Tattoos are not meant to be perfect?
Been stalking this subreddit for ages, and when looking at some of the post this has repeatedly come to mind. I learned when getting a tattoo from an experienced tattoo artist in Montreal.
He was a guy who liked to do American Traditional tattoos and I asked him for a certain design as a walk in and he sketched this up for me.
After he was done, before I left the table, I noticed a small part of the left wing did not connect after squinting and putting my face about 4 inches from the tattoo.
He jokingly put his face about 1 inch from the tattoo and said “is anyone going to be looking at it like this?”
He also asked if I wanted the red ring around it and I consented so he did it in 1 pass after the main part of the tattoo was done. At first, I didn’t want it when he suggested it, but it gave such a cool raw edge to the tattoo and I’ve gotten many compliments on it.
What I learned from him and another AmTrad artist is that tattoos are not meant to be perfect. In the age of Fine line and Instagram tattoo portfolios, we are looking at tattoos with a microscopic lens, and getting upset when even the is tiniest thing is not perfect.
I do understand it varies for different tattoo styles, but remember guys tattoos are artwork, and no one is going to be as critical of a tiny imperfection as you.
I also attached one of my favorite tattoos that I got on Friday the 13th. I asked my typical guy if he was available, told him what I wanted, and he asked “can I do my thing?” so he freehanded the cloud and lightning and it’s become one of my favorite tattoos.
please guys don’t start feeling existential dread because something you see on your tattoo is not instagram perfect.