Hi All,

I’ll try to keep this brief. But I’m extremely upset over this experience. I don’t know the “who’s who” in the tattoo industry, and I have only a few tattoos. That said:

I just got a tattoo this week. Earlier this year I asked some people about artists. Some suggested I wait until a tattoo convention as there would be some of the most talented artists in the country there. Made sense, so I waited. I looked through nearly all the artists’ portfolios. I found one that I felt did exquisite work in a style I was looking for. I contacted the artist early to ensure I got scheduled, and to begin discussing the piece.

Many/most artists require a deposit (for the work they do before the needle even hits the skin). I get that, and I paid up.

The idea I had for the piece was shared via email. I received very little feedback so I requested a phone/video consultation. The artist refused. I asked again, stating that a consultation is basically “standard” in the industry. Again, the artist refused – claiming they never give consultations when they do conventions. Instead the artist asked me to supply more information/pictures over email. I did and felt a little better about it.

On the day of the sitting I saw the stencil and we discussed color palette. I won’t get into details but it basically went something like this:

• Me:  I am not comfortable with this.
• Artist:  Persuading me to go ahead with it anyway.
• Repeat for 30 minutes.

I offered the artist 2 choices. Let’s do a different tattoo… or… shake hands, part ways, and I’ll forfeit my deposit. Again, more pressure from the artist, so it was decided to do a different tattoo. The artist drew it up, we talked about it, and then went forward with the ink.

Fast forward. The tattoo looks absolutely horrible. Yes, I approved the design. HOWEVER, the design is not symmetrical. There are circles that are… well… NOT circles. Very poor linework. And the color palette makes no sense to the meaning of the tattoo. I left the color palette up to the artist because I don’t know colors and I was very impressed with the color work in their portfolio. Basically, I trusted the artist to be an “artist”.

Everything I’ve always read on the topic basically suggests, “it’s the customer’s fault”. Really? Even when the “artist” doesn’t make good circles? Even when the “artist” messes up the symmetry of the piece? Even when the “artist” does not understand artistic concept? Even when the “artist” takes a large non-refundable deposit before providing any sort of guarantees to the client?

At what point do we start holding these “artists” accountable for a bad tattoo? Or even just the questionable ways in which they justify taking a non-refundable deposit.

This happens to dozens, if not hundreds of people every year. Walking away with 3 choices:

1. Laser removal costing the client upwards of thousands of dollars
2. Gaining the courage to somehow trust another artist to fix it – at more expense to the client
3. Living the rest of their lives with a turd permanently embossed in their skin