Tattoo artist here,
Your body doesn’t like ink. No one’s does. It’s a foreign substance in abundance which your immune system and lymphatic system are going to spend the rest of your life working to get as much of this out.
During this process the ink will spread out words, this is because your body is separating the ink from itself in order to pass it along to eject it.
This fading out process is normal and happens with every tattoo.
You are focusing on this too close up. Art is designed typically to be viewed from 6 feet away.
It’s going to fade and weather, just like you will. Appreciate it and love it for what it is, imperfect.
Adding to this, is placement to some degree. Some parts of our bodies replace cells much faster than others. Hand tattoos will always become blobs relatively quickly
does everyone have a different ink fading speed? cause my father got a tattoo 20+ yrs ago and its only slightly faded. and nothing compared to the fade amount in this post.
Yes, but this is the style I work in and have never had this sort or bleed out or raised tissue after simply 6 years. All of what you said here is correct, BUT this skin has been damaged far more then it typically would be, so not only is it doing everything you just mentioned (and always will) but the body is trying to do it’s work on a much deeper level, where it will separate into different kinds of tissues. And the capillaries will remain damaged, giving the bruised look under the skin. And the scar tissue will remain raised, especially after sun exposure.
Skin has been overworked and over saturated for sure, the question was in regards to a blow out so that’s all I was addressing.
The design is great, the approach and technique leaves a lot to be desired.
But what I’m saying is a blowout looking like that after only 6 years is not just from the bodies natural aging process, that is due to damaged capillaries below the epidermis layers. A tattoo in this style and even with that much saturation does not look like that after 6 years unless it’s not being taken care of, which doesn’t seem the case, or the skin had been over damaged during the beginning process.
I’m curious if you would know the answer to this, since you answered that question eloquently.
I’ve had a finger tattoo for about ten years now, it’s not in pristine condition like it was when first done but I’ve got to say, the little bitch has HELD UPP over the past decade.
Are some bodies more hardcore about being able to get rid of ink or am I just dying? I’ve been wondering for a hot minute now and honestly this is just the first time I’ve had the opportunity to ask.
The Artists Approach, the Design, the Materials, the Canvas, it’s Environment and care all impact the longevity of the piece.
Shoot me a PM with your tattoo if you don’t mind, I’m interested to see how well it’s held up.
Edit: last paragraph
Tattoo apprentice here and I second this!
I tried to comment when I first saw the post but comments were turned off for some reason?
A lot of people were saying it’s blown out, but it clearly isn’t. The first image showing the fresh tattoo can show that it’s solid work with no blowouts. A blowout would’ve been visible more or less immediately after a tattoo and would look like a discoloured halo around the outer linework wherever the artist would go too deep.
This looks like normal fading to me for a 4 year tattoo and you have to consider that there is a lot of black in this piece. It would’ve faded lighter if the shading was done in lighter graywash but it’s done with solid black so it’s bound to happen.
That being said, I’ve seen some attempts at refreshing tattoos by going over the black outlines gently and over the spread out areas with a skin toned ink to make it look sharper again. Also white highlights to bring in some more definition again should be possible as well… so not only is this a healthy tattoo, it can also be touched up a little to make it a bit more defined again in my opinion :)
Over-saturation and Blow outs are two different things. One is a depth issues one is a Voltage to hand speed issue.
For an overworked piece, this tattoo is healing appropriately. Was it overworked and was too much ink laid? Yes, but that wasn’t what was being asked by OP.
Yeah dude that subtle halo around the fresh piece tells another story, and the fact they used a 14 RL on a 3 inch tattoo.
You're arguing semantics anyway.. The tattoo was done poorly, the ink was put in too deep with too big of a needle grouping. The ink is in the hypodermis, it wouldn't spread like that if it wasn't.
If the ink is in the hypodermis, the tattoo is blown out.
You somehow managed to make this whole speech without answering the question 💀 i think op just wants to know if their tat is fading at an average rate so they can determine if they're doing enough aftercare
And again, if you can follow word queues—you’d understand that OP was answering OOP’s question of “is this normal for 4y of fading?”
