REFERENCE
Don’t let your ego get in the way of using good
referencematerial. Ifyou’re not surewhat something
lookslike,takethetimeandresearchittofindout.Good
reference will help, especially in traditional tattoo
backgroundelementsofwind,waterandwaves.Abad
or wrong-looking background will really kill a piece.
Thebackgroundiswhattiesitalltogetherandifit’snot
right,yourartworkjustwon’tlookgood.Saying,“Idraw
italloutofmyhead,”isnotnecessarilyagoodthing.In
fact,itcanbetheweakestlinkinyourdesign.It’sokay
touseartworkyoulikeasastartingpointforyourown
work.
EXISTING TATTOOS
Whatdoyoudowhentattoosalreadyexistonthearea
you are tattooing? Sometimes the client answers that
questionforyouandinsiststhatyousimplyworkaround
them.Thatcanbethebestsolutioniftheexistingtattoo
isdarkorlargeanyway,asoftenthey’rehardtocover
with anewdesign. Theotheroptionisto coverthem
withthenewtattooifpossible(orpractical).Thethird
optionistohavetheclientgetthetattoo(s)removedand
thenwaitanappropriateamountoftimebeforeapplying