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fix or cover-up?


Matthew Thomas
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Thanks for the support and encouragement, guys. I went and talked to a couple other shops yesterday to get a perspective on what could be done and a price range. Both shops said I'm looking at a minimum of $150 to $200. But I think if I talk to my artist, she would probably re-work it for free, and adding stuff around it would probably cost $50 or $75. She has very reasonable rates and I feel she does adequate work.

Some people will accept nothing less than exceptional work, and will pay very large sums of money and wait long periods of time to meet with an exceptional artist. Now in the case of Myke Chambers, I am also willing to do the same, not only because he is an exceptional artist, but an exceptional person as well.

But I feel that most of my tattoos only require someone who is competent. And my artist is competent, despite the fact that she made one mistake. A lot of competent artists do make mistakes from time to time. An exceptional artist probably makes very few mistakes, if any at all. But an artist who is only competent or average will probably make a mistake every once in awhile. It doesn't make them totally incompetent, unless they are unwilling to admit their mistakes.

Some will say that the aesthetic element is as important or more so than the meaning or symbolism. I personally do not feel that this is necessarily true. I will agree that if a tattoo is poorly designed or executed, the symbolism is lost. But for some tattoos, I feel that focusing too much on having an exceptional design can also take away from the meaning. And I will explain this further. The tattoos I am having done by this artist, they all mean something to me. And while I do get tattoos primarily for myself, I do want others to pick up on the symbolism, even if it takes some explaining, eventually they will understand it. This does not mean that I feel a poorly executed tattoo will convey symbolism better than an expertly executed tattoo. It simply means that I don't want the details of the image to distract from the symbolism, and I feel that an expertly executed tattoo might just do that, if that makes any sense at all. As in, it could be an absolutely beautiful piece, but the actual meaning would be lost in an overabundance of detailing.

The two other tattoos I've gotten from this person are very nice, but not exceptionally detailed. But the symbolism is there and clearly readable, and the tattoo is done adequately, as in the amount of detail that is there is executed adequately, there are no mistakes in them that I'm aware of.

Sorry for being so long-winded, just wanting to express my views a bit and explain why I still have confidence in my artist. With the exception of this star, she has so far done exactly what I have paid her to do.

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Being happy with your own tattoo is all that's important in the end. If you're not worried about what other people think about it, that's awesome and I hope your fixed tattoo makes you happy.

In a similar way, when you're expressing yourself in writing, the truly important thing is the words you use. If you're not worried about the happiness or enjoyment of the people reading it, then don't worry about breaking very long blocks of text into paragraphs.

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I went and talked to a couple other shops yesterday to get a perspective on what could be done and a price range. Both shops said I'm looking at a minimum of $150 to $200. But I think if I talk to my artist, she would probably re-work it for free, and adding stuff around it would probably cost $50 or $75. She has very reasonable rates and I feel she does adequate work.

For future reference, please refrain from discussing pricing on the forum. Thanks.

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I'm leaving in a few minutes to talk to my artist about fixing this star. I'm a bit nervous, because I'm afraid one of us will get mad and it won't end well. I'm not mad right now, and I won't get mad unless she acts like nothing is wrong or doesn't want to fix it, which is what I'm afraid of. Wish me luck guys.

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I'm leaving in a few minutes to talk to my artist about fixing this star. I'm a bit nervous, because I'm afraid one of us will get mad and it won't end well. I'm not mad right now, and I won't get mad unless she acts like nothing is wrong or doesn't want to fix it, which is what I'm afraid of. Wish me luck guys.

Just might want to keep in mind that if she doesn't want to fix it, it might mean that she can't...and getting angry or trying to convince her might just make your tattoo worse. But hey, see what she has to say--you never know!

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She is a pretty reasonable person, and she would definitely explain to me if she didn't think it could be fixed. I'm more worried about sounding upset because I might be nervous, and sometimes I sound upset when I'm nervous, which might make her upset. I can also have a rough way with people when I don't mean to, and I don't want to come across the wrong way. That's mostly what I'm worried about. But I think if I can express myself in a reasonable manner, she will be reasonable with me. I just hope I'm right.

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She is a pretty reasonable person, and she would definitely explain to me if she didn't think it could be fixed. I'm more worried about sounding upset because I might be nervous, and sometimes I sound upset when I'm nervous, which might make her upset. I can also have a rough way with people when I don't mean to, and I don't want to come across the wrong way. That's mostly what I'm worried about. But I think if I can express myself in a reasonable manner, she will be reasonable with me. I just hope I'm right.

How about you take in a couple pictures of a nautical star and show her how yours doesn't quite look like that in that one area, and that you'd like to know what she can do to make it look like the references, or what she recommends. This way, it's not YOU saying she's wrong, you are redirecting her attention to references that show what it should look like.

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I'm at work so no time to read back through the thread, but I recall people suggesting things that you weren't keen on. It might be worth you having a good response for why you don't like those ideas, in case she brings them up. I only say that as, based on this page of the thread, you say you are worried about being nervous, upset and/or angry. Having some responses in your mind might help you articulate them better.

WhatSeeSea says makes sense too. Better to be over-prepared and get what you want out of this, than for it to go wrong and you potentially burn bridges.

