brightly colored tattoos should NOT require regular touch-ups, if they are done well. there are a lot of artists out there who just should not be allowed to go anywhere NEAR a person with a needle, let alone needle and ink.

the biggest part of deciding on a tattoo is make sure you go to a shop that you feel comfortable and safe in. it should look clean, smell clean, and BE clean! generally good, clean, trustworthy shops will have much better artists than a shop that looks yucky. but don't get me wrong, this is just a generalization. even the most tidy shop could still have a very shoddy artist. that brings me to my next point. before you choose an artist, make sure you see LOTS of their work. and NOT just fresh work! a tattoo will always look brighter and better when first finished. you need to see healed work too - sometimes they can go too deep and all the ink could blowout and end up ``bleeding`` which looks really horrible.

also a good reason not to get it too small, is because if you get a little tattoo, it could potentially take up a lot more room than the actual image. say you want a tattoo on your right shoulder, but one day you decide to get a piece that goes right across your back...well, you kind of can`t, unless the artist is willing (and able) to do a cover-up.

a tip about snake tattoos: my artist said he`s done a handful of snakes, and they look better without scales. scales make them look too busy. and here`s mine:



it`s an anery corn snake