Question for artists or anyone about tattoo etiquette

[mask0311]

So about a year and a half ago I started getting my ribs done at a local shop here in MD(I'll attach a pic). The guy who started the piece is the shops owner and we developed a pretty good rapport over the sessions that I had. The last session I had was an appointment that was schedueled for 12 noon I arrived at 11:30. He didn't start working on me until 9 PM. That is the last time that I have had any work done on my piece. I should interrupt here and add that I was in the military at the time which the artist knew so I wasn't home for almost a year. This guy was always a little flaky to begin with he had lots of problems that would delay him working (read he does lots of drugs). Classic example the day that it took him almost 9 hours to start after the appointed time he said his teeth hurt and he had to run out and get some "medicine". Anyway now a year and a half later I can't get in touch with this guy I have called the shop and left messages I have gone in there and waited 2 hours to see him and nothing. I'm not bitter about him being busy that's inderstandable I'm bitter because I want to finish my ribs and he blew me off to draw a butterfly on some sorostitutes ankle. This is a shop where I have spent almost $2000 on work and this guy won't give me the time of day. Everyone who used to work at the shop has been fired or quit because they were tired of dealing with the owner. Wow this has become long and kind of a long rant but I wanted you guys to know where I was coming from on this.

Anyway if anybody has bothered to read this far I guess my real dilemma/question is "When is it acceptable to find a new artist to finish my work?" Also for all of you who are artists how would you feel if someone finished one of your pieces without you?

Thank you all in advance for your responses and Happy 4th of July!

Matt

[Joe Shit]

I think it's acceptable to find a new artist right now.I wouldn't go back to that guy especially after looking at the scales on that dragon.And why would you wait 9 hrs for this dude when your appt.was at 12.And the fact that you say he does a lot of drugs would discourage me from the start.I would find another artist to finish your work.Here's some good artists to check out. E.GREGORY this dude does real nice work. JRanno.com also does nice work.

Tattoo Paradise ::: HAVE FUN BE LUCKY ::: Orange Tattoo Company | Annapolis, Maryland

[Deb Yarian]

Anyway if anybody has bothered to read this far I guess my real dilemma/question is "When is it acceptable to find a new artist to finish my work?"

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

when he said "his teeth hurt and he had to run out and get his medicine

8 hours after your appt!

[briankelly]

the thing about tattoos is that the tattoo does not belong to the tattooer, but to the person who has been tattooed, and it is your body. some people might be pissed off if you had someone else finish their work, and lots of people might not want to finish someone else's work. i wouldn't finish that tattoo because it is a total mess and i wouldn't want to be involved in something that i think is not going to look good in the end. unless i knew you and liked you. or unless it was really slow in winter and i needed some money.

[Joe Shit]

Jinx Proof Is a good place to get that hit with the laser.

[Ursula]

man it sucks how many hacks are out there giving the good ones a bad name

dont ever by scared to tell a tattooer "no i'm not getting this put on me" for ANY reason. You're the one who has to deal with it for the rest of your life, not them. They're done dealing with it the second you leave the shop.

[Joe Shit]

Paper Lantern Tattoo ............Trent Wyczawski This dude does real nice work in MD.

[rocketgirl]

Hi there --- re: etiquette (and many other issues raised in your note as well): Some artists are reluctant to complete or cover-up someone else's work. I think it depends on the circumstances. It sounds like you have been more than reasonable; and, ultimately, it is YOUR skin. You live in it; you get to decide who decorates it. It is a significant monetary and personal investment, you want to be sure that you both trust and have rapport with the person doing the work. You may want to consider not just having someone else "color in" the design, but perhaps alter it as well. It is not reasonable for you to sit in a shop for 8 or 9 hours beyond your appointment time. (There are some artists who do the designing/drawing as part of your appointment; however, this does not sound like your experience). It is also not reasonable once you are a "work in progress" to be unable to book appointments. Find someone who's art and vibe resonate for you; and explain what you want. Don't spin around the "I already spent $2,000.00 at this shop" etc. Move forward. Best of luck!

