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I have an appointment with Chad Koeplinger on Sunday. Pretty stoked.

Had my 4th session last saturday. Another 2,5h on the clock. Mainly added the scales, some minor details and a few shadings. Next appointment will be in 2 weeks.

I believe there's almost nothing a good coverup artist can't make shine. There are artists out there who specialize in coverups, you know :) I'll use electriclinda here in Norway as an example: Anything's possible!

I'm debating asking telling my fiance to buy my next tattoo as my birthday or Christmas present, but I'm also not sure if I want to start on my right arm until after the (over a year away) wedding. If I don't get it now, it'll be my first Christmas gift as a married woman. I want a snake basically draped over my right shoulder and winding down my arm.

Yes. There is a thread about it somewhere. I have several: Johnny Cash (2), John Lennon (2), Amy Winehouse. I don't have images of the two John Lennon ones to hand.

That is rough. I'd stop trying to fix it and look into some laser treatments to lighten it up before you do anything else. Then find someone really good at coverups. If you've got a tattoo that looks bad after a year, it's time to significantly upgrade your tattooer.

Hi there! Sharing my experience on laser removal. I started the process last year on a small wrist tattoo and I've had seven treatments with a Q-switched laser. It's a crappy tattoo done by a crappy artist...live and learn. In my situation, the tattoo is barely budging. It's lighter for sure but still not light enough for a coverup. To date, I've spent $600 on removal. The tattoo was done deep with a weird black ink that's being super stubborn. In February, I have an appointment to hit it with a Pico laser. Maybe by this time next year, it will be solid for a coverup with medium to lighter colors. Just a reminder that it's going to be a journey, not a quick fix!

A tattoo is an injury to your skin. Everyone will react and heal a bit differently. Other factors can come into play too. Like I am slightly allergic to cats so if my cat rubs up against a fresh tattoo it gets a little more irritated than when I am able to keep him away from it.

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

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

Those are great! I wonder if its ever too late to start drawing? I'm 31, feel like that boat has sailed for me.

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.

@Gingerninja Here you go! Hard area of my arm to photograph, but I hope this is good enough.

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

Hello! How are you feeling now about your tattoo?

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.

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

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!