tattoo idea-psychedelic mandarin

May have to PM you for some ideas. I have a small chest piece I'm trying to cover up (too much detail in a small space 20 years ago that is now a black blob) and am trying to figure out how to do it with a dragon. Think I'll leave the fish for fresh skin.

 

Def let me know, this is my small chest piece to commemorate when I became a single dad! 1 dragon protecting my son, and 1 for him guarding me

 

I like the ying-yang idea. And go to the best place you can find. I am always surprised when I hear someone brag about how little they paid for their tattoo... I have never once seen a nice tattoo that someone got for a "deal". Here are a few pictures of my dragon and the original vase at the nelson-atkins. After spending a couple of summers in China I decided to get the legwork, it took me years to find an artist that I thought could do it, and even then they refered me to the show owner who generally has a 3-4 month waiting list. It look around 20-24 hours (I can't remember anymore) with 3 hour sessions. None of the scales touch - the separation is the thickness of a blunt tattoo ink pen. The full leg pic is when it was in progress. It's been done for over 5 years now at least.

 

Not trying to high jack, but on the mandarin tattoo, what are the cracked red lines for? that looks odd....

 

I personally think that image #4 would make for the best tattoo. It flows very well between the two mandarins. The artist you choose would have to deepen the saturation of the mandarins as well as brighten it up a bit for it to be accurate though. Keep in mind, no good tattoo artist charge under 100 an hour. Even lots of not so good artists charge that. Search around for a long time, talk to artists in person and if you can see some of their tattoos in person. Its an awesome idea though man. Hopefully you can find an artist that specializes in photorealism to do this piece.

 

lol thanks for the input, and the two different colored ones with the yin and yang theme is defiantly what I was looking at but doing it a male and female lol so the left shoulder back area would be good and I agree the real estate will make or break this tattoo

 

Awesome and good luck.

Agree 100% with everything Norg said about doing your research as well. I have 3 tattoos I'm looking to cover because I rushed into them 20 years ago.

Please post a pic if you get it.

 

Ive covered 1 of my 2 tattoo mistakes already, and let me tell you its so stupid to even put yourself in that position... lol Go for quality man, its not cheap but you will be so happy with it that it wont even matter. I guarantee it.

 

agreed lol I want to find an artist that really know what there doing and get it done right. and definatly 500+ im sure but you pay for quality ;D

really really like the imput guys

 

This may take a while. When you go in I would say bring in all the pictures you just posted. Make it very clear that you are a stickler for photorealism, you may scare some artists off but you have no reason to accept anything less than perfection. California has a pretty rich tattoo culture so you shouldnt have any issues finding a quality artist, but it may take a while.

Another bit of input, what would you like for the background? The acros in the back are a pretty bland color in image #4. You could have the artist do something similar but with a brighter color, or fade it in with some negative space and shading. Both could be very cool, but its obviously up to your preference. Also, what is your pain tolerance? If that is a factor, considering you will be sitting for a substantial amount of time, the machine being used will make a difference. Rotary machines hurt much less and are very quiet. Rotary=good. lol Id also ask what size needle he would want to use for the shading and if any lining would be done. Some artists dont like to do much lining with photorealistic tattoos, but it can be done.