Before you even get into the content and design of what you want, decide on the style of tattoo that you like/want based on what type of tattoos catch your eye.
Do you like traditional, realism, black and grey portrait, new school, tribal (spit) etc. Then start looking at artists that specialise in that style.
I cringe when I see people asking on FB for artist recommendations, and every man and his dog start posting up where they've had work done or recommending their friend that ordered a tattoo machine off eBay a couple of months ago and do "amazing work at a great price!". This is definitely not the way to go about looking for an artist. Sure it's fine if all you want is a little infinity sign on your wrist or your child's DOB, but for proper work and bigger pieces you need to narrow down the style you want and then find the right artist that will do the best job for that style.
