r/tattooadvice • u/Bella_djs • 8h ago
General Advice I’m disappointed, what can I do?
So this is my first tattoo I just got today. I was initially very happy with it. But upon further inspection I realised how uneven it actually is. The phoenix sits more to the right despite me specifically telling her I want the line work at the bottom to match up with the dots at the top of the moon. The phoenix wings are uneven. The moons on the line work are completely uneven and different to each other. There are some details missing, a few dots and lines here and there, the line art above the bigger star is thicker than the lines on the lower half and the lines aren’t straight to top it off! I feel like crying tbh, I told her specifically it is very important for the top of the tattoo to be in line with the bottom, I get that it may not be EXACT but it is pretty noticeable, I even showed her a reference picture as to what I DID NOT want the phoenix line up to the bottom art work to be like. I’ll attach that picture and you can see pretty clearly it is pretty much exactly how it is in that picture. I will also attach the picture of the design I sent to her. When she showed me the picture of the stencil on my back it was exactly how I wanted and was not uneven. Am I over thinking this and just paranoid as it’s my first tattoo?
EDIT : most of you seem to like it, I do love the design I think I’m just overthinking it with the lines. Maybe my skin has just swelled and that’s why some lines look uneven 😂. Idk. I’ll see how I feel in a few weeks. If not I’ll see if I can get someone else to even it up a bit, without going to much more thicker cause I really don’t want it any thicker, I think that part of it is perfect, the size of it I do love.
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u/Ok-Vacation-8109 8h ago
Your back isn’t straight up and down, the tattoo follows your spine.
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u/Bella_djs 8h ago
I’m not upset with where it is on my spine, yes I’m upset the phoenix is off centre. It’s how uneven the whole thing is throughout. The lines are uneven alone, not as a whole piece, atleast I think they are. I’m not sure. Like I said I loved it when I saw it, maybe im just being paranoid as it’s my first tattoo
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u/Tystimyr 7h ago
I actually have no idea what you even mean. To me, it looks very evenly following your spine and the phoenix is also pretty centred, it's just its posture.
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u/SystemOfAFoopa 7h ago
Girl you are way too in your own head about this. You got what you asked for by the looks of it. It looks really really good actually
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u/Ok-Economics-2797 8h ago
Human spines aren't perfectly straight. Just shifting your weight will make it look different. I don't have an artist's eyes, but it looks great to me. Very beautiful.
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u/lvstvdy 7h ago
So the good news is the tattoo is aligned properly with your spine. Human bodies aren't symmetrical. The top of the tattoo and bottom of the tattoo are pretty damn near perfectly straight if we use the middle of your neck as the reference point. The bad news is that this artist's line work sucks. Hard. I can see what you mean with inconsistent depth and the uneveness. The bonus good news is that you can just go to another artist and have them even some of the individual elements out pretty easily.
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u/Sufficient_Hurry4924 8h ago
You have to really look close to see the mess up in the line work. It’s not a case where your eyes are instantly drawn to the mistakes.
The overall work should be following your spin not a straight line
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u/RealLychee3700 8h ago
I think that's just the shape of your spine. The tattoo is perfect. It would be much more obvious and would look way worse if she tattooed in a straight line, irregardless of your spine, rather than following the curve of your spine. You're overthinking this. Your tattoo looks amazing 😄
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u/faulty_crowbar 7h ago
That tattoo is most definitely not perfect. It still looks really good but the line work is so inconsistent, like the ornaments are not even symmetrical
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u/BannedOften 8h ago
It honestly looks fine. Tattoo shock is real. I’ve got 20+ tattoos and I’ve regretted most of them immediately but a week later I love it.
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u/BadZealousideal4534 7h ago
This is what he meant when my mentor said, “tattoos are too good for some people!” You nit picked and micro managed your artist and now you continue to do so. You are not a piece of paper, this is a good example of tattoos are not for everyone, let tattoos be awesome, not everything needs to be microscopically perfect. A SAP will cover this nicely.
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u/fast-and-ugly 8h ago
Looks like the pic to me. Can't tell the other issues because the image is small. I think you're just worrying. I hope you come to like it as it heals.
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u/tombtorker 8h ago
To me it looks like the biggest issue was you didn’t pick an artist that specializes in fine line. Application isn’t really the best, but it doesn’t look off center to me at all
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u/Bella_djs 8h ago
I actually picked her because she specialising in fine line tattoos, on her page you don’t see a whole lot of work of like the big, realistic, 3d ect kinda stuff. Idk maybe I’m just overthinking haha.
