I am tentatively looking into getting a tattoo. I am going to start shopping around next week and wanted some idea of the right questions to ask and the right things to look for when I go inside the shops.
If anyone is curious, I am interested in getting a small Om tattooed on the inside of my wrist. I have been thinking about it on and off for years. The picture linked isn’t exactly the design I want; I have a pendant that has the exact design and I intend to bring this to them.
I understand that the inside of the wrist is quite painful. So that’s something to ask - sometimes I’m good with pain, sometimes not.
What else? Oh, I just want it in one color - probably a dark brown - so very basic. But it has to be nicely done, of course.
First, you should know that there are two types of tattoo art - flash and custom. If you go into most tattoo places, they’ll have big books, probably mounted on the wall, of all kinds of tatts. Those are called “flash”. They’re easy, quick and, in the eyes of tattoo officianados, “generic” and lame. That’s not to say you should never get flash - in my opinion, if you like it, you like it, so whatever - but flash comes from big books that tattoo artists buy. They didn’t draw it, and may never have actually tattooed it. It’s not representative of their actual work.
If you want custom work (and it sounds like you do), you want to ask to see the artist’s personal portfolio. This will be a book of pictures of tattoos that the artist has actually done him/herself. That will give you a much better idea of the skill level and style of the artist than her flash pages will. Style is just as important as skill, especially if you want a complicated piece. If a person is great at bold tribal tatts, it tells you nothing about his skills at grey scale shading or portrait work, and vice-versa.
The best way to find a good artist is to look at other people’s tatts and, when you see something you like, ask who did them. People love to share their artists, and many of us even carry around our artist’s business cards!
That said, an om from a piece of jewelry is probably going to be a fairly easy piece for any artist who’s been working with tattoos for a while. That sort of piece, I wouldn’t stress too much about finding the best artist on the block, but instead focus on finding someone you “click” with. Go in and talk to them. Do they make you feel comfortable? Then it won’t hurt so much, and you’ll have good memories of the experience.
As for the pain, go get a fairly snug rubber band and slip it over your wrist. Now grasp it and “twang” it against your inner wrist. Now do it again and again. That’s about what it will feel like.
Really? You can just walk into a parlor and ask to see their personal portfolio? And they don’t mind?
As for the location, the tattoo itself is going to be small. Less than an inch. It’s easily covered up. And honestly, when I saw the bank teller with the giant Chinese character on her boob, I figured - tattoos have arrived, and they are practically mainstream these days.
In my (somewhat limited) experience, they are happy to show you what they’ve done. I had a tattoo on my foot about a year ago, I had been carrying the design around with me for almost 6 months and finally decided to do something about it.
I went to a tattoo place in town and met the guy as he was heading down the stairs for a smoke-break. He looked at the design, gave me a price immediately and then said he’d got all his artwork upstairs if I wanted to go and look at it. The little waiting room was packed, but his son found me some space and gave me all his dad’s portfolio work to look through.
Judging by the number of people waiting, he was a very popular guy.
I was comparing notes with an old music friend and I asked him what his old drummer was doing. He sent me a link to the guy’s website for his tattoo parlor. One of his featured photos was a close-up of him looking over a tat he had just completed: onto a guy’s medium-sized beer gut, he had tattood Jessica Rabbit, on all fours, from behind, using the guy’s navel to represent her naughty bits.
I forgot to mention (and it may be different in your country, bear in mind I’m in the UK) that our local council runs a licensing scheme for tattoo artists and their website tells me which places are “genuine”.
Of course. Being almost heavily tattooed myself, I have had many in-depth conversations with my tattoo guy about our respective crafts and 90% of the time, tattoo artists would MUCH rather do custom work than recreate flash. I figure it’s an artistic expression thing, and I can totally see where he is coming from in that respect.
Go into a place that comes highly recommended. Ask around. If you see a heavily tattooed person, ask them where they got their work done. Most people with big visible tattoos don’t mind getting asked where they got their work done. My guy gives me a cut on price for every person I send to him, so there may also be incentive for the inked guy to let you know as well. Check online resources as well - http://www.ustattoostudios.com and sites like Yelp can help with reviews and artist portfolio’s.
