So you found your shop...now what?

So I outlined how to find yourself a good tattoo shop here. But...now what?

It can be scary walking into a tattoo shop, particularly if you've never been in one before. Heck, sometimes I don't even like going into other shops...fear of the unknown artists, I guess. The important thing to remember is that as long as you've picked a professional shop (and I'm sure you did with my tips!), no one is going to judge you, talk about you, or treat you in any unprofessional manner. We get clients from all walks of life- 18th birthday-goers, 70 year olds, males, females, transitioning gender clients, lawyers, doctors, dentists, professional athletes, teachers, exotic dancers, zookeepers, fishermen, bank tellers, servers, other tattoo artists from other shops...seriously, there's no one "marker" anymore that determines who gets tattoos and who doesn't. That's probably the thing that surprises people the most when they walk in and see who's sitting in the tattoo chairs (well that, and my immaculately clean shop thanks to yours truly, but I've told you about that already).

So my first piece of advice- don't let your fear get the best of you. If you want the tattoo, just go for it. Don't let your fear of the shop and staff turn you away. 

But...let's back up. You need to do some homework before you go to the shop. You can be a walk-in, sure (and I'll outline that in a later post), but more often than not, the tattoos that people want are going to need to be drawn up. The reality TV shows like Miami Ink and Bad Tattoos have been great for exposing our industry to the general public. However, they also create unrealistic expectations for our clients. It's one thing to walk into a tattoo shop and ask for a small star the size of a quarter. It's a whole different thing to want a giant tiger that spans from your hip to your armpit, wrapping around your side with a killer background. Can we do it? Absolutely, and my guys love designing the larger pieces! Can it be done in an hour like the TV shows (I'm envisioning Kat Von D telling one of her clients to go "grab a bite to eat" to give her time to draw up some rad sketch) want you to believe? Nah...my guys need some time. Creativity takes time, ya'll.

In reality, custom pieces take various amounts of time to draw up. Something simple might take a few minutes, so sure, you can have it right then and there if there's time and availability. It might take an hour or two to draw up if it's like palm-sized, which may lead to you getting it that day if the artist is having a slow day, or we might book you on another day to give him some time (this is especially true if you are going to a busy artist, more on this later). If it's something real big like a thigh piece, full back piece, or a sleeve, then we'll usually book you out a week or two to give the artist some time to draw such a large piece, reflect on it, make changes, and come back to it and finalize it. Now, I've seen my guys do all of this quicker, and I've seen them take weeks on designs. It just all depends. They're perfectionists, which is a good thing considering these pieces are permanent. This is their livelihood, and you are basically a walking billboard for their work. They want that thing perfect!

So my second piece of advice- be realistic about the time frame of your tattoo. It might take some time to draw up. Small tattoos usually can be done same day or a day or so out. Larger tattoos might take weeks to get to your appointment date.

Now I mentioned busy artists. It's natural to want the best artist to do your work. We all want the best! However, be realistic about how long you are willing to wait for a tattoo. For example, my boss is one of the best in the business. People are sometimes not happy when I had to tell them that he was booked out a year or more in advance. "But it doesn't take a year to draw a tattoo!" True. But, consider all of the other people who came to him first wanting tattoos by him. This creates traffic in the appointment books, so to speak. I literally make appointments for a year or more into the future, and people keep these appointments because they want the artist. If you don't want to wait that long, that's fine, but you'll need to look for a different artist. I always tell people it's not necessarily a bad thing that you have to wait- it gives you time to save up! :)


Therefore, my next tip if you have your heart set on a certain artist- call the shop and ask how long  _____ artist is booked out until. The kind shop girl/guy will tell you :) If you don't want to wait that long, find another artist.

(note- if you DO decide to book far out in advance and you want to inquire about seeing your sketch before your appointment date, keep in mind that the artist usually won't get to your drawing until about a week before your appointment date. He/she has other tattoos to draw for the people in line in front of you)

Ok, so you are cool with the wait time and you summoned the courage to go into a shop. My last piece of advice is:

Bring every reference material you have for your tattoo to the shop. It saves much time and energy for the artists (and your shop girl/guy!) when you come prepared.

