I'm a tattoo artist who underwent a standard apprenticeship under a certified tattoo artist. I am an artist first, tattooer second, which means I put creativity and art into my tattoos, not just the 'you pick it, we stick it' type of tattooer. Apprenticeships for tattooing vary by state, according to the laws. I'm also a trained body piercer, as well. Any questions about the job or apprenticing, I'd be happy to help!
PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT price tattoos. Seek a shop for that.
It is possible to tattoo over scars, but you have to make sure the scar is fully healed. New scars are dark in color; a tattooable scar is light or white in color. If you tattoo over an area with a fresh scar, you run the risk of breaking open the old wound. You have to understand, too, when covering up a scar, that tattoo artists are able to disguise the abnormal coloring of skin where a scar is, but we can't take away the puffiness or shape of the scar.
Cover ups are best if the image used has a lot of lines and a lot of shade points; it makes it easier to cover whatever is underneath. Things like flowers, dragons, owls, etc, make for great cover ups, because the artist can layer ink and shade well.
I don't price tattoos. Head to a shop and ask the artist you'd like to have do your tattoo.
You can always ask an artist to draw you up something, but keep in mind 2 things:
1- They will probably charge you a deposit to do a drawing. That money will then be applied to the tattoo when you have it done.
2- You will more than likely not be able to leave with that drawing, or even take a picture of that drawing, to help you "think". This protects the artist's custom drawing, and ensures that they will be inking it, after putting the time and effort into drawing it.
You definitely need to wait until the tattoo is finished healing. If a tattoo is gone back into before it's ready, it's like dragging a needle on the outside of a filled water balloon; things may go fine, but you may hit that sweet spot that causes the skin to break open and bleed out, resulting in loss of ink, too.
Hairstylist and Makeup Artist
Inner City English Teacher
CPR Trainer
Your artist should know what colors are best for a flag tattoo and should not be having you buy the ink and tattoo you for free. That's not normal in the legitimate tattoo business.
I'd go back and talk to the artist about it. I'm not sure how they screwed it up to say whether it can be fixed or just needs to be covered up.
It's more than likely the practice skin. That stuff is thick, and really is not a lot like human skin at all. White is a tricky color, too. You may have not gone deep enough with it.
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