#tattoo critique

[critique-my-tattoo]

First tattoo!

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I can’t tell if it’s finished or not; it looks a bit unfinished? That may just be the style, though.

If it IS unfinished, please consider resubmitting when it’s done.

However, assuming it’s not unfinished…

It looks all right. I’m not a super huge fan of the how the petal detail on the largest flower looks with no shading. To me, it makes it look strange, like stripes instead of petal detail, but that’s more a personal preference.

The lines are evenly done on it, so I assume it was a stylistic choice and, for the style that was chosen, it looks just fine.

The outer lines on the piece all look to be pretty solid and even in thickness, so no complaints there.

The inner circles on the border flowers look as though they were supposed to be imperfect, like one might find at the center of a flower, and they all appear to be done pretty evenly so no complaints there.

The placement looks good, it seems to be centered on the arm nicely.

Honestly, I think this piece would look amazing with some shading and coloring as I tend to not be the biggest fan of minimalist style tattoos (I like me some color or at least some grayscale shading!), however, if the minimal black lines only is what you were after then it’s just fine as is. :)

[critique-my-tattoo]

Just found your blog sweet idea have so many tattoos to show but this one seems the most fun to summit too see what you think (:

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It’s a little weird, to be honest, but not because of the colors or design, because the banana coming out of the peel is a bit too skinny so it looks strange.

That may be the style, however.

I’m not sure if the wavy lines on the blue part are intentional or not, but on the right side they’re rather wavy in odd places. That may just be the attempt to shade it so it looks more cylindrical, it’s difficult to tell. The left side also appears to have some wobbles in the line as well.

There are a couple other spots along the peel that look like they’re a bit wavy and possibly slightly blown out (the ‘fuzzier’ lines look a bit blown out). On the outer curve of the peel the line changes in thickness pretty dramatically which doesn’t look quite right from a technical standpoint.

It may have been an artistic choice but it comes off looking like the artist was going along just fine then suddenly started pressing harder.

That varying line thickness in areas one would expect to see a consistent line thickness is present throughout the piece, so I’m thinking it was probably intentional and not the artist varying pressure at random places. Still, it’s not the best look; I don’t feel that ‘shabby chic’ works well with tattoos, but that’s a personal opinion.

The ‘rectangle end’ part of the left peel looks strange too, and I’m unsure as to why the artist didn’t make it look like a normal peel as they did with the one on the right. Again, that may be a stylistic choice, but it’s one that’s a little unpleasantly jarring since the end of the rectangle extends slightly beyond the peel itself.

The colors are all right (not my favorite combination, but that’s just a personal thing and not a technical issue), but the way they were put in looks—odd, almost like the artist wasn’t sure how to shade; there’s an obvious solid line at the edge of the color and the areas that have no ink, which is usually the sign of an artist who isn’t very confident in how to shade. There shouldn’t generally be harsh lines between transitions when shading like that.

Overall, it’s not terrible, but it’s something that would make me not go back to that shop again just based on how uneven all the line thickness is throughout the piece.

But, as always, if you like it and are happy with it, then it’s just fine. :)

[critique-my-tattoo]

It won’t age well, if that’s what you were trying to ask in the other post that cut off mid-word.

It’ll look mostly fine for probably 5-8 years (possibly a year or two longer if it’s on a very low movement area of the body), then, with how tattoos just naturally age on most peoples’ skin, all the fine lines and details will blur together and just become a blob, especially at that size. About twice that size and it’ll be able to go much longer without losing so much detail it just looks like a Rorschach test.

Fine detail often eventually muddies itself up even on huge tattoos over time just due to how the body deals with ink in the skin over time. Even on my largest pieces that are coming up on 14+ years old, the areas of super fine detail have long since blurred out; if you REALLY look you can still see them but otherwise you just get the idea of what it is based on the shape. There’s enough detail left to tell what it is and what it probably looked like fresh, but they’re 14+ years old now and a lot of that fine detail has gone a little fuzzy. It’s just how it works in most peoples’ bodies.

[seventieskid]

Iron Giant and Hogarth for my son

[critique-my-tattoo]

This was the 1st session-I really like the design but I’ve 4-5 people tell me it is horrible and would like your opinion.

