ttoosday

My experience is somewhat similar to yours in that I got mine years ago, was one of the first in my social circle to get a tattoo, and it was not an internet design. Mine was a walk in tho, one night at Elm Street Tattoo (if I didn't know better I'd say from Oliver himself but I just can't remember) Anyway, I love it no matter what derogatory term is inflicted upon it. I hate the term and never use it.

No advice, as I am one of the people you would undoubtedly turn away, but one of the reasons some people do it is because they can't get any visualization of what is going to permanently be put on their body otherwise. They are afraid to trust a stranger with their skin and they're not willing to let their skin be an open canvas to whatever. So they do their own research (feels like part of the tattoo journey to mostly non-tattooed people) and pick a design that they love and that looks flawless and they fall in love with it for its specific details, and why it spoke to them. Also, I have been turned away from shops because I didn't bring a design Id picked out already. So sometimes a person can't win no matter what. I will say this, at least you turn them away instead of tattooing different than the design without telling them. Cuz it sucks when that happens.

Oh haha. What a rascal. Well I like realism and that's what i thought I was getting with my latest tattoo, but came out with a bit less realism than I expected. So, I'd say black and gray, on the realism side. But I need excellent linework as I don't think I can go all out realism/no lines with an add on at this point. Even if I could, I prob wouldn't cuz i like some linework. The artist I linked did a (in my opinion) good arrow and compass, which, a compass is exactly what I had in mind as an add on. But I want to make sure others in the forum feel like he does great work too.

Um I'm confused...? The link I posted is for a rebel muse artist. I felt Richard Stell is not quite the style I want. I was thinking I'd be open to ideas for add on to an arrow on my arm. - - - Updated - - - Five stars is certainly impressive. But I'm not all that into his style of tattooing. The link I posted is for a rebel muse artist.

I got tattooed there before the term made its way around. Eh I don't care what anybody calls it. I'd do it all over again even with the derogatory label, except it kinda hurt in that location.

What do you guys think about this artist. Was given the name after contacting rebel muse in tx. Lucas Eagleton (leagle_art) on Instagram | iPhoneogram

I've definitely seen some websites that say there's a time minimum and a price minimum. Maybe that's not the norm then. I just dont want an artist to laugh in my face because what I need is nowhere near what they usually do. Im in Oklahoma and have been thinking about OKC or the Dallas area.

Jealous of all these amazing tattoos! I want to go to the best artist around but should I expect a top notch amazing artist to be willing to do a small ~an hour's worth of rework/adding to piece that is quite a bit lower than their quality? Some of the research I've done has taught me the best artists have a 3 hour or more minimum...I'm just not looking for that big of a tattoo. How does a person get a really top notch small tattoo? And now I'm looking at a rework or add on which makes it more difficult to find the right tattooer in my mind.

The drama is so fake and why do they think they even need it? It doesn't add any allure or make the show better. I'd think it would drive away potential clients, I would not want to do business with anyone who conducts themselves the way they appear to.

Well naturally. :) but even portfolios can only show so much.

Just wanting to see if anyone has any recommendations for Oklahoma tattooers who specialize or lots of experience in reworks or adding to existing work. I plan to do my own checking around of course but thought it couldn't hurt to check here. I've done a search on this site and all I find is Think Ink in Norman. OKC has Atomic Lotus but I get bad vibes from that place, ie snobby and unhelpful staff. Really just scared to trust anybody I might pick off of Google going by reviews. Thanks!

Hey I like that attitude! I will try to embrace that. Tho mine is not actually bad, it just could have been better. I am already thinking of maybe adding color or adding some elements to it maybe. We shall see. I feel bad to tell the artist I want some changes to it. But also feel bad not to give him the chance to work on it. The truth is that my trust is shaken.

Thank you for the honesty. That is what I'm trying to do...lurk a little bit, gain some perspective and maybe get a bit of advice and encouragement along the way. I didn't come here looking for a tattoo critique or find out what to do to fix mine, I want to learn how to love it by figuring out whether or not most tattoos are flawless and exactly what people expected. It sucks to be down about a tattoo especially when a person only has a couple and is surrounded by people who would never get any, and a tat like mine is the reason why. I don't want to feel embarrassed by it, I want to be proud. But I'm overwhelmed by feelings of disappointment so I'm just listening and trying to add my experience to the mix. :)

Yes I know. I'm learning that it's not generally a thing. Something I didn't know before.

No, I haven't. I don't think I'm going to honestly. Number one bec I don't typically post any identifying info or photos in general on any sites, number two, I'd rather not hear the harsh critiques that would make me feel worse than I already do, and number three, I would feel terrible if it happened that my artist found a photo of his work on a forum with me or other ppl blasting negativity about his work. Or maybe he wouldn't give a shit, I dunno. As much as I would love some feedback, I think I will hold off on posting a pic until I have something good to say about it. But I will say I think the tat needs some attention but some parts will not be able to be altered (not in symmetry, slightly crooked looking). Some of the lines could probably be thickened to fix an issue and maybe MAYBE some shading could get the tattoo closer to the original reference pic, but I don't know. From what I read it sounds like I'll never be able to get a tattooist to copy another tattoo exactly.