thanks for the input, I should probably explain myself though, the reason I’m looking into getting a tattoo at all is because i want to design it myself, no matter how long it takes to get it ‘right’. There’s no reason for me to get a tattoo if it comes from the creative mind of the tattoo artist alone. at the very least I’m looking for an artist who’d put their ‘take’ on a design that I create myself, so going to the tattoo artist without a sketch at least is a moot point for me. I don’t mean to underplay the craft and talent of tattoo artists at all, I’m just being selfish on what I want because I want my body to reflect something I created (that isn’t shitty, heh), which is where the meaning of the tattoo would be coming from.

from what you mentioned, though, it seems like I totally underestimated the value of the design highlighting physical structure, I’m definitely going to have to learn more about it and experiment with it. In that vein, I’m going to look into minimizing the use of ‘tribal’ style and giving the design some actual substance. I think I should also talk with a real tattoo artist like you said and get things figured out (but I’d want to do the design myself, still). =)