Do you go for lots of work by the same artist, or one piece per artist?

[Leemac74]

Agreed. I think its great to get lots of good tattoos you love from the same artist, especially if it's large scale work, ideally on paper I'd like various artists to tattoo me but once I got in the booking cycle of being tattooed by a great artist, I wanted more work of the same quality and style.

It's easier to feel comfortable with them with new work as they do understand you better in my experience and you relax more.

[iowagirl]

The guy who did my last few has moved, so I'm trying a friend of his on his recommendation. I'll see how it goes-it seems weird to go to someone else, since I'm pretty comfortable w/Timm by now. And it's nice w/Timm that this last time I just facebooked him and asked if he was back in town, and he got me in w/out having to call the shop or run up and leave a deposit. Hopefully this new artist and I will have a good fit too. I'll still continue to see Timm when he's back in town as well.

[cltattooing]

As a tattooer, it's been really educational collecting work from a variety of people (and I think most artists feel this way). Perhaps this thread is more for the collectors than artists, as I think it's pretty unlikely that most artists would only go to one person for all of their work. I'm sure it happens though!

But yeah, it's just cool to seek out an artist whose work you really admire and get to watch them work and maybe even pick their brain a little bit. In my experience, everyone I've been tattooed by has been really supportive and encouraging, and is always willing to share little bits of useful info. So with that in mind, I think I'll be collecting from different people for the rest of my life. I do have a few tattoos from the same people, but it's not more than maybe 2 or 3. Also, living where I live, there are a ton of really great tattooers out here and sometimes I get trade offers, which can be a double edged sword I guess. I sometimes struggle with whether I shouldn't get tattooed just because it'd be convenient and I need to be more conservative with my remaining space, or if I should just do it because they're a killer artist and the experience is just as important as the tattoo.

[Graeme]

Has anyone else reached a point in collecting tattoos where they fall in love with one artist's work and find themselves basically comparing other artists work against it when deciding on who to get tattooed by next?

I'm not at that point and I don't know if I'll ever fully be there, but I get what you're saying. For me, the inclination to get work from fewer artists has also to do with that I think there's something enjoyable about getting tattooed over a longer period of time by the same person and kind of having a relationship that builds with them instead of it just being a one-time thing, if that makes any sense.

I think I have tattoos from nine different people at this point.

[Diehardonvhs]

I do a bit of both, one artist for my biggest work(full sleeves, full back and maybe ribs/stomach in future), and other artists for smaller single session or mid-sized tattoos. I learned after doing my thigh that I really didn't enjoy travelling over and over again for big multi session tattoos, and forget about sitting multiple days in a row on the same area, so now with conventions or overseas appointments with relatively big name artists I keep it simple and small(ish)! I've been tattooed by 8 artists I think...

I really, really enjoy meeting some of my favourite artists and getting tattooed by them, there's nothing like it, but my local studio is like my second home and family, no matter who I get tattooed by in the world the first thing I want to do is get back and show my friends there!

[Chemical Burn]

All mine are all by different artists, and I want to go to different artists for the next few I have planned as well. I had planned to find one artist I liked and stick with them, but then I discover different ones and I NEED something by them. I'll probably go back to the lad who's doing my sleeve though.

[tatB]

I learned after doing my thigh that I really didn't enjoy traveling over and over again for big multi session tattoos...

100% agree. I think I'm more burnt out from traveling time than actual tattoo time. I have driven at least 50 hours to get a total of about 30 hours of work from O'Donnell (3/4 sleeve plus 1/4 add on) and Henning (1st session of a thigh piece). Sometimes its nice to day dream about getting most of my future work from a shop only an hour away.

[mtlsam]

I've been collecting from artists that I admire. My first few tattoos were less informed choices, but I'm up to 18 artists and I'm pleased with what I've got.

So far my plan has been to get one or two pieces from a given tattooer. I'm a little torn when I see the cohesive look of a limb covered by one artist, but I think variety will win out for me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jacknife82]

I would go with works of various artists. If its possible, you can go with collaborations. When it comes to my tattoos, if it doesn't have a personal meaning, I would always like to talk about the artist themselves.

