gougetheeyes

Yesterday. Sorry if it's too big.

It comes down to how YOU communicate your expertise. Your in the prime position to help educate.
The average collector/ enthusiast without any understanding or artistic knowledge needs to seek their ideas from somewhere.,.dont they? Do you just expect them to come in with a blank idea and you magically come up with the same interpretation, or expect to only tattoo what you want to put on their skin. That comes with time and trust.
It's like an old time piece of flash, it's been duplicated a million times. Isn't that plagiarism to a degree? A panther is a panther is a panther.
I understand to a point what your saying, a custom one of a kind piece, well maybe, but pieces say things to people and can capture exactly what that means to that individual as well, so it could mean more than just wanting a copy cap design.
It's like my smoking wizard with the starburst from the pipe as the background. I had wanted a wizard for 20 years, but no wizard captured that exact pictorial message, until I came across this wizard on the net. I took that picture in to my tattooer and said...man, after all these years I found the one. I can understand if you need to change it, but it's emulates something quite specific. His response, and knowing me for years was...man, your right, it captures you perfectly, I couldn't make it any better. We slightly changed some aspects like hat band & colour, but why try and reinvent the wheel on this occasion? It was perfect. Is this wrong? Fuck you to anybody who thinks it is, this is one piece out of my entire suit that had already been captured, it speaks volumes, it's my favourite tattoo next after my back tattoo.
There's also been times I've taken an exact design in and said ...man, something like this...and from there we come up with a complete new transition, sn even better custom piece.
Maybe next time someone comes in with an exact picture and turning them away (only to have it tattooed by someone else without any education) you can say...man, that's a great design, I can see why you chose this. What's it's meaning to you?...dig a little, become a consultant, tap into that individual a little and say, ya know man?...leave it with me, I reckon I can come up with something even better for YOU without doing s copy.
That person may just walk out of there with a little bit more knowledge than they did prior to them entering, and maybe you EARN a loyal and devoted customer for years to come.
I'm no tattooer, I'm also no artist, but I've learned a lot from my tattooer over the years because he actually took the time to help me understand. This is the 1 reason that he has been responsible for my entire suit, and the rework of everything he didn't originally do.
I'm just offering a different perspective on this subject, not having a dig. We all help educate each other, because my tattooer had mentioned to me the same, that over the years has learned to appreciate where his clients come from also.
"Booze, Blues & Tattoos"

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/5624-mid-year-assessments-page9.html
Read that page. Particularly post 89. There are insights to be had perhaps.
I've had a few conversations with a tattooer friend about focusing on one style. His challenge is that he would like to focus more on black and grey, but a lot of the customers through the door ask for color in various styles, which he is happy to do.
Being flexible may mean that he won't be able to specialize any time soon, but he is a well rounded tattooer who doesn't have trouble feeding his kids or making the customer happy.
Another case in point. I took my plain skinned sister to an expo yesterday. We didn't have anything booked, but Eddie from classic tattoo had some time available. I've seen his work before and it was all quality art that I would be stoked to wear. He took a look at extremely simple monkey outline that she showed him, and without batting an eye said that he would be happy to do that for her.
He made her first tattoo a great experience, and I'm sure as hell going to look him up for some work in the future because of his professionalism and humble attitude.
Just my .02 bud. My apologies for the late night rant. Peace!

Welcome dude. So where are you at now? Are you done with tattooing or are you trying to find a shop or what? I'll take a Dos Equis in the meantime..

Some of these pictures from Heartbeak Ink are pretty fun! (Like Filip Leu getting his hands tattooed.) @Eilin you're in one towards the bottom. 10th International London Tattoo Convention | heartbeatink.gr

Some of these pictures from Heartbeak Ink are pretty fun! (Like Filip Leu getting his hands tattooed.) @Eilin you're in one towards the bottom. 10th International London Tattoo Convention | heartbeatink.gr

Oh man, check out the dudes at Virtue! Making some great cider in Michigan. I've only had their Redstreak; super dry, not very bubbly, real old school cider. Fun video, too! Educational..

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So much good shit happening in Asheville!

Oh man, check out the dudes at Virtue! Making some great cider in Michigan. I've only had their Redstreak; super dry, not very bubbly, real old school cider. Fun video, too! Educational..

