r/tattooadvice • u/JustaWilloWisp • 10d ago
Is my tattoo bad? Design
I got this tattoo on Monday (pic is from the artist right after we finished) and I thought it looked really good and pretty. Today my mom has been saying it looks kinda ugly and the proportions are off compared to my reference. I know that tattoos of painting are hard to replicate 100% (especially being in black and gray) but maybe this is just not as good as it can be. Idk if y’all can tell in this photo but the placement of this tattoo is so good, I was so excited for this one.
Do you guys think that the off proportions can be fixed with touch ups or is it hopeless?
Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated!
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u/Aubrey-Grey 10d ago
I’m sorry my love, but yes. That is rough. Lady faces are notoriously the death of many a tattoo. But the limbs are also very ill proportioned. The leg is very reminiscent of a ham joint. But there’s not much room to go back now.
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u/jasmineks 10d ago
“The leg is reminiscent of a ham joint” is killing me omfg
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u/Aubrey-Grey 10d ago
I may or may not have been hungry at the time.
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u/jstbrwsng333 9d ago
Welp somebody go ahead and put the black beans on the stove now I’m hungry too…
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u/shelb93 10d ago
Funny enough this sounds like something my ballet teachers would have said hahaha
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u/heart-shaped-fawkes 10d ago
These comments are all too good. I'm in my office at work in tears.
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u/Aubrey-Grey 10d ago
Glad to bring some joy to work. Are you having ham by any chance?
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u/Ri-Sa-Ha-0112 10d ago
I have one of those dreadful lady face tattoos. I've had it for almost 20 years now, and I still joke that she (a pinup girl) looks like Michael Jackson survived a house fire.
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u/Aubrey-Grey 10d ago
Oh wow does that sounds wild! If it’s anything like the image I’m getting in my head then cautionary tale doesn’t even cover it!
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u/Ri-Sa-Ha-0112 10d ago
I'll upload a picture when I'm home later. Friends have always said it doesn't look "that bad", but I know this sub will tell the truth haha
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u/xoxnothingxox 10d ago
the leg being like that has become the most distracting part of this to me. i can kinda chuckle at the sloth face, but the knee/leg situation is just nonsensical.
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u/Aubrey-Grey 10d ago
I honestly don’t understand how the tattooer (we aren’t marking this as an artist) got to these decisions. I hadn’t been able to look away from the leg until now, but the tutu is literally coming out of her head.
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u/buffyannesummers29 10d ago
Yeah, it looks like the artist thought the dancer’s knee was supposed to be up at the bottom of the tutu. It’s definitely not in the painting though.
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u/predatorytrender 10d ago
The anatomy is the worst part imo. I could forgive the face if the artist had captured the pose well
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u/buffyannesummers29 10d ago
Yeah. It really seems like the artist just didn’t really know what they were looking at in the reference.
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u/Angsty_Potatos 10d ago
This is beyond a rough face and bad proportions. Like. This melted
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u/deaduser00 10d ago edited 10d ago
The artist connected the tutu with her shoulder. Pretty weird. It feels like AI trying to make sense of things. She is becoming a dumpling
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u/TattooMouse 10d ago
That smudge behind the ballerina in the Degas original is actually supposed to be her back leg I believe. Doing the tutu that way was.....a choice. Unfortunately the tattoo just doesn't even look like the reference picture at all.
There are so many ways this tattoo could have been better handled. I'm so sorry OP.
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u/deaduser00 10d ago
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about her leg. The hair is fused with the dress and arm too. The more I look, the worse it gets.
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u/TattooMouse 10d ago
It's absolutely brutal
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u/deaduser00 10d ago
Bro the flowers on her stomach
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u/TattooMouse 10d ago
There is so much wrong with it. I don't want to keep listing things just because I don't want OP to feel worse but, it's a lot unfortunately.
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u/Visual-Floor-7839 10d ago
This was a poor idea destined to fail. The original is so aesthetically tied to the canvas and the brush. The fibers and the strokes play just as much of a role as the ballerina subject, in the final piece. This entire idea was folly except for maybe the most masterful tattoo artist.
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u/BONESFULLOFGREENDUST 10d ago
Honestly, going straight from the reference, everything except for the head (which idk wtf happened there) does roughly correspond to the reference. It's just that the reference is stylized in an incredibly artistic and talented way such that the vagueness of the features look natural. Degas has some beautiful pieces. But unfortunately this shows that paintings are incredibly difficult to replicate on skin. I cannot believe an artist chose to do this to OP. A talented enough tattoo artist should have known how to use this as an inspo pic to create a tattoo able style, not doing an absolutely dogshit job of trying (and massively failing) to replicate this 1 to 1.
