scottyg

flaming torch

Outside of same leg... There's a tall ship on the back calf and a dagger rose down the shin. I'll try and see if I have good pics of those.. Jason did these too.  

Not the greatest pics but here's the ship on the back. Color fresh, outline and shading 2 weeks healed. Dagger is about 3 months healed. 

You should have an idea of the cost up front, how many sessions, rate, etc. I have saved up for many tattoos $10 and $20 here and there. I even junked an old car to pay for one in 2008.

More red!
Green next time!
 

More red!
Green next time!
 

More red!
Green next time!
 

More red!
Green next time!
 

hahaha you're a riot
 
But seriously some of this is definitely true. I get nervous before hand and all the way out to Brooklyn still, but as soon as I enter the shop I'm chill. While getting tattooed I tried to talk as much as humanly possible--that gets me through it. And then yes, totally, that last wipe down is such a relief!
And then it's on to the next month....

progress....
 
 

More red!
Green next time!
 

More red!
Green next time!
 

My questions are
1- Is my experience with my artist's lack of planning and discussion so far normal for a larger piece? If you want more input next time, be up front about it. My first tattoo was a sleeve too. I told the artist to do whatever they wanted in the Japanese style. My only input was when we discussed what to put on my elbow and I suggested a flower.
2- Should I be paying for touchups when I'm already paying so much per hour? As stated, in a multi-session tattoo, yes.
3- Is this the price you'd expect to pay for a custom design not just a cookie cutter one or would it cost more for a truly custom piece? Unless they pulled the design off the shelf or stole it from someone else, it's not cookie cutter.
4- Would it be an issue if I switched artists since I'm not completely happy at this point? Yes, I doubt another artist in the same shop would finish the sleeve and even outside the shop you might have trouble finding a quality artist to finish someone else's work.
5- I was told it would be best to finish one full sleeve before moving to the other arm because the ink would look different if there was too much time between doing the lower half and upper half.  Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, finish one before you start the other.
6- Is that true or would it all look the same after it's fully healed even if there was a large time gap before doing the top half? Ink fades over time, so you don't want to take years to finish a piece.
Stop listening to "friends" who say $250 an hour is too much. I'm not sure what kind of asshole tells someone they paid too much for a tattoo, but that's not something a friend does. It doesn't matter how many tattoos they have. You knew the price going in, I'm not sure why it's an issue now.
Next tattoo you need to set expectations with the artist. If you want to be really involved int he design let them know up front. Not every artist is interested in working with someone like that.
One sleeve and my back I let the artist do whatever they wanted. The second sleeve, I showed a picture and said, "something like this." My first leg, I just said I wanted a tiger and we talked about the other elements. My other leg we just talked about the elements and kicked some ideas around, but I deferred to him. I've never seen a drawing or stencil until it went on me.

My leg piece feels sensitive to the touch/irritated pretty much all the time. It healed fine. I think I just have sensitive skin. God help me when this back piece is finished....
Btw, if it's pain it ain't phantom.

Update: reached out to a new artist I’ve been following and was able to get in next Friday! Pretty excited. I’ll post the pics when it’s done. 

hahaha you're a riot
 
But seriously some of this is definitely true. I get nervous before hand and all the way out to Brooklyn still, but as soon as I enter the shop I'm chill. While getting tattooed I tried to talk as much as humanly possible--that gets me through it. And then yes, totally, that last wipe down is such a relief!
And then it's on to the next month....

hahaha you're a riot
 
But seriously some of this is definitely true. I get nervous before hand and all the way out to Brooklyn still, but as soon as I enter the shop I'm chill. While getting tattooed I tried to talk as much as humanly possible--that gets me through it. And then yes, totally, that last wipe down is such a relief!
And then it's on to the next month....

