Before getting a tattoo

Dingle_berry

I've had an idea for a nerdy tattoo for ages now. I'm pretty sure where (on me - thigh) I'd get it and that it would be black (maybe grey) and require kind of shading or very good 3D effect. It's just I'm really bad for suffering from buyers remorse! And a tattoo is one thing i do not want to think "maybe I shouldn't have…"!
What process do you follow, or wish you had followed, before getting a tattoo?
Can you get artists to sketch out (even stencil on) an impression of what you want? Does buying this generally obligate you to buy the full thing - ie tattoo? I'm really bad at art and would be asking them to develop an idea from a basic picture on a textbook cover.

Please Kill Me

Dingle_berry wrote: »

What process do you follow, or wish you had followed, before getting a tattoo?

None really. You just need to be 100% sure you want it. If you doubt it, then maybe you shouldn't get one.

Dingle_berry wrote: »

Can you get artists to sketch out (even stencil on) an impression of what you want? Does buying this generally obligate you to buy the full thing - ie tattoo? I'm really bad at art and would be asking them to develop an idea from a basic picture on a textbook cover.

The artist will put on a stencil anyway and ask you to look in a mirror to make sure you're happy with placement etc. If at this stage, you're still unsure, don't go any further. You can't stop an artist halfway through. You'll piss HIM off and it'll look terrible.

Orim

Dingle_berry wrote: »

What process do you follow, or wish you had followed, before getting a tattoo?
Can you get artists to sketch out (even stencil on) an impression of what you want? Does buying this generally obligate you to buy the full thing - ie tattoo? I'm really bad at art and would be asking them to develop an idea from a basic picture on a textbook cover.

What's the idea?

The artist will draw it out for you before hand. It won't obligate you to purchase but you'll be looking at paying a deposit.

For the process, I don't know. I tend to need to just go for it or I'd never get mine. If you're worried about buyer's remorse, I'd say have the basic design on some paper and look at it every day. If you still like it after a month or two then at least you'll know that you'll be happy with the design.

Killer_banana

Best advice I was ever given was to get a picture of what I wanted and put beside my bed for six months. If I still wanted after that time than I should get it.

That said if you've wanted it for longer than that already maybe just get it? There's no hard or fast rules for deciding and no way to know if you won't regret it in a few years. All you can do is make sure you're as sure as you can possibly be at the time of getting it.

Dingle_berry

Orim wrote: »

What's the idea?

This is the main idea/inspiration behind it (the cover of a textbook "molecular biology of the gene" 5th ed):
But with more background - of the inner mechanics of the cell like having the strand that are running top to bottom passing through a membrane and attaching to ribosomes kind of like:

As I said I'm in no way artistic if I attempted to sketch it it would look like a three year old was painting with their elbows!

Hope those pictures worked......

Orim

Dingle_berry wrote: »

Hope those pictures worked......

They didn't :P

But I found the book and I think I know what you mean.



I gotta say, I think that could be really cool with the right artist. I think that could look amazing done trash polka. So in that vein I suggest you go to the buena vista tattoo club.

http://www.buenavistatattooclub.de/

Dingle_berry

Orim wrote: »

I gotta say, I think that could be really cool with the right artist. I think that could look amazing done trash polka.

Excuse my ignorance, but what's trash polka? Going to look at the link now...
I must learn how to get images right....

EDIT:yeah that's the kinda style I was thinking of! What I'd describe as being realistic/3D with shading/greyscale...

Orim

Dingle_berry wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance, but what's trash polka? Going to look at the link now...
I must learn how to get images right.....

It's hard to describe, or at least I find it hard to describe but if you have a look at that site or just google trash polka.

Also, buena vista is in germany so unless you really want it you may want to look elsewhere.

Also for images when you're making the post, there's a button at the top that looks like a picture of a mountain. Click that and post the link in the popup box.

As an example, the link to the pic I posted was : http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41oPoFPv1fL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

im invisible

also, right click on the image, and click veiw image before you copy the url. eg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1234/imageecm.jpg instead of
http://imageshack.us/content_round.php?page=done&l=img217/1234/imageecm.jpg#




http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/6200/imagekzk.jpg