Great advice every one,
they pretty much nailed it....except a few things, if the shop is reputable they will use a high end ink, which cannot be removed by laser, it just burns it in your skin, the laser's do a good job of taking out carbon based inks... IE old crappy ink that fades...
PAIN yes tattoo's do hurt, some, they hurt to the extreme, others not so much, the more sensitive the area the more pain...the larger the tattoo, the longer it's gonna take, the more pain it will involve.
"A tattoo is an outward expression of ones inner self" stop looking at other peoples tattoos, look inside of yourself, and you will see what to get, then find the right artist to bring it to life.
you say you want it to be Italian, I designed a maple leaf with the Italian colors inside for someone who was half Canadian and half Italian (duh)
what are you all about? Music? old paintings? wildlife? what makes YOU tick? these are the questions I ask someone who comes to me for the first time,
family Crest? do you have kids? if so do there names in the Italian colors....?
make ABSOLUTELY sure they look at their needle tip with an eye-loop, sad to say this is not a very common thing, the artist says "the needle is new" ya but are the tips bent? I find many bent needles and every single person i tattoo that has been tattooed by someone else, they say I am the first they have seen, really look at there needles....this is very important the needle is what puts in the ink the thing better be perfect.
take your time in choosing the right idea, and even longer in choosing the artist, where do you live? I could check out the local shops and recommend one for ya.
good luck....oh one more thing...tattoos are more addictive then AH
