tenaciousg3

Hello my SG friends. I posted this thread in the "Tattoo" group, but just in case you don't belong to that group, I thought I'd put it here too. I'm new to the wonderful world of body art. I am finally going to get a tattoo, but I have a few things I need to decide first, and so I thought that since SOOOO many people on this site have tattoos (duh) I would ask you folks.

OK - first, where do I go to find the best kind of designs? I've been looking on the web but there doesn't seem to be much that I like. I want an arm tattoo, right arm, something that starts at the shoulder and goes down to about where a typical t-shirt would cover it (like maybe about 2-3" above my elbow. I am looking for something all black or levels of gray, sorta "tribal-ish" but NOT tribal because it seems like everyone does that. Something with maybe some intricate scrollwork like smoke tendrils or flame-ish. I also love wolves, but every wolf tattoo I see seems cheesy to me, so I would want something unique or even symbolic rather than a picture.

Second - the artist. Where do I find a great ink artist? I am an artist myself, a digital artist mostly and a photographer. Finding a great artist to actually ink me is going ot be the most difficult thing (cuz I'm picky). I live in the general L.A., CA area, so I am SURE there are MANY great artists out here. Any suggestions on where or how to find one?

I could go on, but I'll leave it at that for now. Any suggestions all of you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!