Hustic

Okay good to know guys - Thanks. So if I wanted it to be a little sharper then its likely not my skin, and I just need to look into getting a touch up. What's the etiquette on touch ups from not the original artist if they are so far away (in another country)?

Hi everyone! I got my first very large tattoo when I was in Japan 2.5 years ago. The artist is very well known and has amazing work, having tattoo'd for over 20 years. His stuff is amazing, and his healed stuff looks great as well! I did this tattoo in a single session, it took about 8-9 hours with a couple 10 minute breaks in between. I made sure to follow all of the healing advice to a DIME (very type A person, very worried about having spent 1700 and making sure it turned out great). I never rubbed it against anything, didn't itch it during the itchy phase, and it healed in about 2 weeks. However though, it never seemed to move past that "cloudy" stage. There are definitely areas that need some touching up (sadly I wont be making it back to Japan anytime soon as I live in the US), but I'm wondering if this level of fade from a pure black tattoo is normal. When I reached back out to the artist to ask he simply mentioned that he would touch it up if I was ever in the area again, and that he felt it looked more faded than it should be but that it might just be because I have pale, freckled skin. Advice anyone?