this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2025
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Tattoos

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Memorial tattoo help (slrpnk.net)
submitted 2 weeks ago by dharmacurious@slrpnk.net to c/tattoos@lemmy.ml
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Hey, folks, My mom just passed away, and I want a memorial tattoo for her. It will be my first, and I'm nervous.

We would play the NYT letterboxed every night, and so I designed a custom board that's solvable with an inside joke as well as her name. If anyone isn't familiar, the game is linked. I want it to basically look just like that board, but in black and white. The letters themselves I have picked out and know their placement.

The thing I'm concerned about is the letters blurring over time. I don't have a lot of money, so a friend's sister is going to be doing it for me for free. She has experience, 3 or so dozen real life tattoos, but she is new, and she's never done color before. I've seen her work, and it's good. But I'm worried about longterm, with this being letters and fine lines. Does it look like a viable idea? Do these sorts of things generally hold up fairly well?

https://www.nytimes.com/puzzles/letter-boxed

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[–] con_fig@programming.dev 9 points 2 weeks ago

For something so personal, I really think you should take your time and save up and get it done by a professional whose portfolio makes you feel confident in their abilities.

[–] gid@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

First of all, I'm really sorry for your loss. Your tattoo idea sounds like a beautiful tribute to her.

With all respect to your friend, if she's never done colour before then I think it'd be better to approach a more experienced tattoo artist about this, especially as this is a tattoo with a very personal connection for you. Depending on the artist, it may not be expensive.

[–] dharmacurious@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 weeks ago

That's fair. My problem is I'll probably never be able to afford it. I'm broke, and not techy like most of Lemmy. My life path is starving artist (writer) and gas station worker

[–] CheeseToastie@lazysoci.al 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Absolutely LOVE this idea! It's a beautiful tribute to your mom, it's personal and perfect.

I hear you about the money, you don't have it and that's hard. A free tattoo from someone in experienced is more likely to look awful, age awful and get overworked or infected. There are ways round this though!

You could ask for tattoo vouchers for Xmas and birthdays, enter competitions online/dog walk etc to make extra cash, and contact artists you like to see about discount days. Quite a few will do it cheaper slower times of year, during promotions or even discount their rate to do a meaningful one.

Definitely look into that first, that way at least you know you've tried.

[–] mantra@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 weeks ago

Fine details blur less, or at least more slowly, with ink around them. So might be a good idea to have a halo of white or some other color around the letters, or perhaps have them all in a tasteful frame of a more subdued color. I also agree with the other comment that you may want to save up to have an experienced artist do the piece; a more practiced hand will get the lines crisper and do less damage, which will help them stay better longer.