marfil98

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.

Well, my story is nowhere near as interesting as yours @oboogie but, I went in today planning to get something small for Friday the 13th and, after looking at all the cool flash for a while (while waiting) I settled on this reaper with a shotgun. But my artist gave me an extra discount if I got two and I couldn't resist . So I got a cool Native American arrowhead on the other arm which perfectly fits a gap in between two other tattoos that I couldn't figure out how to fill. I love how both of them came out. Still fresh but I'll post a healed pic in a few weeks.

Same here!

For the style you want I'd go with the second guy. His work looks pretty good.

I too can attest to the magic of Aveeno fragrance free Seriously that stuff works great and I don't use anything else. You only need a small amount of it though.

I believe the second was done by Matt Houston in Vancouver. Not sure who did the first one though.

Do you mean something like this? If so I've gotta say, that would look pretty cool, and fit well. I hadn't thought about that.

The only thing I can think of would be to simplify it a bit. Since it's going on your forearm I'd keep the circle and the wolf but remove the trees/background, it would fit the area better in my opinion.

Yeah, after doing a bit more research I've decided against it. What I wanted to know was basically: If you saw someone with this tattoo would you assume they were in the military? And now knowing that answer is yes, I can't in good conscience get it. I still want some form of dagger tattoo on my forearm but I'll go with something with no ties to the military, like a dagger through a rose, or through a panther head, or through a skull etc. I agree with you on the whole political correctness thing Dan, but in my opinion, nowadays nobody assumes that someone's in the navy because they have an anchor tattoo. Much like sparrows/swallows and nautical stars, anchors have become a mainstream staple of traditional tattoos. And likewise I wouldn't assume that someone was Maori because they had polynesian tribal tattoos. But this specific design, the "Death Before Dishonor" dagger, still seems to be worn mainly by members of the military. I agree that nobody owns any form of art and I don't buy into the whole "cultural appropriation" thing either, hey, if you want to get something like a mandala or whatever go for it! But let's say you were to get a tattoo of the Wal*Mart logo, it would be logical to assume that you were or are employed by walmart. Again, I'm not trying to tell anybody what they can and can't do, but in my personal opinion military tattoos are like MC colors, if you haven't earned them, don't wear them.

Hi everyone. So I've been trying to think of stufff i could add around my moth tattoo. I don't like all the empty space around it, but due to the shape of it I can't think of anything that would fit well. My first idea was roses, but if anyone has any suggestions they'd be much appreciated.

The picture isn't showing up, at least not for me.

I think it looks just fine, don't sweat it. Let it heal and then if you're still not satisfied with the results have your artist touch it up, but again, I think it looks good just the way it is.

Well, it's been two months and it had gone down a bit, but not completely. It seems to be shrinking slowly though. Again, that bump was not on the tattoo when it was first done so God only knows what happened. It doesn't bother me though, actually when I do notice it I cant see help but remember what someone on here told me "The panther just scratched deeper there"

I think it looks pretty good, not my style but still, its meant to have that hand drawn sketch look right? I honestly like it. What is it though? It reminds me of Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy.

You know, I've been wanting to get that Sailor Jerry skull and crossbones/heart tattoo for a while now. After seeing how cool it looks on you I just might have to now, as if I didn't have enough skulls already

I wish you the best of luck. And don't forget to post a pic on here when it's finished!

Trust me I know the feeling. It's very easy to obsess over every little slip or tiny shake in the line work, I still do sometimes, but the best piece of advice I was given on here was "it's the little imperfections that give it character" "It's art, not science" And remember, most of the time we're the only ones who notice the little mistakes because we're looking so closely. So, if you like the design, and you've seen your artist's portfolio and like his/her work, I say go for it!

Hey everyone, so I've been wanting to get a "Death Before Dishonor" dagger tattoo on my forearm for a while now. But I'd like to know a bit more about the history of it first. I've noticed it has military connotations but is it specifically a military tattoo? As I am not now nor have I ever been in the military it wouldn't feel right having a military tattoo. I can't find that much about it online so if anyone can help me out I'd appreciate it.

Welcome to the forum! There's a lot of great info and people on here.

^This. I like the design overall but moths would work better IMO. I'm curious though why the chihuahua? You don't often see chihuahuas and the grim reaper in the same tattoo. Looks good though.

Thanks! I'm planning to add more stuff around it, I just want to plan it out so everything "fits" nicely. Kind of like puzzle pieces.

I don't think that's a logo, at least not of any company I've heard of. What is does remind me of is a simplified vevé, a symbol used in voodoo.

Hey everyone, so I got a moth tattoo recently, done in 2 sessions. The first was the outline and some shading, the second was color. It's healing up nicely but I've got a question about the line work on it. The first time around most of the lines came out fine, particularly the wings, but when my artist got to the jawbones/body of the moth some of the lines were a little shaky. So when I went back in for color he fixed them, but now they're thicker than the rest of the lines and still a bit shaky. It really doesn't bother me much, it's just that I spend so much time looking at them I can't help but notice. Any advice on what to do? Leave it alone, or have him try to even everything out? On a side note, and this may sound weird but whereas before little imperfections like this used to bother me I've actually started to like them. It gives the tattoo a kind of "crudeness" for lack of a better word, that I like. Maybe I'm just going crazy And lastly how does it look overall? Any advice on little tweaks that would improve it? I've been wanting to add more around it but I can't seem to figure out what. Sorry for the long post. Thanks everyone.

Is that Predator fighting a T-Rex? That is AWESOME.

Welcome to the forum Michael. I'm sure you'll find some great info on here. Happy New Year!