What are tattoo appointment essentials?

[CABS]

Gatorade, Sour Patch Kids, headphones, tissues to wipe away the tears.

[sighthound]

A good attitude and make sure you smell nice and shower beforehand

[Dan]

I would like to add,turn off the sound on your phone "MUTE" it ! and NO whining aloud !

go alone,eat good before, and like sighthound said,take a shower and use plenty of deodorant & cologne/perfume,

Edited September 4, 2016 by Dan

[PinkUnicorn]

18 hours ago, Dan said:

use plenty of deodorant & cologne/perfume,

Not sure that lots of perfume/cologne would be appreciated...

[Dan]

1 hour ago, PinkUnicorn said:

Not sure that lots of perfume/cologne would be appreciated...

LOL  well I didn't mean over do it,all I was trying to say was that getting tattooed is a very intimate experience and we shouldn't  stink of body odor and should have good personal hygiene,no I don't glob on the cologne,but a quick spritz of AXE is a good thing IMO.

not sure about you,but I like the "you smell good" compliments from hair cutters and tattooers that I get.

Edited September 5, 2016 by Dan

[iowagirl]

We eat at Spaghetti Works first, get some protein and carbs in haha. I bring a bag w/a book that I end up never reading, water, my lip stuff, cough drops/vit c drops just in case b/c I get a tickle or dry coughing sometimes. A jacket and fuzzy socks if it's nice outside and I have a tank and flip flops on b/c my arms and feet get cold. A couple times in the beginning of a session when I get into my zone, I have started to nod off, so I make myself concentrate b/c I worry I will have one of those omg I'm falling things and jerk myself awake..and then later in the session when it's really starting to suck and I wish I could go deeper into a doze, I can't. I couldn't even get into a Norman Reedus daydream during my last one...I was so ready to be done. 

[AverageJer]

My favorite thing to bring is my wife. Even better if she is getting tattoed the same day- but sometimes we alternate. Outside of that, freshly showered and a solid meal. Sometimes I will have a beer with the meal, but I've never had two. I've never had a tattoo session long enough that it required snacks. If I did, I'd think something easy and protieny would be good- cheese and crackers maybe? 

[Dan]

2 hours ago, AverageJer said:

My favorite thing to bring is my wife. Even better if she is getting tattoed the same day- but sometimes we alternate. Outside of that, freshly showered and a solid meal. Sometimes I will have a beer with the meal, but I've never had two. I've never had a tattoo session long enough that it required snacks. If I did, I'd think something easy and protieny would be good- cheese and crackers maybe? 

my wife and myself got tattooed by Oliver Peck in consecutive appointments at a Fresno show last February and it was a super great experience,we had a amazing day together,

so much so we booked 2 appointments again with Oliver Peck at the SFO october show,pretty excited about it.

I know it might sound silly,but it was a "bonding" day together,really fun.

I have been to several shows alone,but it is way more fun with her,and especially if we are both getting tattooed.

[AverageJer]

10 minutes ago, Dan said:

my wife and myself got tattooed by Oliver Peck in consecutive appointments at a Fresno show last February and it was a super great experience,we had a amazing day together,

so much so we booked 2 appointments again with Oliver Peck at the SFO october show,pretty excited about it.

I know it might sound silly,but it was a "bonding" day together,really fun.

I have been to several shows alone,but it is way more fun with her,and especially if we are both getting tattooed.

Yep, this sounds like a very great day. We have done back to back tattoos with the same artist and side by side by different artists in the same shop. Both are a lot of fun. 

[BrokenTV]

How do you even sign up for an appointment? I always womdered how to that, what sort of images to bring and how to bring them, what the down payment is and stuff like that. I just did a walk in but I,want to learn a little bit better about the whole appointment process.

Should I bring in money for a down payment? 

Edited September 21, 2016 by BrokenTV

[Devious6]

My shop requires a minimum of $50 as a deposit to schedule an appointment. Rescheduling is no problem but if you are a No Show you forfeit the deposit. For me, I took pictures of tattoos that represented the design I was looking for. Then I talked with my artist about them and told him what I liked, what I didn't and anything else I thought about adding. Then I turned him loose to come up with the design. When he completed the design, he shared it with me and we again discussed it and made a few minor changes. Once he had the final done we talked again - and at that point it was all in his hands. That process worked well for me, but I would assume each artist and shop is different.

[iowagirl]

Our shop has a $200 down payment, and we just leave it there b/c we keep going back, so it stays on the books so we don't have to mess w/it each time we call for an appointment. My husband's new artist is right next to mine, so that was nice last time. The other times we've been tattooed "together" he's been a lot farther away. When I initially contacted them about an appointment, I emailed and got the details on how they handle them w/people who live a ways away before calling. They asked for pictures to be emailed first, so they could look and see what ideas I had and pictures of the area, since it was for a cover up. The idea for the cover up actually came from a poster here, who I don't think posts anymore. I sent them all the pictures, told them the idea and what I like, and asked who they thought would be the best fit. Worked out great b/c the artist they suggested is the one I liked the best off the website portfolios. He is booked around 3 months out, so that's been hard at times but holy hannah it's so worth it. And it started as a "cover up and maybe can you incorporate this peony I already have into it" to..ummm can you extend it to go around my frog? to, wellll maybe can you just extend it across my back and down the other arm? ha. The general idea came from here--Japanese/water. I asked for another peony and could it be darker shades of purple and then pretty much the entire thing has been whatever he feels like doing, colors too. That "laid back" thing is something I started working on from comments here, and it's been *incredible*. "listen to your artist" "trust your artist" yeah. it's amazing what you can get when you take that to heart.

