Fig1996

Right! Especially when they go on and on about deeper meanings... people don't seem to realize that there don't HAVE to be these super deep meanings behind tattoos, haha! I haven't posted my first tattoo anywhere yet, no! But here's a picture of it: It's not even that special or anything. Frankly, in terms of technique and placement and the like, I like the second one more. But the whole geometric/ornamental generally does pretty well with people I've found. I think for most it's just the right amount of, say, elegance and coolness while not necessarily being too out there yet. It's also two years old by now so the lines definitely aren't what they used to be LOL, and especially with how admittedly poorly I protect it from sun it could very much benefit from a touch-up but I do still like it.... especially for a first tattoo which I, for all intents and purposes, wasn't nearly informed enough on. People will always ask why the orca, and while there is a story behind this one I'm not about to tell any stranger that. "You see, it all started 15 years ago, when my father........" 😂 I just tell them it's my favorite animal, which isn't a lie, but even then they'll go on about "but why?" Also, I'd have many a person ask what animal it is. I've heard whale, dolphin (not entirely wrong) and even shark. 😂😂 At least with your piece it's very clear what it is! Maybe that also has something to do with the whole getting people to comment on it... when it isn't entirely clear, people might be more predisposed to ask/comment. At any rate, I would definitely not consider folks not commenting on your tattoo as proof of them not liking it. I really don't think it works that way! Your tattoo is awesome and you should be proud of it! 🙂 (That, and of course the placement of the tattoo does matter a lot too, haha).

I like your tattoo a lot! And what a cool and original idea to go with your childhood home! I at least haven't heard of that idea before, so I really like it. I always like me some original and creative ideas. 🙂 As for your question, I've worked as a supervisor in retail for 7 years and therefore had to deal with customers a lot. The moment I got my first forearm tattoo, I got a LOT of customers asking about it. They all told me they really liked it, and one even told me she wanted to get one exactly like mine, and I even had older customers who were super grumpy about tattoos be like "I do like yours" LOL. Then I got another forearm tattoo, though higher up on my forearm, on my right arm and I never once had any customer or even colleague ask about that one. I love that tattoo just as much as the other if not more, and, like @Dan, I'm completely fine with that too. I know this tattoo looks good and professional; and that it fits me well, and I don't really need anyone else validating that because what really matters is what I think when I see it, and I like it. Frankly, the sheer amount of comments I got about my first tattoo kind of daunted me. Of course, I knew what I was getting into when I got it tattooed so I never resented anyone for asking about it either, but when you get comments like "but what does it REALLY mean?" "what is the deeper meaning behind it???" daily, it does get old pretty quick. 😅

I personally really don't think it has to be weird at all. I'd just approach an artist whose work you like and who you feel like you can trust, and then they'll tell you whether they want to take on your task or not. I really think there'd be quite some artists out there who would be willing to take that on. Long as you're not asking them to finish tattoos others worked on/started, which I don't see being an impossible task either but which probably would put them in a much more difficult position given the differences in style as opposed to their own they'd have to work with, I don't really see many issues with this. I think in most cases the best thing is to just approach and ask! 🙂

Yeah, I have heard that as well. Tattoo laser removal definitely isn't something you'd want to do, I'd say it's one of the absolute last things you'd wanna do, actually. From what I've heard (no direct experience), the pain of the laser just doesn't compare to tattoo pain as it's on a whole 'nother level, it takes multiple sessions for the tattoo to really fade and because of how incredibly tough it is on your skin you need an interval of at least one month in-between sessions. That, and the thousands of dollars it can add up to... My artist told me that she has advised customers to get one or two laser sessions done before cover-ups only a very few handful of times because of all the above cons to lasering, and even with them she suggested no more than one or two sessions just to extremely dark tattoos to lighten the slightest bit so it would be easier to then cover up - to get tattoo lines to fade "wholly" not infrequently takes years and like others already said, would still be visible anyway. 😅

That sounds like an awesome idea! I can't wait to see the end result, I'm sure it'll look amazing. 🤗

I absolutely love this tattoo!! I think it's beautiful, and while I think it's normal for us (who see it every day) to eventually see flaws in it, this is something we do to ourselves - I think we'll always find flaws on ourselves, it's the way many humans are wired. It's the same with our appearances and it extends to our tattoos - as they eventually become part of our appearance. We're always our own worst critics. I think it's not much use thinking of these things as they can no longer be changed at any rate, and to me, and I'm willing to bet pretty much everyone else if not absolutely everyone else, this tattoo looks perfect. I really wouldn't worry too much, or at least try not to. You should totally be happy and proud of this tattoo!!! Also, always good to meet another Queen fan!