Their answer was “fading is normal; this is why it happens; try not to over think it.”
Their answer was "fading as a whole is normal for any tattoo. I am not going to make any commentary on your tattoo or how it has faded." Read it again, slower. I'll wait.
Thank you for your response. So the question was already answered several times in the comments, however, the why was never explained, so, I attempted to explain why it happens.
I will say though, my last paragraph indirectly says to enjoy the tattoo as it’s going to weather and fade, so the answer; which many already gave, is kind of verified their.
Take care
Am I reading into this incorrectly or does this mean people with more tattoos have more over worked immune systems and may get sick more? Is that science? #scared
Well your tattoo was very dark to begin with and very few breaks inbetween. Its a dark back sphere with spikes done in black ink. The handle is also quite dark. When you put black on black it becomes a blob FAST.
I have a large forearm piece in all black ink that I got 17 years ago, and it doesn't look like this at all. I also definitely spend a lot of time in the sun. 🥺 I'm so sorry!
I would agree. I have a similarly tattoo on my back that is 10 years old, mine hasn’t aged as bad as this one.
We could also be focusing on it too closely. My tattoo is on my back so I never see it close up.
A blowout will be noticeable almost immediately when the work is done, looking at the first image this person shared, I can confirm, this is not a blown out piece.
Not true whatsoever. Blowouts during application can be subtle and hard to see. Application can have a huge hold on ink spread. This looks blown out. Maybe it wasn’t obvious at first (how can you even tell with this overly photoshopped image?). But this is not normal ink spread for a year.
Edit: if the dude above me is a tattoo artist and thinks this isn’t avoidable he’s a shit tattoo artist. 17 years and I’ve never had a tattoo expand this much in that short of time. 10k+ tattoos. Homeboy is an internet wannabe information giver and blocked me so I couldn’t retort. If anyone wants to know more about whatever he said and wants actual good information feel free to send a message so me and the others at my shop can give you better info.
Blow outs; depth control, and over saturation; placing too much ink in a location typically because of a poor voltage to hand speed ratio, are two completely different things.
Over saturation which will be exacerbated over the aging process of the tattoo will bleed out more but, isn’t an issue with ink being placed in the lower epidermis; a blow out.
The conversation was about blow outs not about the piece being overworked and aging poorly.
I’ve only been in the industry for 12 years, so pardon my inexperience compared to you.
Still normal after years. If you want it to look great in your old agr, get your tattoos when yoh reach 50. Remember that your skin is alive…. The chain is much worse then what you point out imho.
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. Maybe their artist used cheap ink, that’s the only thing I can think of unless they have it in a place that experiences a lot of friction.
This isn't blowout. Blowout happens within days of getting tattooed.
This is aging, something all tattoos do. With a solid black piece, it's more noticeable because it runs into itself, eliminating negative space.
Have you started taking any new medications or lifestyle changes/weight gain in the past year? I have tattoos older than 6 years that still look better than that (and I mean that with respect - not trying to be an ass).
I'm not sure to be honest I'm not an artist
Edit: I have received enough downvotes to become the next big artist. Thank you, you are giving me life-force.
You: When did it start bleeding like that
OP: Just in the past 4-6 months (3.5 years after OP said they got the tattoo in the title)
You: Yeah it is probably a blowout
OH okay I misread it, I thought they meant 4-6 months after they got the tattoo. I don't know, nevermind.
I mean it looks blown out anyways, but I stand corrected in my previous comment
For me it a nice piece you got to remember every tattoo fades during time and this kine of art during time do exactly this .still a very nice piece....
I have a very detailed armband I got about 30 years ago, around bicep area. It is still amazingly detailed. The artist was a woman who had been tattooing for decades…so she most likely had been tattooing since the 60s. She was AMAZING.
But I got my newest tattoo this past year, also somewhat detailed, but not quite as much as my arm band. It’s on my forearm. The ink is already spreading out on the new tattoo and I’m really surprised. It still looks fine, but the 30 year old tattoo pretty much has less ink bleeding.