[MLNYC]

I like to get a couple off of certain artists not to many more! Christian peters has done a bunch on me, but i have one half of an arm that is saved specifically for artists around the world when im out in Australia etc.. much prefer a collection from round the world, feels more like a story to me.

[MadeIndelible]

I like to get a couple off of certain artists not to many more! Christian peters has done a bunch on me, but i have one half of an arm that is saved specifically for artists around the world when im out in Australia etc.. much prefer a collection from round the world, feels more like a story to me.

Likewise on the travel tattoos. I have two flash based tattoos on my right arm. One is from a Chicago tattooer at the SFO convention, one was done in New York. Planning on going to a few more places a few years down the road.

[baberry64]

50 tattoos and counting,most not even on the same continent!

[Victor]

I have a collection of Tattoos from a variety of artists over the years. One thing that I have realized if some artists are visually stuck in a particular style, so it takes them some hard work to expand into other styles. If a guy does Oldschool all day long, somehow his Portraits, Biomechanical and Realism all look Oldschool. So be warned.

If you found someone who is trying to expand their Tattoo visual range, then they should probably give you special experimental rate until they prove themselves. It could work out good for both of you and if they don't nail it, well you both went in with eyes wide open, and no one will be surprised by anything.

Some artists stick to a particular style because they are good at it, and when they wander off into other styles that may not work out for them. It takes a lot of hard work to master a style so be patient and heads up.

[scubaron]

I have a collection of Tattoos from a variety of artists over the years. One thing that I have realized if some artists are visually stuck in a particular style, so it takes them some hard work to expand into other styles. If a guy does Oldschool all day long, somehow his Portraits, Biomechanical and Realism all look Oldschool. So be warned.

If you found someone who is trying to expand their Tattoo visual range, then they should probably give you special experimental rate until they prove themselves. It could work out good for both of you and if they don't nail it, well you both went in with eyes wide open, and no one will be surprised by anything.

Some artists stick to a particular style because they are good at it, and when they wander off into other styles that may not work out for them. It takes a lot of hard work to master a style so be patient and heads up.

I am new, but in my research of artist portfolio's, I am seeing exactly what you're saying. Not sure I would use the term "stuck" though. Maybe the artist has a preference and enough client demand so they can stay in their preferred style.

I am lucky to live in NYC with so many good artists. Seems like specialty is the way to go here for both artists and customers choosing an artist ?

[Rikhall]

at the moment I usually go with Steve Bryne i love his style and just think he nails my ideas every time, i travel a long way to get work off him so just do two days at a time, makes for a pretty rough flight back to calgary. their are a lot of artists i want work from its just hard work convincing my girlfriend that we should go on holidays to get tattooed and not lay around on beaches, I'm getting jealous of people who say kings avenue or frith street are their local shop but i love the traveling aspect of getting a tattoo and if i ever go home to the north east of england i know nobody i know will have the tattoos or experiences I've had getting mine

[Dbeatdano]

My plan is to collect tattoos from several artists, but I'm still to early in my collecting so I might really want several pieces from 1 artist. I have 4 tattoos from Julio Avila, but that also has to do with the fact that he's only 15 minutes away from my house and he's very good at what he does. I will still continue to get tattooed by him, but right now I want to branch out to more artists before getting more work from him. I'm not looking forward to traveling long distances, but I think the end result will be worth it. Plus the cost of travel doesn't help very much. I'm trying to plan vacations with my girlfriend to some of the cities I want tattoos from, but that makes them pretty few and far between. Has anyone else used the vacation approach or do they just go to the city, get tattooed, and leave?

[9Years]

Has anyone else used the vacation approach or do they just go to the city, get tattooed, and leave?

My wife and I try to make it to the Roadburn music festival in Holland every year. Last year we went to Berlin ahead of time to get tattooed by Uncle Allan, then took a train to the Netherlands.