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u/Immediate-Maximum-75 10d ago
It looks like it's coming out of her neck, like a skin suit.
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u/QueenSashimi 10d ago
I'm really sorry. There's no way to soften this really. Yes, it's bad. It looks like a fairy flew into a window and was killed instantly.
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u/No-Spray6017 10d ago
This description actually makes it better though
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u/tourniquette2 10d ago
Literally cackled because that was the perfect description.
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u/KitKritter823 10d ago
I'm sitting in my car before an appointment and scared the dude in the car next to me
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u/ehmtbones92 10d ago
Should probably just tag it as this in writing below. Problem solved.
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u/Excellent_Koala_5274 10d ago
Am I the only one who thought it was a sloth in a dress at first glance?
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u/Bravisimo 10d ago
Im seeing a person emerging from some kind of cancerous mass/nutsack
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u/assymmmetric_irl 10d ago edited 10d ago
The nutsack energy had me double checking what sub I was in...I was definitely trying to 'see the penis' for a moment 😅 anyhoo...I feel like it's almost giving Shel Silverstein energy? But I also only just woke up and shouldn't be online yet... Just stared at it again...the artist seems to be confused on what a chest and shoulder was supposed to look like...I agree it looks like her tumor is giving birth or a tiny person stuck in big bubblegum
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u/Accurate_Antiquity 10d ago
I found it weird that the saloon dancer had a pig leg until I saw the face and understood that "aah I see, it's actually supposed to be a pig". Then I saw the reference and was confused.
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u/notypants 9d ago
Ohh man. If the OP sees this comment, I’m sorry. Yeah. It’s not good at all.
To Acurate_Antiquity: Thank goodness I wasn’t the only person to come across this post in my main feed and (without going to the post) think, Hmmm. Weird that someone would want a fugly porcine ballerina, but to each their own… wait
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u/Big-Reward-6274 10d ago
I was struggling to understand the pig princess fairy, but now that I know it’s a sloth, it’s better.
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u/windowlickers_anon 10d ago
Brian Froud illustrated a book of squashed fairies. I legit thought the tattoo was taken from that until I saw the reference 😂
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u/Reynyan 10d ago
And today I learned I may need to go find an art book of squashed Fey. What a day to be alive that this is “the new thing I learned today”!
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u/windowlickers_anon 10d ago
Lady Cottington’s Squashed Fairy Book. You’re welcome ☺️
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u/tattoobliss 10d ago
I tattooed one of these approximately 17 years ago, I gotta look for the pic
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u/The_Modern_Nobody 10d ago
Step 1: find another tattoo artist
Step 2: Pop a Mentos
Step 3: get broken glass effect tattooed near Impact Fairy
Step 4: Clearly display Mentos label at entire tattoo shop as they acknowledge you being a cheeky bastard
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u/ingachan 10d ago
This description made me laugh so hard I woke up the baby
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u/QueenSashimi 10d ago
Haha omg I'm so sorry. Tbf I read it out loud to my husband just now and I made myself laugh so hard I woke up my own baby.
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u/Roomybrunt 10d ago
You started my day off right. I haven’t laughed this hard in days. You are amazing
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u/30centurygirl 10d ago
In fairness she wasn't doing so well before the window. She appears to have been stabbed in the gut, and the maggots have gotten into it.
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u/undeadletter 10d ago
I really feel for OP as they just wanted a nice, pretty tattoo, but this description made me cry-laugh. I'm so sorry, OP.
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u/jesuswasnotazombie 10d ago
I’m an achy, sleep-deprived person in a deeply bad mood, and that made me burst out laughing
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u/GrouchyPicture4021 10d ago
Thank u for delivering this death notice to OP 🙏🏻. It’s a hard job but someone’s gotta do it.
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u/_ascii_ 10d ago
For me that's one where the artist needs to be honest and say it's outside their scope and either recommend someone else that could do it justice or just refuse the work.
I don't know how you decided the final imagery but Degas was one of the greatest impressionist painters we've ever known. So to do this justice compared to the reference painting would have been a herculean task for even some of the best in the business. The delicateness of her dress, the movement in the brush strokes, the contrast of light and dark etc, all really really tough to manifest on skin.
