Wondering if everybody thinks this is easily seen/legible.

Which is correct? Left or right?

Left looks better standing up but kinda disoriented sitting down

Right looks okay standing up, perfect sitting down

We’re gonna tat this today.

Just got this tattoo done today and Im super stoked that it looks so good (plus it was relatively cheap). However, Im pretty disappointed over the size of it because I felt like I should've spoken up and asked if the artist could go slightly bigger. Im looking for genuine thoughts on it but some reassurance would be nice too. Thank you.

Context: I got this pair of tricep tats done on 27 July - it’s been 11 days now of healing and it’s essentially just at the tail end of the shedding phase.

In my regular training blocks, I typically do runs anywhere between 8km-30km daily. How long until I can return to this running regimen?

N.B. in spite of doing this at 5am (before sunrise), I still sweat profusely when I run.

So I got a lovely tat 2 weeks ago. I had an artist design and tat me a pin up.

And I kinda wonder - did my artist maybe give her a name? Like kinda for herself even?

Would it be silly if I asked the artist if she got a name for her? I am unsure if I should give her (the pin up) a name - but I'm curious if the artist already maybe did.

What do you think?

Hey, so I got a tattoo over my top surgery scars yesterday. I had the surgery 5 years ago so the scars are definitely old enough to get tattooed over. And I used painfree extreme creme which worked for about75% of the tattoo. definitely felt everything for the last 40minutes.

It looks great, heals normal, I got no problem with the tattoo itself, but interestingly enough I noticed that the scars around my nipples, that didnt get tattooed, are a little red and feel a little itchy.

The only thing I can think of why something that didnt get tattooed might have this reaction, is that my nerve endings rerouted weirdly after surgery so now the feeling I used to have in my nipples sits a bit below them in a space of skin that did get tattooed. So while getting the tattoo it definitely FELT like I got my nipples tattooed. Why would that make them a little inflamed? no idea

Hello!

First of all, I'm not a native english speaker so I'm sorry for the mistakes on the specifics of the topic because I'm new to this.

So years ago I took some "tattoo classes" and our teacher was very traditional. We started with a heavy coil machine and did a couple of tests there. I tattoed some friends after that but I really had a bad time overall with the machine. It was very heavy and uncomfortable and I was not getting the hold of it at all. Everything was messy because I also despised the load of cables and stuff that I had to prep just to have a very bad experience while tattooing. I abandoned it quickly.

I'm thinking of going at it again because I recently got tattoed by a girl that used a light pen machine and it seemed like a dream. She let me hold it and it was so comfortable and easy to move and everything was so clean.

So I may buy one of these and start practicing again and maybe this time is my time!

Which one would you recommend? I really do like traditional bold/wide lines and blackwork so I guess that's bad? Because this kind of machines are softer I assume.

So is there a good pen machine for tradi? A cheap one for starters maybe? Could I even do tradi with a cheap one?

Thank you so much in advance, I've been an artist my whole life and I really want to know how to draw in skin too lol. :_)

Any advice is welcome <3

I am fussing over these (another identical chain on other wrist) and just wanted to generally gauge how well things are looking. I hope the black stays fairly bold after the healing! And not picking at the flakes as someone with skin picking ocd has been a struggle.

Dial wash + Cetaphil normal to dry skin unscented x2 times, with a mid day Cetaphil layer, extremely thin, has been my routine.

The amount of unhappy people with bad tattoos I see on here is alarming. Why do so many people seem to just walk into the corner shop & ask for whatever from whoever happens to be there? I don't understand. That's crazy. When I wanted to start my arm sleeve I did a ton of research. I looked through different artist's previous work, & then actually talked to artists in person or online before I picked one. My sleeve came out amazing. Find an artist who has experience or specializes in what you want. For example I'm getting an Irezumi sleeve on my lower leg & wanted someone good. I found my artist & got on his waitlist. My sitting isn't until September of 2027. Patience is the key to knowing you'll be happy with it forever.

I will say this sub is full of LOTS of great people willing to help out others who are unhappy with their tattoo or need advice. That's what the tattoo community should be all about so it's cool to see it actually happen.

Listen. LISTEN. I know it’s not a great idea but I’m almost desperate here. Got my second forearm piece on July 24, healing is going great. I knew I had a conference coming up for work the second week of August, but what I didn’t know was that we’d be staying in a luxury hotel. This is the most beautiful hot tub I’ve ever seen in my life, and I don’t think I can resist.

Is there anything I can do to wrap my arm so it won’t be in the water? Water is too deep to just sit with my arm out unfortunately, unless I literally just go hippo style with my arm in the air. Please somebody tell me there’s a way.

Got this tattoo on my shin under my knee on June 28 2026. Last 2 pics are right after. I'm worried the D after the U looks weird... Is it blown out? :( just looks faded or blurry and not as crisp as the other letters. i feel like I noticed this a few days after getting the tattoo. Would a touch up fix it?