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They're right, tap out now and find a better artist to try and fix this.

The shading is terrible and blotchy, the linework is shaky at best, and if you let the artist who fucked this up continue it'll be an even bigger, more expensive mess to fix or remove.

Find an artist that specializes in cover ups or fixing scratcher level tattoos, and be prepared to pay a lot more than you would have if you'd gone to a decent artist to begin with.

DO NOT go back to the artist that did this, even if they swear they can fix it or it'll "look better" when it's finished, they can't and it won't.

[critique-my-tattoo]

Been working with this artist for about 2 years on this sleeve. The birds were already there from a previous session with this artist. I just wanted clouds to fill in the background. This is what I got…what do you think?

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Uh.

Well, if you're happy with it...

The shading is pretty awful, even for stylized swallows those are bad (I mean c'mon the wings are coming out of the head for a start, and if it's only been two years there is no way the lines on those swallows should be that faded looking unless you're one of those 'I never wear sunscreen and am also outside in the sun most of the time' sorts...), it almost looks like two different artists did both parts pictured, and really, personally, I'd have switched artists after those awful swallows but, again, if you're happy with the style that's all that really matters.

Can't really judge the shading on the clouds too much as it's still fresh and shading often looks darker than it will heal as when it's fresh, but it's got some really harsh lines between the varying shades and not what I'd expect to see even on a fresh tattoo with properly done gradient shading. It's likely going to be choppy and weird looking instead of soft and cloud-like with lighting dynamics when it heals just based on what it looks like right now.

Those reddish birds will, without any defining darker lines on them, just look like reddish blobs in a few years.

From an overall skill-of-the-artist standpoint however, this is very, very mediocre and if their hourly is over $60, I'd be amazed and also tell you they are vastly overcharging for the level of their skill.

If you're not happy with it, start looking into artists that specialize in cover ups and be prepared to pay a hell of a lot more for a good coverup than you've paid over the two years for this.

[critique-my-tattoo]

So, I a bit of backstory on this. I got this about six to eight months ago now and I loved everything about the artist until he put this on my arm. His portfolio was solid and everything was fine, even the stencil looked good. Then he finished and the black was too close together and I basically lost his face to the machine. This is less of a critique request and more a cry for help - can this be fixed or covered? Exactly how bad is it from a technical standpoint?

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It could be fixed up or covered but you’d need to do a lot of research and look for an artist who primarily does cover ups and has a larger portfolio of examples of their work.

Keep in mind, depending on what the end goal is:

- You may need to go through a few rounds of laser removal to lighten it up enough to be able to get it covered or fixed up.

- Artists that specialize in cover ups tend to be significantly more expensive than regular artists, just something to keep in mind.

[critique-my-tattoo]

Got this done recently from a flash sheet at a place that came highly recommended, but I’m heartbroken about the terrible lines. Planning to get some shading/color at a different place after more healing time and better research. Do your worst! 

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Shading and color aren’t going to really help hide the lines on a piece that small; on a larger piece, sure, but that’s very small and trying to busy it up will just make it more of a mess as it continues to age.

They won’t fix the crooked ass uneven diamond frame either. That’s piece that’s either a “live with it” piece or a piece you have covered with a larger version of something similar by an artist who knows how to do basic line work. If you go that route, be sure you choose an artist that specializes in cover ups.

Good cover ups require a different set of skills than just general tattooing, and the price will reflect that.

Forget about recommendations, a lot of people with really shitty tattoos “highly recommend” their artists, and don’t rely on IG portfolios, ask to see an artist’s printed portfolio and ask to see examples of their HEALED work.

If they can’t show you examples of healed work, which is where any minor or even more glaring mistakes will show up (even bad tattoos often look best when fresh due to swelling and ink not having had time yet to blow out or heal patchy), cross them off the list of artists you want to consider. The other option is, of course, laser it to fade it or remove it, then have it redone somewhere else (or just leave it removed), just be aware that if it leaves scar tissue that can sometimes be harder to get to take ink, even with an artist who has experience tattooing over scars.