Yes and no. I am lucky that I work in an industry where you can be heavily tattooed, pierced, and whatnot and no one even blinks. Coworkers, managers, customers, no one. In a more stringent setting, it MAY be an issue. Before I did hair, I was an HR Generalist for along, long time. I would check your company’s dress code policy before getting it done.
And yes, HR made me a little crazy so I quit, got a lot of tattoos and went to hair school. Doesn’t everyone?
I’m in the US. Please remember I’m clueless about tattoos. Admittedly, very few of my friends have tattoos, and the ones that do, rarely talk about them. They are small and very very personal - as mine shall be. Nor do I ask them about the tattoos, either.
I’m dum, though - didn’t think of the websites. Guess I will start with that and at least get a list of three or four to start with.
I know there are many downtown…but some are rather skeevy.
No worries about my company’s dress code policy. I already have my nose pierced (have had for 16 years). And when I did work in a place that had a stringent policy, they had me remove the nose piercing, and then had others who had tattoos just keep them covered up.
Honestly there are less and less places now that don’t accept tattoos. And what I have in mind can be mostly covered up by a watch or a simple bracelet.
Heck no! Remember, that while to some people, tattoo artists are riff-raff and scum, tattoo artists are ARTISTS. What artist doesn’t relish the chance to show off their work?
It’s a good idea to start with a google search of tattoo parlors in your town so you know your options. And yes, definitely look at the portfolios online. But even after you find someone you like, it’s not a bad idea to go to the parlor first and give it a look. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t risk it. You do have options.
Wow, were you guys right. I had a little time so I started googling some of the local tat artists. And wow - they have HUGE custom galleries online and beautiful full color pics. I guess I will spend some time going through these!
I had the opposite problem–I can’t swing a dead cat in my circle of friends without hitting a tattoo artist, and the vast majority of my friends have bunches of tattoos, so my problem was “who of these excellent artists do I choose?”
Echoing what others have said, for something simple and straightforward like you’re looking for, really any artist that can do flash can pull it off. If you don’t have friends you can ask for recommendations, definitely check their portfolio just to be sure, and take a look at the shop and don’t be afraid to ask questions about sterilization, etc. and if they seem dodgy, move along.
I have “om tat sat” in Sanskrit on the inside of my right wrist (low enough so that long sleeves will cover it if I want/need) and while your pain tolerance obviously may vary, it felt about like what a sunburn feels like. And it’ll be done with pretty quickly for just a single character. I think my 3 character tattoo took maybe 30 minutes from walking in to walking out.
There’s a tradition around tattoos like this that if they point toward you (so it’s right side up when YOU look at it), it’s for you, and if it points away from you (so it’s upside down as YOU look at it) it’s for someone else. I don’t know how widespread/commonly held this is so feel free to totally ignore it.
For my much larger and more delicate/complicated chest piece (it’s a modification of a tree of life design) I knew who I wanted to go to, without question–I’ve seen his work on many friends and it’s by far the most intricate and skilled of them. (It’s not crooked/uneven like it looks in that photo–in fact, he took about 15 minutes making sure it was symmetrical because my left shoulder is totally fucked up and uneven.) That one took about an hour and was slightly more painful.
I did the flash book thing, but I really like my tattoo. Of course, it’s on my back (keep the tramp stamp comments to yourself), so I don’t see it often - maybe that’s why I still like it. Anyway, I chose something that has meaning for me, even though it was from a flash book.
As for pain, it wasn’t bad. Mine’s in the fleshy part on the right side of my lower back, so that might have something to do with it. It’s exactly like getting a shot, only over and over and over. I found it pretty tolerable because even though it’s rather a sharp pain, I knew it wouldn’t last very long - just as I was starting to feel “carved on,” it was done. (Mine’s maybe 2" by 2.") If yours is a small as I’m thinking, it’ll definitely be bearable. I often characterize cramps as being worse, because (for me) they’re a dull pain that just goes on and on in waves. (And my cramps aren’t even that bad.) Tattoo pain is sharp but short.
Guess I will start with that and at least get a list of three or four to start with.
