HOW TO CHOOSE A TATTOO

Every one of us who considers getting tattooed, from the uninitiated tattoo "virgin" to the already heavily tattooed collector, faces the dilemma of deciding "what do I get?".  In my opinion, this question is often over emphasized and collectors tend to "loose sight of the forest for the trees".
    My thoughts tend toward simplifying the process of deciding what tattoo get for your next tattoo by stepping WAY back, and taking a broader, more long-term consideration of your tattoo collection, keeping several very important points in mind.
  Point #1, ANYONE who has NO tattoos, does not fully comprehend what getting and having a tattoo really means, or what it is like, and so it is virtually impossible for them to make well informed decisions about tattoo collection unless they take the advice offered them by a more experienced collector.  It is very important to differentiate between a collector who is experienced in bad choices, and one who has LEARNED to make good choices over time.
    Point #2, The VAST majority of people who get one tattoo, will eventually get another, even for those who SWEAR they will only get one, the likelihood is that they will eventually get another, and perhaps many more.  The reason for this is that the tendency is that the more tattoos you get, the more tattoos you will want, and the bigger you get your tattoos, the bigger you will want them to be.  This line of probability lead down a path of tattoo collection that results in a collector who has several very small tattoos, several medium to large tattoos, several very large tattoos, and a lot of "filler" tattoos designed to try to connect all the smaller tattoos.  This type of collection is by far the most common sort, and the trained eye can spot it everywhere.  Most of these collectors will tell you the same thing, that if they had known then what they know now, they would have ONLY gotten HUGE tattoos from the very beginning.  In my mind the ideal tattoo is a full body-suit, but that the only BEST way to break it down from there is with FOUR full-sleeves, a turtle-back , and a turtle-front...  beyond that any smaller divisions should be avoided or at least minimized as much as possible, a sleeve should never under any circumstances be comprised of more than four segments (inner and outer upper and lower). and truly the back should not be divided at all, and at most the front should be divided into chest, stomach, sides, and quads.
    Point #3, NOBODY, who gets QUALITY tattoo work, EVER says "my tattoo is too big"...   but nearly EVERYONE who gets a tattoo will say "I wish I had gotten it larger" if it is anything less than a full sleeve, or a full turtle-back piece.
    Point #4, you are not a unique, special snowflake to whom averages and probabilities do not apply- in fact you are very likely to fall into the same statistical probabilities that the rest of us do, and so it will serve you to consider what I have to say NEXT:

   I advise any person wishing to get tattooed, wether it is your first, or you are already heavily tattooed, to ask yourself this question-  If you were going to get your ENTIRE BODY tattooed, from your jawline, to the tops of your feet, front to back side to side, wrist to wrist, ENTIRELY covered in tattoos ALL AT ONCE, WHAT WOULD YOU GET?

    I know, I know, the question nearly makes most panic and get defensive hurriedly stating " I would NEVER get that heavily tattooed!!!"

    Well, it doesn't hurt to IMAGINE it, does it? Its FREE to IMAGINE it, isn't it? Theres no COMMITMENT in imagining it, RIGHT?  So go ahead, its OKAY, just for fun IMAGINE what you would get IF you were going to tattoo your ENTIRE body...
 
    Once you come up with the answer, I would say talk it over with the VERY talented tattooer of your choice, to distill your idea into a workable body suit concept, and then, break off a CHUNK of that body suit, however small it needs to be to suit your current level of commitment, and get that small piece of the larger plan.  For example, if your body suit idea is a samurai fighting an octopus surrounded by ghosts and demons with crashing waves, and maple leaves blowing in the wind, but you only want a little tattoo on your shoulder for now- then get a couple maple leaves, or some other small element of the larger tattoo, so that IF and WHEN you are ready for more tattooing, you can build TOWARD your larger goal.  This is a way of building bridges toward long term goals, as opposed to burning them.  You don't want to wind up having to deal with laser tattoo removal, cover-up's, or with smaller, dated, inconsistent tattoos from your youth "floating" in the midst of more mature and beautiful tattoo work you may acquire later in life, and find yourself always explaining "yeah, this one I got when I was 18 and didn't know any better"...   I think we've ALL heard that one before...  so here I have offered what I believe to be a viable solution to avoid it for those who have yet to get their first tattoo, and for those of us mid-way into our collections?  just apply this line of thinking to the remaining clean skin you have and make the most of the options that remain!