The hardest part about getting a tattoo is looking through the vast amounts of different tattoo designs to pick the one you think is for you.
The first question you want to ask yourself is why you want to get a tattoo. If you are getting a tattoo just because you are old enough, I encourage you to hold off until your research on the different tattoo designs.
I say this to you because I have many friends who got a tattoo as soon as they turned 18 (the legal age of consent in my country). All of them have regretted the decision because they ended up with low quality tattoos. A few of them have even had their old tattoo designs covered up by newer tattoos.
Your first tattoo should be one that you will still enjoy for the rest of your life. It should be an expression of yourself and your life experiences. Your tattoo can also be symbolic of something or someone that is important in your life.
Now after you have sat down and can say with 110% certainty that you are ready to get a tattoo, its time to do some research. First you want to find an image that you like. It can be a tattoo design that you like the look of or it can even be an image of something of great importance to you. Some great places to look for inspiration of your next tattoo are image sites such as flickr.com, tattoo galleries, online tattoo design sites (both free and paid), and books on tattoos.
Some examples of different types of popular tattoo designs are:
Tribal Tattoos
Angel Tattoos
Celtic Tattoos
Animal Tattoos
Old English Tattoos
Japanese Tattoos
These are just a few examples.
After you decide on which tattoo design you are going to get, you now have to consider the colors you want to use. For a general rule of thumb, the darker your skin the more difficult it will be to put lighter colors such as yellow to stick.
The best thing to do is to go to a tattoo shop and ask for their advice, since they have experience tattooing many different types of skin tones.
Once you have done this you are now ready to find you artist. Don't be lazy in researching the person who is going to tattoo you. The quality of work varies from artist to artist, so you it's in your best interest to find someone who is going to put a high quality tattoo on you.