In many major cities and even in some small towns, you probably don't have to look very far to find a tattoo shop. Some streets and neighborhoods are lined with them. But with all those options, you can be sure that while some have fantastic artists, others might end up providing you with some lousy quality ink. With that in mind, here are two ways you can tell if you've found a tattooist you might want to avoid.
His or her work is not smooth
Tattoos should be flat and smooth on your skin. But sometimes you might see someone who has one that appears to be raised sort of like when something is embossed. If the tattoo is raised, the artist screwed up, plain and simple.
His or her ink color is off
While this might not speak to the quality of the artist themselves, it does indicate that they either don't know much about the inks they use or flat out choose to use an inferior ink for some reason. The most obvious cases include designs with black ink. If you see a tattoo that appears blue rather than black, and was probably not intended to be blue, that's a tell tale sign of shitty ink. This seems to be common in a lot of tattoos members of the military might have gotten after a night of drinking and while on active duty.
If you keep an eye out for these two things, you're already well on your way to avoiding the wrong artist.