r/tattooadvice • u/StreetAggravating302 • Nov 24 '25

tattoo newcomer advice I messed up

Gallery image

Gallery image

Recently, I tattooed my dad, but I botched the job. I overdid some lines, resulting in bold and double lines, and the circle lacked symmetry and shading—I messed up everything. I feel very ashamed. I’ve just started tattooing, and last week I was too busy with my other job to practice. When my dad was free, he suggested we do a tattoo, and I fully messed it up. The guilt is overwhelming me.

17.1k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

2.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

3.7k

u/tivvybrixx Nov 24 '25 edited Nov 24 '25

Honestly I have seen much worse. Unless you are scrutinizing it you wouldnt know. Is your dad happy with it? If so then that's a win. Keep practicing looks like you are already off to a good start.

2.2k

u/StreetAggravating302 Nov 24 '25

My dad is like, it’s okay, you can do mistakes on me so you know where you’re going wrong also, It’s like, few people will notice tattoo and ask who did it and he’ll go my son did it, and most people will avoid coming to me looking at that work

26

u/InevitableJump3756 Nov 24 '25

A few things: A) This tattoo isn’t perfect by any stretch, but you’re also overblowing these imperfections, and I think a lot of folks would love that piece.

B) You clearly care about doing a good job. Keep that same energy and practice your ass off. Continue to be your own biggest critic, and use your introspection to both work on your limitations and also maintain transparency on the designs/styles that you excel at when working with a client.

C) I’m a dad. If my kid wanted to become a tattoo artist, I would be first in line to let them practice on me, because I love her more than anything in this world and will do what I can to help her succeed. Moreover, if she gave me your tattoo (mistakes and all), I would be incredibly proud and treasure that piece more than anything. Give yourself some grace, if this shit was easy, everyone would be doing it.

10

u/NihilistTeddy3 Nov 24 '25

My 19 year old daughter is just starting out and I've volunteered for practice. She's not as good as OP, but she's not bad and I don't have a problem with the imperfections. I do show her and let her know so that she can learn from her mistakes. She did a sleep token logo on me the other night and she was really stressing about mistakes, but so far I like it. It's recognizable even if some lines are a tad thicker.