For TATTOOERS ONLY - most hated tattoo requests?

[dari]

I second that, best quote ever. Thanks Rob.

[ben stone]

do get a bit tired of doing pocket watches, i must have done ten this year (four in one week) most of them had a magpie on it, i'm still happy to do them but it's a pain trying to draw new watches as i'm not a fucking watchmaker!

[Rob_Gilk]

Ben, Watchmaker Thats funny, haha. "Dammit Jim i'm a tattooer not a watchmaker" (says like bones from star trek)...

[ben stone]

ha ha ha its true

[Rob_Gilk]

off topic, Ben that is a sweet bear chestpiece...big and clean the way I like my women.

[ben stone]

thanks a lot geezer (i like my women small and dirty )

[Jake]

thanks a lot geezer (i like my women small and dirty )

amen to that!

[hambone]

man i hate the tiny ass upside down lettering!!or lettering in white...used to not do it, but oh well if i dont then someone else will..i got a family to feed...best on so far was when a young lady came in for her first one.."faith" upside down in white...told her it wont look good down the road and she probably wouldn't see it since she fake baked...got done with it..she looked at it and said.." ummmm i cant see it"...well girl thats what i told ya..$50 please...thank you ..and good bye...hahaha...

[Julio Avila]

back in the late nineties broads used to call the shop trying to get beauty marks tattooed on them. ala cindy crawford i guess.

once such woman came in the shop and asked for one. i said NO. the boss was all.... come on dude. itll take you 2 minutes to do. i held my ground and said no. he said fuckit and did it. a week later she came back in wanting it bigger. a week after that she came in wanting it darker. a week after that she came in wanting it lighter haha.

i looked over at the boss and asked him if the $50 he made that dumb shit was worth it.

im positive all that weirdo did was look at herself in the mirror and critique that little spot on her face. fuck her and her fake ass beauty mark

[Perez]

People still come in asking for that beauty mark shit all the time at my shop in JC, I won't touch it with a 10 foot pole.

I also love it when girls come in wanting a cross on their wrist "facing them" \m/ o_0 \m/

[hambone]

yup gotta love the upside down crosses...man people are so dumb...they go in and will take a doctors,dentist,mechanic,hairstylist.etc.. advise but shiiit...i guess we are a bunch of big ol' dummies who dont know what we are talking about...oh well..its on them and not me.."screw you..pay me"

[ChrisDowning]

I'll tattoo whatever. I don't even mind tattooing the inside of lips, I've got it pretty figured out and it's fast money.

What bugs me is when there is a language barrier. I tattooed a group of 6 Germans a few weeks ago. They were perfectly friendly, nice people. When communicating takes twice as long as normal it makes for a hard day. When I got home I was still talking slowly and using hand gestures.

[mario desa]

"fuck her and her fake ass beauty mark"

hahahahaha...YES.

[E. Gregory]

peeps would always be scratching and picking at their 'beauty marks' and wanting touch ups, we just stopped doing them.

i hate doing everything mentioned in the beginning of the thread, doesn't mean i won't do it though....well, for the upside down white name, i gotta say if you want a tattoo that can't be seen just to say you have one, maybe they are just not for you.

[Mr. Frog]

I try to do everything I can. I have bills and rent. I'm not the best tattooer and haven't been doing it as long as a lot of you guys. So, if I think I can't do a tattoo justice I will pass it to someone that can. Some people want ghetto ass shit and will get it done from some joker that's gonna probably fuck it up. Or lip tats, etc. So if it's do-able, I will most likely do it. It's also common sense, like don't tattoo some 18 yr old kids face. However if the guy who has a bunch of crap and has done prison time wants a face tat...."Get in the chair bud."

[dari]

Mr. Frog, I like your attitude.

[Mr. Frog]

Why thank you.

[The Hyena]

I haven't been tattooing very long, so I feel awkward replying to shit like this. But here goes.

I like the act of tattooing. I love watching pigment go in the skin, seeing the line as it's being pulled across the stencil. I love it. So when I get requests for annoying shit, or things I'm sick of,(and denying that you ever get sick of shit is fucking retarded. We're humans. We get sick of shit. Period.), I try to just get past it in my head and think about the application. Not that I'm applying a tattoo that I hate, but that I'm applying a tattoo at all. And get right back into that mindset of enjoying the work aspect of it.

Without trying to sound like a wagon jumper, I too like tribal. I love watchign the black just go in solid as fuck. I know this dude is just some dude looking to look just like his boys, but in my head I'm thinking, "man, this shit is going to make your buddies tribal look like shiiiiiiiiiiiiit!". I just try to get in that zone as much as I can.

The clients though....

None of us can control the chaos that is our client base. That is the unknown quantity part of the job. Lots of shitheads, and lots of people who don't actullay want tattoos. They just want their very own "me too, guys! I did it too! See!" story. They spend hours trying to find the least tattoo-ish, most benign design possible and stick it somewhere no one will ever see it, because to them it's just proof that they did it too when the stories start flying.

I try very hard to pick my battles, read clients and choose which ones would be receptive to some swaying. Not into something completely different to stroke my ego, but into a better planned out version of what they want. Just gotta pick the battles.

