When you’ve chosen your artist, you’ll first
make a consultation appointment to talk about your tattoo.
You’ll meet with the artist to communicate your ideas,
your goals, and see if you and the artist are compatible and
can successfully communicate with one another. Remember that
even if an artist is talented and does beautiful work, your
ideas and expectations may not be the best fit for their skill
set. For instance, you would not expect to go to an artist
that specializes in dark black and grey work and ask them
to do a colorful floral piece.
Another thing to remember is that tattooing is a collaborative
process. Not all artwork or ideas are tattooable. Trust your
artist’s input because she has your best interests in
mind for the life and beauty of your tattoo.
Once you and the artist have met and decided to go forward
with your tattoo project, you’ll give the artist a deposit
in order to start the drawing time. The deposit in most cases
goes towards your tattoo time, but sometimes a part of it
will be used for drawing time. The artist of course may have
several clients that she is already working on drawings for,
so your name will go at the bottom of her draw list. The draw
list is on a first-come, first-serve basis. The artist will
usually give you an estimate of how long the drawing may take
to finish.
Drawing time really varies per artist, subject matter, and
size of art. For larger pieces, drawings can take several
months and sometimes more than one consult to complete. Once your custom artwork is created for you, we expect that you will start the tattoo within 3 months from the date the finished artwork is shown to you. If you are not able to follow through for one reason or another we appreciate some sort of communication from you. If you can keep in touch and tell us that now is not a good time but you still want to do it, we will save your deposit and your artwork. But if a year goes by and we don't hear from you, we reserve the right to recycle your artwork and your deposit will be forfeited.
Of course the time required to complete large tattoos is a big commitment.
It can take years to finish a back peice or a sleeve, and you
must be able to come in for sessions at least every 2 months.
The purpose of this is to keep the whole tattoo looking consistent. When you start a tattoo and don't come back for a year to get your next session, most of your tattoo will need to be gone over again to make the whole thing look fresh.
Having a custom peice of art created for your body is a rewarding experience and when you trust your artist and have a real committment to the process you will end up with an amazing and beautiful tattoo.
