For TATTOOERS ONLY - most hated tattoo requests?

[onaquesttoseeamoose]

I absolutely respect your opinion on the resolution of said "pain in the ass"....

But my reputation rests on many laurels, one being my promise to edit and edit till I get it right, which I define as exactly what the client wants. And ya know, it doesn't happen so often that I wanna blow my head off, and the oodles of dedicated familiar clientele that just let me run with an idea, to the point that they'll love my first draft even if I'm not yet satisfied, far outweighs those "hard to please" experiences. I just felt like posting the feelings 'cause they're more than frustrating...,they can be downright insulting!

[KegRN]

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

Ha! That's the tattoo I plan on covering up! (The tribal dragon) Walked in as an idiot 18yr old, flipped through a book and said "that looks cool." Groan

[KegRN]

So I have been reading the pet peeves stuff with great interest, in hopes to not annoy people with my tattoo ignorance. I have read that some of you are bothered when someone has too much meaning behind their tattoo and try to dictate how the tattoo is done. Now I am concerned that people may roll their eyes at my tattoo plan.

I would like a blooming apple tree branch (because we have apple trees) with two chickadees (my husband and I) an empty bird cage somewhere with the the tree branches growing through it, maybe even breaking it. I would also like a triangle incorporated in the tattoo, maybe in the background with negative space somehow. I'm not planning to dictate placement or color choices, am I still going to be entering pet peeve territory?

[SStu]

I would like a blooming apple tree branch (because we have apple trees) with two chickadees (my husband and I) an empty bird cage somewhere with the the tree branches growing through it, maybe even breaking it. I would also like a triangle incorporated in the tattoo, maybe in the background with negative space somehow. I'm not planning to dictate placement or color choices, am I still going to be entering pet peeve territory?

My guess is you're going to need plenty of room to fit it all in . . .

[KegRN]

My guess is you're going to need plenty of room to fit it all in . . .

Ya I expected that, so I know I don't fit into the "wants tons of stuff crammed into a 3 inch tattoo" category, but I do have three of the pet peeves mentioned here; trees, relationship tattoos, and specific details.

[bertskykaiser]

Absolutely anything found on Pintrest. I swear the next person that comes in, whips out their phone and shows me something on Pintrest I'm going to slap the hell out of them.

[cltattooing]

I broke my 'no dream catcher' streak on Sunday and I have another one on Friday :(

[Mark Bee]

Absolutely anything found on Pintrest. I swear the next person that comes in, whips out their phone and shows me something on Pintrest I'm going to slap the hell out of them.

What about if they show you an image on instagram?

[CultExciter]

I broke my 'no dream catcher' streak on Sunday and I have another one on Friday :(

Call those rent checks.

[cltattooing]

Call those rent checks.

I know, they're bread and butter, but super obnoxious nonetheless!

[iowagirl]

are people wanting the exact pictures they're bringing in, or using them as inspiration, making some tweaks? or are you guys talking about the feathers exploding into birds and infinity/word ones?

I've got tons of stuff pinned, for placement or color ideas etc, lots of traditional flowers.

[Diehardonvhs]

are people wanting the exact pictures they're bringing in, or using them as inspiration, making some tweaks? or are you guys talking about the feathers exploding into birds and infinity/word ones?

I've got tons of stuff pinned, for placement or color ideas etc, lots of traditional flowers.

Trust me, if you want to show them to any tattoo artists, print them out on paper to show them - I can you tell, after working the desk in a busy studio, it is truly obnoxious of someone to make you wait for two minutes while they fiddle with their phone trying to find the right reference, plus you then cant leave anything physical with the shop or the artist, or you have to then email over every little thing to the shop, who then have to print it out for the artist, and if you want to show the artist that reference they will have to squint at the tiny screen. We like pictures on paper. A lot.

[iowagirl]

Oh definitely, I would print them out for sure! I printed out the picture for my blossoms (and felt justified since I'd had it saved on my computer for about 5 years, so Pinterest wasn't involved haha) and brought my laptop along as well since I didn't realize my ink was low. (and didn't end up w/anything like my inspiration photo haha, but I still love them!)

[Graeme]

Call those rent checks.

Some dude was getting those silhouette birds when I was last getting tattooed and while I'm sure they are annoying to do because that shop is probably doing that tattoo at least five times a day, it's the shop minimum for what seemed to be very little work. Same with those infinity signs. Seems not too bad to me.