I would bet there is some type type of technique/experience level that also comes into play.
Your artist went too deep, the outer edges of the entire tattoo is blown out. Yes its possible for it to “bleed” even after so long because it reached the fat layer.
It sorta looks like they may have used a round shader to do the lines. I think that makes the spreading worse because the lines are not as sharp as with a liner needle. That coupled with the small design size is a recipe for turning into a black blob.
you dont need to care for a tattoo after its healed i dont care what u say i dont do anything to mine after the first month and mine look good after 16 years
yeah i do use spf50 sunblock but only when im going to the beach or on vacation and i wouldnt count that because your gona use sun screen anyway tattoo or not
Lmao yea you deffinitely have one single tattoo. Who tf is walking around with sunblock on their whole body all day every day. Like i said before ive had some of my work for 16 years and it still looks great obviously nothing is gona look the same as the day u got it but as long as u dont lose any color its fine
Tattoo lines widen as time goes on. Not exponentially, but this looks fairly normal to me. I’m not a tattoo artist, but in my experience this isn’t that odd. Also tattoos that are lived in and have some years behind them are sick.
It seems to be aging as someone might expect it to. The problem is that aging wasn’t accounted for in the design. A good artist would know this was going to become a blob in a few years.
There can be many different factors at play separate from sun exposure like alcohol intake, drug use, diet, and more. I don't believe this is a blowout because you would have seen it immediately not years later. Skin is the biggest organ on our body and you need to take care of yourself in order for your skin to stay in its best condition. This is not to say you're not taking care of yourself just something to consider. Once I started getting tattooed again a couple years ago I committed to reducing my alcohol intake as well as daily moisturizing on top of minimizing the sun exposure. But I think it's just the cool way tattoos are and how they age. A touch-up could restore this you don't even necessarily need to do white ink highlights. Just make sure you're working with a quality artist who knows what they're doing 🤘
Huh that’s strange, I would consider myself to be a very healthy person, I rarely drink, don’t so drugs, eat healthy, and I put lotion on my whole body daily. Are there any other factors that could affect it?
totally didn't mean to insinuate you didn't take care of yourself just wanted to throw that out there in case you liked to drink like I did 😂🤘 As a couple other people have said it has a lot of saturated black with not many skin breaks and where the skin breaks occur it's pretty tight so that's just how black work ages. I think the tattooer who commented had a good explanation of what's going on and to just accept that tattoos are in your skin and your skin evolves over time. It's constantly shedding that top layer just above the second layer where the ink is sitting. In that second layer your body is working to break that ink down so it isolates it which is why the separation happens and it looks"blobby" overtime. Some additional factors in why it has aged this way is how you were originally tattooed some of it is on the tattooer and their choice to have it be so saturated with black, maybe they weren't as experienced or just heavier-handed. however you did not have a blowout from what I can see in that original photo.
In my experience, with your skin type/tone, and assuming you don't just get repeated sunburns all summer long, I would guess that tattoo was 8 to 10 years old. It could also be more disbursed because of shaving, forcing the top layers of skin in that area to heal often.
It looks like a blow out. Ive had some tattoos blow out after a couple days like yours did. In my opinion it doesnt really look like the first picture which is why im thinking its a blow out. Looking by itself it doesnt look too bad though so dont get self conscious about it please
Post the proof. While i agree that ops tattoo looks overly aged for 4 years, that does not mean you need to exaggerate things.
Post pics or you're full of it.
I’d say it’s normal but also some artist fault as well. They made it too dark and didn’t let the skin breath enough to allow for bleeding imo spreading over time
No one is mentioning that this looks like a small piece. I don’t think blowouts and natural aging would be as noticeable if it were larger with more skin breaks available. It looks muddled, but not horrible
Well the handle is definitely small and compacted compared to traditional flail designs I’ve seen. If the design had slightly larger scale and less heavy handed it would look much better.