[dari]

I'll echo everything everyone else said, and throw in "don't throw good money after bad." But I have a question, was there any chance that he or anyone else at the shop heard you call his other customer a "sorostitute?" Cause that could alienate all kinds of people, including a junkie with a toothache. Junkies can be so sensitive!

[David Flores]

I'll echo everything everyone else said, and throw in "don't throw good money after bad." But I have a question, was there any chance that he or anyone else at the shop heard you call his other customer a "sorostitute?" Cause that could alienate all kinds of people, including a junkie with a toothache. Junkies can be so sensitive!

Yeah it seems like there is something you did or said that must have rubbed him the wrong way, for whatever reason. It happens not necessarily your fault but now you have to deal with the aftermath. Hopefully one of the shops suggested can make it look as good as possible.

[Mel Noir]

I'm pretty much with everyone else here :) If you find a good artist who doesn't want to touch anyone else's work, though, they may soften up a little if you get some more work from them first. The tattooers here may correct me here, though. I only say this because one of my favourite tattooers offered to fix my first tattoo after I got to know her a little and get some tattoos from her. It was a really nice thing to offer, especially since she usually won't touch someone else's work and I had no idea what I wanted to do with it. :)

Either way, if you don't want to be tattooed from this guy again (and trust me, I don't blame you), you don't have to be. I also think the scales are a bit crap, so a "semi-cover up" (if that makes sense), if it's possible, may be something which could result in something you're happier with.

[hawk]

Hey Mask0311,

First off, I would love to see everybody sportin great tattoos wherever I go but unfortunately there are fewer people out there "keepin it real" and if I go to WalMart I can see a store full of bad tattoos these days.

As far as this guy "blowin you off", it's an old game, as old as it gets with "runnin' the scam", some will spot you and size you up to start something at a high price that they never intend to finish when they have a string of butterflies they can knock out and make more on when you may have already paid in advance, basically you will get shuffled to the rear like you got treated at the 9pm bell. NYC went crazy with those scams when it opened tattooing back up and on this subject I could go on and on.

As far as the tooth hurting thing, RUN!!! should have been your instinct and this leads me to tell you that there are tattooers out there who relish a challenge of turning bad tattoos into good ones, so don't worry about having someone else drive over the mess you have started.

As far as your expecting better treatment/respect for being home from the military, your absolutely right, the military has always been our staple in tattooing and when everybody's home and the wars are all over we will miss that amount of biz and it goes from steak to pork chops for us tattooers and this is not to mention that there are those of us out here that understand your service to Uncle Sam.

So, as far as "keeping it real" and to prove that not all of us are like this disgrace to our trade I will fix and finish your dragon at no charge with the stipulation that you provide the steaks that I will personally grill for you at my country home where I have a rifle range that I will provide 500 rounds of ammunition for you to shoot through my legally owned and registered machineguns after we are finished with the tattooing, on this deal you have my word. Your only hitch is to make it by land sea or air to Illinois and provide the bovine. It can be fixed and finished and picture posted to this thread should you come through on your end of this bargain and I mean all of this most sincerely.

I can't do this for every person that's received your treatment or I would work myself into the poorhouse but this is my offer to you.

Thanks for your service and I apologize for the hack who misrepresented our trade and culture and I hope to hear from you.

Sincerely,

-Hawk- of

Hawks Tattoo's

[dari]

Hey Mask0311,

First off, I would love to see everybody sportin great tattoos wherever I go but unfortunately there are fewer people out there "keepin it real" and if I go to WalMart I can see a store full of bad tattoos these days.

