Posts Tagged ‘quality tattoos’

Tattoo Design Lettering

Choosing a tattoo is difficult. If it isn't, you have not done your homework. Too often, newcomers will stroll into their local tattoo parlor, pick up a few books or checkout the artwork on the walls, and thirty minutes later sit down in the chair for their session.

This is crazy! Call it short-sighted, or having too much faith in tattoo removal technology (dubious odds, at best), but for something that will be on your body for your entire life, you really need to take a few steps back, slow down, and take your time making a design choice. Here are a few steps that you should consider taking so that you don't end up with a visible reminder of your bad decision.

Choose your location first: where you get your tattoo often has an impact on the style that you choose. For example, a tattoo that looks good on your lower back likely has a far different style than one that will be placed on your shoulder. Start with the location.

Next choose your design: first narrow down your selection into a style of tattoo that you like, and then narrow it further by finding several designs within that style that appeal to you.

Test drive your design: get some professional transfer paper -- this is the paper that tattoo artists use to transfer designs from their books to your skin. Trace the design onto the transfer paper, optionally using a lightbox for assistance. Then have a friend transfer the design onto your skin and fill it in with fine-tipped permanent markers in the appropriate colors. It doesn't have to be perfect -- you just want to make sure the size, style, and colors agree with you.

Sleep on it: now just take your time, continue observing your test tattoo, and trying on different designs. You can see, with a high degree of accuracy and realism, what that tattoo is going to look like on your skin. If you don't like, just scrub really hard and try again with a clean canvas! Eventually you'll find a perfect design.

Additionally, if your tattoo will include a lettering style, don't limit yourself to what you see in the parlor's books. There are literally thousands of freeware fonts that you can download and install on your computer. You can use a graphics program (even a free one like gimp) to add the lettering to your tattoo design of choice, and then transfer it to your skin with the rest of the test tattoo. Like the design, you'll eventually find a font that is perfect for your new tattoo.

To some, this sounds like a lot of work, and that's true. But this tattoo will be with you for a lifetime, so you will want to do your research. Use a tattoo finder to locate a great design, browse through the many free fonts available online, and test drive all of the promising tattoo designs before you ink them permanently. Your effort will be rewarded many fold in the years to come.

For more information on how to test drive tattoos and get free tattoo lettering, visit Ben's blog. If you're researching a tattoo finder or are looking for great tattoo designs, you'll find what you need. Click here for more great tips.