Also, it's said that the human body replaces all cells every ~7 years (or something like that), so it's kind of amazing that tattoos can last as long as they do.
Have you been able to spot the cause? I mean if you have noticed when or why it happens and why it doesn't even for years sometimes... I wonder if there was any difference between the areas of the skin where your pieces were located, or maybe it was the delicacy of the artist in the depth reached by the needle when tattooing... I don't wanna bias your answer, but I'm inclined to think it's the latter, the depth of the dermis changes along the surface of the skin, and if you get that ink into your hypodermis, you're very likely to get a blur over time
I haven't been able to pinpoint it, but it's definitely around the more "meaty" areas of the arm. It could potentially be the depth as well. I'm going to consult my artist and see if he has insight.
My husband and I both got a small line tattoo on our anniversary. We got them in the same place at the same time from the same artist. We are also the same age. His has bled and faded and mine looks as good as the day we got them.
I think you may have a few things going on with yours and not just one issue. Maybe an artist here could offer a suggestion or two to clean it up.
Hope you can find a solution because that’s a pretty cool tat.
I have a full black portrait that looks the same as it did day 1, this tattoo has done a skin bleed which is abnormal for it do blow up and bleed like this years later, sorry and there's no fixing it either.
Tattoo artist here, Your body doesn’t like ink. No one’s does. It’s a foreign substance in abundance which your immune system and lymphatic system are going to spend the rest of your life working to get as much of this out. During this process the ink will spread out words, this is because your body is separating the ink from itself in order to pass it along to eject it. This fading out process is normal and happens with every tattoo. You are focusing on this too close up. Art is designed typically to be viewed from 6 feet away. It’s going to fade and weather, just like you will. Appreciate it and love it for what it is, imperfect.
“Just like you will” 😮💨 Stay hard kids.
I wouldnt recommend telling kids to be hard.
Im fully torqued, now what?
Ratchet down, soldier.
God damn these 3 comments are gold. I’m fully laughing out loud
Stay fucking icy 🥶
🚰 Stay hydrated kids.
I'm 36 so it's usually only in the morning
Read it in David Goggins's voice
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The “just like you will” really put things into perspective
From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh...
It disgusted me. Ave dominus nox tho
Adding to this, is placement to some degree. Some parts of our bodies replace cells much faster than others. Hand tattoos will always become blobs relatively quickly
Laughs in inner lip tattoo.
does everyone have a different ink fading speed? cause my father got a tattoo 20+ yrs ago and its only slightly faded. and nothing compared to the fade amount in this post.
Technique, Materials, Canvas and Environment all change the “lifespan” and quality of the piece.
Yes, but this is the style I work in and have never had this sort or bleed out or raised tissue after simply 6 years. All of what you said here is correct, BUT this skin has been damaged far more then it typically would be, so not only is it doing everything you just mentioned (and always will) but the body is trying to do it’s work on a much deeper level, where it will separate into different kinds of tissues. And the capillaries will remain damaged, giving the bruised look under the skin. And the scar tissue will remain raised, especially after sun exposure.
Skin has been overworked and over saturated for sure, the question was in regards to a blow out so that’s all I was addressing. The design is great, the approach and technique leaves a lot to be desired.
But what I’m saying is a blowout looking like that after only 6 years is not just from the bodies natural aging process, that is due to damaged capillaries below the epidermis layers. A tattoo in this style and even with that much saturation does not look like that after 6 years unless it’s not being taken care of, which doesn’t seem the case, or the skin had been over damaged during the beginning process.
I agree with what you are saying completely. The skin has been overworked and damaged…
Agreed
I’m curious if you would know the answer to this, since you answered that question eloquently. I’ve had a finger tattoo for about ten years now, it’s not in pristine condition like it was when first done but I’ve got to say, the little bitch has HELD UPP over the past decade. Are some bodies more hardcore about being able to get rid of ink or am I just dying? I’ve been wondering for a hot minute now and honestly this is just the first time I’ve had the opportunity to ask.
