Rob I

Though I do like the concept of having earned my tattoos, I feel that way about all of my collection. Some tattooers seem to work in a way that is more painful than others, but it all hurts anyway. So my thinking on it is get tattooed by people who's work you can't live without.
With proper after-care and a bit of luck all the work of the pro tattooers we so often discuss here heals well. They may apply it a bit differently from one another, but in the end it's all about the healed image. They know that too and work to make it happen. So if two tattooers inspire you equaly and one is known for their soft touch go for it! Otherwise I figure the process is less important than the final outcome.

No one ever must get any tattoo, well at least outside of Russian prisons. So if you are going to get someone's name make it bold as hell because you love you mom or kid that much!!! Or delicate and beautiful, just saying don't get a name thinking you may want to cover it one day, that's just dumb.

This. All day long: this.


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Please don't get that. Tattoo artists are professional artists who specialize in that medium, if you choose a decent one, they'll be able to design something that will look great and still get across whatever message you want.

In general, I discourage people from getting words on them, unless it's a bold font. Words tend not to age well, plus you're going to have a lot of people grabbing whatever body part you get them on and twisting you around to read them. It's bad enough when people want to see what an image is, they're extra nosey about reading words for some reason. I would encourage you to think of an image that represents what you want. Images usually look better as tattoos and you don't always have to be so literal about what you're trying to express. Whatever you do though, you don't have to draw what you want. Maybe find some examples of the style or elements you like and bring in the pictures to the artist to help steer them, but they can (or should) be able to handle the drawing portion.

@Vix35 have you seen this lady's white tattoo recently?  White does not last well on its own, and honestly in my opinion will eventually look like a scar or some sort of skin issue. 
If you dislike your tattoo and don't want to cover it with something MUCH larger, you can opt to have it lasered off. Expensive and painful. 
Or do what dan suggested.  A very good idea in my opinion  
 

I may just be looking at the site through rose coloured glasses this past week, but it seems to me people have been giving good and friendly information of late. Just today I think we may have saved a woman from an instagram white tattoo of doom.
Go team LST!
+1 for cat healing. Derm to cat licks = no scabs and no flakes!

Yes!!! Awesome!!  Have my chest done by him and I will agree it was BRUTAL!  Congrats on doing this in one shot!

I think it comes down to these as your options:
1) Laser it completely - Takes a lot of sessions to completely remove, which can get expensive and painful. Might not be TOO bad for something that size though.
2) A couple laser sessions to lighten it and then a cover-up - Gives you more options to work with after you break up some of that black.
3) Cover it as is - Unless you want a bowling ball or a tiny panther, it's going to need to be fairly large to cover it and not look like a cover, at least palm sized...and you would probably need a lot of dark colors to cover all that heavy black. You can have an artist look at it and see what they think might work, but be prepared for it to be much larger than you might want.
4) Add some vines and frilly stuff like @Dan said - It's only going to make the tattoo bigger and might still not give you the look you want if it's the backbone of the tattoo that you seem unhappy with...adding to it might just give you more to dislike. It's up to you though to decide if you want a complete overhaul or just some minor changes. Be honest with yourself about what parts of it, if any, you really like and want to enhance.
5) Get awesome tattoos elsewhere on your body and/or learn to love what you have - Sometimes trying to fix stuff just makes it worse and the best option is to just live with it and laugh it off as a dumb mistake. Surrounding it with awesome work takes the focus off it. Maybe not an option for you if you don't want to be a more heavily tattooed person. In that case, just try to accept what you have if lasering or a cover-up is really not an option for you.
Whatever you do, I would not suggest adding white anywhere. It tends to get yellow/brown with age and I think it would just muddy up the tattoo more. It isn't going to stay nice and crisp like Instagram always shows it looking.

Thank you so much guys for all the advice. Think I'm going to just either just live with it as it is (I don't hate at all just would prefer for it to be a bit more delicate) or laser to lighten and have a little more work done with a good artist. You've all definatly put me off the white! As you say pictures on the Internet are not a good gauge to use. 

@Rob I, you've got something really similar to what Chad did for me in the same spot, except mine is a panther and rose. The first line he pulled basically knocked out a whole leaf in one go and I was like  on the inside but trying to look tough, I thought he was never going to lift his machine.

I want a new tattoo so bad but I'm going to be going through a minor financial crisis soon and I can't. I'm just going to live vicariously through you guys and people on Instagram.

Some more on my flowery critters sleeve. This was taken before the addition of a big bumble bee right on the side of my elbow below the Freddie the frog. 
The bee is taking some healing but should be good for a photo session next time. 
Going to finish up round the top at the next siting and do some more filling in elsewhere.  Some butterflies coming soon too. 
I can't believe how much I love it.  Can't stop looking in the mirror :) 

If it's any comfort, he's also ridiculously fast!

Yeah, Chad has that special touch, but always so worth it. I remember him saying that he thinks his tattoos will last longer because he gets more ink into a given line than your average tattooer. Maybe that's why it hurts so good. The bruising goes away as Rob said. 
Get something from him! It's a club worth the entrance fee.

I got tattooed by Chad on an "easy" spot  (outer thigh) and didn't have bruising even though I'm a big wuss and bruise easily. If you really want to get tattooed by him, you should!

You WILL bruise.  But that goes away and it's totally worth it
pics attached were from my latest from Chad on the inside of the bicep. Taken the day after and under tegaderm. 

Thanks! So glad I'm done!
Thanks! No worries! Chad is also super fast! That's also part of why I chose him to do my chest piece. Great guy!
Thanks! Yes, that's the price to pay! Luckily I don't have to do it again!

yep,I bruise like that on my upper arms and thighs.but like you said though,no biggy,it goes away.

You WILL bruise.  But that goes away and it's totally worth it
pics attached were from my latest from Chad on the inside of the bicep. Taken the day after and under tegaderm. 

Got this done by Chad Koeplinger today! Really happy!

Man i don't envy you guys at all, i got a one shot from chad on the back of my forearm and it sucked. Great experience with Chad but he's definitely the most heavy handed guy i've ever been tattooed by.
Saying that, i don't envy the experience but i absolutely envy the work!

@ItsNewport that is fantastic!!!

Yes!!! Awesome!!  Have my chest done by him and I will agree it was BRUTAL!  Congrats on doing this in one shot!

Yes!!! Awesome!!  Have my chest done by him and I will agree it was BRUTAL!  Congrats on doing this in one shot!

@Vix35 have you seen this lady's white tattoo recently?  White does not last well on its own, and honestly in my opinion will eventually look like a scar or some sort of skin issue. 
If you dislike your tattoo and don't want to cover it with something MUCH larger, you can opt to have it lasered off. Expensive and painful. 
Or do what dan suggested.  A very good idea in my opinion  
 

Got this one shot done by Chad Koeplinger today! The chest was way more painful than I thought it would be!