Vivian

Bumping since I'm back to square one with the artist search.

I just cancelled. I feel so bad about it since it's so last minute. - - - Updated - - - Even if it wasn't safe, would actually he say so? People aren't always honest.

So I should cancel? I hate doing that at the last second...

That's part of problem, I can't find any reviews. But he gets daily requests from around the world for him to come visit their country, if that means anything at all. I agree that if he wasn't safe, someone would say something somewhere. Part of the issue is that he's from Europe, so when I search for his name I probably don't get the sites locals would review him on.

So I'm scheduled for a tattoo this week. The artist is visiting from another country. He does some very nice tattoos, in my opinion. My hesitation is this: he's staying at his friend's apartment and that's where he tattoos. Do you think this is safe? I'm going to bring someone with me and will try to make sure everything is hygienic and sterilized and use my discretion before anything happens. I just want to get some feedback you guys. He's a very talented artist but there's the question of safety.

Has it gone down at all? i don't know much about bruising. If it's blow out, it looks like an easy coverup. And please don't go to the same artist! Why take that risk? Because he might do it for free or less $? Not worth it in my opinion.

I agree with PPs. I only have one tattoo so far, an arrow, and it was to cover up another tattoo. It has no special meaning to me, I just like the design. In a few days I'll be getting some wildflowers done on my leg because I think they're pretty and I think this artist will do a great job. Tattoos don't have to mean anything at all and they definitely don't need to mean what other people say they mean (unless perhaps it's a well-known symbol like the cross). I imagine that one day I'll connect something or another to my fairly meaningless tattoos, but for now they're just body art. Not trying to say there's a problem learning about what op's tattoo means! I think knowledge about the design's history, use, and implications is extremely important and helpful.

Hard to say. I can see the water color and trash polka youre talking about. His drawings remind me of newspaper comics too.

OMG I literally just found this guy from Russia ((https://www.instagram.com/aleksey_platunov_tattoo/) andddd right now he's in DC!! Not too far of a drive for me either. If he has openings, I might've lucked out. What do you all think? He's got more of a sketchy look to his tattoos, but I think they're pretty endearing and energetic.

Marley - I contacted Bang Bang a while ago, and the artist I was interested in (Georgia or Liz, can't remember) had a base min. of $1000 for 2 hours!!!! And this was for a pretty small tattoo. I almost died. I think their cheapest artist charged 400/hour. There are a lot of great artists out there who aren't so crazy overpriced. If it were a dream of mine to have a tat done by them, I might consider it....but I'd sooner fly to Slovakia and spend all my money at Bumpkin. ATM, it's just not financially feasible. That's not to say I won't consider a great artist if they're expensive...it all depends. - - - Updated - - - LadySparrow - I just saw your tattoo on another site! Love it. I love their drawings of people...if I ever go to Bumpkin I think a tattoo depicting a person would be quite lovely.

Recenty discovered Bumpkin Tattoos and I'm in love...but i can't afford a trip to Slovakia. Is there anyone who does similar work in the US? Bumpkin Tattoo