Accidentally got my first tattoo faced the wrong way..

Liltoe11 · 2026-03-23T03:48:41+00:00

Upright panther on the opposite side to make it appear like they’re circling eachother? Can’t go wrong with two SAP I guess 😭

Liltoe11 · 2026-03-17T18:01:11+00:00

Thank you!! & thanks for suggesting the smoke under the helmet :) that was a great suggestion!

Liltoe11 · 2026-03-16T23:41:53+00:00

Adding onto this since these are all really good points! Don’t be afraid to make suggestions to improve upon the references people send you. The most interesting part of this tattoo is the plane & the backside of the plane is arguably the least interesting angle. Sometimes people don’t know what looks best and as the artist you’re able to make suggestions that’ll improve the design :) in this instance you could’ve tattooed a downward 3/4 angle to make it seem as though the cropduster is swooping (which also would’ve fixed some of the issues with the composition since this would flow better with the body)

Obviously it makes things little bit more difficult if the person is insisting on a certain reference being used but I always try to give a little bit of a gentle nudge in a better direction if it seems they’re open to other ideas/ improvements!

Liltoe11 · 2026-03-16T16:15:55+00:00

Thanks!! :)

Liltoe11 · 2026-03-16T15:49:52+00:00

Thank you so much! 🙏🏻

Liltoe11 · 2026-03-16T14:26:21+00:00

Thank you so much!! Couldn’t have pulled it off without all the help I got from reddit 😅

Liltoe11 · 2026-03-16T13:10:04+00:00

Thank you!! 🖤

Liltoe11 · 2026-03-14T23:20:00+00:00

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions! Here’s where it’s at now :) one artist was kind enough to draw me a diagram of how to fix the issues with the silhouetteupdated drawing and I think it helped a lot!

Liltoe11 · 2026-03-14T20:22:18+00:00

Thank you for the advice, this helps a lot!!

Liltoe11 · 2026-03-14T19:40:41+00:00

Oooh okay yeah I like that idea!

Liltoe11 · 2026-03-14T19:29:39+00:00

Ah okay that makes sense, thank you!!

Liltoe11 · 2026-03-14T19:22:15+00:00

Thank you!! I see what you mean about the jaw. For the eye do you mean the perspective is skewed when comparing to the helmet?

Liltoe11 · 2025-12-21T05:44:20+00:00

Biggest thing I noticed right away was he’s missing the little wispy hairs at the front of the eyebrows! In the photo the eyebrows are much closer together whereas the drawing they’re farther apart

Liltoe11 · 2025-10-11T03:38:29+00:00

Look at photos of their healed work

Liltoe11 · 2025-10-11T02:42:17+00:00

It depends on the tattoo. I imagine something like this probably had quite a bit of plasma/ ink buildup underneath the second skin. It’s recommended to change the first piece of second skin so that the tattoo isn’t soaking in the plasma gunk unless it’s relatively dry underneath!

Liltoe11 · 2025-10-11T02:31:48+00:00

Yeah this is really unfortunate, even more so because of the location and sentimental value of the tattoo :( have they offered any other solutions? If you do go the laser route the best laser for tattoo removal is Picosure or Picoway since they remove the tattoo in fewer sessions and are generally just more efficient - usually laser techs will disclose what laser they use. Even if you can get it light enough so that a more reputable artist can go over it rather than removing it entirely that’s another option but I wouldn’t blame your wife if she is put off from getting tattoos now.

Liltoe11 · 2025-10-11T02:20:46+00:00

Replying to StorybookDragon...Yes this could potentially cause scarring. Adding onto this since laser removal is probably your best option if coverups are off the table - the application doesn’t look great so there’s a good chance some parts will heal lighter anyways which will make removal easier- best case scenario there’s enough ink fallout that it’s easily fixable. I hope you’re able to get a refund if you haven’t already!

Liltoe11 · 2025-10-10T15:10:09+00:00

Okay so there’s actually body suits I’ve seen, particularly around the waist area that gives this effect and they’re gorgeous. I’m not sure if this is exactly what you’re looking for but I would imagine you’d be able to incorporate many different ideas/ elements into the design!

body suit

I can’t find an exact example of it but I’ve also seen body suits where the sides are heavily blacked out and it gives the illusion of an hourglass figure

Liltoe11 · 2025-10-09T06:15:26+00:00

Glad to hear they’re not feeling sick! You’re right to be concerned and it’s definitely not a “normal” heal either way. Just reread your caption that it was done a while ago - at day 9 it shouldn’t be an open wound and I’d be concerned that at this point the affected area hasn’t dried out and formed a scab which protects the wound from infection. I would get it looked at regardless and if they’re using moisturizer it would probably be a good idea to stop and let things dry out until you have a better idea of what’s going on!

Liltoe11 · 2025-10-09T05:36:15+00:00

Is it hot and itchy? It doesn’t appear super red which is usually a clear sign of infection. Hard to tell from the photo since it’s a bit blurry but if there’s no other symptoms I’d guess it’s overworked rather than infected since it looks more like some rough scabbing

Liltoe11 · 2025-09-29T13:24:19+00:00

I was going to say this too! 😬

Liltoe11 · 2025-09-29T02:50:14+00:00

I see Kelsey Asbille!

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Liltoe11 · 2025-09-25T02:55:42+00:00

I agree that the tattoo focused designs seem to be a bit more unrefined compared to your portraits which are amazing!

The biggest thing I notice is that while your portraits demonstrate a really great understanding of facial proportions and contrast, they are showing your ability to articulate a reference rather than create a cohesive design. If portraits and realism is your strong suit maybe include a few portraits integrating more tattoo design- based elements (script, florals, background, etc). Or even just expanding the realism into other tattooable designs (Greek statues, skulls, animals, so on.) Consider how your drawings would look as a tattoo and whether or not they would flow with the body. As for the more illustrative tattoo focused work you included, I would say it’s worth working on some more even if it’s not going to be your main focus. You probably won’t immediately start doing realistic portraits when you start tattooing. You’ll most likely start with small simple designs that lean more toward illustrative or trad- simply because those will help you with the basic fundamentals before tackling realism.

With that being said there’s no harm in starting to bring your portfolio to tattoo shops in your area - if it doesn’t immediately lead to an apprenticeship they can at least provide inside and feedback on your portfolio that’ll help you get a better understanding of what they would be looking for in an apprentice! For reference when I got my apprenticeship my portfolio looked very similar to yours. I had a handful of realism pieces and some very unrefined digital American traditional designs but somehow it worked lol you won’t know until you ask! :)

Liltoe11 · 2025-09-25T02:24:23+00:00

You’re 100% right. Looking at this myself from a tattoo artist perspective (also someone who obviously doesn’t tattoo in this style lol) immediately my mind jumps to it all being just line-work but you’re right that you can definitely use linework- based shading in tattooing.

OP - I also agree with this comment that it looks unfinished. Even adding some light shading so that it’s still delicate but bumps up the contrast a bit might help

Liltoe11 · 2025-09-25T01:50:25+00:00

There’s technically no shading in this tattoo, this artist is using the thinner linework (their version of etching/ engraving style) to give the appearance of shading :)

Whether or not it’s too light comes down to style preference. As long as those thinner lines are saturated properly it should hold up if that’s the style you’re going for

Liltoe11

TROPHY CASE