There are a lot of things you should consider before you head out to get your first tattoo. Early spring is the perfect time to get a tattoo according to Tulove Thapa of Gagan’s Tattoo Inn, Thamel. This is the season where the sun isn’t strong enough to burn your sensitive, freshly tattooed skin, and you don’t have to wear layers thus protecting the skin from chafing and bleeding. Here are some things you should consider before making a tattoo as well as different kinds of tattoos you can choose from.



Things to consider
A tattoo is a permanent fixture on your skin and is also an extremely painful and expensive mistake to cover up. There are a lot of things you need to think about before committing to something for the rest of your life. “People should never get a spontaneous tattoo,” says Thapa. Instead, he said, people should think long and hard on what they want their tattoo to be. Pinterest is a place where many of his clients get their inspirations from. And for those who can’t decide what to get, he says talking about their life story with the artist can help you choose what you want. If you have a specific design in mind then you can directly book a date to get the tattoo done, if not, you will have to go back for follow-ups to make sure that what goes on your body is what you really want. 

Another thing to consider is starting small. If you have never had a tattoo before, you don’t know how it will react to your skin and how long your skin will take to heal. This will also help you determine your pain threshold and prepare you for larger tattoos you may want to get in the future. Think of it as testing out the canvas, if you get something small it will also be easy to cover up in the future if you feel like you don’t really want it anymore.

Types of tattoos

Single line
Single lined tattoo is the most in trend style right now. The fact that it is small, easy to cover up if one so wishes, and so simple is what attracts most people to it. The infinity symbol, an anchor, a wave and an outline of the countries in the world are all examples of a single line tattoo. “This minimalist trend has attracted a lot more people to dabble in the world of tattoos,” reveals Thapa. 

Realism
According to Thapa, realistic tattoos have become very popular these days – whether it be an image of a pet, a loved one or a favorite actor or superhero. You should have a good reference photo and see prior works of the artist to make sure that you will like the end result. This tattoo, however, doesn’t come cheap, and should you go the cheaper way for it, you should know that the tattoo might not come out as realistic as you hope it will.  

Watercolor
Watercolor is a process that looks like an experimental artistic process and uses streaks of colors and splashes to give an impression of paint being used on a piece of paper or on a canvas. The watercolor can be combined with styles like realism or solid outlines and is often used as a background for the tattoo. Themes of nature combined with bright colors are often used for this style. 

Tribal
This is one of the oldest styles of tattoo and has been carried on from the ancient times. It’s almost always in black and uses bold lines with geometrical and symmetrical designs. “However, it doesn’t mean that some of them are intricately detailed as well,” says Thapa. “Choose a design that will compliment the shape of your body,” he explains. 

Oriental
The oriental or Japanese tattoos are one of the most sacred forms of tattoo art and dates back to 10,000 BC. Most of these designs are large and cover a large area of the body, like the arm or the back. The positioning, color, directions and the images used all follow a very strict set of artistic rules, which all adhere to ancient traditions. Some of the images used include dragons, cherry blossoms, lotus flower and geishas.

Dotwork
One of the simplest yet the most intricate designs you can opt for is dot work. It uses lots of tiny dots to create gradual shading in areas you might have normally used block color. This technique gives your tattoo a level of depth that block colors can’t.  

Script
A lot of people these days are opting for quotes and saying that they want to embed in themselves. The options for the fonts are limitless and you can even customize it to suit your own taste. “If you have a vision of how you want the script to be tattooed, don’t be

shy and put your ideas on the table so that the artist can help you get what you want, and even help clarify or modify your vision into something you may love even more,” Thapa says.

 
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