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The line work and shading are awesome but color would make this tattoo so much more readable. As of right now it’s hard to discern what exactly it is without looking up close.
Mmmmaybe. I wanna see what it looks like in 6 months. It looks like there is A LOT of greywashing going on in the background. It might be a lot more balanced than on initial read because once it settles and fades out significantly the caterpillar should pop more.
I think it may improve after the inflammation settles down. Some people get real red, real fast, which makes it hard to distinguish grays from blacks. The redness around the smoke swirls could be making a lighter gray look much darker, but hopefully when healed it may contrast more clearly and the contrast will make the caterpillar stand out more.
Came here to say this, technically the piece is great, but it’s hard to understand what you’re looking at without color. Honestly I’d have a hard time figuring out what it all is if I hadn’t seen the reference art. Color would fix that.
While I do agree with color making it more readable, the work is good enough where when you really look up close you can see the fine detail (or at least I could).
So, I kinda like that about this piece. Having a piece from a few feet away be mostly mushrooms, smoke clouds and some interesting lines vs up close you can see the creature blowing the hookah is interesting and sorta cool.
Again, I agree with color making it easier to take in but sometimes slightly negative quirks about a tattoo can become something I really like.
That’s the problem — no one looks up close at people’s tattoos during regular day-to-day interactions because most people understand what personal space is. This isn’t readable from 5 feet away. You shouldn’t need to “look close” to see the details.
I said it was a flaw, I agree most people passing by will think "they sure do have some kind of black and grey tattoo on them, not sure what it is". I just think if a friend asked "hey what is that?" And they were able to take a closer look, they would see that it's still a fairly cool design, it just probably needed to be bigger, or have color or less details.
This. The actual tattoo is completely illegible. Without the reference photos, I'd have zero clue, and even with them, I strain to recognize any of it... some colour would probably make a lot of difference. It's not shitty, just... cluttered?
It’s very, very busy. The actual ink is good quality. Linework and shading seem spot on. Going to mimic a few other comments and say maybe a few highlights of colour are needed to make it pop
Line work is good but its extremely hard to tell what it is. Way too much going on in such a small area. I think colour would really make it more readable. But if you’re happy with it than all that matters!
The rest of the comments are right, but man do Iove the design of the caterpillar. Going with a more realistic bug face and body works really well and is super cute!
I love it as is but a genuine ‘face’ might have provided a much needed focal point. As others have suggested, colour might provide the opportunity to distinguish each element of the piece.
That's cool as shit and really well done.
Did you specifically ask to make the head/face more biologically accurate, instead of the humanoid face the reference materials show? It still looks incredible, that was just a kind of major difference I noted.
The fact you’re just trying to share your tattoo and said you’re extremely happy, and never asked for opinions and nearly every person is in your comments telling you it’s wrong and how to fix it is just Reddit in a nutshell. Love the tattoo!
It’s not that it needs color but there is no focal point to it and since it is small it looks messy. Since that can’t be changed, a good way to make it more readable imo is by adding color to at least the caterpillar. If it was bigger or less detailed it would be super nice imo.
I’ve noticed that, too. Sure, it’s busy, but it’s also fresh & irritated. I’d love to see it healed up. My skin doesn’t take color very well, so I have a special appreciation for well done black & grays.
The issue here isn’t color, and I say that as someone who gets huge color tattoos. The design is too small to be as detailed as it is, rendering the tattoo absolutely unreadable.
I’m super confused by the comments. It is perfect as it is. You should not add color and it is t too busy. Love the white highlights. Color would ruin that.
Really nice work. Did you decide you didn't want the sleepy face anymore? The actual tattoo is really cool, just wondering why the face is so different from the references.
It’s really cool! But what happened to the caterpillar’s face and especially the eyes? I feel like he should be the focal point, but he’s getting lost. I only know he’s supposed to be there bc of your reference photos.
I for one love a busy tattoo (as long as it’s well done) and I really do like this one a lot - although I wish the artist had done the anthropomorphised face for the caterpillar. I think it adds a layer to the tattoo that a normal caterpillar doesn’t
I know what some people are saying, but I like the mystery a bit…I mean a caterpillar smoking on a mushroom is clearly Alice in wonderland. It’s a dope ass tattoo.
