Choosing your next tattoo is an exciting experience — the buzz just never goes away! However, you might be struggling with either the design, placement, style or any other aspect of the process. Of course, since it is going to be with you for the rest of your life, you want to get it right.
The main piece of advice we can tell you is to think about it and plan it. You have a long life ahead of you and ideally, you want to love your body and whatever you put on it for the entirety of your time on earth. So, take your time and be 100 per cent certain. But, as you may already know, there are more specific factors that come into play when choosing your tattoo — don’t worry, we have got your back.
1. Decide On a Spot
What do we mean by ‘spot’? This is the place on your body where your new tattoo will live. It is a pretty integral part, don’t you agree?
This step can be a challenge in itself! You need to figure out how visible you want your new ink to be, where on your body fits the shape of the design the best and whether it will be included into a sleeve or other planned artwork.
Some people decide on placement as their final step, which makes a lot of sense if you already know your desired design.
2. Decide On a Design
The design of your tattoo is the actual ‘subject’ if you will, which can then be interpreted into various styles. For example, you may figure out that you want a wolf or a dragon or a loaf of bread or a bag of peanuts and then you choose how you actually want it to look.
3. Decide On a Style
If you have stepped foot into a tattoo parlour before, you will have noticed all the magazines and portfolios which contain different styles of artwork.
There is a variety to choose from, such as:
- Traditional
- Neo-Traditional
- Tribal
- Japanese
- Minimalist
- Realistic
- Watercolour
- New School
- Blackwork
- Illustrative
- Chicano
We did say there was a lot! Don’t fret, a quick Google search will bring up thousands of examples for each unique style to make your deciding process run smoothly.
4. Decide On an Artist
A lot of artists tend to have specialities, i.e. a style of tattoo which they are best at. With that in mind, choosing a style is essential before picking your artist.
Remember to read reviews and feedback from people who have already been inked at their shop too — it helps to weed out the ones which may not be able to deliver exactly what you are looking for.
5. Decide On a Theme
Let’s say that you know you want a sleeve on your left arm. This is a pretty big area to cover, meaning it requires a fairly large amount of designs. In order to put together a coherent sleeve, you will need a pretty vague theme so you have enough elements to choose from for your whole arm.
Think about what you like. It could be nature, botanicals, space, animals, a certain film, photography, music or really any other aspect of life!
As you know, your tattoo choices are endless, so after careful planning and consideration, go forth and paint your canvas!
