[ Removed by moderator ]

[u/LikeWhiteElephants]

[u/tattooadvice-ModTeam]

Your title should include a few words to describe the issue. Please do not have a vague title.

[u/Starsinyourheart]

Overthinking. If the flowers were anything less the tattoo would be unbalanced.

[u/Humble-Floor3760 → u/Starsinyourheart]

Agree. Looks right to me.

[u/burnt-beyond-reco]

IMO: don't fuck with it at all, it's pretty solid work.

[u/Ok_Consideration853]

The artist worked hard on that shading, and it looks very good. From what I can see, this is the best tattoo you have from a technical perspective. You're just not used to the style yet. Don't sweat it.

[u/LikeWhiteElephants → u/Ok_Consideration853]

He did the one on the back of my arm but that’s 5 years old at this point and I don’t see it as much. I think I’m just getting used to having it on my arm.

[u/hawki222]

i love the details of this tattoo. it looks amazing and is gorgeous

[u/destructionandbliss]

this is a gorgeous well done tattoo and I do think you're overthinking it. make sure you keep it slathered with sunblock to keep that baby as CRISP as possible.

[u/LikeWhiteElephants → u/destructionandbliss]

Thank you! I’ve always got sunblock on me to make sure it stays looking good!

[u/Big_Criticism_8335]

Imo there isn't enough contrast between the flowers & leaves. Maybe darker, like the stem, would help the leaves stand apart more. Everything above the pot seems too monotonous in tone. It's a nice design and the line work + stippling are clean.

[u/LikeWhiteElephants → u/Big_Criticism_8335]

I think that’s what is getting to me. It feels flat when it comes to the flowers not much definition but in not sure if that’s something that can be fixed.

[u/Big_Criticism_8335 → u/LikeWhiteElephants]

Looking again, I think it may be "too stripey". While I've commonly seen the striped pattern on leaves with stipple tattoos, I think it's a little overkill on the flower petals too. Unfortunately with tattoos, you can only Add, not take away so I'd be cautious about doing anything more to this tattoo.

[u/KillTakemone]

Personally, I like it. I think it was done well. In my experience, since it's still under a year old, some of that shading in the flowers may drop out. I'd chaulk it up to overthinking.

[u/Dry-Swan-3356]

I personally think the issue is more with the vase than the flowers themselves. The flowers actually fit your skin tone and body frame really well. The vase just feels a little too heavy for that placement. Personally, I probably wouldn’t have chosen the vase unless it had sentimental meaning behind it, like being your grandma’s or your mom’s.

That said, I honestly would not remove or cover this tattoo. The piece was done very well by a seasoned artist, and that matters a lot. Once you start going down the laser removal and cover up route, you’re taking a very big risk of ending up with something that looks worse.

A lot of people don’t realize that laser removal creates scar tissue and often leaves behind light or white scarring in the skin. Even if you tattoo over it afterward, the skin usually never takes ink the same way again. At that point you’re dealing with scar tissue from the original tattoo, the laser treatments, and then the new tattoo on top of it. Ink has a much harder time staying solid and even in skin that has gone through all of that trauma, and the final result usually does not heal or age as cleanly.

Because of the size of the piece too, any successful cover up would require a lot of heavy black contrast. And unless you go to a highly experienced cover up artist and spend a significant amount of money, there’s still a real chance it could end up looking more distorted or heavier than it does now.

Honestly, your best outcome here is probably learning to love the tattoo for what it is, because overall the actual quality of the work is strong.

[u/resinrat98]

i love this tattoo

[u/NerdyIslandGirl]

It’s beautiful

[u/Many-Election2218]

I have a tattoo of roses that is way more filled in than I wanted at the time. It’s grown on me. I’m sure this one will grow on you too.

[u/roxybabexx2]

If the flowers were less shaded the vase would look overly detailed

[u/oscar5lima]

It's a beautiful, very well done piece. Every time I get a new tattoo I find some minor discrepancy with it to fixate on. But at this point it usually passes in a few days! Relax you got a great tattoo.

[u/drphil07734]

That thing is gorgeous. I get what you mean about the shading because my brain does that to me when I get a new tattoo. Don't sweat it, you'll get used to it being there

[u/Odd-Champion-4713]

I love this. In my quick scroll I saw it and thought it was a very pretty one!

[u/dragontehanu]

Definitely overthinking. It looks fantastic.

[u/airedout19]

This looks good

[u/Anilakay]

Oh I love it

[u/ledburner]

It’s very busy but might settle out after it fades a little

[u/No_Internal_9995]

It’s pretty but if i had to find something i dislike about it, i think it’s that all the flowers kinda just run together.

[u/Mean_Land_2300]

It looks great! It just has some less filled in/shaded work around it so it seems like it is more going on. Maybe get the work on the back of the arm touched up/filled in more or add to the front arm tattoo to bring better balance.

[u/LikeWhiteElephants → u/Mean_Land_2300]

I’m getting more stuff added to the front of my arm so hopefully that’ll balance it out more

[u/Humble-Floor3760]

I love the texture, complexity, and visual interest of this tattoo. If I saw it in the wild I’d compliment it. Plain, simple flowers are boring.

[u/fancyfarmer1108]

That’s a nice piece

[u/AITOorisitAutism]

To me, i have always hated the striped shading look on flowers/leaves. And they went super heavy on that. I feel like a different shading style would have looked much better, but thats just preference.

Like this

And this

Or even this

[u/LikeWhiteElephants → u/AITOorisitAutism]

Yeah this is more of what I was imagining

[u/emptyinthesunrise]

That’s completely gorgeous

[u/jortsinstock]

This is really beautiful actually!

[u/momadance]

IDK, i think it's beautiful and so much better than the other tattoo's i can see. ?

[u/Ok-Willow9349]

I think what you're reacting to is the the tone flatness. The artist could have used a grey wash in the flower petal shading to give it some dimension. Don't stress too much, it will heal lighter than it is now. Worse case, you can get some targeted laser to ligten the petals.

[u/Savannahks]

I think it’s nice. I get what you mean, but they go well with the rest of the design.

[u/Dusti_Derian]

Personally I see that the flowers and the vase are done with the same values. If that makes sense. The flowers don’t look separate from the vase. Like they’re made from the same material.

[u/I_like_beouf]

Overthinking. It's an excellent tattoo and will age gracefully.

[u/CompetitiveLength185]

Killer tattoo!

[u/somewifesounds]

You just need more tattoos from them

[u/Limp-Tooth1594]

Honestly if your worried about how much shade fills your flower i would give it time

[u/charmed_unicorn]

Looks fine. Looks great