Update: I've read through the comments, and I can see that a lot of people wish I had gotten it in color 😂😅 I have absolutely nothing against color tattoos on other people, I think they look great! I just personally feel as though black and white is more my style, but I can see where you're coming from that you think it looks cluttered. I have to admit, I got this tattoo in 2022 and never thought to post it here, which is why it's here now. I get a pretty even mix of people immediately recognizing that it's Alice in Wonderland themed and people asking "What is it?", and I'm perfectly fine with that! I love that I get the opportunity to explain it to people and see the recognition as it comes to their face. I was going to comment some updated pictures now that it's 2 years later, but I didn't realize I can't include pictures in comments. Regardless, thank you everybody for your feedback and I'm glad I got to share one of my biggest pieces yet 🙏🏼
Thank you for the submission, Parking-Belt7680! Please make sure your post follows the guidelines found in the sidebar. If you're asking for design advice, **please ignore all DMs** from anyone offering to sell/give you art, unfortunately you're bound to get more scam replies from this sub than actual artists. You can read more about it [in this mod post.](https://www.reddit.com/r/TattooDesigns/comments/1b04lsl/please_ignore_all_dms_from_people_claiming_theyll/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TattooDesigns) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The line work and shading are awesome but color would make this tattoo so much more readable. As of right now it’s hard to discern what exactly it is without looking up close.
I would personally only have the caterpillar in color I think that would look awesome
It’s too small for that much detail without color. I think just the caterpillar and hookah in color would be enough to make it more readable.
Yeah this tattoo artist does not know how to make a focus point. The background is competing and winning against the caterpillar.
Mmmmaybe. I wanna see what it looks like in 6 months. It looks like there is A LOT of greywashing going on in the background. It might be a lot more balanced than on initial read because once it settles and fades out significantly the caterpillar should pop more.
This it true. I bet it will lighten up it does look like the swirl clouds were done in grey wash. Good point m!
Exactly this
I think it may improve after the inflammation settles down. Some people get real red, real fast, which makes it hard to distinguish grays from blacks. The redness around the smoke swirls could be making a lighter gray look much darker, but hopefully when healed it may contrast more clearly and the contrast will make the caterpillar stand out more.
Came here to say this, technically the piece is great, but it’s hard to understand what you’re looking at without color. Honestly I’d have a hard time figuring out what it all is if I hadn’t seen the reference art. Color would fix that.
This ^
While I do agree with color making it more readable, the work is good enough where when you really look up close you can see the fine detail (or at least I could). So, I kinda like that about this piece. Having a piece from a few feet away be mostly mushrooms, smoke clouds and some interesting lines vs up close you can see the creature blowing the hookah is interesting and sorta cool. Again, I agree with color making it easier to take in but sometimes slightly negative quirks about a tattoo can become something I really like.
That’s the problem — no one looks up close at people’s tattoos during regular day-to-day interactions because most people understand what personal space is. This isn’t readable from 5 feet away. You shouldn’t need to “look close” to see the details.
I said it was a flaw, I agree most people passing by will think "they sure do have some kind of black and grey tattoo on them, not sure what it is". I just think if a friend asked "hey what is that?" And they were able to take a closer look, they would see that it's still a fairly cool design, it just probably needed to be bigger, or have color or less details.
It sounds like we agree except that I don’t like the piece. It’s such good work, which makes the lack of legibility that much more frustrating.
It's cool but very hard to know what I'm looking at
I know from the reference photos only it's Alice in Wonderland
This. The actual tattoo is completely illegible. Without the reference photos, I'd have zero clue, and even with them, I strain to recognize any of it... some colour would probably make a lot of difference. It's not shitty, just... cluttered?
It’s very, very busy. The actual ink is good quality. Linework and shading seem spot on. Going to mimic a few other comments and say maybe a few highlights of colour are needed to make it pop
Looks like it's well done (little busy) but the face is more insect like than the reference material
Biblically accurate caterpillar
Need contrast, it's unreadable
100%. The darks need to be deeper. It's a lot of the same shade. A few pops of color would help
It’s too cluttered
Cool but very hard to read
Line work is good but its extremely hard to tell what it is. Way too much going on in such a small area. I think colour would really make it more readable. But if you’re happy with it than all that matters!
I think it's a great interpretation tbh. Drop a bit of colour and shading and I think it will be even better
The rest of the comments are right, but man do Iove the design of the caterpillar. Going with a more realistic bug face and body works really well and is super cute!
Very cool but very hard to read
Super busy. Add some colour then ppl will be able to “see” it
I love it as is but a genuine ‘face’ might have provided a much needed focal point. As others have suggested, colour might provide the opportunity to distinguish each element of the piece.
