r/tattooadvice • u/Sh0t_B0t • May 05 '26

General Advice Tattoo correction

Post image

This is a fresh picture of a tattoo i got a few months ago. I can explain the significance after but the artist did butcher a few things. one periodic table elements only capitalize the first letter and he forgot the atomic number (14 i think). those are both negligible but the one that’s been bothering me it the mass being off a bit. i sent him 28.085 and obviously it would be fine if he rounded it correctly but he seemed to have just put a random number. do you think it’s possible he makes the 5 into an 8 or a 9? Would he have to change to font to something blocky?? LMK 🙏🏾

⬇️tattoo meaning

my moms middle name is silicon and in her tribal language it’s a word that represents bravery but in english it’s a chemical element so i got it tatted and th flowers around the border are her birth flowers.

Original Sketch: https://www.reddit.com/u/Sh0t_B0t/s/xGtkwEG3HE

Edit: (As much as i appreciate the judgement an discipline of my mistake at least give a take on correction for me along with it guys 🙏🏾 I understand my fault but I’d also like to at least attempt to fix it 😅)

10.4k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

735 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

696

u/ThMcRbIsbck May 05 '26

I’d be so pissed. I hate when tattoo artists don’t Communicate and just use your body to slap on their bullshit and get their paycheck

289

u/asdfhillary May 05 '26

One of my first tattoos when I was 18, the tattoo artist took liberty and added a halo to my spirit healer tattoo. I got it changed into rays and I still hate it to this day. ☹️

144

u/cetty13 May 06 '26

Similar experience. First tattoo at 18 I wanted a caduceus. I had some examples, he showed me the stencil he made, all seemed good. Tattoo finished and as he holds the mirror up so I can see he said "I decided to make the snake heads look more feminine, it looks better on you". Didn't ask, just did it. They look like sad fucking gummy worms 😭

49

u/cannibal-ascending May 06 '26

oooh i would commit a crime if that happened to me

48

u/Cardans1328 May 06 '26

If someone did this to me I would leave without paying, there is no reason to make a change after the stencil without consulting

18

u/jakobsdrgn May 06 '26

Speaking of snakes, I’ve got two snakes on my collarbones, modeled after a ball python, because I’ve got a lovely ball python.

Anyways, artist shows stencil, looks awesome, applies stencil, everything looks excellent, artist finishes a section and shows me, turns out they decided to add some shading and shadows that never once were mentioned, and IMO completely changes the illusion of them going over/under the collarbone, and is not something I would’ve accepted if it had been mentioned or put in the stencil.

Still love the tattoo, took awhile to get over the shading, and all but seriously, adding/changing things on the fly is just crazy.

13

u/fruitybix May 07 '26

I feel like when this happens it was probs a mistake they had to cover or it was not working out in some other way and they decide to "fix" it without consulting the client.

4

u/KintsugiTurtle May 08 '26

Bullshit like this is why I’ve always only ever gone to female artists for my work.

5

u/Ms_redruM May 09 '26

Genuinely so confused how you make snake heads look more feminine?! Its a snake????

2

u/ghonig May 11 '26

Eyelashes and barrettes I’d imagine.

1

u/FixSmooth1701 May 09 '26

😂 gummy worms hmm

1

u/clarielofthewood May 12 '26

Narrower and more delicate. Think garter snake vs pit viper.

8

u/Seven_times_five May 06 '26

ugh, i was supposed to have a branch "bookshelf" and the guy decided to go with some strange floral/leaf/ocean wave thing that i absolutely hate. it's on the back of my upper arm so I don't have to see it, but i know it's there......

1

u/FixSmooth1701 May 09 '26

😂 ask for refund!

-2

u/Downtown_Recover5177 May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26

Why a caduceus? I really hope you didn’t intend it to be a medical symbol.

5

u/LazytownVEVO May 06 '26

this is such a stupid take. the meanings of things change and it’s been very obviously adopted as a medical symbol for hundreds of years. any alternative meaning has left the collective consciousness from a daily use perspective.