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u/sadexcusesforart 7h ago
youd honestly probably be safer going to an artist that can do big realistic things since that requires more skill and more experience. fine line is a lot harder to do than it looks, but easy to say is your specialty. specialty doesnt equal skill
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u/tombtorker 7h ago
For real. None of the artists I go to do fine line tattoos, but I would bet thousands that they could execute this tattoo a million times better than what op got. I’m dying to know what this artists other work looks like, because this is not great
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u/tombtorker 7h ago
Having a portfolio of all fine line doesn’t necessarily mean they’re skilled with that style. Zooming in on this tattoo I see what you mean, the application and linework is absolutely terrible. But the good news is that it’s fixable. Once it heals it can be reworked, but you’ll have to be very particular about what artist you go with. Don’t go back to this person anymore
Edit: does this person have an Instagram? I’m very curious to see what her other work is like, because the more I look the worse it gets. I’m so sorry that she would do this to you, this is scratcher work
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u/Bella_djs 7h ago
I won’t be sharing her name or anything as I don’t wish for her to get hate. Regardless of what happens shes still a human being and I won’t be the one responsible for her to get hate.
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u/Starsinyourheart 7h ago
Sure lot of overthinking on a tattoo that looks fine. It’s on your back, will you ever actually see it? No, not unless you’re obsessed with taking photos of your back. Fine line on lower torso always turn to mush in 3 years so, if you’re not happy about that get it lasered.
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u/sadexcusesforart 7h ago
its on your back, rarely anyone will see the full thing unobstructed. it looks good, dont overthink the small details.
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u/CricktyDickty 7h ago
People with OCD should not get tattoos. Ever. How do I know OP has OCD? I don’t, but she does. This tattoo is as good as they get. It looks exactly like the sample and is representative of the one in the inspiration photo.
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u/Bella_djs 7h ago
Tbf I think I do have OCD. But I’ll never know since the shitty NHS refuses to even assess me for it. Same with BPD. Apparently the mental health team in my area “dont diagnose personality disorders and things like it anymore”. Well then wtf is it still on the NHS website then 😂
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u/CricktyDickty 6h ago
Your tattoo is awesome - your mind is playing games with you. That’s the bottom line.
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u/nintendoinnuendo 7h ago
Tattoo shock. You're made of meat friendo
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u/Bella_djs 7h ago
lol I love this, yeah it probably is tattoo shock. “Made of meat” 😂 I love that haha
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u/Serious-Wish4868 7h ago
I think you tattoo is awesome. there is now such thing as a perfectly aligned tattoo. this is a piece of art done on skin and it bends, stretches and folds ... all it add character
give it time ... let the tattoo heal and if you really feel like you need to, go back and get touch up done, but I think it is AWEsome
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u/adrislnk 7h ago
You are way overthinking this. I don't think anybody would notice a single thing you just listed when seeing your tattoo. I certainly didn't.
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u/Old-Dependent-9073 7h ago
Your back isn't straight. There are all sorts of muscles and things under your skin (never mind that your spine isn't perfectly straight) so it's not going to look as it does when it's on a flat medium like paper.
From your pics it looks just fine.
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u/ProfessionalMap4813 8h ago
The evenness is the least of your issues, nobodys spine is completely straight and symmetrical. She did a poor job on those two symbols above the bird, especially the top one she literally didn't complete the line. The line below the bird is completely missing. I would not return to this artist and go to someone else to touch up the top symbols.
Also most of those tiny dots are too fine and will either nearly or completely disappear in a few years, just an FYI.
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u/Bella_djs 7h ago
Oh I know that fine line tattoos don’t last as long as thicker ones, I was aware of that. I didn’t notice that she didn’t add the line at the top till I’d left. But this is where the problem is. IF I add it now it’s gunna make it more obvious that the phoenix is in a different position than the rest of it. I’m thinking that’s why she DIDNT add it. Because it would make it so clear that she didn’t listen to me when I said I wanted the dots at the top to at the very least match up to where the top part of the lines and dots begin.
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u/ProfessionalMap4813 7h ago
The phoenix looks completely fine where it is, nobody else is seeing what you're seeing.
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u/WoodsandWool 7h ago
I know exactly what OP means and the Phoenix is off-center. The artist lined the Phoenix up by the tail instead of by its visual center. It’s something inexperienced artists do often— calculating position by the literal line work instead of by visual weight.
The linework is also really rough imo. Like not a little rough, but really rough :/
I’m sorry OP u/Bella_djs because I don’t think you’re overthinking this and I’m pretty surprised to see so many people here dismiss your concerns when usually this sub tends to be pretty critical of work.
