kateordie:

santracity:

unforth-ninawaters:

mayalaen:

I’ve been asked many times what someone should look for when trying to find a good artist. The best way you can do this is to look at their portfolio, whether it’s in a book at their shop or online. If they don’t have good work in their portfolio, they’re probably not good artists.

The shop may be clean, the people there might be nice, and the design they draw up for you might be exactly what you want, but if your artist doesn’t stand up to the points listed above, then you’re going to get a bad tattoo.

It’s okay to walk into a shop, talk with an artist for a while, and decide you don’t want a tattoo from them. Even if the artist has a bad attitude about it or tries to convince you to just let them do it, remember this is going to be on your body for the rest of your life.

This is fucking fantastic thank you!!

As someone with a badly blown out tattoo, I wish I’d known this ten years ago lol.

This is all very good advice!! As someone who has been tattooed 30+ times I have made great choices and bad ones. Do your research and remember, price-shopping is not an option. Cheap tattoos are rarely good and good tattoos are rarely cheap! You’ll have it forever. Don’t be impatient, save up. Coverups are expensive, large and sometimes painful (I know from experience) and require a great deal of skill – get it done right the first time!

Honestly, every time I deal with teens they ask me about my tattoos and my advice is… wait. I know that’s the thing Nobody wants to hear, but it’s true. What you care about will change so dramatically before your 20s. If you must, stick to things you’re less likely to regret – say, flowers that represent an idea instead of song lyrics. Animals instead of celebrity portraits. Geometric designs rather than pop culture images. I’m not saying everyone always regrets tattoos they get when they’re young – I still like lots I got from 19-22 – but it’s worth considering.

Plus… lord knows with celebrities and lyrics these days, with people you love turning out to be creeps. That’s a rough one. I often think about a portrait I almost got at 17 of a Johnny Depp character… yikes!

ANYWAY JUST SOME THOUGHTS, tattoos are awesome but they are permanent! Love, your soft-punk aunt Kate.