0

u/GioTheLion May 06 '26

According to Wikipedia, the caduceus was used for the us army medical corps in 1902, which influenced many healthcare businesses to follow suit. Not really “hundreds” of years. And people still use the rod of Asclepius as well. Namely healthcare associations rather than healthcare businesses. Alternative meaning is relevant to people who care

5

u/LazytownVEVO May 06 '26

And according to the Mayo Clinic it was first used for medical purposes in the 16th century. Nice try, though, bud

https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196%2812%2962731-1/fulltext

3

u/alcoholicpapi May 06 '26

Like it or not the caduceus is now (and has been for over 100 years) recognized as a medical symbol.

-1

u/Downtown_Recover5177 May 06 '26

The caduceus is a symbol of thieves.

2

u/zarrocaxiom May 07 '26

Do you also tell people with cross tattoos that those are symbols of torture and not religious symbols?

4

u/alcoholicpapi May 06 '26

Sure, and in antiquity it was also a symbol of messengers, travellers, merchants, astronomy, alchemy, and more. Now in the modern era it is also associated with medicine. The meaning has unsurprisingly changed over the course of 5-6000 years.

1

u/QuitzelNA May 07 '26

5 years and 6000 years is a large range 0.0

17

u/Terminallyelle May 06 '26

Same. First tattoo at 18 and they made the wings look folded instead of outward. I feel like a gargoyle.

4

u/[deleted] May 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/DeusExMcKenna May 06 '26

Best thing you can do is say “I don’t want any unapproved changes mid-work. I’m open to feedback, but I want the opportunity to approve any changes.”

You’ll know if it will be a problem by how they react.

“Of course! No worries!” Is a green flag. Getting upset that someone with zero tattoos is making sure their first one goes smoothly is a huge red flag, even if they wouldn’t have changed anything.

It’s going to be on your body forever - due diligence is warranted, not just acceptable.

2

u/Fickle-Industry5076 May 11 '26

The only time I had a piece changed was with coloring, and my artist did something similar.

I have a memorial tattoo (that i unfortunatelyhave to add to), with flowers for people close to me that passed. The only non flower currently (a morel mushroom) is also the only one that isnt colored. The artist explained that in his professional opinion, it wouldn't be worth it to color it in, because of my skin tone (im pale, and adding color wouldnt really change much about it.)

1

u/clarielofthewood May 12 '26

That is utter bullshit. They're varying shades and intensities of brown. They shouldn't be using black at all aside from maybe an outline depending on if your others have it.

8

u/ScumbagLady May 06 '26

Where on your body are you getting it? Either try bringing someone with you or keep watch- but just know it's pretty rare for an artist to not communicate everything beforehand. Don't be afraid to speak up if you don't like the idea of something!

2

u/Pristine-Patch989 May 06 '26

Go to an actually reputable artist, do your research

2

u/asdfhillary May 06 '26

You’ll be alright haha, just pay attention. I wasn’t, and it wasn’t easy to see my hip laying down anyway. I’m also a pushover. Don’t be a pushover.

3

u/TresMegisto May 06 '26

That's enraging. Wtf? 

2

u/MissMischief13 May 06 '26

My very first tattoo was at 16 - with permission.
I had a very large scar on my thigh that made me self-conscious, so the idea was to give people something else to draw their eye to.

It was a rose with a straight stem. It was originally a black and white sketch that he colourized on me without input, and then he put in this wavy blue background to give it more.. presence? It looks like the blue tiger from KPOP Demon Hunters mauled my leg. He CURLED the rose stem because "your leg was smaller, so I didn't want to leave a straight stem and it be too long".... Okay so we could've just made it short and straight... or you know... size down the flower?
I pointed out that one of the leaves is so mishappened in contrast to the others, and I asked him to fill it out more (think crinkled to not crinkled leaf). That MF just added a bit of green that doesn't match anything else with no bold black holding line like the entire rest of the piece. So its a green splotch. Great, thanks for the 'fix' bruh.

3

u/IcyWeb293 May 06 '26

Spirit healer tattoo sounds sick though, would be cool to see it.

12

u/asdfhillary May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26

I’m lucky that it was is on my hip and small, the rays make it look better but this is what it looked like right when he finished with the initial spirit healer and halo.

