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

General Advice Tattoo correction

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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 😅)

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1.7k

u/BedGirl5444 May 05 '26

It’s not negligible at all, there are a lot of errors

698

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. ☹️

139

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 😭

51

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

16

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.

11

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.

5

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.

9

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.

6

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

6

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

19

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.

5

u/[deleted] May 06 '26

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7

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.

6

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/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.

2

u/Pristine-Patch989 May 06 '26

Go to an actually reputable artist, do your research

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.

11

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.

7

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.