"

Oh man, check out the dudes at Virtue! Making some great cider in Michigan. I've only had their Redstreak; super dry, not very bubbly, real old school cider. Fun video, too! Educational..

"

Some of these pictures from Heartbeak Ink are pretty fun! (Like Filip Leu getting his hands tattooed.) @Eilin you're in one towards the bottom. 10th International London Tattoo Convention | heartbeatink.gr

I got this big ol cat from Luis Campos today at Empire tattoo in Asheville. Great guy and beautiful city. Also pic pilfered from his IG

I'm in Stockholm at the moment and joel madberg did some more on my arm. There is some space left on the wrist and a candle waiting for color in the inside of the elbow. We will finish that in belgium hopefully.
Cheers

Stevie Nicks portrait above my Fleetwood Mac quote! Got Stevie because I've always wanted the portrait, it's a beautiful design. I grew up with Stevie. In her Rhiannon period, where this portrait is from, she just held the upmost magic and beauty and I can't think of anything I adore more.

Some of these pictures from Heartbeak Ink are pretty fun! (Like Filip Leu getting his hands tattooed.) @Eilin you're in one towards the bottom. 10th International London Tattoo Convention | heartbeatink.gr

Some of these pictures from Heartbeak Ink are pretty fun! (Like Filip Leu getting his hands tattooed.) @Eilin you're in one towards the bottom. 10th International London Tattoo Convention | heartbeatink.gr

Some of these pictures from Heartbeak Ink are pretty fun! (Like Filip Leu getting his hands tattooed.) @Eilin you're in one towards the bottom. 10th International London Tattoo Convention | heartbeatink.gr

Some of these pictures from Heartbeak Ink are pretty fun! (Like Filip Leu getting his hands tattooed.) @Eilin you're in one towards the bottom. 10th International London Tattoo Convention | heartbeatink.gr

Some of these pictures from Heartbeak Ink are pretty fun! (Like Filip Leu getting his hands tattooed.) @Eilin you're in one towards the bottom. 10th International London Tattoo Convention | heartbeatink.gr

Some of these pictures from Heartbeak Ink are pretty fun! (Like Filip Leu getting his hands tattooed.) @Eilin you're in one towards the bottom. 10th International London Tattoo Convention | heartbeatink.gr

I worked once in a bookstore and while I liked that job, it was pretty much entirely shelving books and answering really dumb questions from customers. I don't even remember how many times somebody asked me to help them find a book when all they could remember about it was MAYBE the colour of the book's cover.
I brew beer for a living now and pretty much everybody in the world thinks that I have the greatest job ever, because apparently grown-ass adults think that brewers sit at the bar and drink beer all day. Which isn't what I do. I think I've had a proper sit-down, take the time I'm legally entitled to lunch break maybe two or three times in the seven years I've been a brewer, because I don't have time for breaks in a regular workday. If I may go on a tangent here, I think you're right that there's a lot of envy here and a misperception that there's something, I don't know how to express this, maybe more "soulful" about working with one's hands. That book "Shop Class as Soul Craft" that came out a few years ago and was fairly popular despite being overall pretty terrible was a big purveyor of this kind of bullshit. I think also Richard Florida and the whole bullshit notion of a "creative class" and the idea that we're all involved in some kind of creative enterprise (you know, like working in a big box retail store, and just make sure that this so-called creativity has an economically useful function) hasn't helped with the idea that artisans have these wonderful jobs. Work is work, it's a means to an end.

Oh man.
As a bookstore worker I hear "you must sit around and read" at least once a week. It is a nice job, but...nope. Seems like a lot of these envious comments are directed towards people who essentially work manual or retail jobs.
Re: loving your work, that's only ever made it harder, in my experience. The expectations you set for yourself tend to be higher.

Tattooing is so easy! I get similar comments every once in a while about bar tending. "It's like you guys get to party every night! Must be awesome. You must be wasted every night!"

Tattooing is so easy! I get similar comments every once in a while about bar tending. "It's like you guys get to party every night! Must be awesome. You must be wasted every night!"

Tattooing is so easy! I get similar comments every once in a while about bar tending. "It's like you guys get to party every night! Must be awesome. You must be wasted every night!"