David Flores

"I don't want something that everyone else has"

When a shop has a sign that says "No Kids" it's because people don't use common sense on when to bring kids to a tattoo shop. If your kid is old enough to get what is going on and behave themselves i don't think most people would have a problem. That sign is not for them. It's for the people who bring their two year olds with them to get tattooed and they scream for an hour because there is nothing for them to do in a tattoo shop and I won't let them use the artists portfolio as a coloring book, then I spend the next three hours trying make the place not smell like piss and cheetos. That would be too wordy. Most people get it bring your kids in set up an appointment and leave them at home for the tattoo or maybe bring them and let them watch for a little bit if they want and have other parent take em out for ice cream before they start to get bored. I bring my son to the tattoo shop at least once a week, but not on the days I am trying to get work done, it would be too hard to concentrate. Needless to say we don't have one of those signs in the shop, but i get why people do.

Attitude is everything for me. I am privileged enough to live in a city with a lot of good tattooers. I stop into their shops to say hi when I am in the neighborhood and they do they same when they are in mine. I don't get tattooed by someone in Portland unless I have at least had a couple conversations with them or hung out with them outside a tattoo shop. There are plenty of people I like in this city I haven't been tattooed by, although there are some people who turn into assholes the more you get to know them or in one case when they get a little bit of popularity so my approach isn't full proof. I really don't care that much about drinking or recreational drug use. I wouldn't feel the same way if it was a normal customer capacity, but there has been more than one occasion that some great tattoo ideas have been spawned over some tall boys at the bar down the street after hours. Ideas so good that couldn't wait till morning. Now if a tattooer couldn't handle his liquor that might deter me from going to them (just kidding). Traveling I try to do my research and find people's stuff I like or friends of people I already get tattooed by. I didn't plan on getting tattooed in Chicago last week, but saw the cool tattoos my friend has been getting and decided to tag along and got a little souvenir. But I have had good luck with everyone I have been tattooed by while traveling.

Stuart Cripwell and I will have to check out this restaurant for sure. Thanks to everyone for the heads up.

I would focus on the fact that you have a very talented tattooer willing to give you the tattoo you wanted in the first place. To kind of answer your question, No our shop would not make someone get color that only wanted black and grey. I try to stress to people that pretty much anything can be a black and grey or color tattoo and everyone loves doing both. I would ask input on color for someone getting a color tattoo and at times would suggest them to change their suggested color scheme in order to have a mix of warm and cool colors that compliment each other, but ultimately it's the customers choice what if any colors they want. Sounds like there was definitely a communication breakdown somewhere along the line.

I think initially Saran Wrap provides an air tight seal to keep bacteria out, and the hot moist environment at the onset of the tattoo (first 24 hours) can definitely help eclude the lymph out of the tattoo and reduce scabbing. However I would never wrap my tattoo with anything after the first 24 hours, but again everyone has their different take on healing.

@slayer9019 I also like to have a beer or two in me when getting tattooed, not enough to be drunk but just to relax a little. My boss said he when he was going to shops in the late 70's and early 80's there was a fridge in the lobby where you could keep your beer cold while waiting to get tattooed. He hasn't had a drop of alcohol himself in over 25 years, but he always wanted to open a shop that felt like it was 1979, and while I don't think the fridge in the lobby would fly, allowing people to have a beer is as close as we get these days. Although if you think about it most tattoo conventions are sponsored by breweries (at least out west they are) so I just assumed it was common practice.

There really is no way around the fact that more people want to get tattooed on Saturday and yeah if you want professional people who have the money to pay what a tattoos worth to come to you, you find ways to be flexible or keep time open on weekend. Also this type of client, like you said, is usually willing to wait a few weekends if necessary to get in on their days off. It's funny the gambit of the tattoo customer. Some people won't wait five minutes, others will book 6 months in advance and fly around the world and most people are some where in between, which is where I am.

I wouldn't wrap it in Saran Wrap for the race. After the first night, I've been taught never to rewrap your tattoo. The first night you are trying to pull the lymph out and that is why you have vaseline and saran wrap. You should really be asking the person who tattooed you, what they think, after all it's their work in progress. That being said an outline after a week shouldn't be that big of a deal, hell it should be about healed. You really shouldn't even need aquaphor after the first three days. If it was colored and shaded i might give it another week, but again ask your tattooer to look at tattoo and see what they think.

Exactly. In a perfect world built for the shop, weekends would be only walk ins who had to pick it off the wall, and custom tattoos and appointments would all start at 1230 every week day instead of at 6 when they leave their office.

