I’ve seen your work, I have faith that you’ll pull it off. I wish you were closer, would love to have something done by you!

My right leg is dedicated to whimsical randomness – of course, I only have one there so far, but more will come. In the meantime, I do believe my Agent P fits the bill:

Also, there’s a link at the bottom of this article to another one she wrote regarding how to properly evaluate an artist’s portfolio – I’d recommend reading that one as well, good stuff.

After I got my first tattoo I was getting my oil changed and the shop manager and I started discussing tattoos. He admired mine, and asked how much it had cost. I told him $300, which I had felt was a great price for a damn fine tattoo. he said “Oh, wow, you overpaid, I got this one for $70!” – he proceeded to roll up his sleeve and show me a similarly sized tattoo of much poorer quality. I did ask where he had gotten it, so I knew what shop to avoid – it was, at least, actually from a shop, not someone’s kitchen. Still, it shows that you do indeed get the tattoo you deserve.

Wow – I can’t imagine that! OK, I can imagin the “cheap” part :). But I won’t even go to a shop if I haven’t seen their website, and gotten an idea of the artists’ work in advance, and chosen a specific artist whose work I appreciate. I then find out everything I can about the artist online before calling or visiting the shop and seeing what kind of vibe I get from them. If I get a good vibe, I’ll book the appointment.

Case in point was my first tattoo. I’d picked the shop, but from online presence there were two artists there that I thought would do a great job, and I was having a hard time deciding. I called, and found they were both in on Sundays. I went in, figuring I’d choose whichever one greeted me – then it turned out I really instantly didn’t like him. He wasn’t willing to discuss the aspects I wanted, just wanted to book the appointment and send me on my way. The other artist was available for a walk-in, willing to discuss in depth what I wanted, told me to give her an hour to draw it up and come back. She did a great job, we had a good time chatting while she worked, and I remain thrilled with the tattoo.

So, my point is, for me even a portfolio isn’t quite enough. I don’t want to spend four hours with a talented asshole causing me pain eiither :).

A pic would definitely assist in judging the artist’s work and making a solid recommendation

My wife was the first one to get tattooed, not long after we started dating 14 years ago. I was the one that didn’t much care for it, and wished she hadn’t. Then things changed…last October I got my first, and am up to 4 over the course of a year. She still just has the one, which could use a cover-up because it was not tremendously well done…she likes mine, and will probably eventually get more herself.