Many thanks for all the replies.
A week on it’s healing quite nicely and the brusing has gone down. The reduced brusing makes the smudging less obvious but it’s definitely still there. There’s a couple of spots that are nearly a cm from the nearest piece of the tattoo – so still amazed the ink “travelled” that far.
Now it’s healing I’m starting to think the job wasn’t too bad – maybe a bit heavy handed but not a complete butcher case. The piece goes all around my shoulder and it’s all fine except for the patch at the back – so I think I must just have some wierd skin there.
I think the main challenge is not making it any worse while completing the piece. Still not sure whether I’ll go back to the same guy (to talk to him about what he could do differently) or look for someone with a bit more patience / lighter touch. If anyone knows someone near York / Hull that might be interested in working on this then please shout!
