BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Body Art Choosing a spot for a tattoo

Hi Rae! I've read some of the other posts in your forum and it's gotten me seriosly thinking about getting my tattoo. I've had this particular faery in mind for several years. It has alot of colour and detail and will be about 2 inches or more. Before I go about choosing an artist I need to decide where it should go. Besides the obvious (such as it being visible to a possible employer), is there anything to help me figure out where it should go? The only thing I'm pretty set on is having it in a place that I can see easily. (I've sort of ruled out my back and shoulders.) I look forward to your advice. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Thanks, FW.

I know a lot of women who have tattoos placed on their upper arms and on their thighs. However, many people who want to keep the artwork more private find that their thighs are more concealed than upper arms when you consider many every day fashions. I do have several friends however who find that the artwork on their arms is covered by the average t-shirt, which is pretty much how my own arms are. However, if I wear any sort of cap sleeve or sleeveless shirt, it sorta still looks like I have regular short sleeves....LOL...

I have some tattooing right down the center of my torso and whereas it's easy to keep that artwork entirely to myself, tattooing over that part of the body was more painful than other spots I've done, and I wouldn't recommend chest, sternum, rib or center torso tattoos as the place to put a first one.

Thanks for your advice Rae. I have been kind of thinking about the upper arm too, since I feel like this is the type of tattoo that I want to 'show off', if you know what I mean. I had heard that getting it done over a bone is (more) painful. I like how you said you wouldn't recommend those areas for "a first one". LOL. If tattoos are anything like piercings, then I can see how a person could get addicted. FW

I've never felt "addicted" to my tattoos, as to me that implies a loss of control when it comes to getting them. However, during my very first one at the age of 21 I was struck with a profound sense that I had somehow been a tattooed person before and that this was an important form of self-expression for me.

Upper arms aren't too bad. They get more sensitive if the artwork wraps around to the inner arm and if you get near the fold of the arm right next to your armpit.

Sorry, "addicted" wasn't quite the word I meant. I was thinking that it would be easy enough for one piece of work could lead to another. Just as with any positive experience I suppose.

Actually I hear the word addicted used rather frequently when people talk about their tattoos. It does seem to arise from the fact that one piece of ink frequently does lead to another. And another.... and another.... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I have met a few people who started in their early 20s and just got as much ink as they could as fast as they could afford it. Then, in their later 30s and 40s when they are covered, it's not that they regret being tattooed, it's that they regret doing so much at such an early age as now they are all "filled-in."

I have said from time to time that I wanted to have full sleeves (both arms filled from shoulder to wrist) by the time I was 40. I still have the short sleeves I had when I was thirty, even though I've gotten other work since, and with a little over a year and a half to go, I don't see my financial situation allowing me to do it. However, it's not such a fixed goal as to make me change my entire life to achieve it. I know what I'd like to get and when the time comes, so will the ink.

I just got my first tattoo about 2 months ago - it's on my leg several inches above the ankle. It's not huge, but it's not a tiny tattoo either - probably 3 inches wide, 4 inches long. I find I wear skirts more often than I have in the past, so that it can be seen occasionally. No regrets on my part, but I think my grown sons aren't sure what to think about Mom getting a tattoo, though. My husband is okay with it, although a tattoo isn't something he would consider either. I love it - it means a lot to me. Maybe another someday...

I am new to the tattoo world and thinking about getting one done near my ankle. It would be a design similar to an anklet which wraps all the way around nothing to big jut simple. My only problem is I have not had any good ideas for a design and also heard getting one near the ankle area can be painful. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Ankles, being a lot of bone and nerves without much muscle and body fat, can be pretty painful.

hahaha, my tat was done on the inside of my ankle, low enough to be nearly covered by ankle socks and yet not. Maybe I have a high tolerance for pain but it really didn't bother me too much. Driving home was an adventure see as it was on the right side and I had waited and hour or so while my friend got his tat done. So it was sore but it wasn't gut wrenching pain. More of an annoyance really. My next one will probably be in the inside of my left ankle as I know what I want there (bear paw with a star in it) instead of my shoulder blade, which i know i want ink there, just not what as of yet.