Tattoos, body art or horrible scarring?

Before I start, I would just like to point out that I have 13 tattoo's and my sister is designing my 14th(and probably last).
I like tattoo's, for the most part, good tattoo's are art.
Bad tattoo's look REALLY bad, and my advice, right now, is that if you're going to get a tattoo for the first time then go to an artist that's been recommended, ask to see your friends tattoo and decide for yourself whether or not it's a good piece. Look at the work inside the studio, see if they have a website and have a look. Also let's not forget that tattoos(no matter how good the artist) are painful, you really don't want to be going through all that pain for a crap tattoo, do you?
Most importantly make sure they have all the right accreditation from their local council. If you don't you could be looking at a horrible, fading tacky-looking anchor on your forearm for the rest of your life.
Second bit of advice. make sure that you know what you want to get inked onto yourself. Don't go in on the spur of the moment because any tattooist worth their salt will only take bookings and not ink you there and then(especially if you're not sure what you want).
In the case of my first tattoo I did this but I got lucky, very lucky, it still looks good to this day and I'm still happy with it. When I went in for my first I was 22 and had been thinking about what I wanted for a couple of years so even though I didn't have an appointment I got what I wanted.
Also whilst the technology is getting better to remove tattoo's, it's still in it's infancy and you WILL wind up with a scar. The second option is of course, the 'cover-up' but that's not a guarantee and it's not something I would consider, so make sure you know what you're getting into.
So in summation :
If you want a tattoo, then make sure you know what you want.
Go to a reputable artist. If in doubt, ask to see their local councils accreditation.
Book an appointment, talk to the artist and make sure that both parties are happy with the design. All that's left to do is plug my sisters studio. She is goodand I'll always recommend her, sister or not, if she was shit I wouldn't have more than one!
Oh and by the way, that's MY left arm at the top there, if you can see the eye of RA, my niece did that, talk about running in the family!
www.transfixbodystudio.com