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Shopping for a tattoo artist[UPDATED WITH PICS]
noir_blood
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So with my income tax coming in, I told myself that if I passed my teaching certification tests, that would be a good time to get a tattoo. And since I passed(huzzah) that's exactly what I'm planning to do.
This won't be my first tattoo, as I have three others, but all of the other three have been done as a more spur of the moment thing. I don't regret them and I like how they came out, but for this one, because it's going to be a bit of a bigger piece, I want to make sure I do it right.
The tattoo I'm planning is basically this;
Either as a bigger piece on my shoulder, or just the Rocketeer on my arm.
If I'm bringing the design in myself, should I balk at any artist that asks for a deposit first?(I have heard that's the norm, but that's hasn't been the case with me)
And more importantly..how do I go about finding a good place to do it? I unfortunately work in a pretty straight lace place, so I don't know anyone with tattoos that I could ask for recommendations. Is there any websites or online communities I can visit?
This won't be my first tattoo, as I have three others, but all of the other three have been done as a more spur of the moment thing. I don't regret them and I like how they came out, but for this one, because it's going to be a bit of a bigger piece, I want to make sure I do it right.
The tattoo I'm planning is basically this;
Either as a bigger piece on my shoulder, or just the Rocketeer on my arm.
If I'm bringing the design in myself, should I balk at any artist that asks for a deposit first?(I have heard that's the norm, but that's hasn't been the case with me)
And more importantly..how do I go about finding a good place to do it? I unfortunately work in a pretty straight lace place, so I don't know anyone with tattoos that I could ask for recommendations. Is there any websites or online communities I can visit?
noir_blood on
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This coming from someone who lives in one of the best cities for tattoos and who is very heavily worked on (full sleeves, chest, back, stomach, neck...).
That tattoo isn't extremely intricate but a skilled artist will make it look MUCH MUCH better than someone newer. It's permanent so it is worth the investment (it may be pricy) and the wait.
What city do you live in?
3DS FC: 4699-5714-8940 Playing Pokemon, add me! Ho, SATAN!
Interesting, both of the good local places in town have some examples of past work hanging about- front of the shop and inside. I guess that is just something they do down here because its a small town and so few people are actively looking for tattoos
I've never seen photos of work on the walls of tattoo shops and I've been in A LOT of shops.
Oh, and look to be paying at least $120 an hour for good work. At LEAST. + Tip.
On a similar note, I just made an appointment for late March for four hours of work to start bringing my right sleeve onto my chest and around onto my upper back. I get in quickly because it's an ongoing piece, otherwise I'd have to book three to four months out with my guy.
That's cool- I was just going by what I knew, so its good that someone who has been in more places can comment on it.
But I think the main point- Make sure you approve of the tattoo artist's previous work before hopping in to the chair- still stands
I have no issue waiting/making an appointment. Esh brought up something I forgot to mention- how much should I be tipping? Is it like restaurants where 20% is the norm?
15-20% is great.
i think his rate was 150 an hour.
Any chance you live in New Mexico or the San Francisco area?
I took all your guys advise and spent most of Saturday looking at different tattoo shops. Honestly, the hardest thing for me was to not be bothered by the seemingly standoffish manner of a bunch of places-they weren't rude, but they also weren't quite friendly either. Though I guess they get enough lookie looks that might cause them to act that way.
In one of the first tattoo shops I visited, I saw a guy's portfolio that I really liked and seemed like it would be a good fit with what I'm going with. He wasn't in, so I came back a while later and got a chance to talk to him for a little bit, and he struck me as not only a good guy, but someone that knew what he was talking about, as he offered some changes, as well as talked about how he would color it in.
So I have an appointment next Saturday thanks to a cancellation of his. His hourly rate is 150, which seemed to be the norm around this parts. Thanks to everyone that's chimed in!
So I went into the tattoo shop yesterday. I honestly wasn't expecting it, but the artist wanted to try to get it all in one day. I love how the tattoo came out, but damn, next time I'm going to split it into two sessions. Took about eight hours(only was billed for 6) and at one point, when he was coloring it, I almost fainted from loss of blood sugar.
Regardless of all that, I really liked how the tattoo came out, and I feel I picked the right guy, as some of his shading and attention to detail is great. Plus I got to see all manners of people come in and out of the tattoo shop itself, which was all sorts of interesting.
So like a new father, I bring you pics!
stencils
One of the few times we took a break
End result
Helmet detail
Torso detail
End piece
I got there at 2:30 PM, it took him an hour or so to draw up the stencil, and then we worked through till about 11:30 or so, taking a couple of fifteen minute breaks, and a lunch break. Like I said, i really like the final work, especially the shading and color, but did wonder if it should have taken so long- especially cause I was seeing the other two artists next to him work a lot faster. Though granted, they seemed to be doing smaller, black and white tattoos.
Lord Palington- The guy's name is Trent and you can check out his stuff here- http://trentstattoos.com. He's over in North Dallas at Skin Gallery Tattoos and Piercing. Around that area there's also Cat Tattoos which I heard good stuff about, and their artists portfolio looked good, just not what I was looking for.
That's on the artist, not you. He should have scheduled you for two sessions, not one.
And no, it shouldn't have taken that long. Half that time really. Some artists are just known for being notoriously slow though. And it's not necessarily a benefit. I know some pretty fast tattoo artists who are some of the best in the city.
EDIT: And yeah, you've got someone basically stabbing you for hours at a time. It's exhausting. The worst was the side of my neck. It felt like someone was sawing at it with a knife. Weirdest experience ever.
I wish everyone who made tattoo threads came back to update with pics.
I was torn for a while before getting it whether I wanted the deco poster style or a classic dave stevens. yours looks amazing!
Ha, same here. I was also thinking of getting one of the new Darwyn Cooke covers At the end I went with it, because I'm also incredibly attached to the film itself.
How long did that take to get fully done?
now we are spirit twins
Satans..... hints.....
8 hours seems like a long time for that one, but at least it turned out great.
3DS FC: 4699-5714-8940 Playing Pokemon, add me! Ho, SATAN!
I like the look of it though. It'll look better after your skin heals. You might also need a touch up too afterwards, not because of any problems with the tattoo, but your never quite sure how your skin is going to heal and the colors might fade a bit after a few weeks.