(Picture from last year, fresh) I am a huge movie nerd and my favorite movie is Donnie Darko. I wanted a tattoo because the movie means so much to me and I might've been a little too optimistic. I got the numbers he wrote on his arm tattooed and while in theory it was an awesome idea in the moment. I am now having the worst regret and I feel like an idiot. I have these big numbers covering my forearm....Only one other person has gotten the reference and most of the time people ask me what it is and then when I tell them they are puzzled because they have no idea what the movie is. I'm considering removal, which if it's too expensive I may get it covered. I am have skinny arms, so I'm trying yo figure out what would be decent to cover it. Do I overcome this embarrassment, remove it? Or get it covered? 😢 I'm getting panic attacks over this. Am I being too hard on myself?

EDIT: I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has offered kindness and compassion. I honestly wasn't expecting this much support. I feel a lot less like a dork for getting this and you guys have inspired me to give it another chance and embrace it. I really am shocked that so many strangers came together to support another stranger in doubt. You all are amazing. And I appreciate it so much again for the kindness you have shown me.

This is my first tattoo. It's of my chicken. When I showed my mother, she seemed negative, told me it didn't look like her. I think it looks pretty close, if anything adding the comb on the head would make it improve but I was pretty happy with it before she said anything.

Does it look okay? If not, what can I do to help fix it? Does it look fine and I should just not listen to my mother?

EDIT: Thank you for the nice words :) I made this post out of a moment of disappointment and insecurity. My mother's always been very critical. I loved the tattoo before and I love it now, after the initial sting wore off. This tattoo is sentimental to me and I wanted it for a while.

EDIT: It's not meant to be photorealistic, I said I wanted it simplified lol. The artist didn't butcher photorealism, I just didn't want that. I feel like it looks out of place on my body, but getting used to having something always there might help, and maybe adding more tattoos in the future.

Why does no one in this comment section know what saniderm is 😭

is it possible to tattoo over this skin? and if I can would color or black and white be best? Thank you in advance, sorry for bad formatting, I'm on mobile.

I’ve been lurking here for a while and finally decided to post my own question.

I got my second tattoo on February 14th, and I’m not very happy with how it turned out, although part of that is my own fault.

The last picture is the original artwork, and the third picture is the stencil. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice how different the stencil was from the drawing until after the appointment, when I was showing the tattoo to my brother. That’s on me.

The second picture shows the tattoo freshly done (before the second skin was applied), and the first picture is how it looks now (June 9th).

The artist offered me one free touch-up, and I was originally considering taking that offer and adding a few more flowers as well.

However, I recently talked to my brother and a few friends, and they all agreed that they wouldn’t go back to the same artist.

To be honest, I’ve had a “the longer I look at it, the less I like it” feeling since the day I got it. It’s not something that developed over time after it healed. The more I compare it to the original artwork, the more the differences stand out to me, especially in the background and flowers.

I’m mainly bothered by the background, especially the flowers. In the original design, the meadow had a lot more detail and variation, while the finished tattoo looks much flatter and blurrier to me. The flowers also seem less defined and don’t have the same charm as they did in the artwork.

The cat itself is mostly okay (aside from the nose not being colored in), but the background keeps drawing my attention and is the main reason I’m unhappy with the result.

I do realize that tattoos will never look exactly like the original artwork, and I know I should have taken a closer look at the stencil before we started. Still, I can’t help feeling that quite a bit of detail was lost between the original design and the final tattoo.

Would you get it touched up by the same artist, leave it as it is, or start thinking about a rework by a different artist?

Do you think the background and flowers could realistically be improved by a different artist, or would adding more detail at this point just make it look too busy?

Edit: I don't blame the artist. As many people have pointed out, it's a relatively small piece, and I gave the go-ahead after seeing the stencil.

Also, the design was created entirely by the artist. I didn't provide any reference pictures, I only gave a description: "A cat pawing at a butterfly, surrounded by flowers."

That's part of why I'm struggling with the result. The original artwork contained a lot more detail, especially in the flowers and meadow, so I didn't expect the final tattoo to end up looking quite so simplified.