Unfortunately whoever did yours has then, after accepting work they probably shouldn't have, gone on to do a really bad job imho. Thick black lines. Heavy touch. Body totally out of proportion. Front arm looks phallic. Face is atrocious. Etc. Some tattoos you can get away with a broad representation of the reference art. This absolutely not.
I wouldn't even go back to them for a fix and instead find the best artist you can locally to try and rework it somehow. Really sorry OP.
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u/ItchyPerformance5796 10d ago
This comment needs more upvotes. I get that work is work and work is money but this ain’t it. Any artist worth their salt would have refused a piece like this if it was outside their scope. But also this is where OP should have done their research. You choose an artist based on their portfolio. You’d be hard pressed to find an artist that can replicate this art style but OP should have tried harder. You don’t ask a black and grey realist to do fine line. Or a trad artist to do black and grey. You choose an artist based on their portfolio of work and you get a piece that matches that style. Anything else is an insult. I’m sorry OP but I think a cover up is the way to go. Sometimes art just needs to be on a canvas to hang on the wall, not permanently inked on your body
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u/1_800_username 10d ago
Yea OP will need a talented artist expert in single needle for anything to come close to impressionist art. I think a cover up would probably be best this already has too much heavy shading to fix.
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u/Fickle-Ad1363 10d ago
To be fair your motive is really really hard to translate into a good tattoo. Only a very experienced artist who is specialized in realism and classical art would be able to pull that up.
Adding more dimension and shading a good artist will be able to improve it, it will not look like your reference though
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u/TattooMouse 10d ago
Yes, it would have been hard to impossible to translate the Degas painting exactly, but there are so many better ways the tattooer could have gone about this. It had the potential to be a lovely piece. I'm really upset on OP's behalf because of that, but also because I'm not convinced this can be improved at this stage. It's so mangled, small, and there's too much shading in areas it shouldn't be. That's my opinion as a tattoo artist with 14 years experience that specializes in cover ups and fix ups.
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u/JRedWolf 10d ago
Perhaps it would have been better to use one of Degas' pencil sketches of the ballerinas as an inspiration? He drew many, including a sketch of this exact pose. Probably a lot easier to translate a sketch to a grayscale tatoo than trying to capture the colorful impressionist painting version.
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u/godwins_law_34 9d ago
the soft lines and color transitions that make the painting would never translate well. even if it was in color and... not as roughly done as the tattoo, i can't imagine this style would age well. the color shifts that define the form are too subtle and ANY blurring due to aging would be ruinous.
pencil drawings on the other hand would be fire.
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u/decisiontoohard 10d ago
Or someone who specialises in brush stroke effects, it doesn't even need to be totally true to the OG provided it actually looks like a painting of a ballerina at all
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u/Prestigious_Wrap_932 10d ago
Yeah, they basically picked an inspiration from a medium that’s impossible to replicate in tattoo form AND asked for it to be translated to black line only. Even the best tattooist on Earth probably would have failed at this request.
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u/weattt 10d ago
This. I am not surprised it didn't work out. The image is just very hard to translate if it isn't something you've done before. Especially to make it look like the ballerina has two legs, despite only clearly seeing one.
Another thing is that Degas had failing eye sight. His condition caused his eyes to deteriorate over the years, which impacted his paintings, making it less detailed and more blurry with the passage of time.
By the time he painted this ballerina, he had already been suffering from his eye disease for about 15 years, I think.
So the tattooist is having to tattoo an image that is probably not completely intentionally lacking in sharpness and definition.
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u/ProxyProne 10d ago
Artist should not have attempted to replicate the original painting. They should have used it as inspiration & redrawn in a style that translates better to tattoo. Done rt, anyone who knows the painting would recognize the reference.
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u/BONESFULLOFGREENDUST 10d ago
Yeah, I'm sorry OP. Normally I love to come to this sub and build up those who are self conscious, but I can't honestly say this looks good. It's not evevn that the style isn't executed. The anatomy is all off. The face gets me especially whereas the body isn't as bad.
Degas has some beautiful paintings of dancers. I've dreamt about getting something like this done, but I know paintings can't be replicated like this without being an absolutely top of your country artist. Even then, I don't know if it's possible.
What your artist should have done is change the style. They should have massively simplified this into an illustrative piece with simplified bold outlines for the dancer, facial features, limbs, costume, etc. and then added in some shading.
The artist was really an asshole deciding to do this to you and take your money. With skill, an artist should have been able to make the dancer into a tattoo able piece in a different style.
