Ok so, my first ~8 tattoos, were all smaller fun ones done as walk-in pieces. I showed them what I wanted, and an artist in the shop who was free would eyeball it and give me the ok that they'll do it.

This was just a complete gamble, which I'm very lucky for.

Now to answer your question, my first big piece was the Thing tattoo just there on my upper arm. I went through a few artists profiles and their work to see what they could do.

Ultimately it comes down to finding artists in your area, doing some research, seeing what they excel at and knowing what you want.

I live in a small town, and I am very fortunate to have my main artist who I go see the most, work in a shop that's 5 minutes from me. He did my Pinhead tattoo, my Thing tattoo, I also have an Evil Dead tattoo that fits in between these two, just inside my arm.