4 Best Tips Before Getting Your First Tattoo
The key to being happy with your tattoo is you are 100% positive about getting a new tattoo. The tattoo can have a limited amount of meaning, and many people sometimes need help with what they want their first tattoo to be.
They think it needs to have millions of significant meanings in life. That is okay for lots of you, but it doesn’t need to be that way.
Tip number one: Get something you want.
The most important thing before getting your first tattoo is making sure that it’s something you want, whether super, super meaningful, or has many different meanings to your life.
It could be something simple like I got a tattoo of a Tasmanian devil on my body because it was one of the first childhood cartoon characters that gave me fun times. My suggestion for you is whether it is something that means a lot and has all this meaning or whether that is something that’s just something cool and something that you love very much that you want to have tattooed on you.
Think about it a bit deeper. Make sure that it’s something that you can live with for the rest of your life. That is something you’re not going to regret or something. You won’t change your mind.
Tip number two: How to find the right artist.
Finding the right artist for you is so important, even though this should be obvious to many of you, but it’s not. And only some artists can do the same quality tattoo, some specialize in different styles, and some are better than others.
So you have to factor all those things together and find the right artist that will be better for you. I understand that many of you are tied to money, and many of you also don’t want to get ripped off or don’t have the money to spend on a secretive tattoo.
A tattoo is an investment, and it’s not something that you want to be cheap. Whatever you got to do, don’t just find someone else that’s not as good because this tattoo is going to be on you for the rest of your life.
You pay for it once, and you get to enjoy it for the rest of your life. Budgets have a certain level of skill that many artists need help replicating.
Do your research and find someone with the style you want. Only some artists are going to be able to do everything. Find an artist that has long years of experience and a good portfolio.
Tip number three. Be prepared
Now, when you get your first tattoo and book your tattoo appointment, you already have references and photos to show the tattoo artist.
Something that I love very much is when customers come tome and say, I have six or seven pictures or even one or two pictures, and anything they’re like. I found photos online. I’ve done my research, which is very close to what I want, but I would like you to do it in your style.
Could you make it your own? Many people might think, I thought artists didn’t want that.
No, artists do want you to come with reference photos. Artists don’t want you to go with a tattoo and say, can you replicate this tattoo? I want to look exactly like the man in the photo; no artist wants that.
What artists do, like speaking from experience, you should come with reference photos.
Do your research. Look on Tumblr, look on Pinterest, look on Google, look all over the place. Try to find a tattoo that’s very, very close to what you want. Or, if you’re combining two tattoos, see the elements of one tattoo and elements of another and say, hey, I like the flowers of this tattoo, and, you know, the dagger, the ship of this tattoo, and I want to combine them into a tattoo in your style. Super important to make sure you come prepared before getting your tattoo.
Tip number four. Don’t be afraid to speak up.
Explain yourself well. Now, I’m also speaking from experience. When I was getting my first tattoo it was effortless. I didn’t know what I wanted. I was intimidated by tattoo shops, and I was intimidated by tattoo artists. And Tattoo artist helped me a lot to choose my first tattoo.
A lot of times, they were trying to convince me to get something that I didn’t want or to change my mind.
You want to make sure that you speak up. You want to make sure you tell the artists exactly what you want. You want to find the artist that will listen to you, give you what you want, and give you their opinion.
Now, there’s a fine line between the two. Tattoo artists are professionals; most of the time, they know better than you about certain things. Suppose an artist tells you the tattoo won’t look good in this area, the size won’t do well in this area, or it doesn’t go well with the rest of your tattoos. In that case, you can usually tell if he doesn’t want to do your tattoo or if he genuinely cares. He’s looking out for your best interest.
Now, there’s a fine line between the two, and it’s tough to tell, but usually, you can tell. Usually, you can tell by the attitude of the artist. If you can tell that the artist cares about his work, has an outstanding reputation, and isn’t trying to convince you to get something completely different.
He’s just trying to help you and guide you in your tattoo. That is okay. That is fine. You want that. What you don’t wish to do is you don’t want an artist who, after you’ve already scheduled an appointment or you’re getting ready to get your tattoo, tells you that it won’t look good; why don’t you do this instead? And you get the vibe that they’re trying to do something they want to do and not give you the best tattoo for you. So make sure you speak up.
Tell the artist precisely what style you’re looking to get tattooed. Bring references where you want it and how big, and make sure that you see a sketch and that you’re happy with how the tattoo will turn out before you get it.