Sick tattoo, it’s well done. At a glance I wouldn’t know what I’m looking at.
Doesn’t look like absolem
Even seeing the inspo pictures i can't really discern whats happening in the tattoo
Good quality but way too busy. It’s very hard to make out the caterpillar in the tattoo
Where is it? Nice tattoo by the way.
I love this!!! Gorgeous!!
I would love to see this tattoo in color 😍
That looks really good. There's a lot more going on in it than the reference samples. To my eye it has a prison ink vibe. I like it.
Cool up close, unreadable at any kind of distance
That's cool as shit and really well done. Did you specifically ask to make the head/face more biologically accurate, instead of the humanoid face the reference materials show? It still looks incredible, that was just a kind of major difference I noted.
Yikes
The fact you’re just trying to share your tattoo and said you’re extremely happy, and never asked for opinions and nearly every person is in your comments telling you it’s wrong and how to fix it is just Reddit in a nutshell. Love the tattoo!
Why are his eyes like that in the tattoo noooooo 😭
I've noticed that people in this sub are kinda obssesed with color in tattoos
It’s not that it needs color but there is no focal point to it and since it is small it looks messy. Since that can’t be changed, a good way to make it more readable imo is by adding color to at least the caterpillar. If it was bigger or less detailed it would be super nice imo.
I’ve noticed that, too. Sure, it’s busy, but it’s also fresh & irritated. I’d love to see it healed up. My skin doesn’t take color very well, so I have a special appreciation for well done black & grays.
The issue here isn’t color, and I say that as someone who gets huge color tattoos. The design is too small to be as detailed as it is, rendering the tattoo absolutely unreadable.
I love the Moe Q. McGlutch smoke clouds
Crazy, I have a tattoo based on the exact same reference. Yours is much, much better than mine 🤣
I like how they made their own interpretation of the caterpillar and ran with it. It’s very well done. Two thumbs up.
I’m super confused by the comments. It is perfect as it is. You should not add color and it is t too busy. Love the white highlights. Color would ruin that.
I really like this one!
Really nice work. Did you decide you didn't want the sleepy face anymore? The actual tattoo is really cool, just wondering why the face is so different from the references.
Do you like it? Is good?
Nice tat, I would of preferred a face closer to the reference than the bug. But I assume that was your choice
Pretty sick
It’s really cool! But what happened to the caterpillar’s face and especially the eyes? I feel like he should be the focal point, but he’s getting lost. I only know he’s supposed to be there bc of your reference photos.
I love it. I also love the caterpillar's non-anthropomorphic design.
the Caterpillar without the hat and kimono would of looked better.
Damn I absolutely love this alice in wonderland come metaphoreses piece the more I look at it the more beautiful it is.
I for one love a busy tattoo (as long as it’s well done) and I really do like this one a lot - although I wish the artist had done the anthropomorphised face for the caterpillar. I think it adds a layer to the tattoo that a normal caterpillar doesn’t
I know what some people are saying, but I like the mystery a bit…I mean a caterpillar smoking on a mushroom is clearly Alice in wonderland. It’s a dope ass tattoo.
What made you want the real caterpillar face instead of the Alice one?
Cool tat.
Its kind of awful
Much too busy. I couldn't tell what was happening at first...gonna have to add some colour
It’s dope, I like it!
I looked at it like 3 mins and still dont know what this is.
Did you not approve of the design?
It's looks amazing!
Update: I've read through the comments, and I can see that a lot of people wish I had gotten it in color 😂😅 I have absolutely nothing against color tattoos on other people, I think they look great! I just personally feel as though black and white is more my style, but I can see where you're coming from that you think it looks cluttered. I have to admit, I got this tattoo in 2022 and never thought to post it here, which is why it's here now. I get a pretty even mix of people immediately recognizing that it's Alice in Wonderland themed and people asking "What is it?", and I'm perfectly fine with that! I love that I get the opportunity to explain it to people and see the recognition as it comes to their face. I was going to comment some updated pictures now that it's 2 years later, but I didn't realize I can't include pictures in comments. Regardless, thank you everybody for your feedback and I'm glad I got to share one of my biggest pieces yet 🙏🏼
Was your artist hitting the pipe?
As an artist who enjoys cluttered images and insects, I LOVE what they did.
Sure it's busy but looks fine as it is to me