A rant about being an idiot

[PhoenixRising]

I'm not necessarily looking for sympathy or anything, I did it to myself, I just need to rant.
I've wanted a new tattoo for a long time, and finally decided to pull the trigger.
I had this really neat idea of a tree/horse morph that would symbolize the grounding effect horses have for me, and how they have brought a new, better life.
When I saw what the artist had drawn up, I was a bit hesitant. I should have waited, taken it home and thought about it. But instead I went ahead.
Now the next day I have extreme buyers remorse. I think if I have it worked on more later, by someone else, it might look OK. But right now I'm just glad that my clothes will mostly always cover it. Except for swimsuits, dresses, and tank tops.
I'm very angry with myself at the moment, about why I would have chosen to go ahead when I was apprehensive. Absolutely idiotic.
Close friends have said its not that bad, and could be awesome if I got another artist to work on it more. Right now, I cant even consider it. I don't even want to look at it.
Really its not AWFUL but its not at all what I intended it to be.
What on earth was I thinking?

[Sue B]

Picture? Then we can tell you how mad you should be. lol

[PhoenixRising]

Pictures are what I gave him to work with (what I envisioned) and what I ended up with.

[tempi20017]

You're correct in that the tattoo does not match what you were envisioning in the first photograph, but I bet it would be an easy fix by a more skilled tattoo artist. I just think the horse's head needs little more refinement, the rest of the tattoo is lovely. Perhaps a second head could added to more closely match what you wanted and the original head could be incorporated or concealed by a little more scroll work.
I'm surprised that the artist didn't scan your original in, put it on carbon transfer paper, apply it and just follow the lines.

Good luck and give us updates.

[PhoenixRising]

The original was from a Google search, so he had to redo it at least a little. He said what I sent him was never intended to be a tattoo and that in order to do it that detailed it would have had to be huge.
I hate the head, and I feel like the whole thing has a darker twist instead of being light and Naturey. Just not at all what I wanted.

[fergusnc]

If no one saw your original reference, they would still say "what a cool concept". The good news is that your artist didn't add lots of details and shading and color…so the next artist can help you make it more what you had in mind. Find someone who specializes in cover-ups, then ask if they also do lots of re-working and touch-ups. My artist is AMAZING, and I asked her once about cover-ups, and she said it isn't her thing, that those really are for people with that knack. But she can create from scratch and draw like nobody's business. So, all that to say, ask questions about specialities, go to someone that has a long waiting list to get in for a consult…don't go to someone with lots of open appointments.

Is it healing OK and feeling OK? your skin looks very ouchy in the up close photo.

[Chancellor]

Although not a tattoo fan (so what do I know?), I rather like yours. I don't see dark but I don't also see light and naturey. Still it's cool!

[PhoenixRising]

The ouchy looking photo was immediately after it was finished, this is only my second tattoo and it's not even 24 hours old yet but I think it's doing ok.
The guy told me to keep it wrapped more for the first few days because anything rubbing on it (clothing) would mess it up.
I decided not to do that because it goes against everything I do know about tatoos and instead just left the straps off my shoulder on that side.
It's peeling a tad already but I think it's the lotion I used. I need to go get something different

[Racetrackreject]

I don't think it's bad at all, definitely not a complete failure. I do think that you can make it closer to the emotion you wanted with some light shading and fill work.

I've decided that I want a tattoo, but I want it just for me, so I want it in white. I've looked at gobs of photos and know that I want a word or words on my wrist, but I haven't pinned down the exact thing yet. I'll know when I see it. Originally, I just wanted the word, live. in typescript as a reminder to live my life now, while I have life. That has morphed a bit, but I may end up going back to it. My only hesitation now is that I'm being told that artists really dislike white tattoos and may hassle me about getting it in white. I know I do not want another color because it's for me and I'm the only one that needs to know it's there, as a reminder to myself, but I need to be able to see or feel it as often as possible. That's important to me too. I also need it to be mostly not visible since I do meet with clients on a regular basis.

[orono]

I am not a tattoo person, but am very much a horse & tree person and I like it a lot.

