New to the forum

[JimmyJohnJoe]

Hey all.

Just signed up to the site today. Looking to start work on a leg piece.

I have three tattoos. One is an unfinished arm piece of a dude with a pumpkin head. The idea was to have a colourful sleeve with a haloween kids theme. The artists started adding in some black shading and then made the grass orange. I didn't like how he went off doing his own thing and never went back to finish it.

I then won a tattoo, went in and asked for a crow on my rib cage. And got a small sparrow/dove hybrid that was drooling.

Third tattoo was a bigger crow, more the size I wanted, to cover the little one. The artist decided to free hand the outline in marker and then tattoo. I had all the faith in the world that he would do a great job. As I have seen his other work. Turns out feathers are not his strong point. And the work came out really bad. And he mostly just tried to colour me in black to hide the previous one. Which didn't work. When I asked him about finishing it he said it was done. And any sort of bond I thought I had developed with him just disappeared. As he literally turned his back on me.

I have now won a second tattoo voucher to use at a studio that gets decent enough praise. With strangers I know nothing about. So I have some laser sessions in my future for my first three mess ups. Here's hoping I don't have some sort of tattoo curse that will end with me needing four tattoos removed.

[Devious6]

The key is to research you artist before hand and to be able to clearly articulate your desires and expected outcomes. An artist will always want to have some artistic license or creativity - unless they're working from a stock flash sheet - but it is still YOUR tattoo. Spend some time looking around here at the photos,watch some of the videos, search Instagram for various artists and pieces of work. Do your homework first.

[el twe]

I can't help but think that you'll set yourself up for another disappointment by getting another "free" tattoo...

[Hogrider]

These aren't FREE tattoos. You're going to have to pay to have them covered up or lasered off. Take a deep breath and stop. As @Devious6 said, do your research. Shit tattoos are no bargain.

[thyes]

You know what they say; if it sounds too good to be true, then chances are it is. 

Life's too short for shit tattoos. 

[JimmyJohnJoe]

Well the first tattoo wasn't free. I went in and had the piece I wanted done with me. I was given a portfolio to look through and it all looked really good. I was told the best way to do it was to get all the line work done and then come back in different sessions to get the colour put in. That was cool with me because I could then pay as it was getting done And I had the cash with me for what I was quoted for the line work. I sat down and the dude started working on the lines. Half way through he stopped doing line work and started putting in a bit of colour. He said it was just so he could get a better idea of where he was going to place the other pieces around it to make the full sleeve. Sounded logical to me, it was my first tattoo so I didn't question it. I was talking to a friend who was with me so I wasn't watching 100% of the time keeping track on his progress. And when I looked back after he had finished the colour, he had put lumo green on the grass, which had some bright orange mixed into it, he said it was the reflection from the moon. And around there was some bright blue. Then he did some shading on the pumpkin head guy and said it was done. I asked him why he didn't finish the line work and he made a rude comment about how much I had only paid.

The tattoo I had won, being an issue, was probably my fault. I went to the guys place, he had a nice fresh new set up and let me look through his work. Which was exceptional. When he drew up the crow picture he did it on Photoshop and it was basically a cut and paste of the head I like on the body I like with the wings I like. He said he will match it up nicely after doing the stencil. In purple with the blurry lines on my body it looked perfect. I was happy. Then he did the job. And I am not lying when I say it looked like kid had free hand drawn an abstract picture of a generic bird that flew into a window and was brain damaged. Turns out he had stolen somebody elses portfolio and was learning to tattoo on unsuspecting fools like me.

The cover up kills me though. I know the guy was good, I spoke to his customers because I wanted to see what they had to say. I watched him doing other peoples tattoos a few times. And he often came to see me to give me ideas for a cover up. He has even won awards for his work. And a few in particular for his cover ups. I also got to see a cover job he had done that was a few years old and still really good. And I was told he wanted to use my cover up as his next entry into a comp. But I just got the bum end of the bum stick. He might have been bull shitting just to get my money. But he is still really good so I didn't worry to much. Until after of course.

The voucher I have gotten now is not for a free tattoo. But for about three hours. I want to get my lower leg completely done so I will be paying in a lot to do it. Hopefully he wont think I am just there to use the three hours and not go back, which I imagine would lead him to not bother putting in the effort. I have checked their work out and its fine. I have seen what others have to say about them. And their is a portfolio I can check out as well. I just don't have any faith in any of that due to passed experiences showing me that no matter how good it all looks, it could be a lie and the artist could of course just not give a dam and I end up with another mess up.

But I will stay optimistic and post pictures as we go along.

[Hogrider]

If someone is giving away tattoos that should be a HUGE red flag. Good artists are usually booked far in advance, not out trolling for clients.

 

[JimmyJohnJoe]

That is a good point.

Haha.