How to read a stencil

A stencil is transferred with a soft edge and often looks unfinished or slightly wrong. That is normal. Judge the composition, not the finish: the flow of the piece against the muscle, the distance to joints, and whether the main subject lands where you expected when your arm is relaxed.

Move. Stand, sit, bend the joint the tattoo crosses. A design approved while holding still can read very differently once the skin folds back into its resting state.

If something is off, say it now. Repositioning a stencil costs a few minutes and some paper. Repositioning a finished tattoo does not exist.