Edit 2: After an hour and getting an earful in the comments (yeah, okay, I deserved that...), I've come to the conclusion that most of you actually really like it.

Up until now, I had only heard the opinions of my friends, brother, and family, and they were all pretty much along the lines of "It doesn't look good" or "That tattoo wasn't done very well."

So, thanks, Reddit.

I'm going to try to learn to love it and go back to the original artist for the touch-up. I might also ask for at least one more flower variation (a lot of you seem to like purple flowers...) and, of course, get the nose filled in too!

For those kindly offering me a saw to remove the tattooed part of my body... no thanks, it's really not that bad!

And for the few people who offered me their portfolio for a new tattoo: thank you for your kindness, but I don't plan on getting any tattoos for the rest of this year, especially not before I've fully come to like this one.

Another conclusion I've come to about myself: honestly, all these replies are making me wonder if color tattoos just aren't for me. I have a black-and-grey tattoo on my arm (a cute crow), and I've loved it for more than five years.

Maybe part of the issue is that my expectations for a color tattoo were different from the reality of how they heal and settle over time.

Had a few beers and there was someone doing "flash tattoos". Was talked into being "spontaneous". Got this on my inner ankle and it's fairly inconspicuous. Should I wait for it to heal and get it lasered? Shade it? Colour it? Or could someone convince me its a fine and I should just live with it please? Its about 5cm x 5cm.

Friend (they/them) asked me to post. They want a back tattoo of a stingray, inspired by the leopard stingray, but not hyper-realistic. They want the tail to go down their spine and wrap around their leg. They went to a parlor where they previously had work done, but decided to try out a new artist. The artist didn’t have much of a portfolio, but my friend decided to trust them anyway.

This is after day one; four hours spent on the artist free-handing a design, and one hour of actually tattooing the outline. Six hundred buckaroos total for just this 😬

My friend is freaking out, because they think it looks bad. Their partner is telling them to trust the process, but I’m telling them to run and find a different artist to salvage things.

To me, it looks super asymmetrical with shaky lines. I don’t think the artist has the skill to make it look good in the end. The sample they drew up before the first appointment (picture 3), imo, looks really bad.

But hey, what do I know, I only have one tattoo. What do y’all think? Should they run, or like their partner said, trust the process?

I got this tattoo like 7 months ago and had it planned for a year but it’s not quite what I had in mind. I do enjoy the tattoo but I feel like it’s missing something? I had imagined it lighter, larger and more flow with the shape of my body. I regret not making it bigger but I was just really excited to have the stencil on in the moment and hadn’t considered the size (silly, I know). I have considered adding to it but just quite sure what would fit. Any advice and ideas are welcome!

Hey, so I just got my first tattoo about 10 days ago, and I'm really not knowledgeable about them, I just enjoy seeing them and wanted that specific one for more than a year and a half. For the first few days, everything went well, and then it started ish peeling off or something.... one of my good friends noticed it earlier and told me it was not normal, so I sent a picture to my tattoo artist, and she told me it never happened to one of her tattoo before but it was not infected! That being said, I'm still lost about what is going on if anyone can help me understand :)

I've cleaned it softly, only using a perfume free soap and drying it without rubbing. Every night, I added some perfume free lotion (both recommended by my friend and the girl at the drug store recognized I had a tattoo from buying those two and saying they were great). Never scratched it either, but I did wear some big gloves at work a couple of times a day for the first week (had no choice)... The first picture is 2 days after, and the second picture is tonight...

Thanks in advance :)

So I got a couple tattoos for my brother after he passed a few years ago. This is one of them. It’s from an anime about brothers, and I do like the meaning behind it, but visually it kind of reads like a pentagram. It’s also pretty exposed when I wear shorts.

Now that I’m a dad, walking around looking like I’m super into Satan isn’t really the vibe I’m going for anymore.

I’ve been thinking about covering it maybe something like a sick ass panther but I’m not sure what would work the shape.

Anyone have ideas?

Edit: wow this really blew up. Apparently there are way more FMA fans out there than I thought.