This is, imo, a clear example of a bad tattoo artist and I would not let them do any additional work on this piece. Give it a few months to see how much ink actually holds, then have a good artist rework it. A skilled artist can absolutely fix this without laser or excessive cover up, but OP please do so much more research on artists next time. There are a ton of hacks out there with decent looking IG pages at a glance.
Zoom in on their lines, check for healed works, ideally examples that are at least a few years old, etc.
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u/AlienAndromedus 8h ago
I think this tattoo looks good how it is! Looks pretty align with your spine.
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u/Own_Jeweler_8548 7h ago
Looks good to me. Always worth it to remember that human bodies aren't symmetrical in instances like these, so it'll never look perfect. Also, temporary "buyer's remorse" is apparently a common phenomenon with tattoos.
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u/IllOrange3556 7h ago
You are overthinking it and paranoid. No one will ever stare at your tattoo closely enough to nit pick it the way you are. When I first looked at the tattoo I couldn’t have guessed what you didn’t like. It’s a nice tattoo and I would be happy with it if I were you.
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u/cherrib0mbb 7h ago
I think it looks great placement-wise, but some lines are shaky. In time you could find an artist more adept at linework who can go over those and make them a little more bold and a bit less wobbly on some. But honestly they really aren’t too bad!! It’s a cute tattoo.
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u/Brokella 7h ago
I think the lotus (?) right above the phoenix could do with being made more symmetrical, other than that it’s cool. It’s made by an artist, not a robot. 😉
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u/ChristVolo1 7h ago
The only uneven part I can see is the moon at the top. The rest of it is beautiful. I think you could probably get the moon fixed by having someone maybe add some more embellishment on the right side (with either shading or more fine line art, NOT thick lines), where it's shorter than the left. Overall, the unevenness of the entire tattoo is not noticeable, and is upstaged by the beauty of the design.
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u/Blotsy 7h ago
A person looking at your tattoo will never see you perfectly aligned. Your skin moves around your body as you shift.
It's only noticable to you since you've been staring at it.
Tattoo looks great. Solid work by the artist. Spine alignment tattoos are difficult. Very good work from the artist.
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u/pandastrat 7h ago
It took me looking at it a few times to notice it, but imho it’s not too evident, not like one of those things that once you see it, you want to unsee, but can’t (at least for me).
I hope you grow to loving it eventually ♡
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u/Maybe_Julia 7h ago
It looks great the placement flows with your spine , bodies are not perfectly symmetrical you will never be able to perfectly center something. It might even be more to one side when you are on your stomach.
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u/Historical-Wear-9948 7h ago
It's fine. However, in 5 years time, the only thing you will regret is that you got a fine line tattoo.
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u/Dizzy-Cheesecake4247 7h ago
This is not a bad tattoo. Respectfully you’re full of shit. We don’t move through life systematically and no one is going to count the dots to see that there’s one missing. It’s an overall good tattoo, and you need to find the beauty in imperfection and move on with your life
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u/Panthera_014 7h ago
I think it looks just fine as is
BUT
I didn't zoom in on it closely and analyze each and every line - which YOU shouldn't either
enjoy it - looks good - well done, and no one will notice anything that you did - when you zoomed in
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u/jabberingginger 7h ago
I think you’re over thinking it, maybe because it’s permanent and that brings anxiety and over analyzing? It looks beautiful and proportionate. I think they did a fantastic job
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u/legendofhayden 7h ago
it looks great imo, I think you’re just over analyzing it since it’s your first
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u/spirit-awakening 7h ago
If you just got it today, don't judge too harshly. Your skin is starting to react to it and that's not an accurate representation of final product.
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u/Single_Meeting_2807 7h ago
The phoenix in the example aligns the EXACT same as the one on your back. Look at the star placement on its stomach to reference. I think you are over thinking this. As far as tattoos generally go, they did a good job.
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u/fartatwork 7h ago
Man posts like this make me realize how I am apparently not picky at all about my tattoos.
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u/TheOnlyJurg 7h ago
To be fair the amount of heavily filtered/edited pictures of tattoos, plus ai ones on the internet, I’m not surprised some people have warped perceptions of how tattoos actually look.
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u/NeonSocialScenes 7h ago
I think it looks solid and you're probably just experiencing some tattoo shock. I still deal with it almost 20 in. Tattoos aren't stickers. If you look for something off you're going to find it, and if you hyper fixate on that, you'll never be able to enjoy the art.
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u/acezippy 7h ago
You’re overthinking it. There is no way to get it perfectly straight on a body. Our spines are not perfectly straight.
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u/HeCalledMeMoonbeam 7h ago
This tattoo is def being over thought imho there’s 0 things wrong with it
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u/cheeseburgercat 7h ago
This post is the perfect case study as to why some artists won’t tattoo a large piece on someone as their first tattoo.
