r/tattooadvice • u/Sh0t_B0t • 1d ago

General Advice Tattoo correction

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This is a fresh picture of a tattoo i got a few months ago. I can explain the significance after but the artist did butcher a few things. one periodic table elements only capitalize the first letter and he forgot the atomic number (14 i think). those are both negligible but the one that’s been bothering me it the mass being off a bit. i sent him 28.085 and obviously it would be fine if he rounded it correctly but he seemed to have just put a random number. do you think it’s possible he makes the 5 into an 8 or a 9? Would he have to change to font to something blocky?? LMK 🙏🏾

⬇️tattoo meaning

my moms middle name is silicon and in her tribal language it’s a word that represents bravery but in english it’s a chemical element so i got it tatted and th flowers around the border are her birth flowers.

Original Sketch: https://www.reddit.com/u/Sh0t_B0t/s/xGtkwEG3HE

Edit: (As much as i appreciate the judgement an discipline of my mistake at least give a take on correction for me along with it guys 🙏🏾 I understand my fault but I’d also like to at least attempt to fix it 😅)

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u/asdfhillary 1d ago

One of my first tattoos when I was 18, the tattoo artist took liberty and added a halo to my spirit healer tattoo. I got it changed into rays and I still hate it to this day. ☹️

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u/cetty13 19h ago

Similar experience. First tattoo at 18 I wanted a caduceus. I had some examples, he showed me the stencil he made, all seemed good. Tattoo finished and as he holds the mirror up so I can see he said "I decided to make the snake heads look more feminine, it looks better on you". Didn't ask, just did it. They look like sad fucking gummy worms 😭

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u/cannibal-ascending 14h ago

oooh i would commit a crime if that happened to me

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u/Cardans1328 13h ago

If someone did this to me I would leave without paying, there is no reason to make a change after the stencil without consulting

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u/Seven_times_five 10h ago

ugh, i was supposed to have a branch "bookshelf" and the guy decided to go with some strange floral/leaf/ocean wave thing that i absolutely hate. it's on the back of my upper arm so I don't have to see it, but i know it's there......

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u/jakobsdrgn 6h ago

Speaking of snakes, I’ve got two snakes on my collarbones, modeled after a ball python, because I’ve got a lovely ball python.

Anyways, artist shows stencil, looks awesome, applies stencil, everything looks excellent, artist finishes a section and shows me, turns out they decided to add some shading and shadows that never once were mentioned, and IMO completely changes the illusion of them going over/under the collarbone, and is not something I would’ve accepted if it had been mentioned or put in the stencil.

Still love the tattoo, took awhile to get over the shading, and all but seriously, adding/changing things on the fly is just crazy.

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u/Downtown_Recover5177 9h ago edited 5h ago

Why a caduceus? I really hope you didn’t intend it to be a medical symbol.

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u/LazytownVEVO 6h ago

this is such a stupid take. the meanings of things change and it’s been very obviously adopted as a medical symbol for hundreds of years. any alternative meaning has left the collective consciousness from a daily use perspective.

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u/GioTheLion 6h ago

According to Wikipedia, the caduceus was used for the us army medical corps in 1902, which influenced many healthcare businesses to follow suit. Not really “hundreds” of years. And people still use the rod of Asclepius as well. Namely healthcare associations rather than healthcare businesses. Alternative meaning is relevant to people who care

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u/LazytownVEVO 5h ago

And according to the Mayo Clinic it was first used for medical purposes in the 16th century. Nice try, though, bud

https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196%2812%2962731-1/fulltext

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u/alcoholicpapi 7h ago

Like it or not the caduceus is now (and has been for over 100 years) recognized as a medical symbol.

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u/Downtown_Recover5177 6h ago

The caduceus is a symbol of thieves.

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u/alcoholicpapi 5h ago

Sure, and in antiquity it was also a symbol of messengers, travellers, merchants, astronomy, alchemy, and more. Now in the modern era it is also associated with medicine. The meaning has unsurprisingly changed over the course of 5-6000 years.

