Where you decide to position your tattoo on your body is almost as important as what kind of design you choose. In fact, the two aspects are so closely related, equal attention must be paid to both. The style and size of design you choose may play a major factor in where it will work best.

The back is a wide open canvas. Obviously, this feature makes it best suited for larger designs. Tattoos that simply won't work if they're sized down, like portraits, go well on the back. For example, trying to fit a picture of your child's face on your bicep would not do justice to the design. It would be so distorted; no one would be able to tell it's you kid, or that it's a kid at all. That's a waste of time, money and ink. The back is also one of the easiest parts of the body to cover up. You can conceivably conceal your tat completely, or flash it when you want to without having to completely disrobe. The bicep is popular and traditional spot that offers many of the same options in terms of covering up or showing off.

Of course you expect the tattooing process to be painful. If you don't, you haven't done enough research. Pain tolerance varies significantly from one person to the next that it's hard for anyone to give you an accurate description of what to expect. Some people have described the feeling as a being similar to a bee sting. Others say it's something like having a sunburn. Keep this in mind when deciding where to put you tattoo.

Some parts of the body are simply more convenient to have out of commission for a while. For example, if you really go through with getting that huge butterfly inked on your but, can you deal with not being able to sit for a while? Areas with lots of bone or nerve endings close to the surface of the skin, such as the shin, ribs, hands or feet, are going to hurt worse than thicker, fleshier parts. Designs that come close to the nipples or genitals are probably the most painful and definitely not for the faint of heart, but it's an option.

Advances have been made toward topical anesthetics to take the edge off a little bit. The tattooed community seems undecided on the issue. The promise of a pain free tattoo might attract a whole new clientele, but critics say that tattoos are suppose to hurt. Getting inked the easy way negates the significance of the process.

Just about everyone has heard stories of people waking up from a night of hard drinking with a tattoo they don't remember getting. Sure, a couple of drinks might dull the sensation, but most shops won't work on anyone with alcohol in his system. It thins the blood, increasing blood loss for the client and making it hard for the artist to see what he's doing. You may let pain keep you from getting inked at all, but don't settle for a design or location just because it might hurt less. The pain is temporary, but the tattoo is forever.