[Chisamba]

I quite like it , and I am not a tattoo fan

[orono]

I think that adding a defining line to the hoof, as well as embellishing the roots to make the mane more dramatic, and adding a forelock would help. It would be good to elongate the head a bit, but I don't know how hard that would be.

The branches could also be extended, to finer lines, and more leaves added in different sizes/positions.

But I do think it's nice the way it is.

[Flight]

I think it looks pretty cool !!

The drawing gorgeous, but it's hard to get it to transcribe to skin, and I think they've done a pretty good job.
Maybe later add a bit more flair to it, if you find a good artist, but otherwise I wouldn't be unhappy with that.

[fergusnc]

I have had 4 tattoos…three by my current beloved artist with oodles of experience. I say that because she had me wrap my tattoos and they healed WAY cleaner than my first. Same for DH. Its too late for you to do it now though…you keep it wrapped for the first 24 hours. That decreases the scaly stuff. There are strong feelings for/against wrapping, but having done both, it is what I do now. And as far as washing and lotions and products, those can also really affect healing. You really should consider what your artist told you to do for aftercare, even if you aren't thrilled with the design. The line work is done well from what I can see from the photo, so I would think he has some good experience to draw from.

[Chisamba]

I actually think it's just more tree than horse. Anything to accentuate the horse a bit would please horse lovers

[Quelah]

I'm totally not a tattoo person but I think it's kinda cool. I think it's the line around the horse's eye that gives the impression of a mask (like a Zorro mask) that may give you the impression of darkness? You're right it's not what you wanted, but it's neat none the less, I think, FWIW.

[Rhianon]

Well, I know zero about tattoos. But I actually like the art of the tattoo better than the drawing! I think you can just go ahead and wear that bikini.

[PhoenixRising]

I'm still not happy with it, but you're all making me feel at least a little better!
I think I will still probably look for someone to work on it more later, to try and get it closer to what I wanted. But not for awhile.

[StraightForward]

I also like it, and I'm not a tattoo person. I think adding a little more detail to the horse (like some neck muscling and facial contouring) and maybe some more tree detail, would make it look great.

[Chancellor]

PhoenixRising, Since it is on YOU it doesn't really matter what any of us think. I am, however, glad we are making you feel better. It's really a very cool idea for a tattoo (or for me, perhaps art on the wall!). I really like the concept. A LOT!

[PhoenixRising]

PhoenixRising, Since it is on YOU it doesn't really matter what any of us think. I am, however, glad we are making you feel better. It's really a very cool idea for a tattoo (or for me, perhaps art on the wall!). I really like the concept. A LOT!

I LOVE the concept. I'm just not thrilled with the execution.

[Tuddy]

First off, you are not an idiot.

Secondly, this tattoo is a nice base for future improvement, think of it as the bottom of the training scale.

I am sorry that you are not impressed with it, I can see where you are coming from on this, I would be searching high and low for a new artist that can recreate it to an image that makes you feel the way you did when you were creating it.

Don't give up!

[PhoenixRising]

After having it almost a week now, i don't hate it quite as much as I did.
I'm still not at all thrilled, and will eventually have someone else work on it. For now I have other things to spend my money on, BUT I'm not feeling quite so "don't let anyone see it" as I was.

[PhoenixRising]

So, I didn't plan to have it worked on again so soon, but I ended up going and getting it worked on again today. I had the guy turn it into more of a "watercolor" tattoo. I like it a lot more now!! It's currently wrapped so I don't have a good picture but I'll be posting it soon!

[Flight]

Ooh can't wait to see it!

[Ryeissa]

Great! Can't wait to see it

[fergusnc]

Same artist? New artist? Can't wait to see!!!

[PhoenixRising]

Definitely a new artist. I will NOT be going back to the original. Getting this one worked on again hurt so much less than the original artist and is already almost healed when the original artist took weeks to finish peeling and several areas felt scabbed.
It's super hard to get a good picture of it myself, but here's what it looks like now!

[Tulsa]

Huge improvement!! I have a watercolor in the same place- love that style