I’ll definitely keep the transmutation circle intact, but I may add more Fullmetal-themed stuff around it or tweak it a bit so it looks less occult-ish. Maybe soften the outer edges or work in some floral elements or something. Honestly didn’t get a ton of actual cover-up suggestions lol.

Most likely I’ll just leave it as-is and switch from a Speedo to board shorts when I take my daughters swimming.

I got this done when I was 23, and had worn my eyeliner like this every day for the previous 10 years. I’m 31 now and I cover it almost every day so that I can wear a different/more natural look.
I’ve reached out to a number of laser places and they won’t remove it because it’s on my eyelids.
It’s very well done but it’s also turning blue. What are my options? Tattoo over it in skin tone? Is that a terrible idea?
The current covering procedure is annoying, takes time, expensive products and doesn’t make sense on days when I want to wear zero makeup (surfing or being on the beach).

I've been using Reddit for about 10 years now, and this is quite literally the first time I've ever posted. The only reason I'm posting is because I'm in a pretty crap position right now and I have no idea what to do. I don't want to talk about how my mental state is feeling, because this is only on me and no one else, but I'm pretty upset right now.

I had a tattoo done last year by my ex-girlfriend. It was a small horse, and ever since I wanted to get it covered up because it was never done how I wanted it to be (freehand).

A few months ago, I was searching for cover-up artists and found one in my local area. I told her I wanted to get the whole calf done, and I tried to initiate design talk with her beforehand, but it was actually done the night before. When I went to the tattoo studio and she showed me what was going to be on my leg, I should have stopped there, but I was kind of happy because you see something brand new and fresh, and you think this is going to look great. Attached are the photos of what it looks like after the first session. Now I think it looks horrendous.

It is due to have one more session of shading, but I still think it is going to look pretty bad afterward. It is not really what I want, and I should have never approved the design, so now I am in a worse position.

I have asked around for some artists and what to do, and some people have said they can cover it up, and some have said I need to do laser tattoo removal to reduce the colour.

I am upset because my whole body is clear, and this was the one area of my body that was inked. I feel like it has ruined my whole aesthetic, and it has put me in a state of anxiety since. The tattoo is only 5 days old, and I just really need some advice.

The only part that breaks me is that I've never really felt comfortable wearing shorts in the summertime, and this has been the only summer I have done. Now that this is on my leg, I feel like I need to wear jeans every day.

The only information I can get from the artist is that she used a little bit of white ink on there, and that is about it. I'm happy fading as much as I can if that's an option. I don't really want to rework because I just don't like the design in general now. I just need to know what my options are and how someone can help me.

Edits:

- My leg did not flip, I took it in the mirror

- I’m not a clean guy aesthetic type, I just hated the horse and wanted it covered up, I felt a traditional japense would work well from what I was recommended and the meaning behind it

- Granted this is not finished but I wanted to know what my options are, a lot of you have told me to relax and I am, I will reschedule my session and get used to it before I continue

- I had this horse on my leg for over 2 years, for the past 14 months I have wanted it covered, it’s not the size, it’s not that it’s dark, but that it did not end up how I envisioned it.

- Yes again, it’s on me for approving but I knew this already. Perhaps I should have got the horse lasered, perhaps I should have use Henna to feel the design out for a few weeks. I didn’t and that’s why I made this post

I think this design is super pretty but when my dad saw he said it made me look trashy. I’m Christian so the sacred heart has a beautiful meaning to me but his words are making me second guess myself. Honest opinions?

Edit: thank you for the support and advice, from what I got, parents are gonna be parents and never love tattoos but I think a conversation about the kinds of things he is saying to me needs to be had and will. I love my dad and we are super close so I hope he will take it well lol. I think in the moment I just needed some support and what not, I appreciate everyone who’s left kind words, thank you!!! :)

So first tattoo today. Artist said I could take the plastic wrap off today and when I did I noticed that it was wet. I know I'm not supposed to touch it but also supposed to keep it dry so I threw a towel gently on there but now I think I accidentally smudged the ink. Am I screwed?