The tattoo I got was big (rib panel) so I was useless for about 2 days afterwards. We knew this going in and planned a day chillin post-tattoo, then the next day was just sitting on the train before megatons of RIFF.

So, I think as long as you are realistic about what you want to do during your vacation it's a great way to go about it.

[Rikhall]

Has anyone else used the vacation approach or do they just go to the city, get tattooed, and leave?

i used a vacation to new york and got some work by Dan Santoro on the 2nd day and it ruined the sight seeing experience, id recommend getting it later your vacation if the plan is to sight see and also the city your in could inspire you for a idea

[CABS]

My philosophy as of today: collect from Bay Area tattooers and guest spotters working in the Bay Area.

I used to love traveling to collect. But then it hit me... instead of paying for hotel and airfare, why not use that money for more tattoos? I have more than a handful of amazing tattooers that are pretty close by. Even though some of my favorite artists are in NYC (Grez, Regino, Boltz, Santoro, Albrigo), the plan is to try to catch them if/when they guest spot in The Bay.

If I was working on a Japanese body suit, more than likely I'd stick to the same artist.

That Cripwell bodysuit is still amazing to me. I wish that's how I started...

I do want Jason Phillips to work on my front. But I would love it patchwork style with a chest, stomach and filler pieces all done by the same artist.

[Teamwilson]

My plan from the beginning was to spread the wealth and get tattooed by a variety of artists. Ive been under the gun with Jesse Smith for about 18 months and need to stop and move on. My first tattoo from him was on my upper arm. I then decided I wan'ted a more visible example of his work and am now getting a sleeve (? not sure what its called on a leg) on my lower left leg. After that is complete I expect I will get a divorce and move on. There are just too many great artists to not try em all out

[ClaudeBalls]

For me personally, the same tattooer - or at the very least the same shop. However, for me this is because a) I like to think I have established a rapport with my tattooer over a period of time as I have gotten more work done and b) because I am in the process of covering some previous work and/or integrating previous work to try and bring it all into a cohesive whole. In fact I would probably feel guilty going somewhere else, knowing how much time and effort my current tattooer has put into the work I have so far.

Of course, having said that, I completely understand the other view re: collecting different pieces of work from a number of great tattooers - and who knows if the opportunity came along to get work by a guest tattooer who I really admired I might just try to find a space for something - but I would discuss with my current tattooer

[Ploverlock]

I would love to be tattooed by different artists, but like others have said, I would go back to one artist if I were to have one big cohesive piece like a back piece for example. That said, now that I have my crane tattoo by Gakkin on my calf, I am tempted to leave that rest of the calf space for him to add to should I ever go back to travel in Japan again.

On an unrelated note, I remember seeing one guy who just had a eagle chest tattoo done on him the first time I went to Harizanmai. He was only in Kyoto for 2 or 3 days, and then he was flying to somewhere in Europe I believe, to get another tattoo, kind of like a "round-the-world"

tattoo tour. Kudos to him to be able to do it, but it sounds like some rough travelling considering it's all fresh tattoos.

[Rob I]

I like getting tattooed by different artists, but have zero issue with getting more than one tattoo from each. Chad Koeplinger tattooed my chest, and will start my back very soon. Sure, there are tons of great artists out there, and many that are on my "tattoo bucket list" but who in their right mind would fault me for going back to Chad to tattoo my back?!? LOL

[Graeme]

I like getting tattooed by different artists, but have zero issue with getting more than one tattoo from each. Chad Koeplinger tattooed my chest, and will start my back very soon. Sure, there are tons of great artists out there, and many that are on my "tattoo bucket list" but who in their right mind would fault me for going back to Chad to tattoo my back?!? LOL

Who in his right mind gets his chest tattooed by Chad and knows how it feels then decides that he's then going to get his back done by him?!?! Hahaha

[Rob I]

Who in his right mind gets his chest tattooed by Chad and knows how it feels then decides that he's then going to get his back done by him?!?! Hahaha

You got me there! Cannot stop laughing!!!! I am pretty nervous for this one man. It's gonna be a wild ride for sure!