#1
While remaking the stencil (for the like the 20th time), I remember joking with the piercer that “He bought this broad off the internet, for sure.” I joked he was able to her her scar covered using the money he saved buying out of the “scratch and dent” section of the mail-order bride catalog.
During the procedure, this chick showed no emotion or sign of discomfort AT ALL. I sat, impressed by her restraint, while her husband told me they met while he was teaching English as a second language over in Korea (I think?) He went on to say that she was part of a fishing village where the women would learn to hold their breath for several minutes at a time waiting underwater for fish to swim by and throw them up onto the beach. I practiced holding my own breath and only made it 20 seconds before i was forced to re-evaluate this chick. I was impressed, and I said so. He confirmed it is indeed “awesome” to grow up in such a village until a bunch of soldiers decide to drop by to rape and pillage. It stops being awesome when you see your friends and family die and all your food stolen. Which is exactly what happened to her. She survived, but gave birth to a son 9 months later. She also survived the next time the soldiers came through, but, ended up pregnant a second time.
He said: “If you lived where she is from, you would be allowed to have only one child. If you ended up pregnant again, you would be forced to undergo a hysterectomy, or go to prison.”
At that time I had one child, and was considering a second, which meant I didn’t think straight for months after that tattoo. I don’t regret the tattoo, but I do regret my stupid comments. It was a humbling reality check. That was 8 years ago but I still keep a photo of that rose next to my station.
#2
#3
...I owe that man or woman *everything*.
(It would have been a name tag on my chest that said "hello, my name is....").
Yes, we’ve heard how the “customer is always right,” but this just isn’t the case. Naturally, you want to help bring to life your clients’ vision of their tattoos. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to stay quiet.
You can be diplomatic, witty, and friendly, but if you genuinely think they’re making a mistake with their design, you should speak up and explain the possible downsides. Then, if the customer understands the risks and your concerns but still wants the design, you might end up having to go through with it.
That being said, any professional worth their salt should refuse to ink tattoos that spread hate and go against common decency. Some lines should never be crossed. And a bigoted, hateful customer shouldn’t be catered to.
#4
#6
Tattoodo urges people to think a lot about their tattoos before they even set up an appointment with their chosen artist. Think about the size, coloring, positioning, and other things. Sure, you might be flexible on certain aspects, but you should have more or less a clear idea of what you want. Take a bit of time to communicate with your tattoo artist if you’re unsure about some things. That being said, moderation in communication also helps. “60 emails or DM’s to your tattooist is a bit overboard!”
Meanwhile, consider bringing a few references to show the artist. Yet, don’t expect them to copy someone else’s art directly onto your skin. Each artist has their own style and way of doing things, and you want to give them some room for their talents to shine.
#7
One day he had a woman come in and ask for a full back tatoo of musical notes. My mate had asked her what music she wanted tatooed and she said she didn't care. So yeah I get this call from him asking if I could help him find sheet music to a particular song.
She ended up with Star Wars - The Imperial March tatooed on her back and to this day I doubt she knows what song it is.
#8
#9
First year military tattoos are no joke.
Furthermore, you need to find a balance between being vocal about what you want and not micromanaging the professional who’s working on your body. “As long as you’re respectful, you can meet your artist in the middle, and both of you can properly collaborate on your tattoo!” Tattoodo says.
At the same time, try to avoid asking for tons of tiny changes to the design during the process. “Changing sizes a million times, moving the stencil ¼” several times around your body, freaking out about insignificant details just to stall or make sure, just one more time, that it’ll be perfect...all of this can be so stressful for your artist.”
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#12
In other words, it all comes down to communication and trust. You have to communicate what you want without making it seem that you don’t trust the artist to do what they do well for a living. If you don’t have any trust, why pick that artist at all?
Have you ever had to give someone a tattoo that you were unhappy with, dear Pandas? On the other hand, have you ever gotten a tattoo that was very different from what you wanted and what the artist said they could do? Which tattoos are you most proud of? Which ones do you regret? Feel free to share your tattoo stories in the comments.
#14
A couple came in to the shop asking for a cover up of an ex bf. She showed me and surely enough, a big guy's name on her side hip. The good part was it was done in a light blue ink, easy to cover. I already started getting ideas in my head of what to cover it with. Guy steps in and says, "No. We just want a star over it".
The name was about 5-6 inches long and I explained that a star that big would have to be, at least... 8inches big to fully cover the name. Both said yes to this. My boss walks over and gets on my a*s for not suggesting something else, but I explained to him that that's what they wanted. Both looked at him and nodded.
By the time it was done, this small, petite girl had a blue star covering her entire hip area. It looked cheap, tacky, ghetto mad, just stupid. After that, I refused to do cover ups if the client doesn't listen to reason.
#15
I do custom script, there's this couple that comes in, trashy tattoos etc. She tells me that he's going away to prison in a few weeks and he wants to get her name and she'll get his name right after. I insist this isn't the best idea, try to convince them otherwise, they don't listen.
So I do it because rent doesn't pay itself and I got bad habits to maintain. He goes first. After getting her name tattooed across his stomach she spits in his face, says: "Now you understand how s****y it felt when you slept with *insert name here*, you thought I'd never find out you f*****g piece of s**t?!" And then stormed out the shop, never getting hers...
Now I'm not a 100% sure here because I'm not very good with these things but I think they had problems... *cough*.
#16
I didn't do the initial tattoo but I did the cover up piece on the initial one that read:
"I love Karen's pu$$y"
Karen was his mother....
#17
Her response was both the strangest and smartest reasoning I could have heard for such a tattoo. She would dance and she figured the guys would ask "hey how far does that tat go" to which she could say "for ten bucks I'll show you". So the dudes pay up a ten spot, she shows her a*****e real fast and done deal. She's richer and they looked at an a*****e. My tattoo artist is not proud of that job.
#18
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#20
The problem is - he wasn't old enough to get one at the time so lied on the form he had to fill out, and as a result, he now has a tattoo with the **WRONG** date of birth on his arm!!