keepcalm

Enough posts to start a new thread - woot! So, I've sent the image below to my artist, and he's stoked about it (yay!) -- now we're just discussing placement and size. I was wondering if I could get some opinions on what YOU would do with this design. Where would you put it? Where do you think it would look best? I know one obvious answer is straight across the back, but I just think that's kind of boring. I'm completely fine with altering its shape, like squeezing it closer together, making one side higher, lower or whatever. Legs/stomach/chest are off limits. I'm ready to entertain all other suggestions, though. Thanks in advance!

Hey, thanks @mtlsam! I figured that was probably the case, but I'm not super savvy in the tattoo world yet so I'm never sure what's "typical." Only time will tell if I get brave up to "use up" more of that arm real estate! :) If I do, I know I'll want more straightforward designs in black and gray, so hopefully they would all meld together/harmonize with no problem. Thanks again for the reply!

Sorry to drag up an old thread (not sure if that's bad form, but I don't believe I'm able to start new ones yet) -- I just had a little question that relates to this. At some point soon, I'll be getting my third tattoo on the back/top of my shoulder, possibly onto my upper arm. It's gonna be a reworked design of the concept in the illustration below. It's possible that afterward, I'll get brave enough to head down my arm with some other nautical-themed stuff (other ship/shipwrecked stuff, an octopus, a mermaid), but I would want them to be "stand-alone" pieces, like the left arm of that guy in the image that @Kev posted up there ^^ (i.e., no filler, just negative space around them). So my question is, if I don't want an entire integrated sleeve, is it necessary to talk through the possibilities for my entire arm with my artist before I get this first one at the top of my shoulder/back done? Or can I just go for it, and figure out what fits where for the rest later? I don't want to overthink it since it's possible I won't get a bunch more after all, but I also want to make sure I have at least thought ahead a little if I do decide to keep going. Sorry for the rambling, and thanks in advance for your thoughts!

@beez and @hollyjoybee -- Thanks so much for the links and additional reassurance... I definitely feel better about it now! :) Perhaps I will not be afraid to venture down my arm at some point in the future.

@Mark Bee & @beez, thanks for the replies! Would love to hear more - the law of averages, etc. ;) It will probably be fine, but it would just suck if it wasn't, that's all, haha. Thanks again!

Hey folks... was wondering if I could hear from any ladies (or anyone, I guess) about arm hair regrowth? I'm considering going down my left arm with a couple of pieces, but I am really concerned about my arm hair not growing back the same, haha. My other tattoos are in places that didn't need shaving (hip, ribs), so I've never had to do that before. I have a medium amount of arm hair, I'd say, and I would NOT be happy if it grew back darker or thicker (I know that's not just a myth!). Anyone have any hair experiences to share, good or bad? Haha. Thanks in advance!

I'm in a similar-ish boat as the OP. Except the person who made the piece of art I like is a complete stranger to me - I found it on Behance. I'm not interested in getting an exact replica of her illustration, but the concept and major shape of it is EXACTLY what I've been looking for for the past six months or more. I randomly stumbled across the image on Google and was like YES!, haha. I would like to show it to my tattoo artist and ask him what he can do with it. But for now I have emailed the author of the illustration and told her that I love the piece and would like to incorporate it into a tattoo for myself, and how does she feel about that? We'll see if she replies to me. I feel like getting tattoos would be easier if I could draw, ha!

Just wanted to say that I came across Duke Riley a few months back and TOTALLY dig his stuff! I'd love to get some work from him sometime! Not sure if you posted photos of your scrimshaw already, but I'd love to see them.

I got an elephant tattoo last September. It's pretty simple compared to what has been posted, but I really like him. Got it done at Tattoo Paradise in Washington, DC. I'm no veteran (this was my second), but I liked the shop and the guys and girls there were great. Took the photo as it was healing - you can see all the skin that was peeling off, ha. Sorry!

HA. Noted. :) Thank you muchly, sir!

Thanks for the welcome and the reply. I'm not sure exactly what I would search for, but maybe you'll have some suggestions. I'm wondering how difficult is it to do the kind of shading I'd like -- I guess I was just going to post a photo that gives the idea and ask, can most tattoo artists do detail like this, or is this a little tricky, and I'd better make sure I go to someone really good? That kind of thing. Hopefully that's not insulting -- I don't mean it that way. The design is an elephant, and if it doesn't look really good, it's going to look pretty crappy, know what I mean? This isn't my design, but this design does get at the level of detail/shading I'm looking for: http://www.galleryoftattoosnow.com/OlegTuryanskiyHOSTED/images/gallery/medium/realistic-elephant-tattoo.jpg Thanks again for the reply!

Hello, Steve from Kansas. I'm new, too. I figure newbies can still welcome newbies? Hope that's not against the rules, ha!

Hola, folks. I've read through a bit of stuff here and find all of the different perspectives really interesting -- cool forum. I got my first tattoo in 2007 and am finally going back for another. I actually have a question about the "difficulty" of the design I'm working with and was hoping to ask for some more professional opinions from you guys since I'm not very well-versed in this stuff personally. I saw that I can't start a thread in the "Tattoo Questions" section until I have 10 posts, so if anyone wants to play 20 Questions right now, I'm game :) Thanks!