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Most reputable artists can tell right away if you're price shopping and they won't take too kindly to it. It's a little offensive to treat a handcrafted piece of art you'll have for the rest of your life like you're trying to score a great deal on a new TV. A lot of shops are even prickly about the concept of Friday the 13th sales or the like. I don't even ask how much for a piece until I've already decided on an artist and confirmed he wants to do it, and I only ask then so I make sure I bring enough cash. Pick your artist first and the money is secondary. Maybe schedule an appointment far out in advance if it exceeds your budget, but most artists will be willing to work with you and your budget if you're cool about it and have a good idea. It's not frowned upon to scope out various shops for their artistry though. In addition to things like Instagram and Facebook, it can be helpful to go into a shop and ask to see a physical portfolio, sketches of things they'd like to tattoo, maybe watch them work (from a respectful distance), or ask questions. Just say something along the lines of you're trying to see if they're a good fit for what you want, don't drag things like price into it or you're going to turn off a lot of good tattooers.

how do you know you were the first one to have a certain design in the first place ? (just saying) if you do have an original piece of art,and if someone does copy it ?! so that's a compliment then. like was said,who cares anyway ? personally I wouldn't be bothered by it,I wouldn't give a shit.

Chances are you or anyone you know will never see it so who cares.

I understand the importance of researching an artist, but since I'm completely new to getting tattooed I have no idea how to evaluate whether an artist is quality or not. For example, there's a woman whose work I really like aesthetically, but I have no idea if she's actually a good artist with technical skill, and if she produces quality work, etc. I understand that just because something looks pretty, it doesn't mean that it's a quality tattoo, and I don't know how to evaluate technical skill. What's the best way to research an artist when you don't know what you're looking at? Thanks!

LOL dude ! you need to relax,it's on there for now,it's a cool fucking tattoo, live with it,get used to it,be good with it,it's on you,chill out. own it and look at it in a brighter light.keep your head up ,smile,and plan your next tattoo. this normal feeling of "tattoo remorse" WILL go away,I have many many tattoos and still get that feeling right after a tattoo.(maybe cuz of the money) LOL

Just kidding.Get some more tattoos.

I wouldn't really care honestly. Most copies are inferior, so I'd probably have the better tattoo. I lean more towards flash rather than custom pieces these days anyway, so probably a lot of people have "copies" of what I have. I'd probably be more upset if I was the artist. They have more claim to the original art than the client anyway.

Yesterday, I started my full back piece with Rei from Inkrat, Tokyo. Three-and-a-half hours of lining was pretty prickly in places - but some good blues music, a howling spring wind outside and the stoke got me through it unscathed. And there's something mindboggling about a Japanese tattooer doing an American old school interpretation of how a Japanese tattoo should look. Colours are coming in a few weeks and I'll update then, j

@Cameron Jose Cute frog. Had this done today by Grant Gebbie, owner of Cuba Street Tattoo in Wellington NZ - @ggtattooer on IG. Very stoked. Bought my girlfriend a birthday present too... a Cheeky Thigh-Leopard she fell in love with last time we were at the shop together, rarely seen this side of the Pacific. Done by Joe @jj_doom. Shame you can't see his other paw here 'cause it looks like he's 'holding' her kneecap on both sides, cool placement.

i'm thinking your other thread re: this same tattoo trumps this thread.

I picked up a copy of Lost Love from Yellowbeak last year. Totally amazing book, rich with tattoo heritage and full of a gold mine of ideas. Like Brian, I like to redraw the older ones. But, I'm no expert, it's just something I love doing. Here area couple of Doc King pieces I redrew and a Sailor Frank one (although that's more of a straight up repaint).

I think it looks great

finally finished, totally hurt

Oh for sure. The happenstance of tattooing is one of my favorite parts of it. Even if you do end up goofing and going to someone you're not super extra pleased with it, don't beat yourself up over it. Ultimately they're just tattoos and you can always get more down the line.

Just a quick follow-up, in the end I had no swelling at all and I just took off the tegaderm since the tattoo was feeling great and I wanted to be able to see it again. Seems like it's ready to peel, no scabbing and no tenderness whatsoever. This has been my easiest heal ever (including two tiny ones with just really thin linework). Definitely not what I expected, but I don't mind lol. Sorry for the crap pic, and the 'derm wrinkles! Tattoo is just under three days old.

Look for fresh and healed photos. Most quality artists will try to take pictures of both because they're proud of the way their tattoos have healed. If they don't have any healed photos, I would be skeptical of how well their work ages. When evaluating pictures for technical skill, look for things like blowouts (looks like bruising, it's when ink goes too deep and spreads), straight lines, confident lines that aren't shaky, well saturated color, and well composed drawings (aesthetically pleasing, easy to tell what they are, etc). All that aside, no tattoo will ever be perfect. You might see some mistakes here and there if you look at it critically enough. I think most of us here that have more than a couple tattoos have at least one with an issue. I have a blowout, I have a couple spots of missed color, etc. Honestly, sometimes I like an artist in spite of some technical mistakes just because his tattoos have character or his art really connects with me. I don't worry too much about going to the "best" artists, I just go to people I like who I want to work with so I can come out with some badass art that I want to look at every day! As long as there's no egregious mistakes and you like what this person is turning out, I would go for it.