[Colored Guy]

All good ideas here. One main thing I try to do is have a day that is pretty stress-less and get to the appointment on time. I have had monkey wrenches tossed in along the way, like possible food poisoning, which was a bad reaction to coffee truck food.

Shower and eat something is a must. I get to the shop and ask everyone what they want to eat or drink, hit the deli next door. I bring a neck pillow for comfort, they have pillows at the shop. After the tattoo is done, I'm fried. If the shop is closing I see who wants to hit the diner. If not I'll grab a beer or 3 and head for home.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Colored Guy 2

[marcohk]

COOL MEN

[pidjones]

Stress-less? I was rear-ended on the way to my first tattoo. Had planned a nice meal at Twin Peeks, but instead it was a Sonic burger and shake, so that became the tradition (minus the wreck). My sessions have never exceeded four hours, so I'm not worn out. I usually get in soon after she opens ~2pm. I don't want to have her working on me when tired or aggravated by a bad previous customer.

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[Colored Guy]

I have a neck and back injury so the neck pillow I mentioned is a must. I bring water or Gatorade and really not much else. I ask what everyone in the shop wants when I first get there and hit the deli next door.

[thyes]

How much do you guys usually tip your artist? 

[aant]

1 hour ago, thyes said:

How much do you guys usually tip your artist? 

Last tattoo I didn't tip my artist because he owned the place. Usually will tip 20% otherwise.

[Michaelshane]

5 minutes ago, aant said:

Last tattoo I didn't tip my artist because he owned the place. Usually will tip 20% otherwise.

I always tip,owner or not.If they don't want the tip they will give it back.

[thyes]

Yeah according to the allmighty internet, anything between 10%-20% is considered standard :)

[aant]

On 5/17/2017 at 7:07 PM, Michaelshane said:

I always tip,owner or not.If they don't want the tip they will give it back.

My reasoning being that I am a business owner, and I never accept tips from customers.

[Gingerninja]

I always tip 20%, owner or not.

[gtrjunior]

I have a neck and back injury so the neck pillow I mentioned is a must. I bring water or Gatorade and really not much else. I ask what everyone in the shop wants when I first get there and hit the deli next door.

I do something similar. I'll text my artist and ask if he wants a coffee or a sandwich from the sho next door. I'll grab it on the way in and we have lunch and talk about the next steps in the tattoo or just bullshit about whatever subject comes up.
I actually have a lot in common with my artist, so we have great conversation and a lot of laughs.

[thyes]

Just a little over 3 weeks till my appintment! I'm stoked af, but I'm also starting to stress a little bit. My artist has told me that she will sketch up something when I arrive in the shop, I have not been sent anything via email. And I'm cool with that, she's extremely talented so I have full confidence that she'll cook up something amazing for me. BUT, I guess I should bring some reference photos? I want a portrait, some runes and a rose, in short. These days I'm all over Pinterest, Instagram and Tattoodo like a fuckin psychopath  For the sake of my well-being and social life I know I shouldn't be asking this, but what do you guys use for inspiration? Are there any other holy grail-sites out there that I'm missing? 

[jaimilyn]

Just a little over 3 weeks till my appintment! I'm stoked af, but I'm also starting to stress a little bit. My artist has told me that she will sketch up something when I arrive in the shop, I have not been sent anything via email. And I'm cool with that, she's extremely talented so I have full confidence that she'll cook up something amazing for me. BUT, I guess I should bring some reference photos? I want a portrait, some runes and a rose, in short. These days I'm all over Pinterest, Instagram and Tattoodo like a fuckin psychopath  For the sake of my well-being and social life I know I shouldn't be asking this, but what do you guys use for inspiration? Are there any other holy grail-sites out there that I'm missing? 

Both my tattoos were designed from source material I provided my artist. The first one I commissioned was to an artist who had a three month waiting period, it was February and I made my appointment for the end of May. I sent her a PDF at the end of Feb that I'd created with all my reference material and detailed text description of me, my history, and how it all related to the end design I was hoping for. Poor girl, it was seven pages long.

Beginning of March I was sick of waiting and just wanted to get a tattoo, and pulled another idea out of my idea pile (folders on my phone and flickr and Instagram where I save anything I like that I run across) and called another local studio that I knew had all quality artists to see if anyone had any openings in the next few days. Turns out someone did, and I emailed over a few reference pictures - front desk guy did a quick consult with me on the phone and ended up giving two pics to the artist - one that's the main image of the tattoo (eye of Horus overlaying an ankh) and a vague mandala-ish sort of thing that I was hoping he could work in somehow.

Turns out, I love both the designs, and extremely pleased with both. A couple of weeks before the second appointment I did email my artist and let her know I'd gotten the first one, so she could adjust for placement if needed.

So the moral of this is: for your artist less reference material is just fine, as long as you just want them to work up something original based on your elements (so maybe bring the portrait, the runes, an example of a rose you like, and be prepared to discuss if there's any layout or placement preferences). If it's an artist that you admire their body of work and trust them, it really is part of the fun of getting a tattoo to be happily surprised with what your artist comes up with.

If you're like me though and can't help obsessively trawling the internet when you need reference material for literally anything (tattoo, hair color, hair cut, new car, furniture, shrubs...lol) if it makes you feel better to search, that's fine, just save it all to one location and limit yourself on the printouts you bring in. If you want more places to look, Google your elements with or without "tattoo" as a restriction. Remember your artist can be inspired from anything visual, not just tattoos.

Good luck, be sure to post pics!


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