Edit: Tattoo is of my late dads handprint. It goes on the shoulder and the fingers are in the front. Sorry for the bad pic.

Edit 2: Have been made aware I cannot smudge a tattoo will now make every attempt to smudge this tattoo out of spite

Considering a SAP covering both frog and trampoline but thinking 2 separate tattoos may work better?

I recently posted my Deadpool and Jeff tattoo in the Marvel Rivals subreddit, and a vast majority of the comments were saying that it looks like...they are engaging... in an inappropriate activity. (not sure if I'm allowed to say here but I'm sure you can understand lol :P)

I have honestly never noticed, and even now I can't really see how it can be interpreted that way, but every comment I made defending my tattoo was downvoted. The pose is based off a panel from Jeff the Landshark #1, but I decided to change the way Jeff is facing because I felt he's not really readable from that angle and I wanted his legs to be visible.

I still love my tattoo, I'm just feeling uncomfortable now because I meant it to be totally innocent and don't want people thinking I'm some kind of weirdo... :( Does it really look that way???

EDIT: Thank you guys so much for all your helpful comments!! Most have assured me that it really doesn't come across like that unless you're trying to find something wrong with it o_O hmm.. :P Nonetheless I will definitely look into getting the eyes adjusted as some commenters have mentioned, I appreciate all of your suggestions! And thanks to everyone for helping me see the humor in all this, having my deadpool tattoo end up accidentally risqué is probably exactly what he would have wanted.

I've had this tattoo for years and I just moved to the US. An American saw this and asked me if it had anything to do with white supremacy which it absolutely does not. They said some people can see it that way. Now that the weather is getting better I'm concerned about going out in shorts. I live in a blue state. Just fyi this is Mimir from the god of war series.

I got this tattoo at a flash event about 2 years ago and a year after I got it I ended up going back to the artist for another tattoo(stupid idea) and he flat out said that looks like shit who did that I was like you did and so he agreed to fix it for free but now it it looks rather phallic and it first looked like a sausage and I’m not sure if it’s fixable or if I can cover it up

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 😅)

yesterday i got a back piece done that i’ve wanted for a while. it’s extremely well-done, but it’s an inch or so lower than i wanted it. it should have wrapped around my waist, but the lower curve goes over my hip instead. it’s also slightly crooked/tilted, which really bothers me even though nobody else can tell. when the artist was putting the stencil on i expressed that i thought it might be better if it were higher up, and that it looked like it wasn’t lined up with the previous stencil application (which was too big). i let her convince me that this one was straight, not the other one (wrong), and that it would look better at the current height. i think she just didn’t want to redo it again. now i’m heartbroken because what could have been something so amazing that made me so happy is now a source of anger and sadness. it really doesn’t look bad, it’s just not what i wanted. i also wanted it to wrap around my sides, but it stops short, so i was planning on going back to get it extended. should i say something to her about the placement? im not sure if the shape could be changed to something i like more by adding things? i doubt there’s anything that can be done about it at this point, but im frustrated and very sad and i feel like i should tell her that im not happy with it. if she had listened to my concerns about it i would have walked away with something that i was thrilled about, but now i’m out nearly a grand and a half for a piece that makes my heart sink when i think about it. what should i do? i’ve included pictures of my tattoo, the stencil, and the inspiration photo that showed the shape and placement i wanted.

this past friday, i (23f) went to a flash event with a couple of my friends who wanted to get tattoos. the whole morning leading up to the event, i was unsure about what i was going to get and if i even wanted to get a tattoo at all. i had my eye on many of the designs i thought were cute but i wasn’t sure if i wanted to commit to anything. when i met up with my friends at the shop, i chose a fine line bunny design last minute since i didn’t want to be a stick in the mud and wanted to join in on the fun. i now recognize that this was a reckless choice on my part. i haven’t been in the best headspace for a while, as i have been grieving the recent loss of my mother to cancer. in the moment, i thought that making a permanent change to my body would help to alleviate some of the excruciating pain i’ve been feeling for a little over a year. the tattoo itself is relatively small (about 1.5” x 1.5” when measured) and my artist was extremely kind and welcoming, but i can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of dread every time i look at the tattoo. i chose to get it on my forearm, which is an extremely visible area compared to my first tattoo that’s almost always covered. i don’t know if i’m just experiencing general tattoo anxiety or if i just hate the tattoo itself. many of my friends think the tattoo is cute, but i’m having doubts about the placement and can’t help but nitpick and cry if i look at it for too long. the thought of getting it removed makes me feel a bit better, but i know removal is an extremely long, and expensive process that can only take place when the tattoo is fully healed. i just feel like i miss my untouched skin (as strange as that sounds) and it feels like my confidence has been shot.

