Mel Noir

I have often wondered why celebrities get such bad tattoos with seemingly unlimited resources. I think it goes back to educating yourself about what's out there, like anyone else. There's probably a lot of really good tattoos out there that never get seen, too. I was in "Machete" and Danny Trejo has a really nice black and gray Virgin Mary over his kids(?) playing the beach on his back. The general public probably won't see it because it's not a 'character' tattoo though.

The first places I always recommend for NYC are Adorned and Smith St.
There's a thread in this forum with LST recommended tattoo shops as well you could check out.

man it sucks how many hacks are out there giving the good ones a bad name
dont ever by scared to tell a tattooer "no i'm not getting this put on me" for ANY reason. You're the one who has to deal with it for the rest of your life, not them. They're done dealing with it the second you leave the shop.

how about traddy tatty. makes me think crabby patty

The tattooers I work for seem to prefer people come in to the shop and talk with them if they want to get tattooed. While a person might have to wait a few minutes if the tattooer is in the middle of a tattoo but we are never to busy to take a few minutes to discuss a tattoo with a client. If someone calls on the phone I tell them to come in and the general rule is no appointments over the phone unless someone is traveling from out of town and email might as well be a four letter word. I guess the general feeling on our end is a lot of people are just price shopping every shop in the area and its really hard to price a tattoo that someone is describing to you over the phone and usually I end up quoting it too low so I don't do it. I will give people a general ball park figure of price but tell them that final price depends on what the final drawing looks like and whether it requires multiple sittings.
I booked an appointment out of town recently and didn't get a response from phone call but found an email address on the tattooers website and he responded to me within five minutes and got the appointment booked and all went well so I think you really just have to feel each person out and be persistent but not pushy.

So far so good, amazing hosts and all we've done is eat, eat, eat. 4th of July party today --- tattoo tomorrow.

Its a nice day foe a white wedding.

This is a test right?

My head tattoo done by my own personal scratcher.
No tattoos but he does have some lovely stripes.

Much love for Billy Idol. That dude rules at everything.

Saw Slapstick, Alkaline Trio, and The Lawrence Arms last week. Stoked.
I wish I could go to the Riverboat Gamblers / Off With Their Heads / Dead To Me / Underground Railroad To Candyland / Big Kids show in SF next week...

While I was at Frith Street my beautiful squeeze had her second session. A really stunning Day of the Dead Girl, tattooed by Stewart Robson.

i can tell you that most tattooers i know HATE emails regarding scheduling appointments.
the best way to set an appt. up is to call the shop. but thats only if you have to travel to see the artist. if you live in the same city, pay them a visit.
ive traveled 2000 miles to get tattooed several times. it bugs the shit outta me when somebody emails and thinks they dont have the time to come in for a visit cuz they live 20 minutes away. if you are too lazy to visit for consultation, im too lazy to tattoo you.

i think money should always be discussed before any bookings are made. this is a business transaction after all, like getting all excited by some beautiful alligator skin stiletto heels, running to the cash point without checking the price tag and and having your eager heart broken cos they were $3000. im sure there's some sort of analogy that would suit guys better but hey...

Well when the book is related to illustration I think that quote goes out the window.

I'm like a scout when I get tattooed- be prepared! I don't drink a week beforehand, make sure I've eaten well, moisturised my crappy dry skin.. all of that crap. One thing I think you might find useful is paying attention to what you're eating- David Bruehl wrote something recently about this which you might like- if you click here, you'll get to that (hope you don't mind me linking to my site, haha).

I wouldn't take it too personally, to be honest. Tattooing's a 24/7 job sometimes, and the guy may have just had a ridiculously busy week or something. It's pretty likely you're just someone who's slipped through the net of an otherwise tightly run studio.
At the same time, I'll echo what Ursula and Jake are saying- if you're unsure, or if the drawing sucks, you don't have to get it tattooed on you.

Ami James for influencing the middle aged lady that works at the convenience store down the street and all the girls in my son's high school football team
and Ed Hardy for influencing me.

And as a client I like to think that my tattooer is so committed to my project that they carry it around in a special brief case hand cuffed to their wrist till my tattoo appt------ but as a tattooer I find it interesting that clients assume that as soon as they make their appointment- i'll be working on their tattoo non stop - till they're in my chair-
This isn't directed at anyone who posted--- just a side note.

The way I see it as at least he called you. I think that shows that he cares about giving you what you want.

I wouldn't take it too personally, to be honest. Tattooing's a 24/7 job sometimes, and the guy may have just had a ridiculously busy week or something. It's pretty likely you're just someone who's slipped through the net of an otherwise tightly run studio.
At the same time, I'll echo what Ursula and Jake are saying- if you're unsure, or if the drawing sucks, you don't have to get it tattooed on you.

never EVER feel dumb for calling, these tattoo artists will usually be paying the wages of the kid that answers the phone. this is to minimize having to sit at home in the evening using up their wind down time answering emails.
that's certainly me, and anyway, some of my receptionists know more about my schedule than me and are way more eloquent than me at answering questions. personally I'm done with emails and do everything through frith street, it's amazing how much time replying to emails sucks out of your day off/evenings.
if you phone and then they explain that said artist prefers email conversations, then there's your answer!

Too many to mention
So many never mentioned and all of those already mentioned!

just show up and if the drawing sucks don't get it tattooed on you...