New here plus a question

[The Pumaman]

Greetings all!

Might as well use this opportunity to also ask the questions I joined this forum to ask; hopefully at least some of them are answerable.

I'm a college student out of state at the moment but will be back over winter break. I'm planning to get a tattoo with a close friend (if not closest friend) from high school while I'm back. The tattoo is nothing fancy so I'm not particularly looking for some extremely talented artist but I do know quality varies and this being my first tattoo I don't wanna sacrifice quality (link to design we're doing that she drew in white but we're not planning white for the real thing: https://imgur.com/a/Yjbb0P6). So my questions (and if you can only answer one or two please still do so) are:

1) Given the simple design, does the artist still matter so much that I'd want to contact several of them in advance to figure out which is the best for this design? I suppose it would also be helpful to say I'll be not far outside Boston so if that helps you think of a place/artist you'd recommend I'm all ears.

2) Since it is a bit of a custom design, would it require a separate in-person consultation? For that matter, how many visits to a place would be necessary to get it done? Could all this be set up via email or a phone call and then only the trip to get it done is necessary? A walk-in sounds like it's probably a recipe for lower quality (and given that it’s two people also might be harder to accommodate) but if it's possible without losing quality I'd consider it. I also assume all these vary place by place, but again any recommendations I'll look into.

3) Is it reasonable to expect this to be all done over break? I see plenty of stuff about appointments being scheduled weeks or months in advance but since this is such a simple and quick design would it take as long? Also I assume this would vary place by place too - what places can work with this timeframe? I can email and phone from out of state now but if it'd take multiple in-person visits and those visits would have to occur over a period longer than a month it wouldn't work.

Thanks guys!

[Dan]

5 hours ago, The Pumaman said:

Greetings all!

Might as well use this opportunity to also ask the questions I joined this forum to ask; hopefully at least some of them are answerable.

I'm a college student out of state at the moment but will be back over winter break. I'm planning to get a tattoo with a close friend (if not closest friend) from high school while I'm back. The tattoo is nothing fancy so I'm not particularly looking for some extremely talented artist but I do know quality varies and this being my first tattoo I don't wanna sacrifice quality (link to design we're doing that she drew in white but we're not planning white for the real thing: https://imgur.com/a/Yjbb0P6). So my questions (and if you can only answer one or two please still do so) are:

1) Given the simple design, does the artist still matter so much that I'd want to contact several of them in advance to figure out which is the best for this design? I suppose it would also be helpful to say I'll be not far outside Boston so if that helps you think of a place/artist you'd recommend I'm all ears.

2) Since it is a bit of a custom design, would it require a separate in-person consultation? For that matter, how many visits to a place would be necessary to get it done? Could all this be set up via email or a phone call and then only the trip to get it done is necessary? A walk-in sounds like it's probably a recipe for lower quality (and given that it’s two people also might be harder to accommodate) but if it's possible without losing quality I'd consider it. I also assume all these vary place by place, but again any recommendations I'll look into.

3) Is it reasonable to expect this to be all done over break? I see plenty of stuff about appointments being scheduled weeks or months in advance but since this is such a simple and quick design would it take as long? Also I assume this would vary place by place too - what places can work with this timeframe? I can email and phone from out of state now but if it'd take multiple in-person visits and those visits would have to occur over a period longer than a month it wouldn't work.

Thanks guys!

1) any descent artist could do that

2) a "walk in" does not mean "lower quality" by any means

3) the entire process to do that tiny tattoo would take 10 minutes

and lastly,I would not recommend an all white tattoo,it will fade away to mostly nothing if it doesn't turn brownish

[Hogrider]

Quality ALWAYS matters. Someone is pushing ink into your skin with needles.There are LOTS of things that can go wrong, it's not just that you would have a shitty looking tattoo. If you can't afford quality work, don't get one.

[The Pumaman]

I guess my bigger question is this: should I bother getting a specific appointment, and if so what does that look like? Would a walk-in pose any kind of problem? And quality is naturally on my mind so I'm making sure at the very least I choose a highly-respected shop (of which there are numerous in the immediate Boston area).

[SStu]

You're probably not going to get a specific appointment for something so small. Inking time will be less than 1 minute. Total time in front of the tattooist will probably be less than 10 minutes. Be prepared to pay a shop minimum (which will vary depending on which shop in Boston, but probably $75-100). 

I'm not familiar with the shops there, but the pitfall is that it takes almost nothing to screw up very simple design like this, so you don't want to end up in the hands of some newbie apprentice or an experienced person who isn't really invested or interested in helping you out. It's going to be a balancing act. 

2nd on @Dan's comment regarding the white ink choice

[The Pumaman]

Gotcha, thanks. And yeah wasn't planning white - that was just what my friend drew it in since she was thinking about it but there is no necessity to have a color that's difficult to see.

[oboogie]

That will take a split second. Go on a walk-in day to a decent artist.

[The Pumaman]

One more question - how easy are other colors to work with? Haven't talked to my friend much about her color preferences but she might more prefer to do something not as visible as black (though she's said she's happy to do black too - haven't quite gotten a gauge on her precise preferences which I'll ask her about). Colors like pastel blue fade more easily as I understand it but she's said things in the past about fading being fine since it's less commitment. Of course, if it'd take a decent amount of effort to find an artist to do that then it's not worth it but I'm curious enough that I'll ask.

[Hogrider]

8 hours ago, The Pumaman said:

Colors like pastel blue fade more easily as I understand it but she's said things in the past about fading being fine since it's less commitment. 

Maybe she should just use a Sharpe. That will fade quickly and there is no long term commitment.

My advice is to wait until you and your friend are ready to commit to a tattoo. Otherwise you're going to wind up with a squiggly line on your arm, in a very visible spot, wondering what the hell you were thinking. 

You know that you don't just go in and laser them off like on TV, right? It's painful, expensive, multiple sessions and will likely leave something you can still see on the skin.

[The Pumaman]

She just told me outright "I want black" so that clarifies that. I think her uncertainty before (which I hadn't talked to her about for a few months) was due to her considering law but she's majoring in social work so she isn't worried about visibility/commitment anymore. That they for all practical purposes aren't removable is why we were making sure it was something that'd haunt us in a few years.

[oboogie]

It's tiny. Every soccer Mom in the world has a tattoo now. Just get it or don't. But that tiny tattoo isn't going to affect anything. Wear a bracelet, and you are golden.

[Gingerninja]

What @oboogie said!