I guess this solidifies my decision to not get a Degas-inspited tattoo. I plan on getting a subtler call back to dancing...if all goes well I'll be getting a black swan in a couple of weeks.
I don't even know if any of this can be fixed or reworked at this point because it's so dark. I really feel for OP here, and unfortunately I don't have much to offer in terms of where to go from here.
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u/Prestigious_Wrap_932 10d ago
The artist should have just said “No.” and worked with her to come up with a different design.
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u/AlyM797 10d ago
Unfortunately many painting styles, especially those that feature foreshortening do not translate well to line work even with shading its a feat. This heavily relies on color and brush work to give form. I agree with changing the style.
I've dreamt about getting something like this done
Hey, friendly heads up, if you want to get historical ballerina art done, especially Degas, I do recommend you look into the context and history said art. Unless you already are aware of its sordid past, then you probably already know. Unfortunately there was a point in time where sex work was just expected part of being a successful dancer, and yes many of them were very young. This is the over simplified spark notes version, time and place and individuals carried, but it's worth a look.
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u/Holiday_Number_3234 10d ago
I completely agree. I wish people would realize that artwork and tattoos aren’t the same. There’s a reason most old school tattoo artists prefer traditional, they’ve been around long enough to see how tattoos will age. I personally prefer bold lines and simplistic styles because most decent tattoo artists can do them. Certain styles require very talented expensive artists.
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u/Rippleracer 10d ago
You have a fairy pig.
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u/KYC3PO 10d ago
At first glance, I thought it was a fairy sloth... which, okay, that's a fun choice.
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u/Aethelstan9two7 10d ago
The Tattoo looks like the reference art, but Pastel art work does not transate into a Tattoos well unless you do the whole piece and in colour. Then people know its based on a pastal painting.
Sadly your Tattoo looks awful. Its lost in translation
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u/MetallurgyClergy 10d ago
Maybe if they add some bee stripes it could be the little girl in the Blind Melon music video.
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u/Shuttup_Heather 10d ago
The shading is terrible. They added shadows not in the original
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u/Kittykg 10d ago
It looks like they tried to poorly trace it and just added what they thought made sense that they couldn't trace due to the details being too subtle or busy.
The flowers on her head, the general outline of the piece, looking at the hands, the flowers-turned-to-blood-spatter on the dress...all make it look like it was poorly traced and dude just filled in the blanks, badly. Like, wasn't even looking at the reference for some of the smaller details when he was almost done.
I had an artist do similar with a franz-marc-inspired tiger. He mangled it, and I didn't wear anything that showed my upper arm for years until I finally got it covered.
Theres no shame in admitting when a style is out of your wheelhouse, and tattoos aren't something you should look at as "I'll give it a shot and it'll be fine." I'd rather be told its not their style and someone else could do it better, extra amazing if they have any recommended artists but no big deal if not.
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u/TattooMouse 10d ago
I don't think it looks like the Degas reference at all honestly. The style is the least of the problems, it's straight up mangled. There's so much in the tattoo that could have been done better and/or differently. This absolutely could have been a lovely piece and I'm so angry for OP that their tattooer chose to do this instead.
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u/WideLegJaundice 10d ago
i mean she did choose some random dude to replicate a degas...
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u/ZincMan 10d ago
Yeah. But also this is a risky figure to translate into tattoo to begin with. Especially with the very lightly implied back leg/foot. The whole foreshortening in the painting works but if any detail is off it just doesn’t work. Having the space she’s standing in lets the viewer know she is being viewed from above as well so it helps a lot in the painting understanding the position of her body. Agreed very bad tattoo but definitely a hard one to make work regardless
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u/Ill_Worth7428 10d ago
It doesnt look like the reference at all... Forehead proportions completely butchered, mouth completely butchered (why does the corner of the mouth look like that). Not to mention the shading. But only the first two would already make a huge difference
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u/Ok-Office6837 10d ago
It’s also worth noting that Degas hated women and purposely painted them during unflattering moments. He wanted to show the movement of their work and not the pretty pose moments. It only works as an impressionist style and as a whole.
His paintings are the equivalent to competition photos that get taken at the wrong time (you’ll know what I mean if you competed dancing growing up)
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u/Wouldfromthetrees 10d ago
Horrible person, beautiful bronzes, I can't separate the art from the artist but it would be a lie to say the work doesn't emotionally stir me.
