Matthew Williams

Sketchy probably wasn't the best title to go with. I think the actual style of tattoo is called sketchworks. The ones you linked (which are super cool) are dotwork. I personally call those scientific-illustration tattoos because they look like drawings from an old science book. If anyone's curious where I'm getting these names from:

It's funny, but I never thought about it that way. In my head I was thinking about how to get it finished as quickly as possible, but there's really is no reason to rush it. Do artists care if you have another artist color-in or finish shading their tattoo? If not, I could travel for the design and initial inking, but have a local artist finish up.

I'm considering flying out to get a tattoo done and wondering if the logistics of it are even possible. I've heard a detailed tattoo sleeve can take up to 40 hours depending on the artist and obviously there would have to be multiple sessions with healing in between. The amount of time I'd have to take off work or the amount of flights I'd have to take makes this seem pretty affordable. Not to mention you have to schedule times that work for both you and the artist and book tickets accordingly. Anyone had any success traveling to get a tattoo from a favorite artist? How much time and money did you have to spend?

There's some seriously good artists at that convention. Maybe I should just move to Canada :cool:

I love Nomi Chi's stuff, I've been following her on instagram for a while now. I don't have a passport right now, but might be worth registering for one if I think I could get in to see her.

I hear there's plenty of sketchy artists at my local state penitentiary too. But seriously, I just checked out Mike Moses's work and this is definitely closer to what I'm looking for. His shading style is a little bit different then the images above, but he has that illustrative/story-book look to his designs which I love. Thanks for the lead.

I've been desperately searching for artists who are doing this newer, sketchbook/illustration style of tattooing. I've found some amazing ones, but none of them seem to be in the United States! The only person I could really find was David Hale in Athens GA, but I've been unable to get a hold of him for booking. If anyone knows any artists currently doing this style or who might be flexible enough to do this style please let me know! Right now I'm in Portland, OR but I'd travel across the country for the right artist. Here's some examples:

That's some fantastic cover up, I'm guessing the tattoo being super faded makes it a lot easier for the artist

I agree, plus what's the worst they can do? Make you take it back? haha

It's not too late to turn that into a Lord of the Rings tattoo.

Not sure if she's been mentioned yet, but Ivana Belokava has some of the most amazing color work I've ever seen. She's up in Vancouver, BC Even if super bright colors are not your thing, you should still check out her talent https://www.instagram.com/ivanatattooart/

Ha, ok ok. You make a good point. I'll shoot him an email or a tweet tomorrow and see what happens. Can't hurt to try right? He's actually going to be in Portland this month, but he's only doing a limited selection of tattoos while visiting for some reason.

I checked out woodcut. It's close, but not quite what I'm looking for. I like denser tattoos that are more on the heavy side for detail. You're right about the line ability, I'm pretty sure I can find an artist talented enough, I just have no idea how to get the design I want without stealing someone else's tattoo. I wish! It says on his site that he's no longer taking new clients, but you can subscribe to his newsletter in case it changes. Not sure how your friend got in to see him, but any tips would be great.

Ooh ya. Corey Crowley is definitely close to what I'm looking for. I bookmarked him :) Also since I started this post I found some tattoo parlors that I'm digging. Scapegoat Tattoo Forbidden Body Art Icon Anyone had an experience with any of the above?

How much should I expect to pay for consulting or a design draft from a tattoo artist? I have a general idea of what the tattoo itself will cost, but I'm not sure what people pay for that kind of thing.