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Ongoing piece. When it's done it will start at my ankle and connect to my chest piece. It's a tiger and samurai on my leg and dragon on my ribs/stomach. Just outline and shading so far on the dragon. We decided to work our way up.

1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12:

"A picture is worth a thousand words" For your consideration - a classic "Mom" heart and banner, a classic horseshoe w/ a "Dad" banner. One on each side of the body. upper arms or wrists (not upsidedown!).

There are just some things you shouldn't try to save money one. And putting something on your body that will last your entire life is one of them. As Zig Zigler used to say, "Good things are seldom cheap and cheap things are seldom good."

No. With script there is NO room for error.

Yes, it would be totally inappropriate. "Hi, I love your work, but you are too expensive. Can you recommend someone just as good, but cheaper so I can spend my money with your competition?" You'll be unhappy about the price once. You'll be unhappy about a crappy tattoo forever.

Hey, my name is Roby. I'm 20 years old and for a few years now thinking about getting my first tattoo. Finally decided that it is time that I do the proper research for it so here I am :) In terms of design, I am thinking something alike the following image. From the picture only the outline matters, not the colours. It is basically a combination of the following: They both have huge emotional meaning for me personally as they do represent an important part of my childhood. In big lines, the first one represents courage and the second one friendship. Initially, I've only thought about getting the first one ( the sun ) but later I found a combination of the two. Here are my questions: 1. Where should I place it? I know I want someplace visible for me yet not sure where. As for my build, I'm a tall fit (gymnastics like body ) guy, in his early 20s. Thinking inner forearm but not sure. 2. What suggestions do you have about the design? All ideas are welcome :)

Thanks, he's a total nut...the humane society where we got him thinks he's blue heeler and border collie mix, so his tendency to be an obsessive-maniac isn't pictured here

Risk analysis - is saving $50 worth the risk of a half-assed tattoo? Get the tattoos you want from the tattooists you want. Price is what it is. "The cheap man always pays twice."

And hurts much more.

A very good question, and probably one that deserves its own thread. Looking at the Yelp reviews for various shops in my area, one might think that every single shop around produces nothing but gold-plated, award-winning work on a daily basis. Looking at the tattoos they all do might convince one otherwise. My line of thinking is that once people get a tattoo, they feel a huge amount of pressure to feel great about it and tell everyone how great of a job their chosen artist did. There are a bunch of 5-star Yelp-reviewed shops here that aren't in the tattooing mainstream, and produce OK to mediocre work, but have tons of customers who leave 5-star reviews, perpetuating the cycle. Bottom line, nobody likes to admit a mistake, but doing your homework is always worth it in the end.

The tattoo shop I go to doesn't have a FB page or website. They have physical books of work, and they also post work on Instagram. I don't really think it is that weird.

Welcome. Let me ask you this...how big are you thinking? Do you have any restrictions for showing tattoos? These are simplistic designs, so I think going bold would be my first thought. The other thing to consider is how well would this design flow into and/or incorporate with your next tattoo? :)

Lasering is much more expensive than good tattooing.

1) Paul Dolbleman, Spider Murphy's 2013, Dietzel design. 2) Herb Auerbach, California Electric 2013. Both photos taken today. My hound wanted to be in the pic.

Well that's pretty solid advice. And it seems obvious now. I'm strongly considering going back to the same artist for the other calf because I had a great experience with her last time and that way even if the shapes of the tattoos don't totally mirror each other, at least having them done in the same style will add a degree of congruence. Thanks for taking the time to reply to an anxious tattoo noob with a propensity for overthinking everything!

Got this piece done last week! My artist was amazing and gave me exactly what I was looking for! The shin nearly killed me, but it turned out amazing! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yesterday I attended a very fun Sailor Jerry birthday party at Leviticus Tattoo in Minneapolis. 14 artists, 100+ flash choices, food and drink. Super fun. Anyway, I'm not saying I choose a dagger because it's this months topic but I'm also not not saying that.... Done by guest artist https://www.instagram.com/thomas_titus/

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'm happy with it and don't plan on making any changes to it. That being said, when I went in on friday, my artist did say there were a few things he wanted to touch up (some shading that all but disappeared during healing and a few other minor things he noticed) so I'll be going back to the shop on monday for that.

Its cool man. I wouldn't over think it. Its art not science. Perfection takes the "character" out of it.

reactivating this thread with my Thomas Hooper piece: