Graeme

Call me old fashioned, but good ol' face to face interaction works pretty well for me.  When I get tattooed I tend to talk tattoos with my tattooer, I see the tattoos they have and ask about them, I find out about the people they have been tattooed by, who they like and respect in tattooing. And then I try to seek out those people.  I am probably in the minority here but I wouldn't get tattooed based on portfolio or Instagram alone.
 
I also have a fair bit of experience getting tattooed and we all have to jump in somewhere so take my remarks as you will.

@Graeme absolutely the experience level helps - i enjoy talking tattos with tattooers as well - or just sometimes listening as tattooers talk to each other
at this point - when i get tattooed - most of the time tattooers want to see what i have and talk about what they have which is quite fun
this is why i think its crazy that someone would want to wear headphones while getting tattooed - you're missing all the good stories
 

Are these tattoos you have seen healed in person or are they pictures of fresh unhealed tattoos you've seen on instagram?  Because only one counts.

Here's the thing about pictures of tattoos on the internet: that may or may not be what the tattoo actually looks like.  Maybe it looks like that.  Maybe it's been adjusted in Photoshop or with some kind of filter.  This isn't unheard of.  For me, I'd rather see tattoos in real life, preferably settled in for a number of years before I determine who makes really bright tattoos or not.

@Tiresius welcome
couple thoughts - @Graeme has good points
healed and hairy is gonna always look different 
better actually
but i do think you can get a good grasp of the tattooers work on IG
as for asking about inks - yeah i wouldnt
i dont think you need to do 'damage control'
just move on
basically - if you arent a tattooer - you dont need to worry about those type of things
as least i dont - just find the right tattooer...and get tattooed
repeat :)

If you go big and bold it's going to look fucking rad. Tattooed flesh looks better than non-tattooed flesh. Fat doesn't figure into it at all.

So we're leaving soon to put some sand between our toes, and enroute we'll be passing by a shop in Daphne, Al that I've been wanting to visit = called The Bell Rose Tattoo. Owner Sean Herman both does awesome tattoos http://www.thebellrosetattoo.com/sean-herman but also operates a semi-attached side project/museum/blog called the Serpents of Bienville http://www.serpentsofbienville.com/. While the latter is not not tattoo specific it did also lead me to a mid-80's (nsfw) documentary hosted by Peter Fonda which even features Lysle Tuttle dropping trou(!). Was mildly surprised to not see any reference to it anywhere on this site, so here it is: http://www.thebellrosetattoo.com/blog/2016/1/7/signatures-of-the-soul 

Hi All!
I really like the look of well-executed munewari. I have only seen it on men and a few smaller breasted women.  As a larger breasted woman I am interested to see how munewari reads on...big boobs.  So.  To that end, does anyone have pictures to share? (lol good thing i've been here before because that ALMOST sounds creepy). Anyway, pictures of women, preferably with larger breasts, with munewari to the nipple.  (definitely sounds creepy. but i'm doing it for the tattoos guys!)
Thaaaankkks!
beez
(ps SF peeps, think i'll be down in the last half of august for tattoo!)

If you go big and bold it's going to look fucking rad. Tattooed flesh looks better than non-tattooed flesh. Fat doesn't figure into it at all.

@rose094 Hello and welcome! My guess is that it would depend state to state or shop by shop.  I've seen it while hanging out at a shop where I live, where a minor (I think 16 or 17?) was tattooed by a quality artist at a quality shop with her mother there with her even though they were here on holidays so residence wasn't an issue.  Tattoos aren't regulated at all here so I don't know how much of a factor that is, but it's in principle possible.  Check with the shop you want to get tattooed at.  Good luck.

I believe @Graeme is right. I used to live in Florida and you can get tattooed there with parent / guardian consent as a minor. Tons of tourists do this all the time and no one ever seemed to mind that they were from out of state. 
Sorry to read about your sister. Good luck with your tattoo. 

@rose094 Hello and welcome! My guess is that it would depend state to state or shop by shop.  I've seen it while hanging out at a shop where I live, where a minor (I think 16 or 17?) was tattooed by a quality artist at a quality shop with her mother there with her even though they were here on holidays so residence wasn't an issue.  Tattoos aren't regulated at all here so I don't know how much of a factor that is, but it's in principle possible.  Check with the shop you want to get tattooed at.  Good luck.

I don't think we're going to save every single person who sees this board from what we perceive to be a bad idea. People who want simple walk-in or street shop tattoos can still get a tattoo that is more or less well done, even if it's an infinity symbol or a phrase that we might think is dumb. For that matter, I'm going to guess that plenty of tattooers who have posted here have spent many hours making tattoos like this one at various points in their careers. And learning from it.

Guys. How about we be kinder and humbler on the newbie threads? This is really tedious and frankly not fun to read at all.

do you have an artist in mind? find a good artist and trust them with sizing and placement.

I don't think that getting a small script tattoo that isn't to the taste of people on this board is such a terrible thing. Just go to someone who will tattoo it well and solicit his or her ideas on placement so that it's the appropriate size for the body part it's on.

@sophistre You're making great progress on it!  It seems like it's coming together super fast!  The sessions might suck, but it's all worth it.

Agreed with Graeme! I've also been tattooed by Monga at Aloha and it was an incredible experience. That shop is a veritable candy-store for the tattoo enthusiast!

I got tattooed by Monga at Aloha Tattoo in Barcelona when I was last in Spain.  Look him up, he will do you right.

Hasn't this question already been asked several times in the past, with lots of advice already given??? 

Not sure if I posted in this thread yet. But this is my lion chest piece when just done. I really like it now after several months.

I don't get it.  Go into any shop and pretty much any tattooer worth getting tattooed by is going to have a sketchbook or binder full of ideas they'd love to tattoo.  Likewise, pretty much any tattooer worth getting tattooed by is going to continually try to push their boundaries and try to improve and be a better tattooer with each tattoo they do.  I know that there's been plenty of experimentation with techniques and materials on my skin, because that's a normal day-to-day part of tattooing and getting tattooed.

If you want to encourage artists walk into a good shop with money in hand.

This just sounds like a bunch of pretentious horseshit.

Good luck.

It's a noble idea, but I fear you will be prey for those who can't develop their ideas the conventional way - and can't because they are not capable to. You showing a potential artist that their idea doesn't have merit is going to be a very permanent display of a very fleeting failure.

I don't get it.  Go into any shop and pretty much any tattooer worth getting tattooed by is going to have a sketchbook or binder full of ideas they'd love to tattoo.  Likewise, pretty much any tattooer worth getting tattooed by is going to continually try to push their boundaries and try to improve and be a better tattooer with each tattoo they do.  I know that there's been plenty of experimentation with techniques and materials on my skin, because that's a normal day-to-day part of tattooing and getting tattooed.

If you want to encourage artists walk into a good shop with money in hand.

This just sounds like a bunch of pretentious horseshit.

Good luck.

@sophistre You're making great progress on it!  It seems like it's coming together super fast!  The sessions might suck, but it's all worth it.