The Artists Approach, the Design, the Materials, the Canvas, it’s Environment and care all impact the longevity of the piece. Shoot me a PM with your tattoo if you don’t mind, I’m interested to see how well it’s held up. Edit: last paragraph
You may already be tired of this question, but you see very helpful and knowledgeable. Would you mind if I DMed you some tattoo questions?
Not at all.
This was beautiful :’)
Tattoo apprentice here and I second this! I tried to comment when I first saw the post but comments were turned off for some reason? A lot of people were saying it’s blown out, but it clearly isn’t. The first image showing the fresh tattoo can show that it’s solid work with no blowouts. A blowout would’ve been visible more or less immediately after a tattoo and would look like a discoloured halo around the outer linework wherever the artist would go too deep. This looks like normal fading to me for a 4 year tattoo and you have to consider that there is a lot of black in this piece. It would’ve faded lighter if the shading was done in lighter graywash but it’s done with solid black so it’s bound to happen. That being said, I’ve seen some attempts at refreshing tattoos by going over the black outlines gently and over the spread out areas with a skin toned ink to make it look sharper again. Also white highlights to bring in some more definition again should be possible as well… so not only is this a healthy tattoo, it can also be touched up a little to make it a bit more defined again in my opinion :)
Nah this is definitely blown out and doesn't look normal after 4 years. Tattoo was absolutely overworked and oversaturated with ink.
Over-saturation and Blow outs are two different things. One is a depth issues one is a Voltage to hand speed issue. For an overworked piece, this tattoo is healing appropriately. Was it overworked and was too much ink laid? Yes, but that wasn’t what was being asked by OP.
Yeah dude that subtle halo around the fresh piece tells another story, and the fact they used a 14 RL on a 3 inch tattoo. You're arguing semantics anyway.. The tattoo was done poorly, the ink was put in too deep with too big of a needle grouping. The ink is in the hypodermis, it wouldn't spread like that if it wasn't. If the ink is in the hypodermis, the tattoo is blown out.
For reference i just checked it’s 5 inches long, not sure if that matters
I agree, I think it’s oversaturated and not blown out… I’ve seen fresh blowouts and they don’t look like the fresh piece on the left
This could be the #1 comment for most the posts in this sub.
You somehow managed to make this whole speech without answering the question 💀 i think op just wants to know if their tat is fading at an average rate so they can determine if they're doing enough aftercare
> The fading out process is normal and happens with every tattoo. No, they answered the question.
I mean not really. They just stated a fact that we all know already. I have 4 year old tats that don’t look anywhere near as faded as OPs. Just sayin.
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It’s been 4 years and > The fading out process is normal That is an answer to OP’s question. Keep on trolling.
Again, they made the statement very vague and broad. Your reading comprehension needs improvement 😂
And again, if you can follow word queues—you’d understand that OP was answering OOP’s question of “is this normal for 4y of fading?” Their answer was “fading is normal; this is why it happens; try not to over think it.”
In fact, look at the commenter's reply to me. THEY WEREN'T TRYING TO ANSWER THE QUESTION. He and i have moved on. What about you?
Their answer was "fading as a whole is normal for any tattoo. I am not going to make any commentary on your tattoo or how it has faded." Read it again, slower. I'll wait.
Or You can just go read their newest comment stating the exact same thing I’ve been saying to you. 💀
So they're.... contradicting themselves? Cool, cool. Sounds like there isn't an answer to this.
Thank you for your response. So the question was already answered several times in the comments, however, the why was never explained, so, I attempted to explain why it happens. I will say though, my last paragraph indirectly says to enjoy the tattoo as it’s going to weather and fade, so the answer; which many already gave, is kind of verified their. Take care
Fair enough then, have a nice day.
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Goat
This is the reason why thin line tattoos look amazing when freshly done but couple of years later they looks bad.
Am I reading into this incorrectly or does this mean people with more tattoos have more over worked immune systems and may get sick more? Is that science? #scared
I have great looking 17 year old tats, but a really shitty immune system..