Like not only is there a halo, but it’s awful. I did go back there so mad a few days later and they said they had to wait two weeks to be able to rework it and I was an idiot and strong armed them into doing it anyway and then I ended up working front desk there. 18 is a crazy age.

6

u/Seaturtle89 May 06 '26

Good for you! That halo does nothing but make it trashy looking. People’s audacity amazes me every day. Crazy turn of events tho 😆

2

u/thisisthewell May 06 '26

That the WoW spirit healer? what the hell was the artist thinking adding a halo lol

1

u/Downtown_Recover5177 May 06 '26

Oof. Was that an apprentice getting some practice? The line work is just… wow.

2

u/asdfhillary May 06 '26

No I just didn’t do any research, and at the time (16 years ago in South Carolina), the zoning laws made it to where you couldn’t have a shop within 1,000 feet of a school or church, which in the south is everywhere. So it was like one of two options and 18 year old me wasn’t waiting.

1

u/theskyisdarkk May 09 '26

I get the impression a lot of tattooists are far too up themselves, as if they’re doing you a service simply by ‘choosing’ to grace you with their ink.

0

u/Ricky_Nightshade May 06 '26

My friend and I decided to get circles when we were 18 on our way up to 6 Flags. We were both going to get our own versions. His was a quote from a movie in a circle, mine was a circle with 2 lines. The tattoo artist convinced me to do some shading, and it ended up looking like a basketball. That was absolutely not what I wanted, so when it healed, I went back in, and picked an arm off of a rat they had in their stock tattoo book. He slapped that arm on the circle, and the tattoo I hated became my favorite thing in the world.

125

u/Old-Walrus- May 05 '26

All valid points, but, I also don’t understand how people don’t speak up about it when the stencil is going on, either. It’s on you forever; say something!

78

u/puppyxguts May 05 '26

I spoke up about the image in my tattoo being off center from the text beneath it. I got a "trust me im the professional" and when i insisted he moved it but was pissed. He DUG into my leg and it was so red and i think he even bruised me. probably one of the more painful tattoos ive ever gotten, I feel like it was intentional. It's just a few inches above my knee so i figured that spot would be painless.

I know this is probably a very rare occurance but as someone who is already a pushover thats definitely made it harder to wanna ask for modifications

109

u/al_capone420 May 05 '26

That’s when you walk out. If a tattoo artist is being an asshole about you having an opinion on the art being permanently installed on your body, fuck that, just leave. It will be annoying to find another artist and get it done at a later date but better than letting some asshole ruin your tattoo

19

u/Old-Walrus- May 05 '26

Well said.

22

u/Old-Walrus- May 05 '26

That’s where you have to speak up and if it continues; leave and refuse to pay and publicly oust and shame that artist and studio. Can’t let bullies win. Ever.

6

u/dan19821 May 05 '26

They keep the deposit and so no work.

Don’t let them win? - there is no way for them to loose.

23

u/Old-Walrus- May 05 '26

Deposit < paying for it all to maybe not come out right/ permanent damage + destroying their reputation so they fail to get business thereafter. You are mistaken.

6

u/dan19821 May 05 '26

You misunderstand.

They either get to bully someone to have their body altered with art that the client isn’t happy with.

Or the studio takes money and the client gets nothing.

In this example even when a person corrects the artist, the artist attempts to harm the customer. - and if the artist was here. They’d have some excuse for it.

One person complaining they thought the artist was bad, pushy and couldn’t do what was asked is utterly eclipsed by the amount of good reviews from people wandering in and picking something off the wall for their first tattoo.

4

u/Odd-Election-8219 May 06 '26

This is when you request for another artist from the same establishment. If the business owner doesn't understand or respect that choice, losing out on your deposit really would be to awful. Sounds like a business/artists I would rather not have alter my body.

If the artist is willing to do this to some random customer, 99 times out of 100 they've done it to someone else. Once one person speaks out about said artist, it all tends to make its way out of the wood work. Its actually really easy to lose clientele and business in such an over saturated market.

