Love the tattoo, hate the placement!

[ChakFreq]

My DH tells me it looks good, but I can't help feeling like the owl looks like it's just fallen into place... Please give me your honest opinions?
Loved the design I was shown. When the artist was sizing up he suggested A4, perfect! Once it was printed, there was A4 plus another third of an A4. But when he was placing it, and it was right on top of the beetle, I asked for it to go higher, so that I could get shading in between. He said it would look good, like it was going behind the beetle. I trusted his advice, he's produced some amazing pieces! Yes, I got carried away with the size, I really wanted a big piece...
But now I hate it, I feel it's taking away from the beetle. And I have no idea how to work it into a nice flowing leg sleeve 😓
Any suggestions?
This isn't the first tattoo I hate either, I'm really hating myself right now for not sticking up for what I wanted.

I cant figure all of it out im looking for the beetle but i can only see a fly is that a skull behind the fly/beetle.
Its to jumbled up.

I think folks maybe aren’t looking properly, yes they are touching but the beetle is clearly not prey of the owl, it’s not in its claws.

please don’t let these comments make you feel down, if you’re going for a full leg sleeve, then you’re next tattoo should be in front of the beetle.

it will work.

I suggest you make peace with it. You can't change it now - which comes with the territory of having very large tattoos. You are reliant on somebody else executing something you are imagining perfectly - and I think that's unrealistic. You say you like the tattoo in its own right- focus on that and don't think about it too much.

Are you on a phone, it’s very clear to me.

Im on a laptop but im just seeing a fly.

It’s not to my taste but any tattoo I liked would not be to yours I’d guess . I would say it does all look like one tattoo but then that’s probably not a bad thing if you want a leg sleeve? Once you add more animals around it then it’ll all fall into place I think

I love it OP, I think it looks beautiful.
I can see why you wanted a bit more space between the tattoos but if you're going for a full leg, I think you just need to use a touch of colour on the beetle, maybe a flower behind the beetle but in front of the owl?

you need something places around your knee area? a fish? idk 🤷‍♀️

Pros - good subject matter, nice size.
Cons - it's too dark and the detail isn't finely executed. It's going to end up indistinguishable in a few years.
The owl is too close to the beetle, yes. They mismatch.

Solution - go to another, better tattooist and get them to pick out detail on the owl and beetle.

Personally I’d habe a line of beetles snaking round and up your knee. And I’d add green or colour to them.

I think it looks fantastic! Also with a fresher tattoo it's always going to stand out a bit untill fully healed and settled in. It won't look as dark soon enough will be the same shade as beetle. Deffo get some highlight done on that one. I did the whole spaced out patchwork sleeve on my arm and now I don't know what to fill the gaps with.

Well it’s there now… agree it looks like one tattoo as the two pieces appear joined up. No particular issues with that though, I think placement is fine. If you want the beetle to stand out more, get a hint of colour in or around it? It will have taken a lot of time, pain, and money to get it, I hope it grows on you.

Add colour to the beetle .

I am heavily tattooed so I think I'm coming from a place of knowledge. The placement of the beetle in the first place is unusual. The sizing of the owl in comparison to the beetle is also throwing it off. I dont like tge positioning or the stance of the owl just doesn't look right and there's a cartoonish feel to the owl so it's fighting with the beetle rather than complimenting it. I think your best bet here is to add more detail, whether that's branches, sky, other animals etc. you need to pull it all together now so that the tattoo makes sense. I'd be tempted to add a tree branch or something, cover up the beetle and add a night sky and have the beetle redone somewhere else. The execution of the tattoo is ok but the original artwork I don't think was great and I can see why you're unhappy. You need to let this heal and revisit how to complete the piece as it doesn't look finished.

On further inspection, is this definitely an owl? It looks more like a phoenix, like Fawkes from Harry Potter?

I think the reason it looks so off is because it appears you have three different styles of tattoos in a very small area? That's what's throwing me I think 🤔 it would be hard to create a further leg piece as they're all so different. What is the tattoo to the right of the owl?

For example, I've got a traditional colour tattoo on one hip, a grey and watercolour realism piece on the back of each thigh, then a black and white realism tattoo on my left inner bicep. All different styles but far enough away from each other for them not to look odd.

I like it