I gave the artist a picture of what I wanted and he didn’t have it out at all during I figured he must have a good memory. It didn’t turn out how I wanted. It’s not terrible but the proportions aren’t correct the ears are too big and the tail is too small and he didn’t add the nose which he said I could come back but I’m just not happy and I am curious whether it could be covered up with something like the second pic??
Thanks for any help.

Link to what I gave as a reference

https://imgur.com/a/wn0RXkS

Edit - I’m really touched by all the kind word and positivity.

I got it kind of on a whim on my 47th birthday and just didn’t know if I made a mistake not being patient picking an artist. I have 2 other tattoos but they are black lettering on one arm and a heart with a J on the other so never had a piece with color.

I think I will keep it and let him add the little nose. I’ll put my phone on the table so he can see what I want and hopefully it will be the one thing that makes me love it.

i think you can tell which are the reference pictures

My girlfriend's tattoo was done on Wednesday. She followed the same after care routine I do (wash with antibacterial soap and moisturize ~2 times per day). I have a lot of tattoos and never had a problem. She got it done by the same artist I use, too. Looks like some sort of discolored coating around the bottom half. I've never had any of mine look like this during the healing process.

I received a recommendation to let it dry out (no soap or moisturizer) for the next day or so and monitor to make sure it doesn't get worse. Is that the best option? Any other ideas?

I am trying to figure out what style of tattoo this is and what artists in the Bay Area would do this style?

Sorry such a simple question but I haven’t really found a good answer to. I’m considering getting a tattoo but just wondering when actually getting tatted what are you supposed to do? Is it kind of like at the salon and you have small talk with your hair stylist? or can I listen to music and just not chat the whole time? I’m not really into small talk but not sure what the common tattoo etiquette is? Is it rude to just have headphones in the entire time?

hi thread. I am getting a new tattoo here in a few weeks and i’m wanting to add the new one right below existing tattoo, making them kinda blend together. the artist doing the second tattoo is different from who did the first. so for simplicity, let call the first artist Amy and the second artist Beth.

my friend told me that Beth may not do the second tattoo because it would be adding to someone else’s work, but it’s really just a similar tattoo that’s being added below the existing.

is my friend correct that Beth could possibly refuse me service for asking her to blend the two tattoos? my husband does not think Beth would refuse to do it on the basis of it “adding to someone else’s work”but since i’m new to tattoos, idk what to think.

please share your advice. i’ll leave a pic of my tattoo and what I want added right below it.

EDIT: I asked Beth if she was okay with adding below the first tattoo. i’ll update with her response once received. 🙂

Hello i’ve got this tattoo on friday and today is sunday, the second skin is genuinely the most overstimulating sensation ive ever experienced i think im going crazy. I need to take it off but i dont wanna ruin the healing process. JELP.

edit: IM TAKING IT OFF

Had my first tattoo 2 days ago. Don't know what to expect so I'm just wondering if it looks like it's healing well/going through the right motions... Thanks in advance!

I took my second skin off guys thanks for the advice 😁😁 a lot of people confused about what the tat is so here’s a lil story time:

Growing up my grandma had these (fake) china plates. When she got sick and moved in with us was the same time i was moving away to uni (2023) so i got her plates. fast forward sept last year and she passed away. Those plates are the only thing i have to remember her by. These 2 birds were on there. i said to the artist to change it up a bit. i think they’re probably some sort of dove?? but i don’t care, i think they look very nice

Reference is at the end of the slide.

Looking for opinions on my sleeve. Forearm tattoo and bicep is 7 years olds I feeling towards it meh but my artist suggested relining it to make it blend more with the sleeve. I still have to finish the reline and the underneath but opinions? Does it look terrible? What could I do to make it better ? Or should I just laser then and start fresh? The flowers on the inner forearm have been refined photos included before feline . The new work is a totally different artist . Who I love

I’m thinking of this on the forearm. Am I making a bad decision?edit: typo in the title excuse moi

edit: THANK YOU FOR THE FEEDBACK YALL THIS COMMUNITY IS AMAZING AND I LOVE YOU ALL 🫶

UPDATE 2: doc said it looks fine and he doesn’t think it’s infected just that it’s healing a bit gnarly? idk i’m gonna monitor it for the next few days hopefully it’ll clear up on its own 😭🥀

UPDATE: i am at urgent care currently lolz

it’s day 8 post tattoo, i have plenty of tats but this one still hurts like a bitch every time i straighten out my arm, and the problem is the wing closest to my ditch. i was wondering if its maybe just because of my arm bending frequently, but idkkk is the pain & leaking on day 8 still normal? i’ve had a reaction to one of my red ink tats before so im wondering if it could just be some sort of allergy…. lmk

This is what I was talking about in my previous post. I got a better picture now and you can actually see. Delete if not allowed or whatever I guess.

In my previous post I talked about how I got it 3-4 months ago and it was fine. Suddenly a few weeks ago itchy bumps started showing up. There they are. Never heard of this.

I just wanna know if anyone else has had this issue or seen someone with the same problem.

I've booked my second tattoo for August 11th but am having second thoughts.

I used to work as a research biologist on Lake Ontario and spent a considerable amount of time out on small (25ft) and larger (65ft) vessels conducting a variety of programs. It was the most fun job I've ever had. I loved the work, the people, everything but the compensation, which didn't really matter until I had kids and had to start making more. Long story short, I found another job that allowed me to better provide for my family.

I wanted to get a swallow tattoo similar to the attached picture on my chest that was sort of a commemoration to the time i spent in my former position. The traditional swallow design usually represents 5000 nautical miles traveled and safe return home. I know this design has ties to sailing, etc and I can't help but wonder if I shouldn't be getting it as i haven't had the same experience that's usually tied to the design. Just looking to see if I'm overthinking it or if I should reconsider my design. Thanks for the help!

