I finally got my first tattoo 26 days ago. It’s a simple Star Trek IDIC on my wrist. For the most part it’s healed quickly and well. It was done peeling 85% by the end of day 8. By day 11 it was in the cloudy stage. And by day 20 the color had pretty much come back.

Here’s my conundrum, the gold hollow circle that was done in a gradient had a weird textured look right after I got the tattoo. It almost looked like it was put on with a minuscule paintbrush or sponge. The silver triangle that also was a gradient didn’t have the textured look. I assumed it was excess ink, and would even out during healing. However, the pattern didn’t even out much, and being near-sighted I notice it quite easily. I tried to attach a comparison photo, but it’s not uploading, so I’ve attached a link to it. (Sorry about the poor quality of my cheap phone camera. I enhanced then the best I could with gimp.)  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xudxcvWd4Tb4Td2F8BV7JY1AUtsyyH6m/view?usp=sharing

The rest of the tattoo looks fine, with just a bit of ink loss in two places due to scabbing. Is this issue evidence of a poor artist? Is it just a weird reaction to that color ink? (My body is infamous for reacting in weird ways.) I really don’t want to have to find another artist. It’s important for me to use vegan inks, and there are only two in my state that do so. The one I went to has a few artists at the studio and a great reputation. The other studio only has one artist with terrible customer service, so they’re not an option. I am planning other tattoos for next year, so this isn’t the only tattoo I’m worried about in terms of which artist.

I have an appointment for a touch-up in 2 1/5 weeks with the original artist. I’d love any kind of info or opinions anyone might have. Sooner rather than later preferably.