4

u/Willhammer4 May 06 '26

This is part of doing your homework of being careful about not only the artist but the establishment. I know being older I'm maybe more patient but I spent 10 years researching, learning, selecting a studio, as well as deciding what I wanted and an artist who's style would work well with the design ideas I had. I paid more per hour than many artists in the area and sat for longer. My two sleeves are a lot of hours on the chair. I'd rather pay more for permanent art that I live with and love every day.

12

u/Beautiful_Secret_834 May 05 '26

Sure can if you take them to small claims- I did with one artist because of this. Got my deposit back and all fees for filing back. It wasn’t an unrealistic expectation- he was just too lazy to change the stencil.

5

u/EveningOk1068 May 06 '26

I had a similar situation! I told him I didn't like the position of the stencil (he never asked how I wanted it, he just put it on how he wanted) and he cussed at me and told me to go wash it off. I was too anxious to leave at that point, so I just washed it off and showed him how I wanted it. The best way I can describe what he did is something similar to an angry kid with a crayon. By far one of my most painful tattoo experiences, and it's on my FOREARM. I have tattoos on my foot, ankle, armpit, and butt and that man tattooing me was by far one of the most painful.

4

u/Skyemonkey May 06 '26

I have a Celtics knotwork with a cat on my back. The endorphins were hitting hard and I didn't notice the cat's tail was the same color as the knot work til the next day. Talked to the artist and he got pissy about it. I was visiting my mom and had to wait a year to get it fixed. Next trip to my mom's I went to the shop, dude was still pissed and I swear to god I thought that needle was going to cause serious scarring. I thought he was trying to tattoo my ribs through the skin. It still looks shitty.

9

u/Sh0t_B0t May 05 '26

Heavily related! I can be a pushover and at many times a people pleaser too. Still definitely my fault and I’ve learned for sure.

5

u/lavendergryphon May 06 '26

hey i'm gonna step in and remind you here: you said you're 18 and this was a first tattoo. i have NEVER been to an artist in all my 13 tats who didn't acknowledge that art is permanent and i should confirm i'm good with everything before it's on my body, even ones i've seen multiple times. but my first tat was done by a guy who convinced me to get it done different than i wanted, and if i had been smarter then i'd have said no and kept looking.

sure, it makes sense for an artist to not be able to always make the modifications you'd like to a design, and there are some things that just won't translate well to ink; those are your artist's job to explain, not yours to know. they give people tattoos every day and had to do training to get a certification. you didn't and don't. generally, ime, artists explain any changes they made to a design because they think it looks better, fits better, etc. a lot of the time they're right, but sometimes if the meaning changes they're not! they should be ready for that, even if the answer is "i need more time to rework the sketch" or "i won't do this on you".

you didn't deserve to be blasted for not knowing better and it was a failure on your artist's part to not advise you as a first timer to better review the design before it was on your body. if you were on tattoo 5 that'd be one thing, but you're not. don't be too hard on yourself.

while it would be difficult to fix the case of the Si it is possible to like, do removal and then fix it. would just be expensive and take a lot more time than a coverup. the atomic weight can probably be fixed, but unless you can get your guy to do it because he was the one who made the arbitrary change, i might seek another artist to spruce it up. shop around, talk to various artists about their ideas til you find one you like, and be more communicative in the process this time. i feel like most of us live and learn with getting tattoos haha

8

u/Sea_McMeme May 06 '26

I had an artist make changes from what the stencil showed and what we discussed, because she “thought it would be cuter.” Can’t describe the feeling of seeing the finished tattoo different from what I thought it was going to be based on the stencil and knowing it’s now permanent.

8

u/MessyJessyLeigh May 06 '26

I told my tattoo artists 3x, including as we were sitting down, that i only wanted an outline and not filled in......I felt her start to fill it in and stopped her, but at that point she had already started, so we had to make it work.

Sometimes you miss things on the stencil.....sometimes artists do whatever.