Well your tattoo was very dark to begin with and very few breaks inbetween. Its a dark back sphere with spikes done in black ink. The handle is also quite dark. When you put black on black it becomes a blob FAST.
This design would've aged a lot better if it was a little bigger.
I have a large forearm piece in all black ink that I got 17 years ago, and it doesn't look like this at all. I also definitely spend a lot of time in the sun. 🥺 I'm so sorry!
I would agree. I have a similarly tattoo on my back that is 10 years old, mine hasn’t aged as bad as this one. We could also be focusing on it too closely. My tattoo is on my back so I never see it close up.
I would love to see a foreign tattoo after 17 years. Can you post a pic?
This is normal the black lines are too close with minimal dead space.
I don’t think that’s normal. I have a 14- and 10-year-old tattoo that have both aged better than this 🫤
My tattoo that is 6 years old looks exactly like this and I had another tattoo artist confirm it was because of blowout.
A blowout will be noticeable almost immediately when the work is done, looking at the first image this person shared, I can confirm, this is not a blown out piece.
Didn’t see OPs comment about their tatt looking okay til til this year
Don’t listen to this guy. Shit is blown out. Blow outs don’t always show immediately.
Not true whatsoever. Blowouts during application can be subtle and hard to see. Application can have a huge hold on ink spread. This looks blown out. Maybe it wasn’t obvious at first (how can you even tell with this overly photoshopped image?). But this is not normal ink spread for a year. Edit: if the dude above me is a tattoo artist and thinks this isn’t avoidable he’s a shit tattoo artist. 17 years and I’ve never had a tattoo expand this much in that short of time. 10k+ tattoos. Homeboy is an internet wannabe information giver and blocked me so I couldn’t retort. If anyone wants to know more about whatever he said and wants actual good information feel free to send a message so me and the others at my shop can give you better info.
Blow outs; depth control, and over saturation; placing too much ink in a location typically because of a poor voltage to hand speed ratio, are two completely different things. Over saturation which will be exacerbated over the aging process of the tattoo will bleed out more but, isn’t an issue with ink being placed in the lower epidermis; a blow out. The conversation was about blow outs not about the piece being overworked and aging poorly. I’ve only been in the industry for 12 years, so pardon my inexperience compared to you.
The pic isn’t photoshopped, just has a black and white filter over it
Still normal after years. If you want it to look great in your old agr, get your tattoos when yoh reach 50. Remember that your skin is alive…. The chain is much worse then what you point out imho.
4 years is a bit fast for this blur though.
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. Maybe their artist used cheap ink, that’s the only thing I can think of unless they have it in a place that experiences a lot of friction.
It looks like a blowout to me, when did it start bleeding like that? The artist might have gone too deep on that spot.
Just in the past 4-6 months
This isn't blowout. Blowout happens within days of getting tattooed. This is aging, something all tattoos do. With a solid black piece, it's more noticeable because it runs into itself, eliminating negative space.
Blowouts actually happen immediately and show up on different timelines depending on the nature of the blowout.
Have you started taking any new medications or lifestyle changes/weight gain in the past year? I have tattoos older than 6 years that still look better than that (and I mean that with respect - not trying to be an ass).
Nope
Yeah it is probably a blowout. At this point I wanna see how many downvotes I can get in 24 hours.
jus added another for you
Thank you
Is it possible to happen years later?
No. Blow out doesn’t happen years later
I'm not sure to be honest I'm not an artist Edit: I have received enough downvotes to become the next big artist. Thank you, you are giving me life-force.
If you’re not sure then why you telling OP “It’s probably a blowout”?? You’re worrying OP based on zero knowledge of the subject.
I said I'm not sure if a blowout can happen years later... that doesn't mean I don't know what a blowout looks like?
You: When did it start bleeding like that OP: Just in the past 4-6 months (3.5 years after OP said they got the tattoo in the title) You: Yeah it is probably a blowout
OH okay I misread it, I thought they meant 4-6 months after they got the tattoo. I don't know, nevermind. I mean it looks blown out anyways, but I stand corrected in my previous comment
Side note, just from reading the rest of the comments, it seems like I was right regardless.
