Skull Tattoo Design

Question:
I want my first tattoo to be able to heal properly, and working 14-day weeks rigging the plethera of upcoming shows we have probably won't help. The first design I want is very simple - just my name in Chinese, including my mother's maiden name (H'sieh, if you're curious). I've got a $100 gift certificate for New Tribe in Toronto, so that's where I'm going to go. I know how to write my name, but it's not very neat and pretty, so should I find someone to draw it nicely in Chinese caligraphy or will the artist be able to look at my pen drawing and make it look proper? The second design I want is a dragon, but I haven't found one that looks 'just right' yet... and this is where the poll really comes in: For those of you who have images tattooed on your body, where did you get the design? Did a friend draw it? Is it something you found in a book or on the internet? Did the tattoo artist design it? Was it "off the wall"?

Answer:
- I would get in contact with the people at the tattoo shop. Find out if some one can write it out for you. Other than that, You may want to find someone to use ink and paper for your name- thne take it in. 4 of mine are images from certain things. I've a cat inside a sun and a lil' skull that are both Oingo Boingo Tattoos. My newest ones are Exclamation bolts. These are from a comic book called Madman. My other 2 are ones that I came up with. My bat, I got the idea from a tarot card- but then worked it from there. The big coffin, skull and bat- I took in the idea and the artist went nuts!! Theres some flash that I really love, but for the most part.. for me- I've gotta have stuff that is "mine" - I am going to go get a tattoo with my last name above or under the italian flag. I got the idea after my dad was talking about the one my cousin had when he got murdered.I am getting it around my ring finger or middle finger as a ring. My sister thought of her own but had help from astro books. She has it on the upper part of her back. - I would definitely ask the artist draw it on paper first so you can see if they can make it look proper. I'm sure not all tattoo artists are familiar with how Chinese calligraphy should look. Bring examples in if you have them. You probably already were planning to do this. But I have one aquaintance who took a drawing of his own in, asked the artist to "clean it up a bit" and what he got was an exact duplicate of his not-quite-professional drawing. He has had to live with his disappointment. I drew my own sun design and I'm working on my moon design. I'm also working on the coverup design for my not-very-nice Celtic knot. I took that one out of a book and I've never been happy with it (mostly because the artist botched it). I want all my tattoos to be my own designs, or friends' designs; or taken from ancient sources like Egyptian carvings or tomb paintings, or more recent sources like Art Deco designs. I know plenty of people who've found their perfect design in a book (even one who used a rubber stamp image -- rubber stamps can actually be a good source) and I've known people who are perfectly happy with flash designs. I wouldn't be, but then I don't have to get one.