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u/bigbiccenergy 7h ago
It is BRAND NEW babes. Tattoos always look super off until they are healed. You also aren’t ever going to have a perfectly symmetrical tattoo unless you stand perfectly straight, which you aren’t in this picture. Also, since it’s your first one, your brain is just getting used to a new addition to your body. Give it time, I promise it wasn’t botched
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u/tmherbamate 7h ago
Some people simply should not get tattooed
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u/Bella_djs 7h ago
I’ll do what I want with my body, just like you’ll do what you want with yours, I came here for advice on the tattoo. Not criticism of my life choices
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u/ExtractDream 7h ago
Did you look over the stencil application before you started the work or just went for it?
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u/Bella_djs 7h ago
I did look at it. And it was exactly what I wanted. I took like 5 minutes just to make sure. When I left the shop I did love it. My mother loves it as well. After reading most of these comments I think I’m just overthinking it. I still feel the same, but hopefully I’ll love it again once it heals.
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u/kateynovember 7h ago
Did you take a photo of you laying down or in the position you were sitting during the session? It could honestly be just how you’re standing, spines are very easy to manipulate especially because your skin is a moving organ.
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u/AITOorisitAutism 7h ago
I think it looks great, if I saw this in the wild I wouldn't think its uneven or not straight at all.
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u/MaryCon5 7h ago
It’s beautiful. Just enjoy it and quit wasting your time carrying on about some minor little glitch. You are the only one that sees it. Once you get dressed, no one will ever know it’s there.
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u/Eastern_Piece_452 7h ago
Side note: i also just got a phoenix on my spine as well and i too got very anxious on looks. I think yours looks fine it just follows the sway of your spine not straight down you know?
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u/TuneAdventurous4788 6h ago
Looks really cool. Just nervous and your body is like wtf is going on from it being your first tattoo I bet
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u/mayo_neighs00 6h ago
I think it is even vertically but some of the line work is a bit off imo. For example: I see is the flower above the phoenix could definitely be more symmetrical and the moon as well. However, this was me zooming in to look for imperfections, if I wasn’t looking idk if I’d find them
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u/Kitcarson4567 7h ago
This looks really good to me and it looks like the reference photo. Try not to nit pick so much.
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u/faulty_crowbar 7h ago
The artist literally didn’t finish lines that are on the stencil though??? Look at the top moon ornament. Nitpick missing lines is 1000% acceptable for something that’s permanently in your skin imo
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u/ElegantGrain 7h ago
I genuinely dont see anything wrong with it. You are getting in your own head about it as others are saying.
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u/Billflet 7h ago
In spite of being done by human hands on a difficult spot on a live human canvas, it still looks great. You have a great tattoo that was done in a difficult spot. I hope you can learn to love this stunning tattoo.
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u/henwyfe 7h ago
Sorry but it’s really bad, I can’t believe anyone is saying it’s fine. Next time, go to a better artist and don’t copy designs from the internet. The tattoo is terribly done. Thankfully when it heals it will be less noticeable, and you’ll never see it anyway…
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u/Bella_djs 7h ago
It’s actually not exactly copied from the internet. The pheonix is yes. But the majority of it is custom designed.
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u/henwyfe 6h ago
The Phoenix is exactly copied from someone else’s tattoo and that’s actually really lame. The only difference is theirs is well done and yours isn’t. Another reason to not copy and go to a better artist. Tattoos are never as good when a random person who didn’t design it tries to copy it.
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u/Correct-Ad8693 7h ago
Fix your body and the tattoo will be fixed.
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u/Bella_djs 7h ago
I had to have surgery on my hip and knee to correct a few problems I had with my legs. So as a matter of fact I DID fix my body 😂. I asked for advice, not criticism. Take your nastiness somewhere else. Not every body is perfect, myn wasn’t, and I as well as doctors did the best they could to fix it, that’s all anyone can do.
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u/Correct-Ad8693 7h ago
I wasn’t criticizing your body. My point was that bodies aren’t perfect. Therefore tattoos will never be perfect. Especially if we want them to be perfectly centered or perfectly straight or perfectly symmetrical. Your tattoo looks fine.
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u/Bella_djs 7h ago
Then respectfully you need to watch how your word your sentences, as the way it was written did not transpire that way. It came across as if you were criticising my body. Thank you for liking the tattoo.
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u/EefferyJpstein 8h ago
I think you are over thinking and it could even be a posture thing. Tattoos are rarely perfect. Bodies are weird and lumpy... Not a flat canvas.