Advice for a first tattoo

I would tag this as general advice too, but I’m planning to get a design like this and wanted a little help and knowing what to expect! It’s just a simple sketch that I’d like to show my artist for them to have an idea, but as my first I’m not sure how to go about this all! I’ve researched which artist I’d like and I like her style and I’m thinking of getting it mostly black/grey/white except for in the thistles and Ivy! So I suppose my questions are-

  1. Where would you recommend getting your first and how big would you recommend? (I’ve been thinking of getting it on my outer thigh about 6in)

  2. Advice on the design and how to bring it to an artist to make their own?

  3. Is there some general etiquette I should know about and anything I should do before hand to make it easier?

  4. General advice and things I should expect before going in/ during/ after the tattoo?

I’ve been pretty nervous so anything helps! Thanks all in advance!

I would tag this as general advice too, but I’m planning to get a design like this and wanted a little help and knowing what to expect! It’s just a simple sketch that I’d like to show my artist for them to have an idea, but as my first I’m not sure how to go about this all! I’ve researched which artist I’d like and I like her style and I’m thinking of getting it mostly black/grey/white except for in the thistles and Ivy! So I suppose my questions are-

  1. Where would you recommend getting your first and how big would you recommend? (I’ve been thinking of getting it on my outer thigh about 6in)

  2. Advice on the design and how to bring it to an artist to make their own?

  3. Is there some general etiquette I should know about and anything I should do before hand to make it easier?

  4. General advice and things I should expect before going in/ during/ after the tattoo?

I’ve been pretty nervous so anything helps! Thanks all in advance!