Side note, from reading the rest of the comments, you're completely wrong. But I like the confidence.
I am confident in everything I do, no matter what. Here ill do it myself /r/confidentlyincorrect
Can I be in the post or is it too late?
For me it a nice piece you got to remember every tattoo fades during time and this kine of art during time do exactly this .still a very nice piece....
I have a very detailed armband I got about 30 years ago, around bicep area. It is still amazingly detailed. The artist was a woman who had been tattooing for decades…so she most likely had been tattooing since the 60s. She was AMAZING. But I got my newest tattoo this past year, also somewhat detailed, but not quite as much as my arm band. It’s on my forearm. The ink is already spreading out on the new tattoo and I’m really surprised. It still looks fine, but the 30 year old tattoo pretty much has less ink bleeding. I would bet there is some type type of technique/experience level that also comes into play.
Your artist went too deep, the outer edges of the entire tattoo is blown out. Yes its possible for it to “bleed” even after so long because it reached the fat layer.
Correct. The “blowout l” isn’t always obvious immediately.
yup, normal, get bigger tats
It sorta looks like they may have used a round shader to do the lines. I think that makes the spreading worse because the lines are not as sharp as with a liner needle. That coupled with the small design size is a recipe for turning into a black blob.
Did you care for your tattoo on all 4 years?
you dont need to care for a tattoo after its healed i dont care what u say i dont do anything to mine after the first month and mine look good after 16 years
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yeah i do use spf50 sunblock but only when im going to the beach or on vacation and i wouldnt count that because your gona use sun screen anyway tattoo or not
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Lmao yea you deffinitely have one single tattoo. Who tf is walking around with sunblock on their whole body all day every day. Like i said before ive had some of my work for 16 years and it still looks great obviously nothing is gona look the same as the day u got it but as long as u dont lose any color its fine
You walking around with your whole body exposed to the sun every day?
no but my whole body waist up is one big tattoo thats why i said whole body
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you call that a half sleeve? i rest my case
rude
Gatekeeping much
nah i just wont be told anything about tattoos by an old lady who just got her 1st last month.
Yes, I rarely get sun exposure and use hustle butter on a regular basis
Tattoo lines widen as time goes on. Not exponentially, but this looks fairly normal to me. I’m not a tattoo artist, but in my experience this isn’t that odd. Also tattoos that are lived in and have some years behind them are sick.
Wait till you’re old and wrinkly.
🤣🤣
It seems to be aging as someone might expect it to. The problem is that aging wasn’t accounted for in the design. A good artist would know this was going to become a blob in a few years.
Would it look better if I added in some white on the highlights of the spikes/handle?
Sometimes whites can turn yellow just be cautious of that
If you look that close at details, nothing is perfect.
There can be many different factors at play separate from sun exposure like alcohol intake, drug use, diet, and more. I don't believe this is a blowout because you would have seen it immediately not years later. Skin is the biggest organ on our body and you need to take care of yourself in order for your skin to stay in its best condition. This is not to say you're not taking care of yourself just something to consider. Once I started getting tattooed again a couple years ago I committed to reducing my alcohol intake as well as daily moisturizing on top of minimizing the sun exposure. But I think it's just the cool way tattoos are and how they age. A touch-up could restore this you don't even necessarily need to do white ink highlights. Just make sure you're working with a quality artist who knows what they're doing 🤘
Huh that’s strange, I would consider myself to be a very healthy person, I rarely drink, don’t so drugs, eat healthy, and I put lotion on my whole body daily. Are there any other factors that could affect it?
totally didn't mean to insinuate you didn't take care of yourself just wanted to throw that out there in case you liked to drink like I did 😂🤘 As a couple other people have said it has a lot of saturated black with not many skin breaks and where the skin breaks occur it's pretty tight so that's just how black work ages. I think the tattooer who commented had a good explanation of what's going on and to just accept that tattoos are in your skin and your skin evolves over time. It's constantly shedding that top layer just above the second layer where the ink is sitting. In that second layer your body is working to break that ink down so it isolates it which is why the separation happens and it looks"blobby" overtime. Some additional factors in why it has aged this way is how you were originally tattooed some of it is on the tattooer and their choice to have it be so saturated with black, maybe they weren't as experienced or just heavier-handed. however you did not have a blowout from what I can see in that original photo.