@Hogrider You're right, and that's solid advice. I do tend to go into these "obsessions," basically, usually shortly after getting the tattoo, where all I can think about is getting it redone. I do already feel more toned down and chill about the tattoo by now, a week later, so with a bit of hope I'll feel even more chill about it a few months from now, haha. I did feel myself going off on this rampage for new tattoo designs to cover up what I have now which I now already think were really bad ideas (mostly because they were incredibly dark and not even necessarily something I particularly liked, I was more looking for anything that works as cover-up). I'll continue to think about it while I'm abroad and not take any action until I'm back by the end of this year. I just figured, if I'm going to think about my options, that it might be handy to know beforehand which options are even feasible and which totally aren't, hehe. 😅 Thanks so much for your response and your advice! Edited to add: You know the whole concept of postpartum depression? Sometimes I really feel like there is something similar for tattoos as well LOL. I had something somewhat similar with the first tattoo I ever got, started thinking immediately of things I'd want to add to it or things I'd change and now, more than a year and a half later, I'm super happy and satisfied with that tattoo and am only glad I didn't get it changed. So Hogrider, you'r definitely right in how that rush can have really bad results! 😱

Hey everyone! I'm new to these forums ready with some possibly super dumb questions. I currently have three tattoos, two of which I'm very happy with and one of which I like to call my "problem tattoo." I recently had it redone a bit and although I do feel happy with most of the added parts, like the purple watercolor splashes and triangle, I still feel meh about this tattoo - which I think largely has to do with the red/orange/yellow color scheme inside the triangle that I just don't like on my skin. My existing tattoo: https://i.imgur.com/eyzpZIC.jpg I'll be going abroad for half a year next week so I tried to let this whole thing go for now since I won't be able to get it changed for a long while anyway, but me being me, I couldn't. So I've been thinking of possible "cover-up" options (while still keeping intact the overall design) and came up with a couple of options. 1. Purple/pink shades No yellow/orange/red tints at all and instead going with purple/pink/blue shades, with the entire sun covered up through black tree outlines instead. Inspirations: 2. Pink Dawn Instead of the current sun more of a pink sun, where I'd have to shade the current darker parts in the sun with black dotting (perhaps), and still the same sunrise idea but instead with these pink shades for more of a pink sunrise (they do exist!! LOL). I'm worried my current tattoo is too dark for this, though. Inspirations: 3. Blue/Orange Retroesque Keep the sun orange (but then really orange), and the sun rays black, and blue instead of the current orange/yellow inside the triangle. I love those watercolor brush kinds of designs, but I'm not sure how difficult they would be to achieve for the artist. Inspirations: 4. Gold/Blue Sunrise Now, before I'll sound super dumb, I do know that you can't have golden tattoos. But I still can't help but wonder if gold shading can still be achieved for the sun with black dotting for the parts that are already dark on my existing tattoo and also black rays with blue watercolor splashes much like you see in the last image of my inspirations. I realize this is extremely ambitious but I figured I might as well just ask, right! Hehe. Inspirations: So to put it more definitively, my questions go as follows: 1. Which of these four ideas do you guys think might look the best on my current tattoo? I feel like I do also have to add that the tattoo is on a place that catches a lot of sun and that I'll be going to a hot and sunny country, so once this tattoo is all healed up and can safely catch some sun again I do expect it to fade at least a little bit in this half a year before I'll get it touched up/redone. 2. How possible do you guys think it might be to possibly achieve a bit of a "gold" effect for the sun? 3. Will darker shades of blue be able to successfully cover up light-ish shades of orange? I know orange is on the warm spectrum with blue being on the cold spectrum, but I have to admit I'm not smart at all when it comes to color theory and have no idea how it'd all work.