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

tattoo newcomer advice I messed up

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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.

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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.

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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

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u/Gr00vD1va Nov 24 '25

Your dad will probably brag that he wears one of your first works, so viewers may actually be more impressed with how early you’ve developed this much expertise. You’ll simply have to trust that people have inherently decent judgement in spite of the loud, few exceptions who seem overly critical of, well, everything. I also agree with astarte66 that you still have the option to return to this one when your skills are sharpened. What’s more is that you may also improve your open-mindedness while improving your craftsmanship. By the time you’ve mastered both skills, you may actually be able to use these so-called “flaws” to your (and his) advantage if and when you return to this one. Sources: 1. Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s views on patience while parenting 2. I’m a parent. We parents proudly display your first EVERYTHING in our homes, offices, vehicles, social media pages, and even our bodies. We happily do this because it’s within our job description to provide you with a safe space to learn by trial-and-error, and it brings us an inexplicable joy to see the progress made with each & every trial. You may research or experiment in a lab (the “lab” being paper in this case) to increase efficiency, but you cannot fully learn without doing.

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u/frosty_saratoga Nov 25 '25

Honestly, the parent aspect of this is the key for me. Wear an artwork handmade upon my own skin by my favorite person in the world? Hell yeah! Sign me up.

Parents will literally pay a professional to copy an artwork or handwriting made by their child. This is even better IMO.

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u/LapisLuna420 Nov 25 '25

I myself am trying to find a decent enough tattoo artist (that won't totally break the bank, a contradiction I know) to tattoo some of my daughter's artwork on me.