Thanks Dan! Yeah it gets old hearing negative feedback so often. This definitely helps me understand the pricing better though 👍

it's all relative, if you like an artist and it's a good tattoo that YOU like, then it was worth the money.
tattoo hourly rates vary from $100 to $700, I know a tattooer that says she needs $300 per hour with an 8 hour minimum,(UP FRONT),for anything !
I got a 9 hour one shot one time that cost me $3000., I was fine with that.
I know people that have paid $5000 and up for an arm sleeve.
those people that are saying that to you should keep their mouths shut.

Not sure if I'm doing this right lol. In response to scottyg:
 
Thank you for responding and sharing your perspective! Honestly sometimes I wonder if I'm not just somewhat nervous about entrusting such a big decision to a perfect stranger. Especially since this is my first tattoo. Maybe it'll improve with time :) It doesn't help that anyone who knows how much I'm paying will constantly tell me I'm being ripped off. That's coming from friends with many tattoos that they've gotten from different artists all over the US. It feels disheartening. As for finishing the tattoo, that's a definite!! The question was never if I'll finish but if I'll stick with the same artist and how I'll finish (do one full sleeve or do both lower half sleeves then add the upper half later). It may seem odd to work on both the lower half sleeves first before completing them in full but I'm trying to cover a skin condition and I'd love to have both forearms complete so I can feel confident to wear short sleeves ASAP vs just one arm but not the other for an extended period of time. Due to the price I'm paying per hour I'm only doing 2 hour sessions every couple months so this is gonna take a little time to complete. Hope that makes sense. Anyway, thanks again! Really appreciate it. 

Sorry you're having a bad experience/not the experience you want, but I'd say at the outset that nothing you describe sounds terrible/terribly out of the ordinary. A lot just sounds like a personality difference.
But: 1. if the artist is a true pro it's not so important about the planning: she knows what she's doing. the discussion is more on you to ask ask ask. (That said, I'm doing traditional Japanese where you only pick the subject of the tattoo and everything is up to the artist. So I come from a very different perspective on this.) 2. "touch-ups" in the context of still working on a large piece are different than if it were complete and you were going back months later. They're often necessary, and I would just chalk it up to getting the perfect piece. 3. $250 is a loooottta cash but yes that's what you'd pay for a unique top quality piece. Without seeing it it's hard to judge whether it's truly cookie cutter though, you know, rather than your feeling bad about it given the experience you're having? 4. yes it'd be an issue, and don't do it..... 5. finish what you started. You have to finish things in life.
That's my 2cents, others may disagree/have different interpretations.
Cheers and good luck!

Sorry you're having a bad experience/not the experience you want, but I'd say at the outset that nothing you describe sounds terrible/terribly out of the ordinary. A lot just sounds like a personality difference.
But: 1. if the artist is a true pro it's not so important about the planning: she knows what she's doing. the discussion is more on you to ask ask ask. (That said, I'm doing traditional Japanese where you only pick the subject of the tattoo and everything is up to the artist. So I come from a very different perspective on this.) 2. "touch-ups" in the context of still working on a large piece are different than if it were complete and you were going back months later. They're often necessary, and I would just chalk it up to getting the perfect piece. 3. $250 is a loooottta cash but yes that's what you'd pay for a unique top quality piece. Without seeing it it's hard to judge whether it's truly cookie cutter though, you know, rather than your feeling bad about it given the experience you're having? 4. yes it'd be an issue, and don't do it..... 5. finish what you started. You have to finish things in life.
That's my 2cents, others may disagree/have different interpretations.
Cheers and good luck!

Everyone's backs look amazing!
 
I've had a little work done since August, next session is Saturday. 

20 month after my first appointment, after 40h in 12 sessions, my back was finally finished a week ago. I'm so happy that I'm done for now but there are already some plans if and what possibly could be my next step towards an even more colorfull body....😋 Not sure if I'll first go for my right butt cheek and upper thights or if I'll start with my arms... But well, that's the future. Won't probably get anything new until end 2019 or even 2020. At least not until I was able to put some money aside to get it done in a foreseeable period of time.

 

progress....