Tattoo 101 : Tattoo Design

There are two main things when it comes to preparing for a tattoo…numero uno would be of course picking the tattoo design (duh!) and second of all is picking the location of the design. To me the latter is just as important as the design itself cos different designs look better in certain locations.

Rihanna's hip tatt

 Which is why I always advise people to do a thorough internet search first to see what other people have done. I usually research each tattoo for about a year cos it’s absolutely vital that it looks fab and in the location I want it at. This is for life after all peeps!

Nicole Richie's bow on the neck

Or sometimes you might have a rough idea of what you want but you could be artistically challenged like me (I can’t even draw a decent stick-man!) and need to see what others have done to help ‘shape’ your idea and design. And unless you’ve got a relative or friend who has the innate talents of Picasso…ok so that’s a stretch…maybe not Picasso but at least someone whose drawings elicits ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ as opposed to laughter (yes I’m talking bout me!!!), I would highly recommend either looking through tattoo books (which are available at the tattoo parlours of course) or the internet.

I prefer the internet cos you can Google the most insane things (like “tattoo you should get if you want to kill your grandma and bury her under the stairs”) and still come up with results which are pretty darn close to what you were looking for!

Alyssa Milano's orubus on the wrist

So for ideas on designs, you can check out this website which has pictures of people with their ink(s) all categorized nicely for easy navigation : Tattoo Designs

And while I know they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, that adage does not apply in the world of tattooing. In fact nothing screams loser more than copying someone's ink and it's (more than enough) reason to get bitch-slapped into oblivion.

So only use it to get ideas for your own design(s)

Good luck!

Images : Source Google Images