PlanD the only thing I would say is maybe try something small first, to see if you like it and if you can stand the pain. I have about a 10" tattoo on the back of my calf. It is a White Tiger (famous Asian god) crawling its way up my calf, in behind it is written in Japanese the gods name. It has alot of symbolism in Asia and martial arts. I am very into martial arts for many years now. It was my first tattoo, the guy doing it said wow you are starting out big with this one. Then he started the tattoo, after he started he told me the back of the leg (on a man) is the second most painful place to get a tattoo (worst is the rib cage) !!! I was like do think you might want mentioned that before you started, he laughed, so did I (alittle). After about 3 hours of pain it was done and I love it and have had many many comments on how nice it is. The arm, shoulder and back hurt alot less then the calf did, it feels like a red hot knife that is scraping into your skin over and over and over again. I am thinking about getting one now to do with my new daughter (she is now 2 years old). But I put in about 6 months of planning what I wanted before I got and I have never regretted it. Good luck