I say this because just describing something to the artist, while entirely possible, sometimes leads to disappointed customers. If you are SUPER into an artist just creating their own masterpiece, then great! Many people do that. However, often times people have a very specific idea in mind. It's best to bring reference materials. If you want something super realistic, make sure you bring sample pictures of the idea. Now, it doesn't have to be another tattoo. Let's say you want a portrait of John Lennon. You can just bring in a photo of him, you don't need to bring in a picture of someone else's portrait tattoo. Or let's say you're really into cars and you want this specific hot rod. You don't need to find someone with the same tattoo you want (that might be hard to do, anyway). You can just bring in pictures you found of the actual hot rod. Some people have even brought it small models or toys of things that they want. Pictures from magazines, newspaper clippings, or even pictures downloaded onto your phone will work. Whatever works for you. That being said, you should know by doing your research on your artist whether or not they tattoo the style you want. Most talented tattoo artists can do many styles, but a lot of them have styles that they are just best at. I'll get into styles in a later blog post, but for now, keep this in mind- if your artist specializes in old school traditional, for example, he/she probably isn't the best candidate to do your rad new school music sleeve.

Woo hoo! So you've talked to your artist and they booked you an appointment (or, maybe your kind shop girl/guy did). Now if you are able to get this tattoo same day, you just fill out your paperwork, show your ID, and get tattooed. You pay at the end. And tip, if you are so inclined. If you have a tattoo in the future, you are going to most likely have to put down a deposit. This irritates some people, but think of it this way- while cancelled appointments at say, a hair salon, are annoying for the stylist, they only lose out on the money for the actual cut/color/whatever service. With tattooing, not only are the artists out the tattoo money if someone cancels, but they are out all of the time they spent drawing your tattoo and making sure it is super awesome and perfect. The deposit will go towards the cost of the tattoo at most shops, so it's not an extra amount. It's just insurance for the artist so in case you DO skip out, at least he/she gets paid for drawing up a tattoo. As for what kind of money to bring...cash is always best in a tattoo shop. My shop has a card machine, but we have to charge tax to run it. It's cheaper for you to do cash. Plus, since the guys get paid out at the end of the night in cash, they prefer it. With the cards, they have to wait a few weeks to get paid.

So, last tip for when you go into a shop- have your money ready for a deposit. Also have your government-issued ID on you in case you get tattooed that day.

The TL;DR cliffnotes of what to do once you find your tattoo shop and are ready to get tattooed:
1) Just go in the shop and make an appointment already, don't be scared!
2) You might not be able to get your tattoo that same day...expect to make an appointment for a later date
3) Double check on your artist's availability if you aren't willing to wait too long for an appointment
4) Have money ready for a deposit and bring your ID!

That's all for today, folks. I have a blog article coming up about what to expect the day of your tattoo, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Thanks for reading!

Wow...looks like I failed again.

WOW. Didn't I just post like, a year or two ago, apologizing to all of you for abandoning my blog? Why yes, yes I did. Well, here I go again...

I'M SORRY!!!!!!


Please forgive me.

In the midst of all of my other obligations, I had forgotten about my blog. Again. It's so shameful, and I feel really bad. I have good news though. I have now loaded this email address to my phone, so now you guys are with me wherever I go! WAHOO! Why I never did this before, I don't know. Also, fun fact I learned today...that handy dandy message box to the right? It was sending messages to me...but I couldn't read them on my computer! What the heck? As soon as I got this email all hooked up to my phone, BAM- tons of messages from you guys came flooding to my inbox. I have no idea why. I blame Google. Get with it, Google!

Anyway, I did my best to respond to everyone, and from here on out, I'm going to be posting regularly again. I have more free time now, because *drumroll* I am now a college graduate! That's right, Nikki is a college grad. I should really update my sidebar.

I want to thank each and every one of you for still being interested in my blog and the subject matter it entails. I want to continue to help you guys succeed, whether it's at tattoo shop reception, trying to become an artist, mustering up the courage to get your first tattoo, whatever. Let me know if you have any suggestions for posts. I've got tons of ideas (the customers are always sparking ideas in me), but I want to hear what you guys want, too.

Until next time! (which will be sometime in 2016. Pinky promise.)