I wont bother telling you my own opinion of that design or tribal in general. Id rather give you some good advice.

First, I think youare trying to cram too many things in at once. “the inner body will be made of three zodiac signs of my family members”… no matter how i picture it in my head, it just seems to never work well. THe style of tribal you have chosen is not usually very complicated, and i think adding those other symbols will just end up looking like a big mess of black.

Secondly, the idea of the tail wrapping around your arm alot of times doesnt really look as awesome as you would think. Because its a 2D image on your skin, and not a 3D object, tattoos like this can often come out looking flat and unwhelming, simply because you can in no way see the other side of the arm where the other sections are. I fear the tail will end up looking “disconnected” no matter which way you look at it.

Thirdly, i know you are pretty set on getting this style of tribal now. But i have met TONS of people who got something like this, and came to regret it. Its actually crazy how many people jumped on the bandwagon of tribal in the nineties, only to get it covered up.. or at least try… because tribal tattoos, especially larger ones like the one you intend to get, can be quite difficult to cover up, and alot of times require laser removal treatments to lighten it up enough to have it covered…which is very expensive.

Finally, The way you described it.. it wont be a “sleeve”. “sleeve” refers to a tattoo or collection of tattoos that cover the arm all the way around, or at least a large portion (think 80-90% of the skin). It also wont be a “quarter sleeve”, as that refers to a “sleeve” that covers a quarter of your arm (generally from shoulder to half way down your upper arm). Dont mean to sound like a dick, it just irks me when people misuse the word sleeve.

I wouldnt go that far. There are plenty of talented artists who have short waiting lists simply because the demand in their area is not as high, or they arent as well know, etc. Its much better to judge them based on their portfolio than by the size of their waiting list.

I agree about the other stuff, getting a tattoo you thought of three days ago probably wont end well.

I dont personally have a tattoo down there, but from what ive read, you really need to find someone whos not only experienced in tattooing, but also in tattooing that specific area. Even then, you may have a hard time finding an artist to even attempt the tattoo, as many wont do it for various reasons.

That being said, i say go for it. Although not common, ive seen a few penis tattoos that have actually been done pretty well.

I will admit i watched it last night, because i want know exactly what the show is about instead of blowing hot air. All i can say is… wow. I dont know the exact timeline, but in show time, they went from tattooing to a banana to tattooing a real person within at most 10 minutes, and i believe it was over the course of a day. Scary shit, and while a few of the students seemed to have some potential, one guy on there (i believe his name was Christopher) had the lining ability of a 3 year old. One on close up, he completely veered off of a line at like a 30 degree angle, it was terrible.

Even worse was the one biker dude who did rather large rib peice on someone… the picture seemed ok, but the tattoo came out a massive incoherent black blob, and he didnt even finish it on the final day. Worst of all, he didnt know how to stretch the skin properly, so it was just problem after problem.

You know, im all for anyone with good art skills to learn to tattoo, and everyone has to start somewhere. But good god, tattooing isnt supposed to be learned in 2 weeks. I can see this show causing alot of controversy for TLC, and i will be watching closely to see what happens. If there is one positive thing i took from this show, its that i feel inspired to let an apprentice in a quality tattoo shop with a mentor who thinks he/she is ready, to do a small practice tattoo on me. I think it would be good to help a talented apprentice get some real experience. But not in a dirty, crappy shop, and certainly not someone who has only practiced on a banana for 30 minutes.

Sleeves are a big investment in time and money, you had better be prepared to sit for many sessions and for many hours at a time. Its also not going to be cheap and could easily cost $2000 or more, depending on the artist. While im all for getting larger tattoos for your first, i wouldnt recommend a sleeve as your first.

As for the colour, the black and grey shouldnt look unfinished as long as it blends in properly with whats surrounding it. Your artist should be experienced enough to know how to put your ideas together, so i would suggest talking to him/her.

Meaning of the tattoo is really irrelavent. I mean sure you can think of something in your life to inspire a tattoo, but it really doesnt mean shit in the end. All that really matters is the tattoo itself and how good it looks. You’ve done the right thing by deciding to just wait a while. Now you need to atart looking at stuff. PAintings, posters, pictures, other tattoos… just get a general idea of what you want and start googling.

You say you wanted a dragon. You didnt say what kind of dragon you wanted. The 2 most common ones being the Asian dragon and the european dragon. Search for pics of those, not just tattoos of them, but general pictures as well. You dont need a exact picture of the one you want, you can collect multiple pictures with different aspects that you like. A good artist should be able to combine them. Also, just because something is unoriginal, doesnt mean its “bad” or “lame”. There are tons and tons of people with similar looking dragons, koi fish, skulls, roses, etc. But doesnt mean they arent good tattoos to get. If a dragon is what you want, dont be put off just because its a common theme. Or that fact that you cant seem to find any personal meaning. If it looks good, its a good tattoo and you should be proud to wear it.

Personally i spend months working out the ideas for my tattoos. For my chestpiece, i spent at least 6 months just thinking about the content and placement of the different parts of the piece and collecting reference pics of the different aspects of the tattoo. Only after that long period of time did i take it to my tattoo artist, and allowed him to make suggestions as well. Dont be afraid to take your time.

Hey i gave you my honest opinion. When you post your tattoos on the internet, you have to expect honest, and sometimes negative opinions. Your tattoo is what i would expect a free one to look like.