I looked at a bunch of these images and I have to agree with X-pressive. I’m not super impressed with this artist. On a scale of 1-10, I’d rate him about a 4. The line work is not very smooth, and to my mind the shading technique is of rather poor quality. I’m not sure where you live, but personally I’d visit some studios in the largest metropolitan area near you, and look through the portfolios of the artists there. You probably can do a lot of this on the web. Secondly, whatever you have done is going to be on your skin a long time. Don’t make a mistake that you are going to regret, maybe 5 years down the road. The forums are full of people who ask about covering up poorly done tattoos. Avoid becoming one of them. The difference between a $100 tattoo and a $400 tattoo might seem enormous to someone with not a lot of money to spend. But getting a poorly done cheap tattoo will only give you a lot of grief over the next 30 years. This isn’t some advice coming from a 19 year old kid…I’m 60 years old and have been getting inked for the past 6 years. I took my time, found an artist I trust explcitly and I go to him on a regular basis. We have a good relationship.

The bottom line is that I don’t think this art is all that great, it’s marginal at best. If you have a chance to go to a tattoo convention in a large city, I highly recommend it. You’ll quickly see the difference between poor art, and a design that will knock your socks off.

Max

Ahh, I am at work (night shift) and tried to look, but my company computer system blocks the artist images. I’ll have to take a peek at it when I get home about 2 AM. But yeah, even without looking, that’s what I’d do…pick a good size tattoo shop in a large city and see what they have. Not all good artists come from large shops, but having several at one place like that gives you better odds that you’ll find someone decent.

Another thing, if you’re limited to a budget, it’s worth talking to your artist and having him do the design in stages. You could get the outline done, then go back in a month or three and have him do the color or shading. If you can get a chance to go hang out at the shop for a bit, you can also take advantage of talking to other customers and seeing what they are getting. If you look at enough tattoos, especially in person and not so much via web pics, you’ll get a better feel for what looks good and what you might like to have done. There is something to be said for immersing yourself in the overall tattoo culture!

No artwork up yet mate. Site in progress….Take Max’s advice…..Go see them. Talk and discuss what you want. Chek portfolios. Now you know to look for clean,crisp lines. Smooth shading and solid colour work.
Good luck Mate..!

@JustinF74 29767 wrote:

im not looking to have anything extensive done but what I want I want done right.

Amen, dude. You’ve got the right idea! Spend a little bit of extra time researching beforehand and avoid the need to laser something off later, am I right? LoL. =P Best of luck. Let us know how it goes.