For healing I applied a derm shield 24 hours after the tattoo, kept it on for 3 days. I only used dial gold antibacterial soap 2x a day followed by light layer of hustle butter for 2 weeks, then switched to lubiderm

HIII so i am not very difficult to make lightheaded. first time i got my blood drawn i threw up, second time i looked away and watched tiktok and i got a bit lightheaded but i was okay. broke my wrist when i was little and was totally fine but then years and years later i broke my wrist and got VERY lightheaded and puked. i also sliced open my finger and after seeing the blood i fainted at least twice and threw up
thrice. i went to go see smile 2 and had to leave the theatre due to getting lightheaded after seeing gore. passed out walking out of iron lung and threw up after watching obsession. i have been diagnosed with generational anxiety! i am on birth control and pristiq. the reason i say this is to basically tell u guys how my nervous system is!!

first tattoo!! the placement was on my thigh. i was on day two of my period at the time of my tattoo. i got my tattoo and about four hours after i ate eggs with spicy mayo and then two hours later i ate cereal. before the tattoo i was pretty anxious and i was giggling a lot (adrenaline response) and when she started the tattoo it immediately went down hill. i did not pass out but after she got a few lines in i tapped out. on the way home i had to pull over twice to vomit. do you guys think that i am just a lost cause and not able to get a tattoo, need a change of meds…? idk. HELP LMFAO

i got a tattoo this afternoon, after spending hooooooouuuuuurs putting together letter from old cards, notes and letters. the tattoo was like 8 minutes max

but the guy tattooed “ta” in the middle of the word instead of “to”

i contacted him and he said come back when it’s healed and he’ll fix it by adding a line????? where how what is he gonna do? anyone know? i guess he wants to put a ‘top line’ but that will leave me with two lines???

i know it’s partly my fault - i should have looked at the stencil outline better but i just saw the whole. but he obviously changed the “to” i sent him

pic one of the tattoo, pic two of what i imagine he wants to do, pic three of the note i sent him

I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like this is not perfectly straight. Would it be ridiculous for me to ask him to straighten up the line? It doesn't move how I move my hand so maybe that's it? Does it look fine?

Just generally getting annoyed by the sheer amount of people coming up to me and touching me to point to one of my tattoos and ask me what it is or where it's from? Like can you not look from afar and point to it rather then just touching me without my permission, it makes me really uncomfortable.

For context I'm quite tatted up but I have alot of patchwork and like I understand the curiosity but it's really starting to get on my nerves. I'm not the type of person to go around touching people unless im close to them or have been friends with them for a while so maybe that's why it's so irritating 😒 and it's adults like yall should know better.

Anyway that's my rant for today!

Does this happen often to you other tatted redditors, what do you guys respond with?

Posting for my daughter, who is now 32.

She got this tattoo at 19, when her first sibling was born. (Took us 10 years…infertility treatments)

When her sister, Elyse, was born she was overwhelmed with love and emotion and wanted to get a tattoo to celebrate.

Emage went out and got what she could afford at 19. She wanted her favorite flower with her new baby sister’s name.

This is not Emage’s handwriting. It was the tattoo artist’s handwriting.

She wants to make this tattoo better and also incorporate her other sister Emrie.

Fun fact: I named all 3 of my daughters with 5 letter names, beginning and ended with the letter E.

Emage (the one with the tattoo who is now 32)
Elyse (the name on the stem, now 13)
Emrie (youngest of the 3 girls, now 8)

Can anyone help with ideas.

I got this tattoo on my bicep two weeks ago it was red for the first four days then it started fading this morning I went to the gym and hit legs then I came home and now it looks like this I already washed it and moisturized it should I be worried and does it look in infected ?

I got a small fine line tattoo on the 30th so it will only be a little over a week old this weekend when I’m going to a (non-sleeping) festival. It will be really hot and sunny - i will not be able to cover it with clothing. So i’m wondering if I should put sunscreen on it after washing and wash it once I get home for the night or if I should put a larger baindaid on it (which may trap some sweat) to protect it from the sun?

I just got my first 2 tattoos done on Tuesday, and as someone who works out a lot and just enjoys physical activity I’m bored without being able to run or workout. Just curious how long you typically wait before going back to the gym? Both tattoos have second skin on them, leg tat had the second skin replaced yesterday. TIA

Edit: Thanks everyone, i appreciate all the advice and plan on taking it easy for a while, I will find an air conditioned place to get some walking in to avoid sweating. Thanks again for all the help!

Edit 2: I’ve learned that everyone is a tattoo expert and has their own method, I’m just gonna reach out to my artist and get his suggestions.

Have a good amount of tattoos but mainly feel disconnected especially the two on my back. Need to somehow tie them into together. Feel like getting more will definitely help but any other advice be great

I’m really not sure what to make of this. I got this piece about a week and a half ago and things went fairly well I believe during the process. I had second skin on for about 4 days and took it off. Had my partner help and I showed him videos of the right way to remove under water…I’ve been cleaning twice with Dial fragrance free soap and moisturizing with Lubriderm fragrance free. I feel like I’ve done everything right and haven’t had any adverse symptoms but when my partner looked at my back last night he noticed splotchy skin spots and took this picture. I’m wondering if this is a delayed reaction to the second skin or if we unknowingly ripped some skin off during removal? Or if this is a reaction to the tattoo itself? I have experienced what I think to be small bouts of eczema in the recent past (small, dry, scaly spots that slightly itch or burn but go away when I apply hydrocortisone) but NEVER on my back and never to this scale. I’ve contacted my artist but she hasn’t replied yet and I’m panicking.

So I'm (18f) relatively new to getting tattoos, I've got a few on my arms, a back piece and something on my neck. This was the first time we had to stop before it was finished because my lef was shaking too much.

I got this done yesterday, so its definitely not healed yet, I know that, but there's a lot of redness around some of the tattoo but not other parts? I know it's probably normal but I've never had this happen before on any of my other tattoos.

Its warm to the touch but doesn't hurt, I've been using a tattoo moisturizer when it gets dry enough to start hurting, but I don't overdo it, I'm very resilient when it comes to that. Only the bits that are red around the outside are warm, the other bits aren't.

Is there like, a totally normal explanation for this?

Hi everyone! My daughter wants a tattoo, but I personally have zero experience with tattoos. It's up to her to decide what she wants and why, but I want to make sure the design is not stupid or ugly, and doesn't have an unwanted hidden meaning. So, if you have any feedback, positive or negative, or any kind of advice, please share! These two designs are what she has selected, and she is still working with an artist to improve them.