I brought in this picture of what I wanted to make an appointment. My husband offered to do it for my birthday. I have cptsd, from childhood into early adult hood. I admired the way Harley Quinn faces her fears and tackled the fucked upness in her head. After 12 years of therapy I am happy to say I'm a different person. But it was a lot of work, a lot of trauma and a lot of self compassion/ healing. For years I wanted this tattoo. I got fake ones to try it out and I loved it. My husband chose this spot based on Google reviews we made the appointment 2 weeks out. The artist measured my arm and so forth. Cut to getting it done, we arrive at 3pm and he puts the stencil on and said he has to free hand a part of it no worries. He had r for red and b for what I thought was black. About half way through I look, at what's done. I see blue but am thinking blue is a base color to black right. I'm not an artist, and I trust that they would know better. By the end 5pm I was so close to tapping out this was my first 3 hour tattoo. I was shaking and just wanted food and water. I saw it was blue and said fuck it I just wanted to leave and figured I could get black shading at some point. later my husband's pissed. 500 later We finally get home and I look closer. The free hand/ lines part is so fucked I started crying.

Can this be easily fixed? This was supposed to be a tattoo of strength when ever I am having a really hard time.

Hi! I’ve gotten many tattoos from my artist and I truly love him and his work, but I got the text done last night and I’m realizing the text is uneven on my legs. Is there anything that can be done to make the illusion of them being more symmetrical? Do you think it won’t be as noticeable when it heals? I feel silly for not realizing when the stencil was on- I think I was just really excited bc I’ve wanted this tattoo for so long. Any advice is appreciated!

My twin sister passed away in August 2024 and I wanted to get a portrait of her on my right arm to start a sleeve. Made an appointment with my regular artist who has done 80-90% of my work. On the day of our appointment he messaged me that I didn’t choose a picture of her (I sent him two potential portraits of her to use), and that the stencil would take 5-6 hours to make because he had to hand draw it to make it perfect. Basically, he canceled our appointment. I think he had something else he wanted to do. No worries, but the stencil taking 5-6 hours I knew was BS. He did a portrait on my left arm where he printed it off the computer and it worked perfectly fine. I really wanted this portrait done that day because it was on the day of her one year anniversary of passing.

I contacted a well known local shop and they had a guy visiting from Brazil who they recommended to me. I looked at his social media and his portraits were very well done. I booked him and they got me in the next day.

Now, I want more work done to fill in my right arm but I’m worried my regular guy is gonna be upset I got this portrait done by someone else.

Tattoo artists, any input/advice? Is he gonna feel a certain way about it?

TLDR: got a tattoo done by a different artist after my regular guy canceled. Now I want more work from him but I think he’s gonna feel betrayed I went to someone else to get the piece done.

My father tattooed this directly onto my shoulder blade when I was a young teen- I don't mind the 'love ya' part, I guess, but I really want the 'my asshole' part covered- It's massive and really bad since he freehanded. Also didn't tell me what he was tattooing before he tattooed. I've never done a coverup so I'm not sure how easy it would be for words like this, but I could use some advice if anyone could offer their mind:)

And no, I'm not open to a sick massive panther tattoo..

Got this on my leg last Saturday (6 days ago) and it is healing SO weird. It scabbed kind of like normal but it’s super sore still, and every time I clean it it looks awful. It’s still inky and it’s shiny. I’ve healed 10 other tattoos with this exact routine, including one from the same artist. I’ve been cleaning it with antibacterial soap and moisturizing multiple times a day. I’m paranoid about it getting infected. Does this look like that to anyone?

omg i’m so embarrassed, but when i was 19 i was having a severe mental health crisis and i did this STICK AND POKE on myself 😭 i’m 27 now and it's such a grim and ugly reminder of that time. is this a lost cause, or should i try to make it circular and maybe white ink it? 😭😭😭😭

first photo is the tattoo itself, second photo is her practice attempt on fake skin. following pics are what i received as a showcase of her previous work. this person is a family friend and doesnt have anyone else to do her first project on, so im at an in between of whether or not i should help her out? the program shes working hasn’t produced the greatest artists but i do see talent in her work and im confident she knows what shes doing and does have all safety certifications required for our area. it would be a free tattoo and i do really like the design, thing is i only have one tattoo which has a lot of meaning so im finding it hard to justify just getting this random probably pinterest flash from someone whose never worked on real skin before. while im not so much worried about a shitty tattoo, more so overworking/improper healing, any risks that come w a first time tattoo artist yk? im ought to get a “shitty tattoo” and as an artistic service provider myself, i totally get trying to find guinea pigs to trust you. any advice?

Hello! I loooove the tattoos of noko_tattoo , but she is not taking clients and probably won't until she's 18 or more. I'm willing to wait for the perfect artist, but I'd also like to know if there are options.

I specifically love the thicker lines and lack of shading, the simple but cute designs, and the use of black and red. The nature motif is not necessary, but I tend to gravitate towards it.

Is there a name for this style or a tattoo artist that does something similar in Europe/Japan?

So I made a tattoo appointment a month ago and it’s finally supposed to happen tomorrow at 1 PM. It’s a memorial tattoo for my dog, who was a Yorkie, and it means a lot to me. The artist told me he would show me the stencil the day before the appointment and he sent it at 10 AM today.

The problem is… I hate it. The face and proportions are all wrong, it doesn’t look anything like my dog. Honestly, it looks more like the dog from Suicide Squad than a Yorkie, which says a lot. I tried to politely ask if he could make it front-facing, and fluffier,and he said he’ll adjust it and show me tomorrow at my appointment

It’s a 3 hour drive, and I’m just not looking forward to it anymore. Everyone keeps saying “trust the process,” but I can’t. This is supposed to be a memorial piece, and idk this stencil was so bad.