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I decided against the coffee, because I didn't want to amp myself up too much. Figured it would be easier to stay calm this way. So, I got there a few minutes after she opened, and she had another client getting ready to sit down. I asked her if I could talk to her for a minute, and she came over to the side and I quietly explained the situation. I did it quietly so as not to alarm the other client or make him think she doesn't do good work. I showed her where the star was uneven, and she agreed that the best way to make it all even was to fill it in all black. She was very understanding, and I made sure to explain to her from the start that I was not angry or upset and nor was I planning to drop her as my artist. We both remained calm and reasonable and were able to reach an agreement without either one of us becoming upset. I'm very glad we did, and this makes me want to stick with her even more. I have an appointment for some other work this coming Tuesday, and she said she would have time to go over the star then. I'm just so glad that it went well. It's a tough call asking an artist to cover their own work, but she was reasonable and understanding about the whole thing and I feel very lucky to be able to have her as an artist. It takes a strong person to be able to look at their mistakes and say, "yeah, I messed up, but I'll make it right".

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I don't even see how the above comment is in any way relevant to the OP. My only response is that I'm glad to not be getting tattooed by someone like you. Sorry, but I don't have a polite response to that comment, @Colored Guy. I've never even been to a shop where the artists were alcoholics or drug addicts, and I'm glad to say that. Because they wouldn't be getting any of my money.

- - - Updated - - -

On another note, I felt a little bit bad about calling my artist out on this tattoo, even though I was respectful and polite. She has done such an amazing job on the rest of my tattoos that I've gotten from her, and I feel they are worth more than what I paid for them. I wish I could tip her, but I can't afford to. I bought some chocolate chip cookie dough and I'm going to make them for her as a small token of my appreciation for doing such an amazing job, and for being so understanding about fixing my star. I just hope she likes them, or her kids do :)

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I don't even see how the above comment is in any way relevant to the OP. My only response is that I'm glad to not be getting tattooed by someone like you. Sorry, but I don't have a polite response to that comment, @Colored Guy. I've never even been to a shop where the artists were alcoholics or drug addicts, and I'm glad to say that. Because they wouldn't be getting any of my money.

- - - Updated - - -

On another note, I felt a little bit bad about calling my artist out on this tattoo, even though I was respectful and polite. She has done such an amazing job on the rest of my tattoos that I've gotten from her, and I feel they are worth more than what I paid for them. I wish I could tip her, but I can't afford to. I bought some chocolate chip cookie dough and I'm going to make them for her as a small token of my appreciation for doing such an amazing job, and for being so understanding about fixing my star. I just hope she likes them, or her kids do :)

Oh I was just kidding although I never heard of laying out so much $$ up front for work.

However I wonder how many artists do use a layaway plan? I think it may be a great way to finance some tattoo work.

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Every shop I've ever been to has told me I could pay a little at a time until I had enough deposited to cover the amount of the tattoo. The only reason I put so much down at once was because I figured that way I wouldn't spend the money on something else, because I really wanted to get all my tattoos done. I know it doesn't make sense to a lot of people, but it's what I chose to do. It's worked out pretty good so far.

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On another note, I felt a little bit bad about calling my artist out on this tattoo, even though I was respectful and polite.

Don't. A good relationship is communication. If you didn't talk, it would keep eating you up. She might sense that and put a strain on things. But you talked it out, and I bet you are both more settled about the relationship.

I bought some chocolate chip cookie dough and I'm going to make them for her as a small token of my appreciation for doing such an amazing job, and for being so understanding about fixing my star. I just hope she likes them, or her kids do :)

I had a chocolate craving before my last session. I made a batch of brownies and brought it to the shop. They were destroyed! Looks like I'll be making a batch every session now! :-) And man, brownies are good at 2am when I needed the sugar rush.

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I had a chocolate craving before my last session. I made a batch of brownies and brought it to the shop. They were destroyed! Looks like I'll be making a batch every session now! :-) And man, brownies are good at 2am when I needed the sugar rush.

Bringing food and or sweets to the shop is one of the best random surprises you can do for us/your tattooer/local shop. That always makes our day.

Funny that this got brought up today; I did that today for the guys at the shop working on my truck. Just showed up with 3 pizzas and got some high-fives and split. A random 'thanks' and show of appreciation for people doing you a service goes a long way.

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Every shop I've ever been to has told me I could pay a little at a time until I had enough deposited to cover the amount of the tattoo. The only reason I put so much down at once was because I figured that way I wouldn't spend the money on something else, because I really wanted to get all my tattoos done. I know it doesn't make sense to a lot of people, but it's what I chose to do. It's worked out pretty good so far.

I had never heard of the practice, but if it works for you, great. Then again in the past I always just managed to scrape up just enough to have something done. I'm a bit more affluent these days.

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Bringing food and or sweets to the shop is one of the best random surprises you can do for us/your tattooer/local shop. That always makes our day.

Funny that this got brought up today; I did that today for the guys at the shop working on my truck. Just showed up with 3 pizzas and got some high-fives and split. A random 'thanks' and show of appreciation for people doing you a service goes a long way.

Today I brought them 2 dozen donuts. They love me.

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