[kingofcosta]

"I want a sleeve. You know, clouds and stars and shit."

So we did a painting of a sleeve of clouds and stars and....shit. Actual turds, with bits of corn in them and everything. Strangely enough people start to get a bit more specific when we whip it out.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Euchlid]

Hahaha, I didn't realise "Les Elephants" was a popular Dali tattoo. I have them on my back, I had just turned 18 and they were my first tattoos. I didn't really know very much about tattoos at the time, but I wanted something from my favourite painter.

Would I get something different now? Sure, but do I regret them? Not in the slightest. I think it's pretty easy to rag on people for their design ideas, but as long as it's done well, who gives a shit if they're walking around with a popular owl, or a famous painting? I'm sure some on my tattoos wouldn't appeal to a lot of people, but that's why I am wearing them; because I like them!

I used to work at a tattoo shop as a receptionist, and the artists there would definitely suggest improvements on weird concepts, or poor placements, but the biggest thing was they would respect that some people's ideas are definitely subjectively "cool", so just make sure it's executed well and there you go.

[Faolan]

People need to realize that not all artists are the same, some have specialties on certain styles, some just can't do other styles, and others can and it takes a lot of their talents. If they can't do it, or dislike doing it don't feel bad about finding someone else and coming to your artist with tattoos they love to do, and consider you may be taking up time they could be spending doing tattoos they like instead of working on your design. of course many are happy to do it but then you need to acknowledge their effort and talent and for goodness sake give them a damn good tip.

[Euchlid]

Totally! Case in point, the artist who did the traditional Japanese toad on my thigh specialises in Japanese. The artist who did one of my sleeves refers clients who want Japaneseto other artists as she knows tthere are people out there who do all the research behind it and will do a better job. That said, she only works part time now so she just does projects she wants to anyway.

[Steele]

Most of time if I think someone will regret a tattoo later in life (or immediately) I'll give them a "You don't want this dude.. Seriously"

If they persist- well that's on them.

The only tattoo that I flat out said NO to, was some jackass getting in touch with me to ink Useless Junk on his balls... In Old English

DO YOU HONESTLY THINK I'M GOING TO DO THAT??????

He honestly thought I would.

[seattleite]

my tattoo artist said: infiniti symbols, dandelion blowing in the wind.

lol

[tattoosbymarcus]

i do lip tattoos every now and then but i dont mind them. im tired of people wanting those pesky all white ink tattoos and the stupid anchor that says refuse to sink. ITS AN ANCHOR. ITS SUPPOSED TO SINK.

also, tribal. i do it and i make it look cool but damn.

somehow im not sick of infinities, dreamcatchers, bird silhouettes, and heart monitor tattoos...

the think that probably irks me the most is when people want flower stems to be made out of names or something dumb like that. or how about you was a photorealistic rose? cool. oh but i want a name on each petal THERE GOES THE REALISM ASPECT

- - - Updated - - -

Trust me, if you want to show them to any tattoo artists, print them out on paper to show them - I can you tell, after working the desk in a busy studio, it is truly obnoxious of someone to make you wait for two minutes while they fiddle with their phone trying to find the right reference, plus you then cant leave anything physical with the shop or the artist, or you have to then email over every little thing to the shop, who then have to print it out for the artist, and if you want to show the artist that reference they will have to squint at the tiny screen. We like pictures on paper. A lot.

id much rather be emailed, i do a lot of prep work in photoshop. i can resize adjust contrast make new layouts etc with a full resolution image.

[tatB]

This seems like a good enough place to post this:

http://millihelen.jezebel.com/dont-tell-me-i-cant-get-a-fucking-neck-tattoo-1707496653

[cltattooing]

I read that post and another post on that blog and that woman is fucking annoying

[hogg]

This seems like a good enough place to post this:

Don't Tell Me I Can't Get A Fucking Neck Tattoo

She strikes me as a horrible person. And I hate her tattoo.

But that's, like, my opinion, man.

[bongsau]

I LOL'd

The article is written by a person who clearly does not understand tattoo and is whining because tattoo wasn't made as accessible as she would like it to be. Christ almighty! Putting your kids name in micro-font on your neck...isn't about "art". Go have another cab-sav and slag off !