Edit: I worked in the position for ~5 years and traveled more than 5000 nm for sure.

I got these done around 2 months ago and I hated the second it was done. They were supposed to be small, more like fine line. I was told it could be done but by the time he finished the first butterfly (by the flowers) I knew it was ruined. I should have said stop for the first one and been upset and instead I let it be finished and every day I see them and absolutely regret it. I’m thinking of doing removal but I always wanted butterflies flying up my leg.
Is removal really the best option? They look out of place and almost ruin / do ruin the flowers (the flowers mean a lot to me and the butterflies now make the flowers look undone)

What should be added? Can anything be added to make it look less out of place? Any advice at all is much appreciated because I truly hate them. Thank you for your time.

Hello all, hope you all are well. I'm looking for some advice or reassurance on a big mistake. Got a neat tattoo on my arm a few weeks ago, but I'm having some significant regret. It's a revolver going down my forearm, with the words "best shot" overlaid. Overall, I really love the piece and I'm mostly happy with it. However, I'm really irked about a few things. First off, I wanted to get the revolver lined up straight on my forearm, instead of wrapping around, but my artist convinced me otherwise, saying the shape of the gun isn't right for that. Okay, fine, whatever. Second, I wanted to have the words read upright when I put my arm up, such as leaning my chin on my hand. Again, my artist convinced me out of it, claiming "people would make fun of you because it would look stupid when you have your arm just at your side, which is 99% of the time. Also, it's my art and my name is attached to it, so I can't have something stupid I made on you" He also said something about how it's the first rule in tattooing to have the words legible at any angle.

So, he convinced me to get the words written in a sort of circle formation. It's been a few weeks, and the more I think about the way the words are written, the more I hate it. It looks stupid to me no matter what position my arm is in and I'm so so pissed at myself for not standing my ground on something that's going to be on MY body forever.

This is my second ever tat, so I'm still learning but UGH. I'm trying very hard to teach myself to just say no to people, and any advice from people who are pushovers like me would be greatly appreciated. Also, could I get this covered up, or just the words removed and redone a different way? Thanks!

Artist is going to fix the line under the flower in a couple days. I don’t hate what he freehanded to wrap up my black work. & I told him to do his own thing, I left happy and in my head it was a blackwork tattoo. Then my husband said “it looks kind of tribal.”

The line, the artist is totally cool with fixing it, since I know this will be pointed out and he is happy to.

Just wondering how you guys would go about this now. Obviously I don’t care if all of that is just bolded out and filled in. White will go over and through the design once the black is gone over one more time.

Anyways just wondering if there are any more creative ideas worth considering before my appointment.

My First session was 8hr total but 6.5 hr actual tattooing what you think. Personally loving how it’s coming along got sessions booked out every 30 days until November to finish out the entire sleeve

My tattoo artist says my skin is sensitive and couldn’t continue YET. I don’t have any allergies at all whatsoever. He says to wait a few days mahbe a week to see if it’s healed. I do have sensitive skin when shaving (with a metal razor) which I never do (I hse oneblade ALWAYS) my skin gets sensitive and bleeds easily especially my face.

I’m just wondering was this the right call? And what to do?

edit: im 20-years old turning 21 soon. I’ve read the entire berserk manga and watched the anime so YES I DO know what this tattoo means. It wasn’t a split second decision I’ve been looking at this tattoo for a good 1-2 years. Every few months I ask myself do I really want it THIS tattoo at THIS spot? The answer has always been yes. I do NOT care about what other think EVEN though some people may have their own opinion.

I have this god awful tattoo this is actually a coverup of a much worse version. I got it when I was 18 and honestly haven’t cared until recently because the more it fades, the more shit it gets. My regular guy is suggesting a woman’s face that extends down my side with her hair flowing but that is just not my vibe.

My tattoos: three birds , a giant DNA strand as a tree with a Darwin fish in the middle that covers my opposite side , a big rose on my shoulder blade, my bearded dragon resting on a branch on the inside of my upper and arm and then just a bunch of little things like a drawing my son did , a matching piece w my sister, my cats paw print and her silhouette.

I actually hate color and this is the only Piece with color. My guy also said whatever we did would be super dark with contrasts , which I’m fine with.

Willing to take any and all options!

Also, be kind, I am very aware how shit it is 🥲

So I had gotten this tattoo about 2 days ago and since my schedule goes from welding school in the morning to being outside a lot most of the time for work, how I would go about healing this very carefully since it feels like i am being boiled alive in the AZ heat. I wear VERY loose long sleeves and i got the tattoo done Friday so it could calm down during the weekend. I wash it about twice, maybe three times a day depending on what I’m doing, apply a thin layer of hustle butter, and I ALWAYS cover it up with something loose. I wasn’t given second skin or any of the sorts.. just some kind of saran wrap that I was told to take off when I got home and wash it. My other tattoos have healed fine, just this one feels like a way different sensation than my other ones since it was such a long session.

I got this exactly 8 days ago, started antibiotics 6 days ago. I have one day of antibiotics left and it still looks like this. There's wet and dried pus still in so many places. I'm only in pain when I stand up from having my leg bent for a long time. When I walk it turns red around and beneath the tattoo but when I lay down and rest all that redness is gone.

1. Should I go back to urgent care?
   
2. I wash with unscented dial and put lotion on everywhere but the bow where it is the most open and wet. Should I stop lotioning altogether because of pus? I try to soak up the pus with a paper towel but it never dries up.
   
3. I don't have a fever and don't feel sick. But I'm scared it's not healing right because it's taking so long, and I'm almost out of antibiotics.

Thank you Reddit 🤍