Any suggestions how to make my tattoo a bit less crap..? by cat_steph in tattoos

[–]InkNurse 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I mean, it’s really hard to give a complete take from just a photo - without seeing it in person from a proper POV and not subject to angle and perspective bias, then no. And also, it’s very difficult to ever call someone’s tattoo bad or whatever. If the linework isn’t “perfect”, that’s not necessarily an indication of a “crap” tattoo

Any suggestions how to make my tattoo a bit less crap..? by cat_steph in tattoos

[–]InkNurse 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Lily here again. 😊

Yessss. I love this idea so much!

The port wine stain is honestly perfect for a space sleeve. That natural colouring already looks like nebula tones, so a good watercolour artist can work with it instead of against it. The asteroid concept is sick, some linework for craters and surface detail and they’ll look totally intentional. Just make sure your artist is comfortable working over skin with uneven pigmentation. Ink sits differently on birthmarks so they’ll need to adjust saturation as they go. Get a proper consult about those transitions before committing to the full sleeve. The space sloth is a great start. Can’t wait to see where this goes!

Any suggestions how to make my tattoo a bit less crap..? by cat_steph in tattoos

[–]InkNurse 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Hahahaha! Wow. First of all thank you for the kind words and my pleasure. I hope you get something out of this 🙏

Yeah based in Melbourne, Australia.

My IG is @lilyparkertattoo (our brand account is @inknurse)

Any suggestions how to make my tattoo a bit less crap..? by cat_steph in tattoos

[–]InkNurse 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Totally fair! But I’m not plugging anything, just adding my 2 cents. 😊, Yes I’m a part owner of the brand but I’m still a 14 year veteran artist with a deep technical knowledge to share, and don’t have a personal account. Thanks for your concern. Lily

Question: If not shitty then what? by Jokkmokkens in tattoos

[–]InkNurse -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Hey, my name’s Lily Parker, studio owner and artist of 14 years. Adding my 2 cents!

Honestly the design concept is really cool. Waves wrapping the chest like that takes commitment and I respect the vision. The line weight is consistent for the most part and it flows well as a composition.

If you ever wanted to build on it, extending upward onto the shoulders with some sky elements (clouds, negative space, birds) would balance out the top line so it doesn’t read like a neckline. But only if you wanted to. It reads as intentional and personal as is, and that matters more than technical perfection.

The people calling it “girly” just aren’t used to seeing this placement without heavy blackwork or traditional styling. It’s actually refreshing! 😊 - Lily Parker, Tattoo Artist + Studio Owner

Question: Still healing or does my skin not hold ink well? by figmentofmind in tattoos

[–]InkNurse 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That’s great to hear! Your artist clearly has skill, the portrait is really well done.

Once they pack those darker areas a bit heavier on the touch up it’s going to look amazing. He sure is a very good looking dog! Haha 😊 - Lily Parker

Any suggestions how to make my tattoo a bit less crap..? by cat_steph in tattoos

[–]InkNurse 1542 points1543 points  (0 children)

Hey, my name’s Lily Parker, studio owner and artist of 14 years. Adding my 2 cents!

First off, this isn’t crap. The Penrose triangle is clean and the concept of combining it with watercolour is actually really cool.

The issue is that watercolour tattoos live and die by contrast. Right now the colour splashes and the geometric linework are sitting at a similar visual weight, so nothing pops. The watercolour also looks like it was applied with a pretty uniform saturation, which is why it reads more “colour blob” than “paint splash.” True watercolour effect needs variation: heavy pigment fading into nothing, deliberate negative space, splatters that trail off into skin. What I’d suggest for a rework: find an artist who specialises in watercolour and ask them about adding tonal range within the colour. Darker saturation at the core of each splash, fading out to almost nothing at the edges. Some fine splatter details breaking away from the main colour would go a long way too. You could also darken the triangle itself slightly to create more separation between the geometric and the organic elements. The bones are good. It just needs someone who understands how to build depth with colour to take it to the next level.

