Bright Ink, Dark Skin

You're not too dark that I'd think your skin coloring would be a major problem at all. But I'd keep in mind that many many tattoos in online portfolios generally, including the ones you linked specifically, are photographed fairly soon, if not immediately after the tattoo is finished. Even if you were the palest person in the world who went to the best tattoo artist in the world, unless you never, ever expose your skin to sunlight, you're going to have some fading over time. Case in point, http://www.flickr.com/photos/whoasweetjane/3256215797/ was much brighter when I got it done four years ago, and even though I religiously wear sunscreen every single day (no joke), there's been some fading. It's pretty bright, just not "HOLY COW LOOKAT THAT" bright. I have another, older (less awesome) tattoo on my shoulder which initially had areas of unoutlined yellowy green. Those areas are now gone. Completely. That being said, that's what touch-ups exist for. They keep tattoos bright and fresh.

Not an underlayer, per se, just a little bit of white in the lightest shaded parts. Using white that way is one of the things that distinguishes the new-school style.

Tattoos are metaphorically put on using translucent markers... So the color of the ink is mixed with the color of your skin. Colors that are lighter than you skin will lighten a little, but not that much. The darker your skin is, the darker a given color of ink will end up, just like drawing on darker paper. However, YOUR skin looks light enough that you should have no problem getting a nice bright tattoo. My advice is to head down to EVOLVED or one of the other good shops in your area and look through the portfolios, find an artist that strikes you, and have a proper consultation in person.

A biracial http://lustdesigns.com/images/galleries/custom_designs/134-r.html http://www.flickr.com/photos/tim__omeara/3773563590/in/set-72157621896242744/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/tim__omeara/3773548180/in/set-72157621896242744/ has some pretty colorful tattoos. (Warning, while the first image I link to is SFW, it is on a fetishwear site, and I make no guarantees for the rest of the site. The second two are totally SFW.) Sorry the pictures don't show his tattoos better. He tends to keep his clothes on. Also, his work is all at least 5 years old, and probably closer to 10. Most of the portfolio stuff you linked to was most likely taken just after the session was finished. A healed tattoo is much less saturate than a fresh one.

Seconding http://www.urbanink.com/. A friend of mine sent them an email asking for a referral to a tattoo artist who was experienced in working with clients of color; she got a list of three or four artists and was very happy with the one she chose.

Brown girl here with great colorful tattoos. Yes they look brighter and more vibrant on white skin but I'm a touch darker than you and very pleased with the colors I have. Mine are almost 17 years old and still look rich. Prominent colors used were blue and red. Lighter colors might not look as good.

I'm going to go ahead and say you should not click any of these links if you're at work. Seriously, one has full-on boobage. Bedhead, props to the http://modblog.bmezine.com/ tip; I'm still clicking through endless entries but at least it's more curated than http://www.bmezine.com/ proper so there's less http://www.metafilter.com/84349/Ink-Links#2706866 stuff to wade through. Though I could do with a nice break from fresh bleeding scarification pieces. http://news.bmezine.com/2009/06/30/this-is-not-an-american-apparel-ad-honest/#more-20365 is a pretty close match on skin color, and the turquoise coloring is pretty bright. http://news.bmezine.com/2008/10/14/i-am-electro-girl/ is bleached out by the flash, but I think she's South Asian; they are not colorful tattoos but the lavender on her chest looks good. On the flip side, http://news.bmezine.com/2008/12/18/security-breach/#more-16402, yet no where near as colorful as I would want.

I'm half-Hispanic with pretty light skin, but I tan very dark and the colors in my tattoos (mostly reds) still pop in the summer. I'd definitely talk to the artist beforehand and make it clear that this is a priority for you. Getting the work done somewhere that has experience tattooing people with your skin tone seems like a great idea, too. Maybe there's a useful distinction to be made between "brightness" and "saturation". I think its the saturation of color that makes a tattoo really glow on you and I think there are artists who specialize in that kind of work. Things like deep reds, purples, blues, and greens, while not necessarily bright, might look a lot richer on you than pinks and yellows. Also, you have to quit posting all of these amazing awesome beautiful tattoo links! I'm not scheduled to want another one for at least 5 years and you're killing me.

(Another example: the older of GalaDarling's halfsleeves looks significantly less bright in http://www.flickr.com/photos/galadarling/3862329713/, in natural sunlight.)