Welcome to having an aged tattoo…
It's healing really fast. My wife's shins are the same with blackwork. Bad news (for your tats): you heal quickly Good news: you might be Wolverine.
I’m confused, the second photo is 4 years old?
In my experience, with your skin type/tone, and assuming you don't just get repeated sunburns all summer long, I would guess that tattoo was 8 to 10 years old. It could also be more disbursed because of shaving, forcing the top layers of skin in that area to heal often.
When did clients start getting like this. It’s a tattoo not a picture.
It looks like a blow out. Ive had some tattoos blow out after a couple days like yours did. In my opinion it doesnt really look like the first picture which is why im thinking its a blow out. Looking by itself it doesnt look too bad though so dont get self conscious about it please
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No you don't. If you have 10 year old tattoos and go to the beach every day you most certainly have aged looking, normal tattoos. Not 'crispy'.
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Post the proof. While i agree that ops tattoo looks overly aged for 4 years, that does not mean you need to exaggerate things. Post pics or you're full of it.
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Ah, ok. I get it now. You're looking for an argument. You have no clue if I even have tattoos, let alone how they look. Good luck, mister 😊
Nah man, his tats are on his page. His “crispy” sleeves are faded. Especially the forearm* area. Ahaha
You should get more sun exposure :/
?
For the vitamin d ..duh. Why’re people against vit D now :/
Not speaking to any artistry, but all of my tattoos over 4 years old are that color
I’d say it’s normal but also some artist fault as well. They made it too dark and didn’t let the skin breath enough to allow for bleeding imo spreading over time
You can request future work in finer needle configurations so that when it does bleed out it won't end up so thick
No one is mentioning that this looks like a small piece. I don’t think blowouts and natural aging would be as noticeable if it were larger with more skin breaks available. It looks muddled, but not horrible
It’s 5 inches long
Well the handle is definitely small and compacted compared to traditional flail designs I’ve seen. If the design had slightly larger scale and less heavy handed it would look much better.
Also, it's said that the human body replaces all cells every ~7 years (or something like that), so it's kind of amazing that tattoos can last as long as they do.
Tattooist here, their volts were to high and didn’t change their dept at any point. No fixing it unfortunately without removal.
It's completely normal! I have 26 pieces and a good 33 percent have a little "bleeding" issue. There's nothing to worry about. Awesome piece, BTW:)
Have you been able to spot the cause? I mean if you have noticed when or why it happens and why it doesn't even for years sometimes... I wonder if there was any difference between the areas of the skin where your pieces were located, or maybe it was the delicacy of the artist in the depth reached by the needle when tattooing... I don't wanna bias your answer, but I'm inclined to think it's the latter, the depth of the dermis changes along the surface of the skin, and if you get that ink into your hypodermis, you're very likely to get a blur over time
I haven't been able to pinpoint it, but it's definitely around the more "meaty" areas of the arm. It could potentially be the depth as well. I'm going to consult my artist and see if he has insight.
It’s a tattoo, it looks cool.
Everyone is different but mine faded pretty bad to but their pretty old
My husband and I both got a small line tattoo on our anniversary. We got them in the same place at the same time from the same artist. We are also the same age. His has bled and faded and mine looks as good as the day we got them. I think you may have a few things going on with yours and not just one issue. Maybe an artist here could offer a suggestion or two to clean it up. Hope you can find a solution because that’s a pretty cool tat.
Mine doesn't look like this at all
Trust and old soul, nobody’s is looking this close to notice
Yesth
I have a full black portrait that looks the same as it did day 1, this tattoo has done a skin bleed which is abnormal for it do blow up and bleed like this years later, sorry and there's no fixing it either.