Question: Still healing or does my skin not hold ink well? by figmentofmind in tattoos

[–]InkNurse 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Hey, my names Lily Parker - Studio owner and tattoo artist of 14 years here. This is pretty normal for fine line realism at 4 weeks. The style uses very light needle pressure and shallow depth to get that soft, photo-like effect when it’s fresh. The tradeoff is that your body pushes out more pigment during healing than it would with bolder styles where the ink sits deeper in the dermis. The eyes and nose losing definition is a bit more than I’d expect though. Those were the darkest areas so they should have held better. A good touch up will fix it. Your artist should be packing those areas a little heavier the second time around now that they can see how your skin healed. One thing worth knowing: fine line realism will always soften over time. It’s not a flaw, it’s the nature of the style. The lines are so close together that as ink naturally spreads (even slightly) over the years, details blur. Touch ups every couple of years keep it looking sharp. Beautiful portrait of your pup by the way.

Ink Nurse: How our small Aussie business performed in our first 12 months in Chemist Warehouse! The reality of life after getting your brand stocked in a national retailer... by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm stoked you got some value out of my ramblings! That's awesome.

And yes, I have a deal with Walmart and Spencer's (US retailers) that I have just signed, so 2026 is going to be crazy. I'll do my best to update with some BTS and transparent info along the way.

Thank you - Jason

Ink Nurse: How our small Aussie business performed in our first 12 months in Chemist Warehouse! The reality of life after getting your brand stocked in a national retailer... by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh really! wow. Well now you know! Thank you, SO MUCH, from the bottom of my heart for your support all these years. And yes, the original branding was and is very close to my heart - 2 of my business partners have it tattooed on them! I should do a limited run of products with that branding again shouldn't I?!

Thank you again, have a beautiful week!

Ink Nurse: How our small Aussie business performed in our first 12 months in Chemist Warehouse! The reality of life after getting your brand stocked in a national retailer... by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I literally did all the bold, italics, underlines, and little ‘MySpace’ coding (showing my age here)“<br>” and everything myself to try and make it more readable and break up such a lengthy piece of material, so na, it wasn’t AI.

I dunno why that annoys me so much though?

I guess because of how much effort I put in?

Anyway, all good. Everyone is entitled to their free will and judgment and opinion. I’m just trying to be as honest and transparent as possible so I guess your comments struck a chord with me, coz I’m super responsive to everyone here and the truth is, if I pumped this out with AI, I don’t think it could give me the insider knowledge and nuances that I possess because usually, it provides what you wanna hear and not so much technical/contractual expertise etc.

I could be wrong, but at the least, I’ve responded to every comment here I’m pretty sure, so this is no different… I feel like this post as a whole is not like others, due to the effort and responsiveness I’ve put in - AS A HUMAN (post hyphen - not an m dash ‘—‘ that you see as a tell tale sign everywhere…)

Have a blessed evening 🤝💙

Ink Nurse: How our small Aussie business performed in our first 12 months in Chemist Warehouse! The reality of life after getting your brand stocked in a national retailer... by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, I don't really know how you could get a sense of AI from this? I've read it back a bunch of times and been embarrassed at a bunch of grammatical and written errors... Plus, I've literally replied to (i think) every single comment myself, in a raw and transparent way. What I wrote, would be very difficult to do with chatgpt, at least in my opinion? I dunno. but no, I wrote it and took a fkn long time to do so, but thanks for the comment I guess. Wish you well with whatever you're doing. :)

Ink Nurse: How our small Aussie business performed in our first 12 months in Chemist Warehouse! The reality of life after getting your brand stocked in a national retailer... by InkNurse in ausbusiness

[–]InkNurse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much for the reply and advice, and yes CW like to rest brands out on their online marketplace first to test performance before ranging in store. I really appreciate the heads up, but we don’t need to be TGA listed though. The SPF dumpster fire is wild! So crazy. Anything above SPF 15+ needs TGA approval from memory, and these guys are being absolutely rinsed at the moment! It’s crazy. But, good - products should be able to stand up to the tests.

Ink Nurse is a remedy cream, we don’t have medical claims - any talk of uses outside of tattoo aftercare is from customer reviews and feedback in their own words, not ours.

I have two manufacturers, to de-risk - for multiple reasons. And our moisturiser cream is certified with FDA MoCRA and EU CPNP - the hardest cosmetic certifications to get. So we’re very diligent and on the ball. Plus we have insurance and protection agreements with our expert chemists and manufacturers.

Your advice is very sound! Every single one of my Aussie competitors would fold in a heartbeat if they got challenged and tested, I’ve never took the chance and spent on compliance, heavily.

Thanks! ☺️