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!

How to find a good tattoo shop

So you've decided what you want to get. You've saved up your money and you are now itching to get new artwork on your skin. Maybe it's your first tattoo and you want to make sure it not only comes out perfect, but you don't catch any creepy diseases while getting it. Maybe you've got a bunch of tattoos, but you just aren't happy with the artwork from your old shop. Maybe your wife has finally laid down the law and says you can't go to your cousin Jimmy's basement anymore to get tattooed. Whatever the case may be, I'll give you some tips on picking out a good tattoo shop.

In the past, it was really common to just drive down the street and stop wherever you saw a neon "tattoo" sign in the window. Another method is by word of mouth. Although people still do both, many people tend to research the shop they saw or were told about before they even step foot into it. So...that shop you always pass on the way home from work? The place your coworker Erin swears is the best? Go ahead and Google those bad boys. Do they have their own website? Good! I am weary of places that don't (and yes, there are still places that don't). In today's day and age, it is essential to have a website. Not only does it show that the shop is serious about their work, but it allows the customer to do some background research before they even step foot into the shop (which makes life easier for us shop help, let me tell you).

The most common place that people research is Yelp. Haven't heard of it? Google it or go to Yelp.com. It's basically a site where people write reviews of businesses. The app is pretty neat, too...out of town and feel like seafood? Yelp a good seafood spot. Out of gas and need to find the closest station? Yelp. It's amazing. Anyway, with the popularity of Yelp, shops have really been benefiting from this modern-day word of mouth website and app (my own shop, included-we have a perfect 5-star Yelp rating, thank you very much). You can read the direct thoughts of real customers about hundreds and hundreds of businesses. Yelp has increased our sales quite a bit, and I've noticed that over the past few years we've gained a lot of business from further away cities, due to Yelp's ability to rank a certain mile radius search by star ranking. Whenever I ask new clients how they heard of us, the answer is almost always Yelp.

That being said, I've noticed that a funny thing happens when people use Yelp as a recommendation. At my shop, the guys that are usually available for walk ins are almost always the new guys. It makes sense; the guys that have been there for a long time have clients that they can book themselves the whole day, every day, for weeks or even months at a time. The new guys just don't have that popularity yet. Whenever a walk in comes in from Yelp, they usually get "the new guy". Now, my shop is awesome, so of course the tattoo comes out awesome, and the client will almost always Yelp about the artist by name. This leads to more and more people coming in and requesting this particular artist by name...people think they're going to "the best" artist, and trust me, our new guys are good once they get done with their apprenticeships, but they aren't necessarily the "best" because they have the most shoutouts by name...it's just people choosing someone because a bunch of other people happened to call him out by name on Yelp. So basically what I'm getting at is...beware of bandwagoners. At my shop, you'll get some sick work regardless...but I can't guarantee the same thing at other shops.

Therefore, the best thing you can do as a customer is to RESEARCH YOUR ARTIST. This is so important to ensure you know what you're getting. Even if a shop as a whole has a great rating, you never know if they have a "bad seed", so to speak. Start by checking out artist artwork. You've probably already found some shops you want to check out at this point, so go to their websites and see if they have online portfolios (the actual shop will have artist portfolios inside them, of course, but the advantage here is that you can peruse the work without feeling like someone is watching over you, expecting a response. Sometimes people get intimidated and just say "yes", even if they really don't want to get their work done there, just because they feel pressure). Another place that is becoming more popular is Instagram. The guys at my shop all have their own Instagram pages where they post their work daily. Try Googling the artist's name along with the shop name and see what you find. If they have one, it'll probably pop up in the first few listings.

Now, the most important part...is this artist good? For the non-artist, this can be difficult to decide. Your first instinct is usually right...if you like how the work looks, great! If you don't, that's ok, too! They might not even be a bad artist, but if the work isn't how YOU want it, then they aren't the artist for you. Simple as that. Artists all over specialize in so many different styles, so it is important that if you have a specific vision, you go to someone who can pull it off. Otherwise, you're just setting yourself up for disappointment. For example, we have a phenomenal artist who specializes in traditional work (bright colors and bold lines-think Sailor Jerry). He is booked out for at least six months at a time. It's ridiculous! People love him, and for good reason. However, sometimes people hear that he is the best, so they'll come in asking him to do some crazy black and gray work, like a portrait. Now, can he do it? Probably. Is it his specialty? No. He almost always recommends them to one of our portrait guys in the shop, because he knows they'll do it better. As far as the actual artwork goes-when you are looking at the work of an artist, make sure that the example work shows clean lines (like the artist made the lines in one single stroke, rather than having to keep picking up the machine to draw a long line) and solid colors or shading, if there is any (no funky spots that look out of place in the tattoo, like it isn't finished). Again...if it looks good, you're probably in the clear. Don't be shy to ask friends what they think of the artwork, too. Just remember that style preferences are different from artistic ability. 