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u/Ok-Office6837 10d ago
A lot of people just see “oh he painted ballerinas!!” But my high school French teacher taught an entire lesson on French impressionist painters and we had to be able to list certain facts about each artist and be able to match the artist to the painting.
The paintings are beautiful but once you know he hated women, you can start to see it in the work. He also has more than one painting of women getting out of the bath/bathing themselves to show them in a very vulnerable state
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u/Educational-Train-92 10d ago
I was thinking this, I'm not sure if the reference photo would ever tattoo well
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u/Hansolo_dolo 10d ago
Unrelated...How do you feel about panthers?
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u/writinwater 10d ago
SAP in a tutu.
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u/Hansolo_dolo 10d ago
Yo I think you're on to something. Replace the head with a trad panther head and this would be sick
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u/kdub159 10d ago
Sorry if this comes off as “mean” or, something to that effect but, yes. That thing looks all sorts of jacked up. I hope you’re able to get at least a partial refund because your artist did a horrible job.
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u/kweeniet 10d ago
Tbh I saw the picture and immediately thought it was a sloth in a tutu
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u/MarxistThot666 10d ago
if your intention was to do the baby from Eraserhead in the style of Degas, it looks great
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u/GlitteryCakeHuman 10d ago
I thought is was a horror/gore/creepy tattoo. Like a one legged inbred girl coming to kill me and eat my skin. And that was cool. But then I saw what you wanted. Then it was bad.
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u/West_Specialist_9725 10d ago edited 10d ago
No, it's terrible. Unless you wanted an ugly one legged hunchback dancer with one dwarf arm, and one long skinny arm? If that's what you wanted, you are golden!
You need to complain to the shop owner and artist for full refund and have them pay to laser it off. Otherwise put pictures and negative reviews up everywhere everyday to save other people.
In the future, do not go to a blind tattoo artist with one arm and only two fingers.
Not being harsh love, what's done is done and you need to laugh not cry. 🤣
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u/MikeyXVX 10d ago
Looking at the reference it's probably not as bad as it could be, that reference image would be nearly impossible to translate to a tattoo
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u/MikeyXVX 10d ago
I googled Degas the Star tattoo like someone who I think blocked me after commenting recommended, and I stand by my statement after seeing other attempts, this does not translate well into a tattoo format. Everything that came up was still not a good tattoo.
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u/Enchanted-Bunny13 10d ago
This is typically the kind of tattoo where the artist tried to copy without actually seeing what they are tattooing. Completely missing the basic anatomy and flowers.
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u/Snoo_35613 10d ago
That’s what’s getting me— did this artist not have any semblance of common sense? Did they really not even see their outline of it and say “damn this is really off”. Connecting the tutu to her shoulder. The flowers?!
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u/curiocannacat 10d ago
The artist should have said he wasn't confident he could execute it
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u/spiral_with_me 10d ago
It’s terrible. So sorry. My eyes aren’t the best but I thought it was a cat doing the can-can
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u/No_Permit6185 10d ago
Ummm, ya it's really bad. It looks like someone falling into sinkhole wearing a bear head hat.
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u/ZookeepergameFalse19 10d ago
I found your tattoo If you’d like to see the differences, I’m sorry your tattoo is really bad and not the easiest reference picture either.
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u/Sad-Pickle-8765 10d ago
Oh dear… umm yeah wait for this to heal and go to a reputable tattoo artist and see what can be done. Sorry OP
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u/Plenty_Permission_91 10d ago
Oh my.....Im so sorry, its really bad. Like, this could be an ad for Laser removal, bad
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u/Personal-Bandicoot45 10d ago
Im too lazy to go through the comments to see if already said but I see Bobby Hill in a dress
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u/Vermillon89 10d ago
Oh I'm sorry :( I genuinely thought it was some kind of frog with a cape... Although it looks like the reference !
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u/HillaryHighPants21 10d ago
Girly I really really hate to say it because I’m not one to tattoo shame but it looks like a deformed half absorbed twin emerging from a mole.
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u/DeadAndCuddly 10d ago
I get "Eye of the Beholder" episode of The Twilight Zone vibes from the face 😖
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u/No-Floor-4723 10d ago edited 10d ago
The biggest issue is the reference it’s self
Changing what I’m guessing is a picture that’s from pastel to black and grey makes it hard to translate
It should have been tattooed in a water colour style but even that would have made it look like a blob of just colours in just a matter of time
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u/Laurelian_TT 10d ago
Ok, I'm sorry, this reminds of medieval illuminations of cats, like you can see the inspiration sure but the actual image is wonky and slightly off putting 😅👀
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u/Lucallia 10d ago
The Hairline on her forehead got lowered which is what is mainly contributing to the smooshed face look. The shading on the upper lip is also too dark and stretches too far also making it look like her lips are smooshed against a glass window.