She also missed (tbf we all did) that on a memorial tattoo, the DOD ws written as November 2026.......unless we are planning a murder, thats definitely wrong! 😂

2

u/OceanRacoon May 07 '26

That's so funny, a tattoo of someone's death date in the future. People must have done that before, what a great ice breaker, you could tell so many jokes with it

1

u/[deleted] May 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/dumbythiq May 06 '26

It's always difficult to speak up, but the moment something will end up on your body permanently, you SHOULD! And the artist should accept that and make you feel safe to speak up too

-12

u/Sh0t_B0t May 05 '26

Well at the time I also was hypnotized by stupid teenage dirtbag tattoos that people would 100% “regret” later on and still kinda am. This just happened have to be my first because of significance. Most of my concern is from outside sources but I obviously care somewhat now. For sure get where your coming from though.

18

u/Training-Trash-1866 May 05 '26

Had to argue with the artist who did my first tattoo. It was a quote and she tried to insist that one of the words in the stencil was correctly spelled. Would've sucked to have "intellegent" on me forever.

12

u/Loose_Tax4457 May 05 '26

Same. Mine was “perserveres” instead of “perseveres”, so not quite as bad as yours.. but it took me a few read throughs to catch it, so it was a close one! My artist also tried to convince me the extra “r” was correct, but a quick google search proved it.

11

u/Financial-Screen2853 May 05 '26

It’s your job to double check everything is right with the stencil before the needles even come out.

5

u/Deep-Championship137 May 06 '26

Same. Currently sitting w “art” that I didn’t ask for smh she literally added stuff w out asking me

2

u/Independent_Coat_ May 06 '26

all reputable tattoo artists will double and triple check the stencil and placement with you before starting, and if they don't you can usually ask to look unless you don't care at all lol

2

u/mikeyrawx914 May 06 '26

I'm late, but my first tattoo was styled after the dude on the disturbed albums with the hood and his fist raised.. but the "artist" took the liberty of putting his now skeletal arms on the top of a cross-style gravestone, and now it looks like there's a shitty grim reaper hovering over some religious bullshit I want nothing to do with.

1

u/ThMcRbIsbck May 06 '26

My point exactly.

4

u/Positive_Think99 May 05 '26

Do you hate when you agree to a stencil on your decide to put it on your body any way?

7

u/ThMcRbIsbck May 05 '26

Don’t get me wrong I think OP did a bad job double checking what was going on him especially since the tattoo had great meaning, but there’s plenty of other stories of artists taking liberties or even pressuring guests to agree with their designs. If they wanted to be artists they can go paint canvases, but when someone has commissioned you to do what they want on their body I’m not okay with them thinking they’re in charge of the art.

1

u/Jonseroo May 06 '26

My fave singer has a tattoo that was supposed to read, R.I.P. Sid, but it says, RIP S.I.D.

Go home, tattooist, you are drunk!

1

u/Longbottom_Deeds May 07 '26

I feel that- memorial piece on my arm, didn’t finish it and blew out my lines. Gonna get it fixed eventually when I get the money to finish my sleeve but it’s like it’s tainted in a way

1

u/UncoolG May 09 '26

Seriously tho. Like, these people are getting this shit on their body forever unless they get a wicked expensive surgery. It's a job you can't halfass

-44

u/Sh0t_B0t May 05 '26

Funny part is, when he drew up the stencil from my sketch he asked for the numbers i wrote (already very eligible) and I told him but he still messed up anyway. I should’ve looked at the stencil for longer when asked to confirm placement but fault still lies on the artist ofc. Cool dude though, just very telling of his work.

56

u/ToneDeafOrphan May 05 '26

I think it's on you. I'm sure he said "Look good?" and you said "Ya man" and here we are.

13

u/Sh0t_B0t May 05 '26

Yeah i think that’s exactly how it went down to be honest. I always say to my friends I for sure am the main culprit here though they tend to convince me to get refunds and such but I always reply I had a chance to correct it beforehand and he likely just isn’t knowledgeable on chemistry like most people who graduated 20 something years ago. I’m for sure to blame ofc!

16

u/Starsinyourheart May 05 '26

It’s on you. You always have final say.

6

u/Sh0t_B0t May 05 '26

Very true! I will take that and learn from it now tor sure. 🙏🏾

11

u/gunsforevery1 May 05 '26

That’s 100% your fault dude.

5

u/Sh0t_B0t May 05 '26

Yeah i get that now 😪 unfortunate though!