Reinventing The Tattoo Forum

It's a good size and placement, nice fllow. Not a hundred percent sure about the wind bar things in the background- maybe smoother and softer, since right now they're a little wonky. If you are planning on keeping this black and greay, you'll want to use some lighter washes in the face and trunk, so that there is virtually no completely untouched skin. Look closely at the graywork by the masters and you'll see the whole gray range represented. Also, for the fine detail work such as the painted trunk markings, a finer needle, or even a dark gray wash line, might look better. Line weight variation can do a lot for a piece.

As far as the copying part goes, this is kind of important. If you get called out as a biter at any point it your career that may follow you around for a while. Sometimes you just have to take the initiative, and respond to the client: "I'd be happy to do a piece more or less just like this, but a custom piece, not copied from anyone else's tattoo... Tattoos are supposed to be unique" or whatever. Don't cave in too easily, and try to convince them that you can do a custom piece that they'll like at least as much as the one they brought in. Then refer to appropriate reference material, in this case Hindu paintings of the deity Ganesh. This is far more appropriate than copying a tattoo.

Thanks for the critique i intend to put it to use in our next session.