How to Choose The Right Spot For Your Tattoo

By christinevand

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OK, so you've decided you want a tattoo. Where are you going to put it? Learn how to choose the perfect spot.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

moderate to high pain tolerance
a skilled tattoo artist
a design in mind for your tattoo

Step1

One of the first things to think about is why do you want this tattoo? Do you want to look sexy? Do you want to memorialize someone or pay tribute to something important to you? Do you want it to be your secret, or do you want the world to see it? Answering these questions will help you determine the right placement for your tattoo. If you want a tattoo that you and the world can see, consider high-visibility spots like your arms, wrist, legs, neck and behind the ear (if your hair is short). If you want a tattoo that is only your secret, make sure it will never be visible when you are clothed.

Step2

Pain is another important part of this equation. You need to determine your pain tolerance. If it's high, you can stand to put it somewhere very tender, like the wrist or the ankle. If it's low, you may want to consider fleshier and tougher parts of the body, like the back.

Step3

Also consider the design you have in mind. Is it large? Would it lose some of its artistry if it was shrunk down to fit onto a smaller part of your body? Does it need the wide-open space of your back? Or is it a very small design that might get lost on such a large expanse of skin?

Step4

Also keep in mind the rotation of the design on your skin. If the tattoo is going on your wrist, for example, and it's a cross, do you want it to look right-side up to the people around you or right-side up to you? If the design appears to be upside-down, does it lose its meaning or take on some other meaning?

Tips & Warnings

Remember that a tattoo is forever, unless of course you're willing to sandblast it off later with laser treatments, which are very painful. In choosing your designs, try not to pick something you may grow tired of eventually or something very specific to a certain time in your life that will pass.
Always do research before choosing a tattoo artist. Many have their portfolios online. Check out their previous work and see if it's the kind of thing you like.