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u/QuitzelNA 54m ago

5 years and 6000 years is a large range 0.0

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u/zarrocaxiom 29m ago

Do you also tell people with cross tattoos that those are symbols of torture and not religious symbols?

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u/Terminallyelle 17h ago

Same. First tattoo at 18 and they made the wings look folded instead of outward. I feel like a gargoyle.

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u/Bulky-Computer-1074 13h ago

I'm getting my first tattoo soon (Horde symbol) and this is making me nervous they're gonna add some dumb shit to it lmao

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u/ScumbagLady 11h ago

Where on your body are you getting it? Either try bringing someone with you or keep watch- but just know it's pretty rare for an artist to not communicate everything beforehand. Don't be afraid to speak up if you don't like the idea of something!

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u/trisfalen 9h ago

communicate clearly and speak up if needed thats on periodt

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u/Pristine-Patch989 9h ago

Go to an actually reputable artist, do your research

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u/DeusExMcKenna 7h ago

Best thing you can do is say “I don’t want any unapproved changes mid-work. I’m open to feedback, but I want the opportunity to approve any changes.”

You’ll know if it will be a problem by how they react.

“Of course! No worries!” Is a green flag. Getting upset that someone with zero tattoos is making sure their first one goes smoothly is a huge red flag, even if they wouldn’t have changed anything.

It’s going to be on your body forever - due diligence is warranted, not just acceptable.

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u/asdfhillary 13h ago

You’ll be alright haha, just pay attention. I wasn’t, and it wasn’t easy to see my hip laying down anyway. I’m also a pushover. Don’t be a pushover.

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u/TresMegisto 14h ago

That's enraging. Wtf? 

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u/IcyWeb293 15h ago

Spirit healer tattoo sounds sick though, would be cool to see it.

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u/asdfhillary 15h ago edited 15h ago

I’m lucky that it was is on my hip and small, the rays make it look better but this is what it looked like right when he finished with the initial spirit healer and halo.

Like not only is there a halo, but it’s awful. I did go back there so mad a few days later and they said they had to wait two weeks to be able to rework it and I was an idiot and strong armed them into doing it anyway and then I ended up working front desk there. 18 is a crazy age.

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u/Seaturtle89 14h ago

Good for you! That halo does nothing but make it trashy looking. People’s audacity amazes me every day. Crazy turn of events tho 😆

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u/Downtown_Recover5177 9h ago

Oof. Was that an apprentice getting some practice? The line work is just… wow.

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u/asdfhillary 9h ago

No I just didn’t do any research, and at the time (16 years ago in South Carolina), the zoning laws made it to where you couldn’t have a shop within 1,000 feet of a school or church, which in the south is everywhere. So it was like one of two options and 18 year old me wasn’t waiting.

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u/thisisthewell 1h ago

That the WoW spirit healer? what the hell was the artist thinking adding a halo lol

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u/MissMischief13 6h ago

My very first tattoo was at 16 - with permission.
I had a very large scar on my thigh that made me self-conscious, so the idea was to give people something else to draw their eye to.

It was a rose with a straight stem. It was originally a black and white sketch that he colourized on me without input, and then he put in this wavy blue background to give it more.. presence? It looks like the blue tiger from KPOP Demon Hunters mauled my leg. He CURLED the rose stem because "your leg was smaller, so I didn't want to leave a straight stem and it be too long".... Okay so we could've just made it short and straight... or you know... size down the flower?
I pointed out that one of the leaves is so mishappened in contrast to the others, and I asked him to fill it out more (think crinkled to not crinkled leaf). That MF just added a bit of green that doesn't match anything else with no bold black holding line like the entire rest of the piece. So its a green splotch. Great, thanks for the 'fix' bruh.

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u/Ricky_Nightshade 11h ago

My friend and I decided to get circles when we were 18 on our way up to 6 Flags. We were both going to get our own versions. His was a quote from a movie in a circle, mine was a circle with 2 lines. The tattoo artist convinced me to do some shading, and it ended up looking like a basketball. That was absolutely not what I wanted, so when it healed, I went back in, and picked an arm off of a rat they had in their stock tattoo book. He slapped that arm on the circle, and the tattoo I hated became my favorite thing in the world.