Hey everyone! I’ve been away for some time now, just reacquainting myself with you’se all again.I’ve been working on a tattoo design for over a year now. I’ve got the concept of all elements i want to include in this shoulder piece. The problem is that i am no designer. Everything i do with my attempt, looks far too amateurish. My design is a concept only, and can be added to. Problem is,,i’m living in Dubai, and no access to anyone that can help me design this and complete it so i can then go to the next step and locate a tattoo artist. Does anyone know which direction i can go to get help in a design?

I need an artist to bring my meager drawings to fruition, and then i can look for an artist when i’m travelling on vacation. I just don’t know where i’ll be from one year to another. I don’t have the luxury of scoping out quality talent, here.
So,again,,i require the services of a talented graphic artist/tattoo artist to help me out in this regard.
Put it this way. A tattoo artist and a designer are pretty much the same thing. They will create something based on your input and their imagination. Some artists/designers post pics that they never did, but is great for business because it impresses many people(future customers). Why anyone hasn’t started their own online business yet, based on this concept, is beyond me. People pay a fee to the artist, and the artist in turn hands over their design to customer. Maybe the fee can be incorporated to include one or two revisions to satisfy customer. Or, now that you’ve done all that, the customer realizes that this particular artist either is not very good, or you feel they haven’t satisfied you yet, to accept and tattoo a design that’s a lifetime commitment. So, customer goes through this process again and again until they find a design they are happy with. That’s how customers come to choose a design for their buildings, they must be 100% happy with the designers work, or they go to another designer until they are satisfied with the look.
Why should tattoo design be held to a lower standard??
Now,this in no way diminishes the skill of the artist. But lets be frank, i’ve got minimum half a dozen buddys i grew up with , that have their own shops, and i’ve seen them crank out a design in 20 minutes on a scratch pad, and the average person will accept it.
Maybe there are thousand’s of variations on that same theme, because as any artist knows,most age or gender groups tat theme’s are fairly common in theme. Therefore there isn’t a lot of originality in most tat’s and therefore it diminishes the value of the design. I only want to pay what is fair and honest.An original tat, that has had some serious thought put into it should be compensated fairly. And to my defence, i am also a walking advertisement for the artist, because i will agree to have pics taken of it and give full written and verbal credit to the artist that can produce something that will really make me proud.
Currently, i have another thread going”How do i attach a photograph to my thread?”. Upon learning this, (hopefully today! : D ) i will post what i have created with my limited creativity, and superimposed onto a picture of my arm, so that my skin tone is taken into consideration of the coloring, and then see what kind of suggestions can be offered. My meager ideas, i want to keep, and i so dearly need someone’s imagination to bind it all together to make it whole,,or make it look more complete,,and not just some fragmented pieces thrown together,which is all i am able to do with my limited skill( which is still little to none) 😀
K,,i never did find out how to post the pics of my tat ideas, but i did manage to post it publicly on one of those sites that lets you store photos for free.

http://s538.photobucket.com/albums/ff345/reducha/Evolution%20of%20my%20Tattoo%20Concept/

Let me explain,the photos you will see there.
1. “Final Concept” is where my creative juices stopped. Everything i was influenced by and kinda wanted to insert into my new tat is there.Superimposed on my shoulder to show skin tone. It’s meant to be a 1/4 or 1/2 sleeve tat. Even creeping above my shoulder.
2. ” Vibrant red and green sun” i loved the explosive colors of the sun on that persons elbow and wanted to incorporate it.
3. “sun with surrounding work ” and “sun inspiration”,,well,,inspired me.
4.”2nd preliminary concept” a work in progress.
5.”Default Tattoo” just to give you an insight to my head space,i always thought that if i couldn’t figure out how to get what i wanted, i really liked this one.
6.” musical notation” because,,the musical notation illustrated on my “final concept” are the notes from John Lennon’s Imagine song, particularly, the part of “nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too” those two phrases are meant to wrap around my arm.
7.On “final concept” the left side reads “know thy self” in hieroglyphics.A phrase that sums up my entire life’s search to truly know myself.
8.”key of life” are pictured here twice, because i liked the design and thought behind it, and i’m currently stationed in the middle east and love the history.Me, coming from Canada, a country less than 300 years old, finds any old culture fascinating.
9.”Bird Detail” because i wanted to insert bird(s) and i love the detail of that one, and the colors of the other pic,”bird colors”.
That pretty much sums it up. It’s still a concept because i’m sure there are far more creatively minded people out there than me. From the PIC, “final concept”, the birds are my soul and spirit, “know thy self” in hieroglyphics is all about my journey,”imagine” in hieroglyphics, sums up my philosophy in life,the powerful sun at the center is representative of my strong connection to our star. The leafy green color behind it, is my color association with the precious gift of life,the “inosanto shield” at the centre is the warrior side that has dominated my life and brought me closer to a peaceful life through inner strength, and the musical notation,wrapped around my arm, are the notations from Lennon’s song,imagine, precisely, the part that says” nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too”. Because, that, is my epitaph that i would like chiseled into my grave stone.