So you found your shop and your artist. Time to go into the shop! You'll want to bring in your references for your tattoo (information on how to do that is going to be outlined in a future post) in at this point. When you walk in, how do you feel? What is your first impression? Does it appear clean, like a doctor's office? Do you see cobwebs in the corner of the shop with dust on the windowsills? These things matter. If they don't care enough about the appearance and cleanliness of their shop, then they probably don't care too much about tattoo cleanliness, either (and hence one reason why I am employed-to keep the shop looking it's best). If you can, check out the stations. Are they clean? Do you see someone breaking down stations to get ready for new clients (This is a timing thing, you would have to enter the shop just as someone was done getting tattooed).

Are you greeted by someone, or are you awkwardly standing at the front, waiting for someone to approach you? I really hope you're greeted by someone...I think it is essential to make someone feel comfortable in an environment that can potentially be very intimidating. Ask the person if they use single use needles (they should), if they ID every client (they should), if they use sterile coverings and dressings as required by law on each client's station (they should), and if they sterilize all non-disposable items, such as tattoo tubes, in an autoclave (they should, and on this one, if the answer is yes, ask if you can see their spore test for their autoclave-it should be tested MONTHLY by law). If any of these questions come back as no, then don't walk but RUN out of there. Think about it- would you eat at a restaurant that served you on dirty dishes? I didn't think so. Tattoos are the same idea, but tenfold...you can catch gnarly diseases, and any shop worth it's salt will do everything within their power to follow all body art laws and practices to keep their clients safe.

Perfect, your shop passed all the tests. Go ahead and ask to talk with your artist, or grab a business card and come back with your references for your tattoo, which I will be explaining how to do in a later post. If you talk to your artist at this point, I always tell people that it is super important that you feel comfortable. If your artist gives off any weird vibes, then I don't care how talented he or she is, you should find someone else. Depending on what you're getting, you're going to be sitting with this person for a LONG time. Some people don't talk to their artist much during tattoos, and some do. Both are fine...but still. Do you want to be paying your hard earned cash to someone who you don't feel comfortable with? No. And I don't want you to, either. You deserve the perfect artist, and I'm sure that you'll find him or her if you follow these tips.

The deal with white ink.

One common question that I get asked at my job is if we do white ink tattoos. This answer varies depending on a bunch of factors. Over the years, white ink tattoos have become very popular on social media sites such as Tumblr, Pinterest, and Instagram. Once healed, they tend to look like a faint scar, depending on your skin tone. So how come they aren't as common as other colors, like black?

Honestly, white ink doesn't hold up very well. The pictures of these tattoos on social media sites are generally only a few months old at most. Therefore, at the time of the picture they are in their "prime", so to speak, as far as how they look physically (all tattoos age, no matter how well they were done). The fact of the matter is that any artist who has been tattooing for awhile has seen clients that come back with white ink they have used in their tattoos, only to find that the white has sort of turned brown-ish. This is the main reason I give people when asked this question. After all, who wants a brown-ish tattoo if your intention was for it to be white?

 It's also pretty difficult to get white ink packed in solid-i.e., it doesn't "fill in" very well. There will almost always be patches in the work if it is a large area of white that needs filling in. Of course, this isn't a problem if the client is just looking to get line work done, but it's still a factor to consider if the piece is larger.

In general, my shop personally only uses white ink for mixing custom colors (to get a lighter blue, a creamier pink, etc.) and for accents, such as eyes in animals. We don't really use it as a main color anywhere. We tend to shy away from white ink tattoos, and we will try to recommend that the client gets the tattoo in black (or even another color) instead. Of course, if someone REALLY can't imagine it being any other color, we'll do it, but we do warn clients of all the risks involved.

The good news: if you decide you really want a white ink tattoo, then get it. You can always go back later and get the design redone (or even covered up with a completely different design) in a darker color, and no one will ever know.