What do you guys think? I guess I'm working on a first design, I still don't know exactly how big it should be, nor the location or even colouring or black and white.

It's just a wolf, with a kind of long tail but I like the flowing look. I've wanted a tattoo since I was 13 or 14 but never really settled on something. I've always loved wolves but every design I saw didn't look like something I'd want until I saw a sketch someone did of a fictional girl with a tattoo of a wolf. I didn't copy that small design, it just uses the basic concept of a sitting wolf looking up. It looked moving and spiritual and the idea just spoke to me.

For those of you who have tattoos, how did you ultimately decide? Was it something you designed, something you saw in the artist's portfolio, or just a sudden, spur-of-the-moment decision?

That is an awesome design, I really like it! It would make a great tattoo.

My tattoo was only a few weeks in the planning but I knew I wanted a lotus because of it's significant to me as a buddhist. I decided that I would get it on my trip to Japan as I chose a japanese design to also commemorate the trip. I emailed an I found an artist in Kyoto whose portfolio had things I liked and he was excited about the design I wanted. It was an artist we both really liked.

that's a great wolf! My first ever tattoo is sort of similar, a coyote from an image in a book I was reading at the time (the book told me something very useful and freeing, so I wanted to celebrate it):



You'd definitely need a good tattooist to do justice to the delicate shading in your drawing (which is lovely).

Hannah: First of all, damn you for going to Japan... especially Kyoto T_T (I'm just jealous ) That's really cool though. Who was the artist?

Padma: Thanks! That's a really cute coyote, he looks very playful and free.

I don't have any kind of money to spend on a tattoo right now and won't for a few months at least. But I figure that's a decent amount of time to decide if it's really what I want.

Yeah, a two week garden tour of Kyoto. It was freakin' awesome. Too bad I won't be able to afford another trip for years. The artist was Gakkin-san at Harizanmai, they do awesome work there.

Remember, we want photos you get it done.

I don't have any tattoos yet but I'm dead set on getting this one:



It's going to be a rib piece on my left side.  It's one I designed myself so no one else will have it (and that makes it extra cool).