cloudkicker

thanks you guys, will check em out after work. - - - Updated - - - ya i realize that some work faster than others.. it's just hard to guesstimate a full price because unfortunately i do have a budget.. and i would like to prefer not having a half finished large piece lol. ya it seems everyone here is set on "save up or dont get it" mentality.. but i see nothing wrong with trying to find an artist that i like that i can actually afford. i'd love to get pieces from all my favorite artists, but i simply can't afford it unfortunately.. /shrug

ah ya forgot to mention him. he was actually my first choice, but again his rates are just too crazy for me. (trying to find $200..$250 max..) ty for the suggestions, appreciate it very much seems like the style i like is very hard to find and very expensive....fml

yes this is more of the style i was looking for, tyvm. maybe i got the terminology wrong.. but the suggestions DJDeepFried gave are more traditional looking to me? - - - Updated - - - geezus i dont know if people are exageratting but he has a 4 yr wait list

Thanks for the recommendations, gonna check em out now! Would love to hear others.. the more options the better

Hey guys, I've been trying to find a black and grey artist that does modern/neo Japanese work, and it's been pretty hard finding that. Alot of Japanese tattoo artists are too traditional for my tastes, have a portfolio full of color (doesn't make sense to get a black and grey artist with a full color portfolio?), or simply live in another country. I'm from southern cali (Los Angeles area) and willing to travel, but not too far. Some artists I found that I wish I could get work from but can't due to distance or financial reasons: The guys at Chronik Ink (crazy wait lists and can't afford) Instagram Robert Pho in Las Vegas (can't afford) Instagram Master Mike (i can afford and in my area) Instagram I'm hoping maybe someone can recommend me some artists? Thanks for any help

finally talked to my artist.. got off on a good note and picked his brain and he kept it real with me which i appreciate.. and i don't want to name who he is but he quoted me on a price that's literally the price of a good, brand new car. i think i might have to go with someone else.. it's just not reasonable for me. thanks again for everyone's responses and help

i did put a $100 deposit lol...

hmm... ya i guess u got a point.....well fuck..

hm you do have a point.. what do you make of that though? not sure what to think of that.. i see where you're coming from.. but everyone starts new no? at the end of the day he was willing to work with my idea.. i came here to learn and have learned quite a bit including etiquette among other things and now i'd approach things differently.. hence now with a new idea and more room to work anything he wants.. i'm pretty much giving him what i want in the tattoo and letting him have free range of what he wants to do lol what? look i know i'm new here and i know how it is to "plain-skinned" folk, but i came here looking for advice. so rag on me all you want can care less. definitely not impulsive as i've been thinking about this for years and finally have some sort of income to somewhat support such an idea. made up? lol what - - - Updated - - - completely understandable.. i shot him an email (he's usually slow to respond), but gonna shoot him a call today and see what he thinks about everything i did read the full back thread in the stories section.. every single post and thread.. i made it to maybe 6 pages of the full back piece thread and will work my way through

i actually met the guy in person.. and well.. i wanted 2 foo dogs on my shoulder blades.. and he was very adamant that i need to rethink my placement because there's no room to expand.. kept saying you can't put water underneath it or anything... and he kept suggesting all my other body parts.. chest.. thighs.. ribs.. anything lol.. but i was pretty stuck with the image i have in mind even though he had good points.. and i think the fact that i'm clean of tattoos made him talk to me differently and i honestly dont know if i was feeling his vibe.. he was really cool on the phone but in person he was kinda pushy.. but he jus came from accross the country so maybe he was tired.. gonna talk to him on the phone tomorrow and see how it goes - - - Updated - - - ya i can see why lol... thanks for the advice

i actually have no interest in getting a tattoo except on my back side.. it was either going to be something on my shoulder blades that wouldn't extend into a full back piece well at all.. or a full back piece unfortunately.. so i guess go big or go home type of thing for me lol.. but i hear you though, just unfortunately not an option for me thank you for that advice... i like the part where to not act like they're doing a favor by tattooing me.. not gonna name names but someone i talked to seemed to be stuckup for lack of better word and turned me off to working with him though he had great work.. sorry was meant as an exageration but i think 5 years is actually realistic in my situation haha ya man i over analyze everything.. just who i am.. i mean this is permanent.. i need to make sure this goes right for me if i'm going to be committing this much money and time into it... i'm 30yrs old.. with the whole adult life about to hit me hard (engaged, moving to a different state, kids, the whole damn shabang), so this is kinda my succumbing to adult life present to myself before i slave my self to money to afford kids =) thanks for the advice Rory and sharing. ya after reading people's replies here and on another thread.. i made sure i can afford a consistent financial plan for this thing.. i mean it's a small one but i can make it work if my artist will work with me. i just shot him an email as he's off today and just waiting to see what he thinks.

