For TATTOOERS ONLY - most hated tattoo requests?

[Brynne Worthy]

Please please please post pics of these!

Okay Dari you asked:)

The skulls turned out alright in the end, but the yin-yang bear claw gave me no leeway. It just bums me out cuz that guy is out there, super happy with it, telling people who he got it from and it's awful. I sacrificed my integrity for the almighty dollar. Which raises a good question, when a client is so unwilling to let you make something better, should you just send them down the road? Or is that the one you just do to pay the bills? I have a great clientele, but I'm not close to the point where I can pick and choose what I want to do either. Insight?

[hogg]

Hahahaha! Those are great. Oh man...a treasure trove, indeed.

Reminds me of a story that an old friend of mine told me. He was getting tattooed by Chris Trevino around 1991, when Chris and Sean Degan still had Perfection in San Antonio. A guy comes in with his girlfriend and says, "I want this." It's a horrible likeness of his girlfriend with the words "SWEET CHILD O' MINE." Chris says, "Yeah, I could do that, but I won't put that drawing on you. I'd fix it up first." At which time his girlfriend interrupts and says, very angrily, "No! I DREW THAT! That's how it has to be."

I think they went someplace else.

[mario desa]

if they insist on getting it the exact way they drew it, i'll just do it for them, unless it won't work well as a tattoo (technically) or if it's a traditional design. since that's a style i feel well versed in and am known for, i'd insist on redrawing it, or i wouldn't tattoo it.

[Tim Hendricks]

I'm scared Tim Hendricks won't ever tattoo me again after the tattoo he did on me that involved a tiny 2 inch by 3 inch world map with all the teeny tiny latitude and longitude lines. And I sat terribly that night as I had done a 3 hr handstands and arm balances yoga workshop with Ana Forrest that day. Terrible timing - what was I thinking? My hands were shaking when I wrote the words down that I wanted written on it, and that was before we even started. I had bruises on my arm for days from him having to hold me still 'cause I was jumping all over the place, trying to get away. He'll probably never tattoo me again. :(

Dari are you crazy?! I would tattoo you any day of the week any week of the year. I LOVE doing super detailed stuff, and btw you sat fine but my memory isn't what it used to be... so maybe you didn't...

[falcontattooer]

a bartender friend asked me to tattoo a mustache on her finger and her eyes got all big like it was such a great idea. so i got real excited and said "i gotta better idea, why dont we tattoo the words 'played out' on your finger instead"? she got mad but she also never got the tattoo done.

[Lochlan]

here are some relevant threads and blogs:

Good Client Behavior

Your Favorite Clients & Client Experiences

Cancellation List

Tattoos Today and Research

Tattoo appointment etiquette

Least Painful Spot to get Tattooed

Most Painful Spot to get Tattooed

Yelp and Tattoo Shops

Best Post Tattoo Care

LST Preferred Tattoo Professionals

Funniest Tattoo You Have

Question for Tattoo Customers, Tattooers Portfolios

Now That I'm Sixty, Do I regret it?

Walk-in Horror Stories

Cable Invasion

Artist That Sign Their Tattoos

[Louisgoodwin]

I had a customer ask me to cover his 6 tattoos with black squares around 8 inches square , when I asked him if it was a religious choice or something he had to do for the SAS or some secret cult he was in . He just replied iv just never seen anything I like that would cover it up and i don't like them any more .?.

I showed him lots of stuff and ever drew something on him so he could see what it would look like .

He replied naah squares will do .

When we did it I asked my mate to sit in just in case he was a phsyco and was cruising to kill some one .

My most hated tattoo to do is tribal dragon

[dari]

I had a customer ask me to cover his 6 tattoos with black squares around 8 inches square , when I asked him if it was a religious choice or something he had to do for the SAS or some secret cult he was in . He just replied iv just never seen anything I like that would cover it up and i don't like them any more .?.

That's awesome. I've seen quite a few all black arms and legs for the same reason, pretty punk.

Do you have any pics of this? I'd actually like to see how it turned out. Was he picky about the symmetry?

[dari]

Dari are you crazy?! I would tattoo you any day of the week any week of the year. I LOVE doing super detailed stuff, and btw you sat fine but my memory isn't what it used to be... so maybe you didn't...

OMG, I just saw this, if I were the kind of person to write LOL I totally would, but I'm not. I'm the kind of person who likes to say totally and awesome, so I'll just say, "Tim, you are totally awesome." I do need to get tattooed by you again soon! Me and all of SF and Oakland. I have a few I'd like you to do, none involving three dimensional psychedelic monkeys escaping off of a merry go round, or anything else that would make you cringe on the inside. And I'm glad that your memory is bad, so that you don't remember me begging you to leave that last tattoo unfinished....

And you were right, I don't think I've seen you since. COME TO OAKLAND!!!

[dari]

Okay Dari you asked:)

The skulls turned out alright in the end, but the yin-yang bear claw gave me no leeway. It just bums me out cuz that guy is out there, super happy with it, telling people who he got it from and it's awful. I sacrificed my integrity for the almighty dollar. Which raises a good question, when a client is so unwilling to let you make something better, should you just send them down the road? Or is that the one you just do to pay the bills? I have a great clientele, but I'm not close to the point where I can pick and choose what I want to do either. Insight?

I have no insight into any of this, as I'm not a tattooer, but I don't think tattooers generally don't get to pick and choose what to do, and it's all just practice, right? And Bear Claw guy might have some really cool friends who would want cooler tattoos, i bet he's pretty clear that it was all his idea.