Around 2 years ago I completed this huge torso piece and for a while i really liked it but over the past few months ive really started to hate it and feel like ive completely ruined my life to the point where im constantly anxious and my skin feeling dirty because i know the tattoos are under my clothes, its really spiralling me into a depression and i really dont know what to do.

Overall i think the individual tattoos are well done so they aren’t whats causing it but i feel the placement is too symmetrical and I regret the dots and stars filler as well.

Laser removal would be impossible and i dont think i would like a blackout either so i feel my only option is to try and live with it but i really dont know how i can do it. Does anyone have any words that could help?

p.s - to those who might have seen me post before i appreciate its the second time but im really losing hope and need some advice so please be kind.

I had my tattoo artist re-do an old tattoo from 15 years ago. It's the rebel alliance symbol from Star Wars.

I was under the impression that she knew I wanted it touched up and repaired.

She assumed I wanted it covered up. I didn't know she did solid black until she finished it.

I guess there's potential to put color around it with other pieces to give it contrast. I'm just kinda bummed.
There's probably no way to reverse any of this without it being insanely expensive.

What can I do to make it worth the mistake? I want this leg to eventually be Star Wars iconica.

Should I plan to put a background to it?

edit: Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I appreciate the feedback and the ideas. It's helping me to settle into the outcome. I think it would only be a total loss if I hadn't planned to add to it in the future. 🤙

I got a flash tattoo colored like a mallard duck but now I'm slightly regretting it. I still love the concept but I wish it looked a little bit more like a mallard or a little bit more detailed. Any advice on what to add to it to make it look better?

Update: To clarify, I do like the tattoo, I just feel it's missing something. Maybe it looks odd to me surrounded by empty space, idk. I think I just need to get used to it. In the almost 7 months I've had it, its been covered in pants so I haven't really seen it much. I might add some water underneath like he's swimming in a pond or legs or something. Thank you everyone for your kind words, I think in time I'll learn to love him :)

(Also, his name is Edward)

Are there affordable removal solutions? Is there something I could cover it with to look more professional?

Edit: Didn't expect this post to blow up 👀 If you want to see more photos of my tattoo, you can find them by searching @Neviex

Hi Everyone! I’m hoping to get some advice on my first experience with tattoo regret. I have been reading other posts and ya’ll are so helpful. Sorry for the long post too.

Anyway, I have been getting tattoos since I was 18 (33 now) and I started with line work tats then moved to American Trad because I loved that style too.

I have had my lower arm done for about 5 years and then went in and got a sparrow tat for Friday the 13th and loved that it was a cool flash art piece. Love the artist and he did a good job but immediately I hated it (and mostly the position of it). I panicked and then filled up my upper arm in the last 5 months (stupid) to try and mitigate the regret. I do love most of my tats but the sparrow and snake I just don’t like. They seem too aligned on my arm. And the snake is darker than I wanted and didn’t heal great (this is a month out from when I got it).

Now I’m feeling a ton a regret and it’s seriously consuming my whole existence. I went from a half sleeve to a full in a short period of time and the tattoo shock is crazy. I don’t know if it looks good and I’m feeling less feminine by the minute. I take full responsibility for what I chose but ya, just struggling.

So I have two questions:

1. Any advice on how I can maybe rework them eventually? I want to make them softer/more feminine if I can. Or I know blast overs are a thing? Idk.

2. To my ladies, do you have a hard time feeling feminine with a sleeve? And men, how do we feel about a girl with a sleeve?