Can't do it with everyone or you burn out, and you can't responsibly be the guy who says "fuck it, I know this will look, age and heal like crap, but i'll take your cash." All the time banging rainbows up their ass telling them how good of an idea it is to keep them and their dumb friends coming back for more.

Regardless of how it will effect responsible tattooers who try to do a good, well thought out tattoo for the benefit of their clients. Just gotta do what I can to sleep at night, like trying to explain to people that upside down is upside down. I try. If they get it, awesome. If not, I'll at least try to do it clean.

Sorry for the ramble. I just felt it on this one. I felt that I need to make an ass of myself on the internet. Word.

[Lochlan]

I haven't been tattooing very long, so I feel awkward replying to shit like this. But here goes.

I like the act of tattooing. I love watching pigment go in the skin, seeing the line as it's being pulled across the stencil. I love it. So when I get requests for annoying shit, or things I'm sick of,(and denying that you ever get sick of shit is fucking retarded. We're humans. We get sick of shit. Period.), I try to just get past it in my head and think about the application. Not that I'm applying a tattoo that I hate, but that I'm applying a tattoo at all. And get right back into that mindset of enjoying the work aspect of it.

Without trying to sound like a wagon jumper, I too like tribal. I love watchign the black just go in solid as fuck. I know this dude is just some dude looking to look just like his boys, but in my head I'm thinking, "man, this shit is going to make your buddies tribal look like shiiiiiiiiiiiiit!". I just try to get in that zone as much as I can.

The clients though....

None of us can control the chaos that is our client base. That is the unknown quantity part of the job. Lots of shitheads, and lots of people who don't actullay want tattoos. They just want their very own "me too, guys! I did it too! See!" story. They spend hours trying to find the least tattoo-ish, most benign design possible and stick it somewhere no one will ever see it, because to them it's just proof that they did it too when the stories start flying.

I try very hard to pick my battles, read clients and choose which ones would be receptive to some swaying. Not into something completely different to stroke my ego, but into a better planned out version of what they want. Just gotta pick the battles.

Can't do it with everyone or you burn out, and you can't responsibly be the guy who says "fuck it, I know this will look, age and heal like crap, but i'll take your cash." All the time banging rainbows up their ass telling them how good of an idea it is to keep them and their dumb friends coming back for more.

Regardless of how it will effect responsible tattooers who try to do a good, well thought out tattoo for the benefit of their clients. Just gotta do what I can to sleep at night, like trying to explain to people that upside down is upside down. I try. If they get it, awesome. If not, I'll at least try to do it clean.

Sorry for the ramble. I just felt it on this one. I felt that I need to make an ass of myself on the internet. Word.

Nice mindful response and I think you made a great decision to weigh-in on this one, thanks!

[mario desa]

hyena, i also try to just get a "zen" mindset going...focus on the actual craft and work of what i'm doing and not worry about the design or the money. and keep the smiles and banter going, do a nice tattoo and pay the bills. some people might not want to hear that...they want to think we always just dive in with our artistic expression blah-blah-blah and put our soul into every tattoo...haha...

[The Hyena]

Absolutely. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love letting it out there when someone let's me, or asks for that kind of thing, but even on those weeks where I do a ton of custom cool shit, I get burnt on it and just want to do kanji. Something I don't need to analyze and think through the whole time. I guess a great situation is where you get a good variety. Cool concept shit, old flash, ultra common stuff, random client drawings, old stand byes...etc. Pays the bills, keeps you on your toes, helps build the portfolio and keeps you humble and grounded.

[Kevin Campbell]

Absolutely. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love letting it out there when someone let's me, or asks for that kind of thing, but even on those weeks where I do a ton of custom cool shit, I get burnt on it and just want to do kanji. Something I don't need to analyze and think through the whole time. I guess a great situation is where you get a good variety. Cool concept shit, old flash, ultra common stuff, random client drawings, old stand byes...etc. Pays the bills, keeps you on your toes, helps build the portfolio and keeps you humble and grounded.

AMEN!!!!!!!!

[Julio Avila]

ahhhh the fabled almighty "balance" of clients. that shit is haaaaaaaaaaaaaard.

work at a flash walk in only shop and youll dream of doing big custom stuff. get too good and let all your clients know you can draw and you are drawing every night for tattoos only. work work work. then you dream of doing a shitload of kanji and script names.

[Scott Sylvia]

julio i'm with. you bust your ass to get a clientele and then spend every night at your drawing table doing day of the dead mary sleeves. or koi sleeves with cherry blossoms. could be worse i could be tired of doing cherry creek flash. or i could get up at 4 in the morning and break beef for quarters for three hours then make ground beef and then clean all the cases all in 40 degree cutting room floor. ill stick to finding a anew way to do marys cloke, hahahaha were all jackasses

[Chad Smith]

julio i'm with. you bust your ass to get a clientele and then spend every night at your drawing table doing day of the dead mary sleeves. or koi sleeves with cherry blossoms. could be worse i could be tired of doing cherry creek flash. or i could get up at 4 in the morning and break beef for quarters for three hours then make ground beef and then clean all the cases all in 40 degree cutting room floor. ill stick to finding a anew way to do marys cloke, hahahaha were all jackasses

Hell yea man! Amen to that! We are the luckiest people in the world to be able to do what we do for a living. Fuck it, bring on that tribal armband with my six kids names "hidden" in it! Haha!