Thanks for sharing these. And what the hell is in the 4th picture?

[Luis B Tattooer]

1.- trees

2,- Armband (all around)

3.- ......

[dari]

Okay Dari you asked:)

The skulls turned out alright in the end, but the yin-yang bear claw gave me no leeway. It just bums me out cuz that guy is out there, super happy with it, telling people who he got it from and it's awful. I sacrificed my integrity for the almighty dollar. Which raises a good question, when a client is so unwilling to let you make something better, should you just send them down the road? Or is that the one you just do to pay the bills? I have a great clientele, but I'm not close to the point where I can pick and choose what I want to do either. Insight?

I've decided that I want the 2nd pic tattooed on me, exactly the way it is rendered in the pic.

[Stewart Robson]

Currently my most hated request is something that the client/customer doesn't give a shit about. They just want 'the look'.

I used to hate spiky random tribal that was copied from a gay gym flyer (an actual gym for gay men, not just 'lame') that was doing the rounds a few years ago. Now it's an arm full of mashed potato looking clouds with a cherub and/or angel, usually hiding it's face. I love doing large tribal/blackwork and I love doing religious or quasi-religious black & grey but when the person getting tattooed doesn't give a shit if I try to make it look good, then that is my most hated tattoo request.

[Radiophonicus]

I've had an absolute rash of people lately who want nothing more than to narrate themselves with seemingly useless phrases and quotes. No flow, lousy font type and placed in awkward areas. We have one fake rapture and now the whole damn tattoo world needs to come in and get a bible verse (or 12) just in case the next one isn't a fire drill. I feel better now, thanks.

[tattoojeff]

I agree that lip tattoos are a joke and a pain. But i dont mind them as much since Dan Jackson showed me a trick. have the customer flip his own lip tight over a toung depresser. easier surrface to work with. and hammer it in.

[Joel Ang]

barcodes..... tiny barcodes....

I also can't stand it when someone has terribly done/drawn outlines and they want to get it filled in when a good cover-up is all it takes.

thanks for sharing that awesome tip jeff! definitely won't forget it the next time a lip tattoo walks in the door

[hogg]

I've had an absolute rash of people lately who want nothing more than to narrate themselves with seemingly useless phrases and quotes. No flow, lousy font type and placed in awkward areas. We have one fake rapture and now the whole damn tattoo world needs to come in and get a bible verse (or 12) just in case the next one isn't a fire drill. I feel better now, thanks.

Oh man...I have a coworker who has four tattoos (that I've seen) of pretentious Latin phrases in a Roman font--all upside down. Two on his forearms, one on each foot, and I'm sure a few more that I've not had the pleasure of seeing. Homeboy's starting to look a little "Memento."

I don't know why shit like that gets me so heated--as my wife pointed out, they're not my tattoos, so I don't have to like them--but god damn! It just makes me think that he doesn't actually like tattoos.

/rant

[CaptCanada]

It just makes me think that he doesn't actually like tattoos.

He probably doesn't, but he likes the idea of having a tattoo. It's like a lot of people now days, doing it more for the novelty and following the trend of getting a few tattoos so they can look down and remember something.

[JAllen]

i had someone ask for a sierpinski triangle, i didn't turn it down but when she didn't show back up to get it later i wasn't totally bummed out. i've done some other crazy geometric stuff and i've realized that i need to take the ibuprofen before i start the tattoo.

[Jake]

i had someone ask for a sierpinski triangle, i didn't turn it down but when she didn't show back up to get it later i wasn't totally bummed out. i've done some other crazy geometric stuff and i've realized that i need to take the ibuprofen before i start the tattoo.

isn't that the logo from Zelda?

[Gregor]

I get a headache just looking at it !!

[JAllen]

isn't that the logo from Zelda?

haha, no way! this girl was an engineering major. i suppose the triforce could be a simplified version of it. i've gotten to do quite a few triforce/zelda tattoos, actually tomorrow i'm doing a link tattoo on a guy who i put a ganondorf on last year. i'm actually surprised at just how many zelda tattoos i do each year.

[William Burgess]

Tiny tribals drawn by the customer...who after making me go through the tedious process of shrinking it to the right size, placing withing a millimeter of accuracy so it matches the other side, then decides he needs to redraw one section slightly larger, make the loops bigger ect. I told him go home and draw it however he wants it, then I can do it. Can't spend all day tweaking out what should be a 15 minute tattoo.

What do you guys do in this case? Make them pay something or no? I didn't charge anything because I did not set up yet, but still wasted a lot of time.

[Fancher]

I'm Sure it's been said previously but I am at the point I enjoy every tattoo that walks in the door. With all the shops and people not having money I'll be happy if a taz comes in the door..lol. Honestly if someone has an idea that may not make for a good tattoo I enjoy helping them make it in to something that will stand the test of time.

[purple haze]

its not so much requests its bts of drawn stuff they bring to the table. i did some tribal and drew it all up from scratch and it really looked well and run along the lines of his upper arm and flowed really well . then he brought a piece of paper that had a love heart with a swirl off the top of one side then he said can i have that included . talk about spanner in the works. lol i re drew it to fit in but it just looked clunky but he wasnt goin to take no for an answer so i did it and he was plzd but i wasnt happy personally. i to love to realize peoples ideas and insight what they want in there design. and spend a lot of time in research and drawing and tweeking so there well happy with what i come up with. and 99.9 % of the time they are . but ul always get someone who wants it altered again n again. or a different colour lay out. i think sometimes giving to much choice to the client can hinder the magic.