Durability-wise? Pain-wise? Covering or showing-wise? Where did you inked your first one?
Probably a tattoo parlour
Best tattoos are done in prisons. Those are the tattoos with depth and meaning. Much more organic than store bought tattoos. The tattoo artist has a bond to their tools, as they’ve crafted the tools themselves and they mix the ink right in your cell. And besides, anyone can get a tattoo, but you will have a tattoo with a story and real price. Imagine instead of going oh that? I got that tat because I was bored and had spending cash, you can say I got that tat when I was locked up for robbing Wendy’s with an alligator, the infection almost cost me my arm, but it was worth it
Obviously that was all /s but somehow I think I need to point it out.
🤯
Somewhere uncomfortable, like the back of a Volkswagen.
Upper arm. Most times it is covered, but one can easily show it if desired. Pain is lower in the outside than say, the part underneath your pit.
A tattoo parlor and not someone’s basement.
Had my first tattoo (a small snake) done handpoke-style on a dining table during a kinky getaway.
Great memories ^^
I should have said skin. Definitely the best place to get a tattoo.
Technically you can tattoo some mucous membranes too. For example, one of my roomates tattooed his lips black.
It doesn’t hold very well though and he has to maintain it every few monthes.
Cornhole. Trust me, you’ll never forget it.
Some place where they proofread
My first was across my spine between my shoulder blades and the next two were small on the insides of my wrists. I don’t think either was overly painful. The only one that really hurt was the part of my side piece that crossed on to my stomach. Fuck that noise. Tbh, I don’t worry about whether I can cover them. No one has cared in years.
Just below the shoulder on the upper arm. Of course it depends on what you’re getting.
Random, but I got my first tattoo on the inside of my forearm and my wife loves it because she can see it while I drive. I got it before I even met her, but it worked out in my favor lol.
Definitely pick a spot based on the tattoo you want. Mine fit best horizontally because it’s clipped from a Calvin & Hobbes panel. Like others have mentioned, if you’re shy about having one, consider something easily covered vs somewhere less painful.
If you want a tattoo, or several, it’ll sort of decide for you. Like go into a shop, meet some artists, look through their portfolios. Something will jump out at you and the pain will work itself out. Really, meet the artists. You want someone you vibe with. You’re going to be in an intimate relationship with them. And you don’t want some nut-jobs mojo getting in your skin.
Everyone feels tattoos different. My worst were my elbows, center of my sternum, and by far the worst, my inner wrist. My buddy had real problems getting his palm done but mine just felt weird. I’ve heard ribs are torture but mine were OK. The top of my foot was brutal, my friend (different dude) said he almost didn’t feel his. Keeping clean, follow whatever after-care that particular artist says to do until you learn your body and have experience on how you personally heal. And after it’s healed, sunscreen.
Also, try to remember, tattoos aren’t a static piece, they’re dynamic. They change over time and you wear them in. They’re like a good pair of jeans, they reflect wear and tear. They can fade a bit, they can get a little muted. This is part of the beauty. They aren’t stickers.
Eyes.
Go fuckin’ big.
I still regret not doing it before I met my spouse; the idea gives them panic attacks because it squicks them out so much, but it’s one thing I’ve wanted to be able to do for 30+ years, a solid 10 years before it was even first done. Finally had my chance when I got divorced from my ex-, but met my current (hopefully final) spouse too soon to do more than email the one artist globally that I actually to do it. (FWIW, that artist is Luna Cobra).
JFC don’t do this. It’s so very dangerous.
There’s a reason why I only trust one person globally to do this. As far as I know, he’s had a very low complication rate. But I’m also willing to take that kind of risk with my own body.
I got my first on my chest, below collar bone, above nipple. It seems to be real easy to cover. The ladies also love seeing just a little of it on a low cut shirt.
It didn’t hurt very much, took roughly 3-4 hours and was easy to keep clean and moist for recovery
Pain to me is not really that important a metric. Figure out where you think it’ll bring you the most joy. Most of mine are reasonably visible and I’m very glad for it. Tattoos are much less stigmatized than before.
As for durability, as long as you take good care of it while it heals and you wear sun screen after, most places other than hands and feet will likely do well. Less sun the better but that makes them hard to look at most of the time.
Look at lots of designs online, The artists that work there will have their personal work shown online, and when you find the style you like just check the reviews for a place that has “clean” and “professional” in a lot of their reviews.
go in person for a vibe check, see if you feel relaxed around the artists and you can comfortably talk about what design you want with them.
put that altogether, you should have a first good ink.
you can get lazy and sloppy afterwards, haha.
Shoulder was easy, but I never get to see it. Top of foot was hard, but I get to see it all the time. Both are easy to cover.
