Hey guys.

So, I am very interested in black/grey super realistic fantasy tattoos.. as far fetched as it sounds to have ‘realistic’ and ‘fantasy’ in the same sentence :p

I live in Iceland and there is exactly one guy here that does tattoos of the type and class that I am looking for. His name is John Paul (yes, like the strong man) and he is quite simply a master at his craft. He only does his own drawings, never does anything smaller than a shoulder/half-sleeve and it’s awesome every time. The problem with him is basically that because he monopolizes this niche of the market, he can allow himself to be very expensive, and of course his waiting list rarely dips under 6 months.

Here is just one example (and many many more on that site) of the style that interests me so (created and tattooed by said Icelander): http://www.icelandtattoo.com/page.asp?pageID=10&gallery=109&large=13

Now, I fly to the US and the UK regularly (although not so much now that our beloved recession has hit) so I don’t see why I should necessarily have to spend all my money on him, if I could get it cheaper someplace else. Now, don’t get me wrong, I will spend what money needs spending on my tattoos, but money DOES matter none the less. Besides, traveling someplace else would always be double the fun 🙂

What I’m asking you guys is, first off are some of you artists that work in the genre. It would tripple the fun if I’d actually get a tattoo by one of you guys.. I always love meeting the people I talk to online 🙂

And if none of you enjoy this genre, do you know guys or gals that DO, and live someplace relatively close to me.

When I say relatively close, I mean that if I fly from Keflavik I land in London, Boston or Orlando, so England on the whole is relatively small, and most of the US East Coast is relatively open to travels. I have a friend in Phoenixville, PA which I’d be visiting over there so I’d be willing to travel a bit but not much further west (all y’all have a large country over there! :D)

Also, what is for example your normal price? Do you guys charge per hour or just one price for the whole piece. What is the hourly rate normally for a good artist, and how long would a half-sleeve of this level of detail take? Would I have to take several flights over the seas, or could I manage the whole thing in one trip?