Some folks go the full Monty so to speak and actually go with the full back tattoo for their very first tattoo. It is a very bold choice but not for everyone! However, I must caution, a tattoo that covers the entire back from neck and shoulders all the way down to the waist can be very attractive. But you should do your homework!
And by homework, I mean you need to choose wisely the pattern and design of your tattoo as well as choosing the artist to draw the tattoo on your back. Cut corners and you are going to be very sorry for the rest of your life because a full back tattoo isn't going to be easy or cheap to take off if you regret it.
So obviously, for a full back tattoo that isn't going to be as easy to hide or ignore as a smaller tattoo can be, it is very important that you are aware of these steps before getting one. And that is, make the time to carefully plan it out. Don't feel rushed because it may curtail your creativity. And definitely talk it over, several times if needed with your tattoo artist to make sure everything is within your specifications and the quality of the work isn't going to be substandard.
Case in point, recently a Belgian teenager girl fell asleep after asking for 3 star tattoos to be done on her face. She ended up with 56 tattoos! She blamed a language mix up and she now reportedly faces a huge bill to remove those tattoos. Now I don't know if this whole story is true because quite frankly, it does stretch incredulity. How can someone fall asleep when having tattoos put on her face? But hey, it is a story and it has a lesson attached to it. Be careful because you may end up with something you don't want!
So back to the full back tattoo. It is a large job and may take several hours depending on the coloring involved and the patterns. Usually the tattoo artist wants to trace out an outlined of the tattoo and perhaps start off with some shading and colors. And then ask you to come back after number of days to let your skin heal a bit. And then continue to work on your tattoo. Just filling in and shading some more until the complete tattoo canvas is revealed.
So let's sum everything up for anyone that is interested in getting their whole back tattooed. You should consider these things BEFORE going for it:
Understand that tattoos are usually expensive. And you shouldn't cut corners by getting a cheap tattoo artist that doesn't do a good job. Small tattoos can be expensive so the larger full back tattoos are going to be very expensive because they are bigger and more complex requiring more time to do the job right.
So feel that you need to have the most expensive tattoo artist either. Find one that is pretty good and you may be pleasantly surprised that he or she will charge a reasonable price.
Everyone has different levels of pain tolerance. So be sure you are up for hours and hours of tattoo work on your back. Backs are pretty sensitive areas. So for some of you, you may want to reconsider it if you cannot take a lot of pain and discomfort.
There are a lot of ways to design your tattoo. It can be a flash, a drawing, or one large image. So take your time to discover the tattoo design that you would love to have on your back. Because like I said before, the large back tattoos are usually forever because it can be too painful and expensive to remove it if you don't like it later on.
This is a pretty important piece of advice. Make sure you are comfortable with your tattoo artist. They are going to be spending a lot of time with you and you are going to have to really trust them to do a good job for you as well use clean instruments too.
And just because you are done getting the full back tattoo doesn't necessarily mean the pain and discomfort stops there. There is a period of time for the healing. Especially if you have to make several appointments.
So there you go. If you do your homework, a full back tattoos can be a wonderful source of pride for you. You need to put in the time and energy to plan everything so there are no surprises like waking up with 56 tattoos on your face! And make sure that it is the tattoo that you really want and would love seeing on you every single time you see it.