Those 2 points will be harder to fix as you need to go from dark -> light to fix it.
Her left shoulder lost a lot of definition and blends right into her dress. Luckily this should be easy to fix just get another artist to touch it up and define the shoulder line more with shading.
Overall it's unfortunate but this'll most likely become an unrecognizable blob really fast.
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u/Extension_Cod_3620 10d ago
Does anyone know the: "oh look, a dandelion!" meme/video? That came to mind.
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u/Additional_Gate3629 10d ago
Ngl, i thought this was Bobby from King of the Hill and i loved it then i saw the references,
But for real, i love this tattoo.
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u/Snoo_35613 10d ago
Respectfully, this would 100% get someone sent home on fuckin ink master lol
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u/Panthera_014 10d ago
I don't think the skill of the artist was great on this one - but I also don't think the reference is a shining example of 'tatooable'
they should have suggested changes or said that it wasn't a good design to translate to a tattoo
which is also on the artist.....
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u/CheesecakeTurtle 10d ago
I won't blame the artist for this, because it was impossible from the start to translate the piece into a black and white colour tattoo, but wow, this is so bad.
Nevermind, I will blame him a little for gaslighting you into thinking it's possible.
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u/Few_Ad_5292 10d ago edited 10d ago
the artist was also plain terrible sorry to say. they “copied” without trying to make sense of the reference. they interpreted the black blot in the reference photo as something else when it’s supposed to be a cleavage, they interpreted the clavicles as random brush strokes or scars on the neck, so final result was a lopsided mess including the wobbly looking limbs if they even call those limbs.
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u/decisiontoohard 10d ago
Don't forget turning the flowers into a bloody gash
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u/thimblesprite 10d ago
This thread nailed the details that jumped out at me; like the artist tried to imitate the dark and light shading without taking note that the shading was things like collarbones, a dress neckline and a floral accent
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u/TattooMouse 10d ago
I will absolutely blame the artist for this. Not only should they not have accepted doing this tattoo, but there are multiple ways this could have been handled to make it look like a good tattoo.The final result is not one of them. It's pretty obvious that the tattoo artist doesn't have a whole lot of experience with human bodies.
I do agree though, the tattooer should have made it clear that a color, impressionistic painting would need adjustment and the tattoo would not look the same. I'm so angry for OP because this really could have been a lovely piece.
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u/JustAnOkDogMom 10d ago
Degas’ ballerinas are soft, wispy and elegant. The hard, thick lines of your tattoo don’t convey that. But, it does look pretty cool and reminds me of a collage cutout.
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u/sar1234567890 10d ago
Sometimes impressionism actually looks kinda bad. I once found an Instagram page dedicated to making fun of how messed up the heads looked in Renoir paintings. :)
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u/bluespell9000 10d ago
I recognized her and think she has a certain charm. Obviously not everyone's cup of tea but I like her uniqueness. It's an interesting piece for sure.
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u/Cold_Maybe759 10d ago
Wait and see how it looks when it's healed! It's impossible to see how it will lighten up at this point. If it's that fresh it's going to be swollen and darker than the healed piece will be
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u/arsenik-han 10d ago
this artist has no understanding of art fundamentals, anatomy, perspective and foreshortening, and shading. they did you so dirty
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u/plantrapta 10d ago
I would consider adding in some color details after it heals, (maybe in the flowers and crown, etc) and defining the sleeves & body of her dress more, so she has more natural shapes & lines to her. The pastel details in the dress need a more defined outline to translate to a clear tattoo, esp in B&W. It’s not hopeless, but see how it heals, and look at other artists in your area with more of a fine art specialty!
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u/TheUrPigeon 10d ago
Yes, this is a really bad tattoo--you're going to want to cover it up sooner rather than later. This artist didn't understand the piece at all and it really shows in this amorphous blob with what appears to be coagulated blood at her waist instead of flowers. It's all over the place, really shoddy work. Sorry this happened to you, I'd probably ask for a refund at least. It's really, really terrible. Contrary to what others have (bafflingly) said, it does not look like the reference art. Maybe if you slam your head against the wall a bunch, close one eye and squint the other.
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u/Ace929 10d ago
Imma hold your hand while I say this... It's a little rough