karatefoxes

My arm isn't done, and I've only really started on one, but I can actually contribute! So I shall. :) Taking pictures of my own arm is hard, and I suck at it. There are individual pictures of these in my gallery, though, anyway!

I was really late in coming to an appreciation of traditional designs (aside from traditional Japanese, which I have always loved). What sold me on traditional sleeves was the interesting way in which individual pieces become more than the sum of each individual tattoo...it becomes this collective aesthetic that I find so fascinating, in addition to being a very cool collection of individual images.
I mention this because I have similar feelings about 'masculine' and 'feminine' aesthetics. (I'm also one of those people who thinks a man or woman can wear whatever the hell they want and still be masculine and feminine if they want to be, but that's a discussion of a slightly different variety. For the purposes of this post, I'm just using the generally accepted definitions of those words.) I think whether something reads as 'masculine' or 'feminine' in the traditional sense depends mostly on general presentation. There are tons of pictures out there of women wearing tough, aggressive traditional work, but they dress or present themselves in a way that's still super-girly and feminine. I think this look is amazing.
Of course, there'll always be people out there who just find tattoos in general 'unfeminine' or whatever, buuut. That's really more about them, imo.

It's without any doubt a wrong way looking at your art.
You won't ever be able to enjoy your tattoos if you always search for every single dot that could have done better.
You gotta look at the big picture, there is no such thing as a perfectly done tattoo. The perfection is in the imperfection, your tattoos are perfect because they are yours and yours only.

Ok all here is the final tattoo. Just got it complete today . so much better than what it was . here is before and after photos . you guys have been awesome too.

I felt weird at first, too, but now I have two full sleeves and my lower legs are covered. You'll get used to it.
Don't try to add to it. It'll look like ass. Just own it and enjoy it. It's fine. It's not 'too dark" in any way. It will fade significantly. You won't see the "watercolor" elements at all before long.

Just leave it. Trying to cover that or "connect" the two is going to make it worse. It looks OK.
 

Thank you guys for your replies. I believe I can get used to it, I just get a little worried about the entire thing sometimes. There are some moments where I am completely okay with it, and others where I’m feeling remorse about how I simple I used to look before. 
 
I agree though. I think I would rather wait a bit and see how it heals rather than jump into any major decisions. But it’s good to know that there are options if I wanted to go that way!

Hello all!

About 3 weeks ago, I got my arm tattooed. I've been planning this one for a long time, and it's mostly a mix of my design and my artist's design. The meaning is kinda abstract -- just basically is something that reflects my identity; shows my love for embracing dreams (actual night-time REM dreams, which I always have vivid ones), and embracing the unknown from our earthly position (basically how we see constellations from earth, and I put the Big Dipper and Little Dipper to scale). Watercolor because I LOVE color even though I'm very tan. 
Anyways, this is where the anxiety began. I had planned to get this smaller to kind of mirror the other tattoo I have on my left arm. The artist did tell me it would need to be bigger. And of course, me being a person who's never regretted a tattoo before (I even have Ash & Pikachu from Pokemon Yellow on my ankle, totally silly) I went with it. I was like "Sure, let's make it bigger. It's going to be on the arm anyway!" and mostly, this was true, my other tattoo on my other arm I wish were bigger! So here we are. I'm a little horrified about how big it is. Everyone I talk to says it's wonderful and fits perfect. However, I'm just afraid for people to see it for some reason. I'm wearing longer sleeves than normal to cover it up and I'm just all around scared for people to see it and think of me differently. It's a big change and I'm struggling a bit.
I feel that I'm slowly accepting it, but sometimes I honestly think it's because I feel like it's too "dark" or too "black". Would it be a mistake to go to a laser tattoo removal specialist and request them to do about 3 sessions to "fade" the tattoo to be a little bit less noticeable? Is that a thing that people do? Would it help me feel better about it being so BAM there? Or is this just me trying to adjust to this change? Is it a good size? Would it even fade the way I'm envisioning? 

I've attached a picture below. This was the day that I got it. I can even attach one healed but it's almost identical. 
(I'm a 27 year old girl, if that helps any.)
 

hi,you have "tattoo remorse", it's very common,it will go away,
your tattoo is a nice tattoo,
don't get any laser done,
it will fade and lighten naturally over time,
now,put a tank top on and show it with pride,nobody is going to think less of you,and if they do that's their problem.

Don't monkey with it. You'll likely make it worse, not better. You'll get used to it.