Good advice here all around, I can’t add much. I will say though that if you get a chance to view a particular artist’s work on someone’s skin, you will get a better feel for his/her talent than looking through a portfolio book of pictures. If you can, visit the artist while another customer is there and look at their work. I have found that if you take your time and do your homework, you’ll end up with a better tattoo. Don’t just settle for an artist because he/she happens to be in your home town. I travel over 200 miles round trip each time to see my artist, and it’s the best time and money spent.

Hey welcome to the forum. As far as the chat goes, age is no big deal…you’re 16 and I’m 60, and we all like tattoos, so it’s good! If you get a chance to post a picture of your tatt, that would be cool too! 😀

Cool enough! Be sure and take some pictures and post them here, that’s what we all wanna see! 😀

Tipping an artist is up to you. I don’t think they expect it, but when you find a good artist who does amazing things and you want to go back, it’s not a bad idea in my opinion. I go to the same guy all the time and trust him completely. My last tattoo cost me $200 and I gave him a $30 tip and told him to take his wife out for breakfast. He and I have formed a pretty good relationship. It works both ways, with the artist learning what the customer likes, and you’ll find he/she will often go the extra mile for you.

Take this from a 60 year old guy. I did stuff when I was 18 that years later I’d say to myself “What was I thinking?” Unless you’re 100% rock solid, then I wouldn’t do it. And I don’t think you ARE 100% sure because if you were, you wouldn’t ask forum members what our opinion is. This is not being critical, it’s just from the viewpoint of someone who’s seen an awful lot in his life. Things change. The tattoo world is full of people who have had things done like their husband or wive’s name put on them and then regretted in when divorce came into their lives. You’re putting something there that’s probably going to be around for another 60 or 70 years. When you’re 100% sure, you’ll definitely know it, and you won’t have to ask anyone’s opinion. I’d sleep on it for a bit. Put it on hold for 6 months or a year, or more…the earth will still be here and then think about it some more. I didn’t get my first tattoo until I was 54! 😀

I have a friend who has a sprocket tattoo and it came out pretty decent. He and I are both heavily into doing triathlons, hence the idea of a bicycle chainring. The only advice would be to have a reputable artist do it, since you want the nice clean circular lines and I’ve heard these are the hardest to do.

Looks pretty nice…any plans to add more to it?