Over the years plenty of people come in to the tattoo shop and friendships are bound to develop. I feel like a lot of friends I have started out as customers in the tattoo shop, or me patronizing their business, which is great. We all seem to be able to still do business with one another, with no real issues, because everyone respects the friendship and each others business enough for the two to co exist. On the other hand a person doesn't have to be my best friend to be a good customer. There are plenty of people that come in get tattooed, we have a nice conversation and we never see each other outside of the shop. They show up on time, sometimes even take your design advice. Some people don't say two words and just want to get tattooed, that's cool too. I guess what I am getting at, is there is a group in between that seems to give me the most trouble. People who maybe have a couple tattoos, they really like their tattoos and or the vibe of the shop, and they think because they spent a little money they have achieved VIP status. They will call about coming in on a certain day and not show up, then call the next day and ask if there is any walk in time and not show up again. I won't make appointments over the phone, it's always first come first served, but still it's annoying when people flake. In certain cases I have allowed a person (a friend) to drink a couple beers (2 maybe 3 at most) while getting tattooed, I don't advertise it but if someone asks I am usually okay with it as long as they are of age and take their empties with them. Unfortunately a few people have interpreted this as show up drunk and drink a whole six pack during your tattoo and not be able to sit still and have to pee every five minutes. I am not their mom or their bartender and it's hard to tell a person who is drunk that they are cut off especially mid tattoo. Recently a guy who was tattooed by my boss who pulled the get drunk thing, and a 3 hour tattoo took just under 5 hours to complete. There were a couple spots in the black that needed to be touched up and honestly he didn't get to blend all the colors' in the tiger as he would like to and the guy came in for a touch up, after calling three different times saying he was going to show up, finally showed up three hours later and was really not very pleasant, he expressed he wasn't happy with his tattoo. So my boss took him to the side and explained that he would be happy to sit down and finish the tattoo free of charge, but explained to him that he just became really hard to tattoo while he is drinking and he would need him to not do so in the future while getting tattooed. The guy seemed to understand but then was kind of pissed off because he had to come back in an hour to get it fixed because my boss was in the middle of a walk in tattoo on a friend who didn't keep him waiting for 3 hours. A half hour later he shouted some stuff from the door way about customer service and stormed off in his car with his girlfriend. My boss stopped him in the parking lot and had another talk with him, but he just wanted to talk about how much money he spent and that he deserved to be treated better. I don't know, I think the guy got treated fairly. I am interested in people's thoughts on this. I really everyone to feel at home at the shop, but it seems to me like some ass holes just ruin it for the others.

Deluxe is a good shop, Chris Smith is a good tattooer as well and I know a lot of people around here like his machines (Also didn't Mario work there before Chicago Tattoo). I like Taylor Street for the Mike Malone collection, although since his death I have been drawn more to CTC myself. I know a few guys at Family Tattoo that can put on a solid tattoo, and another shop Called Revolution Tattoo that puts on clean tattoos as well. But yeah there are a lot of shops that I have never heard of wish I hadn't. I am sure there are others that are good just don't really know about them.

I think the point was the first step is to go into a shop and talk to a tattooer. Plenty of shops in Chicago were recommended to OP in another thread he started about tattoos shops in Chicago.

I will keep this in mind the next time I travel back in time to 1995 when people actually got sun tattoos. Honestly I think the only reason I didn't chime up earlier is because you were acting like a tool when people were trying to help you, so people stopped, then it just became a joke. There are plenty of people that get the help they need when getting a tattoo, you just have to be willing to listen to people's advice. The few who don't end up in threads like this. The advice in the last post is the same advice you have been getting since you first came on here, you just don't want to hear it. Once you get your first tattoo it will be a lot easier to pick them, that is if you ever get that stick out of your ass.

It's probably better you didn't. It was a really bad idea for a tattoo and you would have looked stupid, oh fuck I didn't mean stupid I just meant you would look like a douchebag.

Yeah there are a lot of good people walking around with shitty tattoos. There wasn't always the internet and 100 shops to go to in every city for one. Also it just seems like there just aren't that many people outside of tattooers and people really into getting tattooed that know the ins and outs and who's who of tattooers. Also who would have thought that getting tattooed would become a hobby. I don't see anything wrong with getting tattooed in the name of a good time, with less emphasis on substance. When I started I really only thought about getting one tattoo, I had no idea there was crack in the pigment and I would be strung out for the next decade. There are some examples where the Mr Goldfield's words ring true for sure. There is a tattooer at our shop who went to some 31 dollar tattoo special for Halloween at some brand new shop, didn't look at portfolios and got such a shitty tattoo, the first thing he did when he got home was rip off the bandage and reshade the tattoo in his kitchen. Needless to say it still looks like shit and ultimately he get tattooed for basically free any day so he paid more to get a fucked up tattoo.

Yeah I don't think I realized how great their shop was till I had to choose which tattooer I wanted to book an appointment with. If I had more time and skin I would have just said give me one of each.

I have a fondness for beer logos for tattoos, that image is classic. Sounds like a good time all around. On a semi related note, I love the Coney Island Freaktoberfest.

Good to know. My general game plan is to fly in early to Oakland and head straight to Petaluma area out the gate. spend the night in Petaluma or maybe in Marin as you suggested. Is it weird that Dead Kennedys are the first thing that pop into my mind about Marin. The next day we head back down south to San Rafael for appointment at Spider Murphy's and then back to Oakland/SF proper. Always looking for stuff to do with little one so thanks for suggestions.

My general rule is two weeks for swimming, no direct sunlight for a month. But the hard part is actually remembering that you have a healing tattoo when going to do these things so these rules get bent from time to time.

As much as the video that started this thread disgusts me, I have been humming the tune for the last week.

I have to admit I become quite the hater watching House Hunters International myself.

Stuart Cripwell appointment booked today.

Yeah I guess i just feel like staying in Union Square like we usually do, might be a little too hectic with a small child and I really have nothing going on that side of town this trip, except maybe a trip to tattoo city which is still a hike from there anyway. But at the same time I want to have some cool stuff close by. I think both suggestions sound like a good possibility and will check them out.

Where in Iowa are you btw? Also what style of tattoos are you looking to put into your sleeve? Maybe we can point you in the right direction.