but no stranger actually wants to know that! :) On the other hand, this third one is just a pretty design that fills the space and coordinates with the other two. It makes me just as happy to look at it as the meaningful two.

Also when getting that third tattoo, when I'd decided on a long term vision for the sleeve, it was a great time to talk to my artist about next steps and how to plan for the rest of it. I mentioned one element that I really liked but couldn't figure out how we'd include it in a sleeve because the orientation and spacing is more suited for wide space not long. He had an immediate idea for how to make it fit with the rest and it'll be a gorgeous shoulder cap. I'm so excited, I just need the money to fulfill my dreams

So, tried and true advice that I got from the board and will pass along to you: find an artist you trust. Be willing to pay for quality. Maybe you don't need to pay inflated tourist prices (I live in Las Vegas and know there's tons of overpriced tattoo places that cater to tourists and their vacation budgets ), but there's also the places in the not so great part of town that I kid you not advertise $10-20 tattoos. I found mine based on personal recommendations and excellent Yelp reviews.

I think a good artist could make you happy with almost any of your ideas, so best wishes in your next steps!

And definitely post pictures! We love pictures and can give better informed opinions if we can see what you've got.


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