Choosing a Design

As you will no doubt have been told by Parents, Friends, Siblings and just about everyone else “A tattoo is for life”, “Tattoos don’t wash off” and of course there is the “What if you don’t like it” and even worse “What if they do it wrong”, and yes, all of these sayings are true – so what can you do to avoid getting it wrong.

There are two key things you can do to avoid regretting your tattoo as soon as you get it, choose the right artist and the right design. I know it sounds a bit obvious, but it is amazing how many people get it wrong. This document provides some information on how to choose a design, you will find the documents Choosing an Artist/Studio and What You Need to Know on the Dragonslayer Tattoo Studio web site (www.dragonslayertattoo.co.uk).

OK, I lied, there are actually 3 things and the most fundamental is – don’t go down the pub on Saturday lunchtime, have a few beers and think “I know, I’ll get a tattoo”, then promptly walk into the high street tattooists, pick a picture off the wall and say “I’ll have that” (most reputable Tattoo artists will refuse to tattoo you if you are intoxicated through alcohol). A pair of jeans is probably cheaper than a tattoo and you can take them off, but you most likely spend more time picking the right pair, so think things through and don’t risk regretting your tattoo on a whim.

To get it right you need to choose your design concept and find your Artist/Studio in parallel, so please bear with me and refer to the other documents at the appropriate points, I will try to make things as clear as possible……

So, step 1 – identify the type of design you would like for your artwork. This is actually the easy bit, there are lots of tattoo related magazines out there for you to look through to see what other people have had done, but don’t restrict yourself to those, if it can be drawn it can be tattooed so check out illustrations, paintings, your own imagination – at this stage you don’t need to decide on your final design you just need to choose the concept and style of your design.

Step 2 – now you need to find the artist – see Choosing an Artist/Studio.

So now you have found and Artist/Studio you are happy with, you need to find your final design. If you have followed the advise, you now have a Tattoo Artist who likes the same styles you like – which will be reflected in the flash they have available – who is happy to advise and guide, so together you can find that perfect design, however please consider the following points to be on the safe side:

· Designs do not need to come from Tattoo Flash, it could be your own drawing, a picture in a book, or even someone else’s tattoo (mind you, how naff is that – girls think what it is like when you go to a party and find you are wearing the same dress as someone else, at least you can change your dress, if you have the same tattoo you are stuck with it)

· Your final design does not have to be exactly the picture you have available, colours can be changed, lines can be moved – again if you have found a good artist they will be as keen as you are to give you a unique piece of art, if they aren’t prepared to amend it then they probably aren’t that good.

· You can take elements of several pictures and combine them to create your design, this may be individual pieces (a flower, a dagger and a heart to create a total design) or smaller elements (I have a wizard that is made up from 4 or 5 different designs – the hat from one, the staff from another etc)

· If you know the concept you want, your Artist can probably draw it for you, sometimes this will be a drawing on paper, other times it may be directly onto your skin, either way you only need to have what you like but this is how you get a totally one off design and something that is very personal to you.

· Outlines – generally tattoos have a black outline and if you don’t say anything that is probably what you will get, however this is not necessary. Outlines can be done in any colour you like, even the same colour as the fill so the end result will look like there is no outline. Think about this, some designs benefit from the black outline so don’t just say “I want a pale blue outline” just because you can, but if you think your tattoo will look better with pale blue outlines, go for it.

· Blacks – we all know that there are lots of different shades of colours, however for Tattoos there are probably even more shades of black. There is the very dark black – Tribal – traditionally used for tribal designs, then there is black – Basic -  then there is the blue black some artists use as black, then there are the black shades which range from nearly black to very light grey. For the shading of your work your Artist will pick the best ones, however you do have a choice when it comes to the specific bits – if you are having some tribal work, think about whether you want it black (as you could go for a colour instead) if yes, do you want if to be a subtle black or do you want it to be very black, depending on your requirement check that the artist knows and therefore uses Tribal Black or Basic/Blue Black as appropriate.

o When you think about blacks (and colours) think about your skin tone. Often a 6ft tall tanned rugby playing man (OK they don’t have to play rugby, but you get the point) can carry the very dark Tribal Black, where a petit, pale woman needs more subtle shades.

· Body Part shape – tattoo flash designs are often created with a specific body part in mind - the obvious ones are the lower back pieces, the arm bands and the belly button rings – good examples will enhance the body part when positioned properly, follow your Artists advice on this one (if they don’t advise you ask the question – again a Good Artist won’t let you make a mistake, so are they a Good Artist?), as an upper arm piece positioned on the chest or back just wouldn’t look as good.

o This works for both sexes, however is probably more important for the girls. When you pick a lower back design, think about your body shape and what you want to accentuate. Some designs will flatter the waist, some will show off the buttocks, some will accentuate the curve of your back – get it wrong and the effect you want is not what you will get (in the same way wearing the wrong cut of trousers can make you look 2 sizes bigger) take a friend with you to help choose – if you have the design you like but the shape isn’t quite right a good artist will be able to amend it so that it works well with your body shape.