Should I have a small one first to try it out? This is sadly the choice of most people when they enter the world of tattoo, the majority who take this path normally later regret it and want to enlarge or cover with a bigger piece than their first choice. Dereck's advice is Try to think deeply what your plan is going to be eventually, maybe make a choice of design which can easily be added to or carried on to cover a larger area. It is a fact that larger pieces of work tend to weather the test of time better than small works. Don't be led into believing that lots of intricate lined details are good, if you look at the majority of 20 year old tattoos you will see that this is in fact the opposite. The famous Japanese skins are a testament to this as they still look good and clear even after the death of the wearer. Don't make the mistake of thinking a sleeve is made by joining little tattoos together, this is only the case if you have made the wrong decision in the first place, start as you mean to end.