As far as this guy "blowin you off", it's an old game, as old as it gets with "runnin' the scam", some will spot you and size you up to start something at a high price that they never intend to finish when they have a string of butterflies they can knock out and make more on when you may have already paid in advance, basically you will get shuffled to the rear like you got treated at the 9pm bell. NYC went crazy with those scams when it opened tattooing back up and on this subject I could go on and on.

As far as the tooth hurting thing, RUN!!! should have been your instinct and this leads me to tell you that there are tattooers out there who relish a challenge of turning bad tattoos into good ones, so don't worry about having someone else drive over the mess you have started.

As far as your expecting better treatment/respect for being home from the military, your absolutely right, the military has always been our staple in tattooing and when everybody's home and the wars are all over we will miss that amount of biz and it goes from steak to pork chops for us tattooers and this is not to mention that there are those of us out here that understand your service to Uncle Sam.

So, as far as "keeping it real" and to prove that not all of us are like this disgrace to our trade I will fix and finish your dragon at no charge with the stipulation that you provide the steaks that I will personally grill for you at my country home where I have a rifle range that I will provide 500 rounds of ammunition for you to shoot through my legally owned and registered machineguns after we are finished with the tattooing, on this deal you have my word. Your only hitch is to make it by land sea or air to Illinois and provide the bovine. It can be fixed and finished and picture posted to this thread should you come through on your end of this bargain and I mean all of this most sincerely.

I can't do this for every person that's received your treatment or I would work myself into the poorhouse but this is my offer to you.

Thanks for your service and I apologize for the hack who misrepresented our trade and culture and I hope to hear from you.

Sincerely,

-Hawk- of

Hawks Tattoo's

There have been a millions times on this forum where I've wanted to say "I love you guys," but maybe never so much as now.

I love you guys. We need a love button, the like button just isn't cutting it.

[Scott R]

wow hawk thats a very nice gesture.

[Mel Noir]

Hawk, you are awesome. :) I can't get over how lovely that gesture is.

[gougetheeyes]

Hawk, you are a scholar and a gentleman, who also apparently owns automatic weapons. It'd be incredible to see this all come to fruition, hope it does!

[hawk]

Thank you very much and yes I own aplenty "legal" MG's. I really hope this comes through and I'm between appointments right now typing this and all of todays work are service people, so I have to imagine where we would be right now without them. I always try to put back into what I take from.

As to the MG fun, I figure it will keep him on trigger time for the Military, just good thinkin. I have a project right now goin on with the mg's and how to properly adjust a Chinese machine, so stay tuned for that one here, it's gonna be a blast literally.

That pic of me chootin was a 7mm beltfed Czech ZB-38 that got taken by the Nazi's and then liberated by by Americans.

Gotta go!

[hawk]

Still waitin', hopin' to hear something and just keepin the thread up to date and informed of any progress. I contacted him through his user program and left my anytime cell# but still no reply. Thanks

[Ursula]

sounds to me like it's about time to find a new artist!

[MsRad]

sounds to me like it's about time to find a new artist!

actually, Hawk is offering free tattoo time to the person who started this thread.

[Ursula]

shit sorry I didn't pay enough attention! I thought the person who started was the person who posted that.. ahh sorry for being retarded Hawk

[Ursula]

yeah somehow I totally missed Hawk's entire first post?

Hawk, you seem to be a pretty fucking rad dude. A true benefit to the tattoo community. I hope that guy does take you up on the offer because it sounds like he'd have a pretty great time and an awesome story when he got home.

[CaptCanada]

Well the dude hasn't signed on for the past two weeks. So it could be that either he A: busy or B: just stopped coming here. Good chance either/or are right, he only came to LST for this thread.

[AlannaCA]

its always important to go check up on what youve posted because you never know what awesome opportunity could be knocking on your door and then you just miss it. bummer!

[Bill Blood]

Yeah man, I would have gone to a different tattooer a long while back. Most artists would not like a piece they started finished by someone else, but in this case he kind of brought it on himself. Good luck getting it finished, post pics when you do!