want to thank everyone for their replies.. even though every does have their own opinion.. me being naive to the whole thing and hearing people's experiences is really putting things into perspectives well.. i think i like the idea of getting the outline done first and then going for small sessions of shading little by little instead of going for big chunks at a time.. will keep everyone posted after i talk to my artist!

that's great advice and will definitely keep everything you said in mind - - - Updated - - - thanks for sharing your experience.. see what you seem to be doing is the norm.. having a session a month.. that's why i started the whole topic because the route i'd like to take just seems so rare.. going to shoot my artist a call/email and see what he thinks. thanks again appreciate it

ya i was thinking bout it.. just not sure if it would flow properly.. i'm going to bring it up with my artist and see what he thinks - - - Updated - - - that's great to hear! as i suspected.. some touch up has to be done... i guess it should be safe to assume that i'd have to get it touched up every time too. thanks so much for sharing

andy at mytattoo TATTOO Instagram

this is great!! thanks you two.. that really was helpful.. gonna call my artist today and tell him my plan and see what he thinks

ya i've been reading nonstop actually... seems like this long term tattoo idea of mine doesn't seem like a plausible idea........ i have yet to hear someone say "i finished my large piece finally after 5 years"... lol anyway thanks again guys

thanks for the advice Mick... i mean don't get me wrong.. i really want to understand what you guys are saying.. but it really is a money situation if you don't have much of it!!! lol.. i'm willing to torture myself for 8 hours if i have to!! wanna get this baby started

Hey everyone, still new to the tattoo scene.. I always wanted a full back tattoo.. but the artists i like are in the high price range.. meaning that the end price of a full back tattoo ... well you guys should know. So I thought of an idea.. I have funds to start off the back with 2 or 3 good (8 hour) sessions and then i'm wiped out. Would it be considered rude or unethical to consider finishing the back piece throughout several years? I'm no where near rich.. and I figure if I put away $50 a paycheck.. i can pay for a good 8 hour session every year... I don't care if it takes me 10 years to complete, but I would like to get a full back tattoo one day.. but I just can't dish out $10k in a span of a few months just to complete it. So before I call my artist that I have an appointment with in a month and bring this up to him.. is this considered rude or unethical? maybe just plain unreasonable to the artist? Asking because after going through the whole "full back piece" thread here .. it seems like everyone finishes up their full back piece within a few consecutive months.. so I feel like I'm missing something obvious?

hey Exume thanks for replying. i just edited my post to remove the pricing. ahh everyone in the business keeps saying to not worry about the money lol.. but when we're talking about thousands it's kinda hard not to! ya that's what i was thinking.. but that's what he said so i'll just warrior through it lol. maybe i misheard him but i guess we'll see. i'm hoping someone can answer me though if this is uncommon or considered rude... to start a full back piece with 2 long sessions.. and do maybe a session or two a year until it's finished (might take 5 years to finish?) i'm just wondering if the ink lines won't match because of the delay between the sessions or just not good etiquitte?

always been a hanya fan.... but i think you have to pick depending on what's the better compliment to your other tats

i think it looks good the way it is. it's a very classic, simple style.. and making it more complex will take away from it. just my opinion though

i'm still new to the tattoo world.. but after honestly months and months of analyzing portfolios... aside from the typical answers like clean lines and such.. i like to see how the artist works on pieces that is outside of his comfort zone. i chose my artist because he's amazing in not only say realism.. but in asian style and abstract and i have yet to see work of his that i feel looks "ugly" outside the scope of the drawing idea.

geezus this is my predicament right now... i have 2 ideas i have in mind and i have a month to figure out which one i want.. one will cost about $3k.. the other will cost about $10k lol...

Hi there, tattoo virgin here. Planning to get a full back tattoo with either some sort of evil vs good theme.. maybe involving angels and demons... or two fu dogs guarding a chinese temple in the background. still thinking bout it but have my first appointment in a month!