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AIBU?

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Original poster

Tattoo artist made a mistake!

216 replies

Lezprechaun · 08/10/2014 19:01

Ok posting here for the traffic as sobbing at the mistake made on my tattoo today.

I asked for a treble clef behind my ear, watched him draw it out and it was perfect, then he tattooed it and of course I can't see but have got home and looked at a photo and it's backwards!

It was perfect when he drew it so no idea how it's ended up backwards but I'm devastated, it's in such a visible location as well that it looks ridiculous.

What can I do? I can't see anyway of fixing it :(

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
SauvignonBlanche · 08/10/2014 19:42

I would get rid.

WigbyBolf · 08/10/2014 19:42

OP If I'm not mistaken, backward-facing or upside-down clefs are (well, were!) also used for enigmatic canons contrario motu. I do not have an example on the stop, but I sort of remember having seen them in the Musicalishes Opfer mss.
Just to tell they are not so unheard of...
Another example is Mozart's Der Spiegel. Rotating symbols and and as a music lover you could just say its a nod to them

Original poster
Lezprechaun · 08/10/2014 19:43

Ok will try and answer everything.

A) I wanted a treble clef as I'm a musician.

B) it's my first tattoo so didn't know the transfer reverses etc. and becomes mirror image. I also didn't know I had to check it on my skin, he showed me on paper and I said yes.

C) I DIDNT approve the design / positioning beforehand. He asked where I wanted it and I said behind my ear so it isn't visible from the front. After putting the transfer on he asked me to look in the mirror ONLY to check that I couldn't see it from the front as requested.

D) He never asked me to check the design on my skin and I never knew this was normal or expected.

E) The only mirror was fixed to the wall and it's impossible to see behind my ear using that mirror even if I was looking to approve the design, as it had been approved on paper I didn't know I had to though. I didn't know that it reverses the image when transferred.

OP posts:
Pilgit · 08/10/2014 19:43

For what it's worth I think it looks lovely. Yes the wrong way round but lovely none the less (sorry, probably not helpful)

MrSheen · 08/10/2014 19:44

I would get it removed. It's not what you want and black tattoos do tend to laser away quite well.

moxon · 08/10/2014 19:44

wigby - you said what I hoped there might be.

KoalaDownUnder · 08/10/2014 19:45

Well, given all that, I think he was completely negligent. Shock

Fizzyplonk · 08/10/2014 19:46

Maybe turn it into a cello or a swan....
I'd be tempted to have it removed though. I wouldn't get another the same as you'll still know it wasn't planned that way

Bakeoffcakes · 08/10/2014 19:46

Could you get another one the correct way round, right next to the one youve had done oday, so it looks symmetrical?

SunshineAndShadows · 08/10/2014 19:47

I'd be asking the parlour to stump up for removal. They should have checked with you before they started the design and they should have adequate mirrors to allow you to check

Cocolepew · 08/10/2014 19:47

I think it looks fine.

Housesoftheholy · 08/10/2014 19:50

I am not knowledgable about music but I would not have known that was not how it was supposed to look. I think it's nice

PamShoo · 08/10/2014 19:51

I think it looks fine as it is, yeah it's upside down but it looks unique. :)

KeemaNaanAndCurryOn · 08/10/2014 19:52

I'd get it removed. Having something wrong permanently on your skin would irk something terrible.

tawnyowlsrock · 08/10/2014 19:53

Keep it agree abit different being wrong way

NotPeppaPigAgainSurely · 08/10/2014 19:53

Ok, I may be thick but it looks right to me!

Calaveras · 08/10/2014 19:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Nerf · 08/10/2014 19:57

Get on e the right way round to the left of it, 'bellies' touching and 'feet' together and it will look like a heart made of treble clefs. At the moment it looks like a duck, or an 's' or 'd'. Don't settle for something a bit crap fgs, I bet it wasn't cheap.

HonoraryOctonaut · 08/10/2014 19:57

Do you have a child whose name starts with an S? You could turn it into Sarah/Sean/Sophie etc

OwlCapone · 08/10/2014 19:57

I would get it removed, not compound the error by getting it covered or another tattoo on the other side. I would also be expecting the tattoo parlour to be paying for that removal.

KoalaDownUnder · 08/10/2014 19:58

That's what I thought, Calaveras! Surely the reversal thing isn't standard procedure? So many things are just wrong once you put them in mirror image!

ItWasNotYourFaultButMine · 08/10/2014 19:59

a tattoo artist made a spelling mistake on mine, so I totally feel your pain right now - I cried for the rest of the day. I was so embarrassed and couldn't show off my new tattoo to anyone incase they noticed.

I phoned the place that did the tattoo and they offered to laser off the letters that made it wrong (wrong spelling of your, had to get rid of the apostrophe and the e), which I agreed to through hysterical tears.

however, just so you know, you need to wait 6 weeks before you can have your first laser session done. then can only get it done once every month. and depending on the quality of ink they used, then it will take a long time - I had 12 sessions and you can still vaguely see the e and the apostrophe, but I got bored and stopped going, as really you can only see it if I point it out, and not at all when I wear fake tan.

and if it makes you feel any better, I think it looks lovely and wouldn't have had a clue it was round the wrong way.

Calaveras · 08/10/2014 19:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MagpieMama · 08/10/2014 19:59

My DH is a tattooist, he'd be mortified if something like this happened (though he'd never ink anyone without getting them to check the transfer first). You need to go back and complain. Any decent tattooist will at least offer you a refund or a cover up.

MustChooseASecondary · 08/10/2014 20:00

If you try to remove it straight away, before it heals, will it come off more easily?