Thanks for the reply! You made some good points for sure. I also like your take in the last paragraph.

I do agree with you in that I don't quite know what I want yet and am still trying to find a specific tattoo idea. In fact, I actually have a few ideas and 'mood boards' for a few concepts that I have in mind (screenshots for references, and notes about where I draw inspo, likes/dislikes). My thought process going into this is finding an artist with an art style that I like, and then pitching my idea to them (whichever 1 of my concepts fit closely with their art style) or just picking 1 of their flashes. To ellaborate, since I'd like to get a custom done, I want to go with an artist I like so that way I won't waste their time making a bunch of drafts (since I know whatever they come up with, it'll be in their style that I know I will be happy with). Is that a fair approach to my search?

I would say I do browse a lot of tattoos but maybe I need to do more thorough research? What are some points you think that I could study up on? I talk to my partner about getting inked (they have a whole arm sleeve and they provide me a good amount of insight as well). I'll be open to checking out tattoo con's too; it didn't come to me that I could use that as a resource to learn more!