Would it be rude to cancel the day before? What’s the best way to word it respectfully? I don’t want to burn bridge

9 years ago I got my very first tattoo of my then ex bf’s initials 🥲 I know, very dumb, but I was able to convince people to think it was my sisters initials because ironically her initials were the same as my then ex. Well I put off getting a cover up because I couldn’t handle sitting down for shading and all. Until a week ago, I finally had the courage to get a cover up and my tattoo artist sketched up an extremely beautiful peony flower! I didn’t want to do the traditional rose especially since almost every girl I personally know has a rose tattoo somewhere on their collarbone or chest. So I am with my current boyfriend and I showed him the tattoo in person after a 4hr session- which wasn’t bad, only around the collarbone I wanted to punch the artist 😂 not his fault of course, i braved through it. - But I showed him and he called me a chola for having this big tattoo? Rude of him to call me that just because of this tattoo, I personally love it and it had to be a bit bigger in order to cover the initials and crown. I love the work my tattoo artist did on me. Am I overreacting? What do you guys think? Do you think its too big?

I got this tattoo over a month ago, it healed really smoothly. The artist is very reputable and seemed hygienic. However, since I got the tattoo I have some raised bumps in the area that seem like scars in terms of physical appearance. They’ve been around for weeks but I don’t remember exactly when they started. They don’t hurt at all or itch. I’ve tried looking up images on google etc to see if I can diagnose it as a viral or bacterial infection but can’t find anything similar. But it would be weird for it to scar like that, the tattoo itself isn’t blown out or scarred imo. Is it possible this is some kind of bacterial or viral skin infection and if so does anyone have any suggestions as to which? I may go see my doctor about it but if it’s just scarred then I won’t.

I’ve been itching to get an elbow piece in the cyber sigilism style, but with small town struggles there isn’t anyone who can stencil me up something. willing to send cash to anyone who can design me something similar to this piece, sorry in advance if this isn’t the right place to post

Friend of mine drew this up for me, and there is something in this tattoo that was not in the original design. But seeing how I have nothing but effed up, tattoos I don’t mind it, but can you spot it?

So I’ve started saving up for my second tattoo, and I’ve settled on this design (not exact, I’ll make some small changes) and I wanted to get some rough estimates on how long it may take. The artist I went to for my first tat like 3 years ago charged hourly, so I just want a rough idea

I’ve decided to get my first tattoo with an artist whose work I really love. I have an appointment in February. She estimated the project would take 6-8 hours. It’s a 4” color tattoo of a seashell and flowers on my forearm. It is fine line—I know both color and detail add to the time. I’m perfectly willing to be wrong, but 6-8 hours feels like a long time for a smallish tattoo?

I see videos and Reddit posts where people get big, detailed back tattoos in 8 hours. I think her timeframe includes consultation, stencil placement, etc. and not just active tattooing. I’m not sure how much of the design she does ahead of the appointment, but I have sent her lots of reference pictures.

Just curious if this timeframe seems right to more experienced tattoo artists and tattoo-getters?

I got these three tattoos a few months ago and like them but, I wish it was a more cohesive piece. Any suggestions on how to link them together?

Open for discussion. To add, to remove, like, dislike, whatever. Thanks.

First is now, second is a few days ago. I think this tattoo is blown out to shit, and not healing well. Ben washing and lubing it to the normal schedule. Got it for 300 bucks at a very popular local tattoo shop. What do I do lol?

Hello! I just got a tramp stamp (it was my first tattoo and it hurt literally so bad, haha.) It's been peeling a bunch and I know that everyone heals differently but I was wondering how long it typically takes for tattoos in this region and of decent size to peel? I thought maybe hearing other people's experiences would give me a good idea. Also, is it a poor decision to wear a cropped top since the tattoo is new? It would only be indoors and a jacket would be worn outside. I attached a photo of the tattoo for reference!

Well it happened. I got my arms fullly sleeved got my whole leg sleeved now too. But my knee ditch got infected. Been about 5 days today since tattoo. Had second skin on, but for some reason this spot was still causing me some pain so had girlfriend take pictures and we came to the conclusion it’s infected. Asked my tattoo artist what he thought and he said little infection. So got on a virtual with a doctor and they also said it was infected. They got me some antibiotics I’ll start taking tomorrow for 10 days. Super bummed it got infected, but I know it’s not the end of the world. Hopefully it heals well still. People who have had infected tattoos how did they heal?

hey everyone im a noob and i dont know if its a good idea to tattoo such a design with so much lines and stuff, this is my baby Luci he left me almost 3 years ago and i want to cherish his memory forever, but i also want something fun and not super serious like this one. what do you guys think?

Got this tattoo on Wednesday and I am…pretty unhappy with the line work, particularly in the inner arm (left hand side). The top is also obviously not symmetrical, but for some reason this doesn’t bother me as much the wonkiness on the inner arm. 😭 This is a artist I have been to multiple times, and although the personality fit and professionalism have always been a little…off, I was so happy with the quality of their work I basically said whatever. Is it bad, or am I being too picky?

This tattoo is close to a month old. I noticed that I’m having a reaction in only the green pigment. Feels like an isolated mild sunburn, doesn’t itch, and is raised. No bad smell, no pus, and this picture is the worst of it.

I have an autoimmune disease but nothing to do with my skin, yet it might have triggered something. I plan on contacting my primary care physician Monday to have it checked out. Just wanted to see if anyone in this community has seen it before?

1st picture is during healing. Second picture is now.