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Hi there and welcome! AFAIK it's rather unusual to see a design in advance. Depends on the artist though, I guess it's worth asking if they'd do it for money. But, isn't the whole point of checking out shops and artists' portfolios to find out who you'd really want the tattoo from? As in, trust them enough that it'll be great? Which also defies the point of asking someone else from the shop to do it because you don't want to wait. Just because they work in the same shop doesn't mean they are equally good or have similar styles...there are of course always things that most decent tattooist can do. But those don't usually need too much of advance design work anyway... What's the hurry? The tattoo is for life, if you think you've found the right tattoo artist, just enjoy the wait. Look at it like waiting for xmas as a child ;-) Good luck!

Yep. The trick is to know that where you are going has someone doing the style you want and is competent at it. Do your research beforehand unless you're just interesting in getting marked, outcome be damned. Never hurts to just visit 1st and get a feel for the shop and your prospective target.

It's worth making sure you are going to a shop that takes walk ins. Maybe call a few before hand - or maybe you can figure it out online. Otherwise, my experience is you just walk in and ask if someone is available to give you a tattoo.

Hello, all, I'll try not to be long winded. Well, I have good intentions, but it never works out that way, as I seem to ramble on. Anyways, I'm in my fifties and got my first tattoo a month ago. I live near Kalamazoo, MI, and decided to just stop at a few shops and get some advice on my ideas. I had a book with some drawings of what I wanted (a trilobite) so I could show the artist. I had also looked at portfolios online to get an idea of what the different artists/shops were doing. I narrowed my search to about three shops and set off. It was Saturday, right about noon and I stopped at the first shop off the highway. The owner was the only one there, and told me he had a last minute cancellation and could do a tattoo right then. He looked at my ideas, said give him a few minutes so he could get something ready, and if I liked it he would do it. My book of trilobites had pretty much simple line drawings. Well, the image the guy showed me was awesome, well drawn with great shading, so I got the tattoo, and I love it. I went back a few weeks later and got another! While getting my second one, I inquired about a T Rex skeleton, but I don't think he was much interested in doing it. I really liked the owner/artist, and have no ill feelings towards him, but am now thinking of getting someone else in Kalamazoo. I have emailed someone else whose portfolio I saw online and really liked. They agreed to do the T rex skeleton. I told all this because, as you see, I never really had to deal with appointments or q&a, I walked in and that was it. Now, finally, my questions! About time, huh? Is it bad form to just show up to talk to an artist? I mean, if they are in the middle of a job, I feel guilty just stopping to talk. I know there are consultations but I live about 40 miles from Kalamazoo and work six days a week, getting off around noon on Saturdays. It is hard for me to keep appointments, sometimes. It's not like I wanna hang around for a half hour, just kinda get a feeling for the shop and artist(s). Once I've talked to an artist in the shop (and online), is it bad form to ask if someone else in shop could get me in sooner, not having to wait a couple months? Is it alright to ask to see what my design will look like before I make an appointment? I wouldn't mind paying for this, as I don't expect them to work for free, only to have someone end up going to another artist/shop. Thanks, sorry for the loooooooong post.

Thank you! It makes me happy every time i see it. Here are pics at about 2.5 months healed. Honestly doesn't look that different than day 1.

I haven't checked this thread in a minute and holy crap is there some insane stuff going down. Well done, everyone.

Maybe, but he's not that busy, since he's filling spots before the end of the year. I was being kind with my "blah blah" above. He was very uninterested in what I had to say, and he made it very clear. I can't say he was very personable at the convention either. I'd rather get tattooed by a nice dude ?

No tattoo artist worth his salt is going to just tattoo this on you. You need to give him your ideas, and let him draw it. Please, please, please listen to us. I don't want you to end up with a big old mess on your back.

I may just be looking at the site through rose coloured glasses this past week, but it seems to me people have been giving good and friendly information of late. Just today I think we may have saved a woman from an instagram white tattoo of doom. Go team LST! +1 for cat healing. Derm to cat licks = no scabs and no flakes!

It might discourage the trend of users signing up to ask one question and then disappearing. True, this is activity, but does it create a sense of community here? Maybe a small fee might encourage people to browse a bit before signing up? (Plus, hosting this site isn't free.) My first post was a stupid question about tattoo healing, for the record. I stayed because of the community (uh, sorry guys).

This - all this... Honestly watching the number of long-time valuable posters (many of whom were artists) disappear I'm guessing is for the same reason I rarely post - I'm tired of the snark. if it's lame ignore it and let the post sink. I'm here to talk good tattoos - not torture those with bad ones.

Never! Your posts are always awesome. I hate healing tattoos. Tegaderm makes it a little better cause you don't really have to do anything. But the day you have to take the tegaderm off is stressful as can be. It hurts, ya gotta go really slow, and honestly you just have no idea what the heck it's gonna look like under there. You just cross your fingers and hope that the 3M company comes through and doesn't let you down.

A lot of the issues stated here seem to be caused by that joint problem area of "assumptions" and "communication breakdown." I always always always talk to my clients before we sit down about what their budget is. To be fair, I don't have a big name or a reputation that precedes me (to the best of my knowledge) like some folks do. However, I still like to have that talk beforehand to forego any hurt feelings at the end. I don't think it's terribly unreasonable for someone on the other end of the transaction to initiate that conversation either. In tattooing as in most things, I've found that thorough communication almost always spares uncomfortable situations and hurt feelers. In this specific instance, I would let it go. If you're really upset about it (which it doesn't sound like you are) then I would bring it up if you plan on going back to them again before you sit down, but only if you can think of a tactful way to bring it up. A friend of mine would frequently get tattooed by a Big Name in California, and the last time he got his back worked on was charged for four hours work, but about an hour and a half of that was purportedly taken up with smoke breaks, a consultation, and a personal phone call. When he brought that up to him during the next session things didn't go so smoothly and he was recommended to have someone else finish his back if he didn't like the way things were. Now, that is an isolated and second-hand incident, but it's the best example I have of the worst-case-scenario.

our black friends are not limited to a tattooed life in black & grey - there are certain (limited) colour pallets that will work quite well and others that just won't show up well or hold well on dark skin. I discussed this in some detail with one of my tattooers a few years ago but I can't remember which colours he avoids. but it also has to do with the design composition - keeping the design bold and simple and achieving appropriate contrast for the colours to show. colour ink aside, tattooing african and asian skin is much different than the caucasian skin - seek out a skilled tattooer who is experienced with dark / black skin that knows how build the design composition and contrast accordingly and physically tattoo your skin type.