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JazzyMac

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Posts posted by JazzyMac

  1. Funny story:  As I'm generously tipping my artist after my last session, he casually mentions he'll be in my city during a specific week, but "he's already booked up".  While he's still counting, "You're welcome to book your next session back in my city though".  

    Most artists are assholes.  However if I constantly reacted based on how I was treated, the world would just be filled with tons of assholes.  He enjoyed his extra and I have a cheeky tale to tell.

  2. 3 hours ago, EastCoastHobbit said:

    Hello!  Happy to be here :)

    I recently got a tattoo at a convention of a rabbit.  In general, I really like the tattoo.  It looks like an illustration from a children's book.  However, what I did not notice when I got the tattoo is that the rabbit's left ear is facing the wrong direction.  I'm so choked about this, because otherwise I really like it.  Is this something I am overthinking and should not worry about?  Or is it something that maybe could be fixed?

    Thanks all :)

    20171023_135114.jpg

    The tattoo itself is very nice, however the first thing I notice was how the rabbit's body was "out of sorts".  I would bring it up with the artist, but at the same time, research excellent, professional artists to correct this job.  Yes, it's definitely fixable, and a great artist can work wonders with this piece.  Don't rush it, however.  Most people won't even notice the ears unless you point it out.  Take your time and find a GREAT artist worthy of fixing the job.

  3. On 10/17/2017 at 6:41 PM, IX XV LXXXVIII said:

    Absolutely I tip with these factors in mind: 

    1. Timeliness to emails: I've worked with artists who take 2+ weeks to get back to me. I've worked with artists who get back to me within 2 days. I am more inclined to tip more to the artist who is extremely responsive.

    2. Personal relations: I've worked with artists who had the nerve to argue with what I wanted. I've also worked with artists who collaborate and give sound advice if they think something won't work or if they have a better idea in mind. I am more inclined to tip more to the artist who treats the experience like a partnership and a collaboration.

    3. Satisfaction with the design: I've had artists who hit the nail on the head 100% with what I wanted. I've had artists go on their own crazy program and give me something I was not happy with. I'm more inclined to tip more to the artist who gives me exactly what I want.

    I always tip, but I will tip generously to the artist who fits the above criteria. And in turn, I've found they will bend over backwards to give me more flexibility for future appointments and longer tattoo sessions. I scratch their back, they scratch my back, its a win win for both of us involved.

    It's such a grey area when it comes to this.  I'm inclined to tip because...I'm a tipper.  But that doesn't mean I don't notice the actions of artists. After spending so many hours with an artist and he "kind of" hits the nail in the head, but meh maybe, he'll still get a tip and then thank me and have a nice day. I'm not expecting a red carpet, but in the art industry, people just aren't thankful.  I sought you out, I came on time, I sat well, I kept my mouth shut, I filled out your silly "what kinda tatto do you want" paper (that you didn't even care to read), and you still get a percentage on top of your outrageous charge. Someone's winning I suppose. 😏

  4. It's a keloid scar.  It's how how some people with melanin in their skin react to scars.  Unfortunately, your doctor was probably not used to seeing it.  You need to see a skin doctor and see if you can get any meds for it.  Sometimes before you start healing, you can take meds (during pain medication), so keloids won't pop up, as a prevention method.  Sometimes it's inevitable. However, you may be lucky and it will heal and eventually disappear, but it will take months...maybe even a year.  

    The needle went deeper than it should have, that's a fact.

  5. On 10/12/2017 at 6:49 AM, pidjones said:

    @purplelace - I once was VERY prone to car sick, sea sick, air sick, etc. I found three preventatives. One may work for you: Dramamine - Modine and Bonnine are just sugar pills to me. Although it might make you drowsy, Dramamine just works for me, and is OTC here. Martinis - not too many, but a double can really do wonders. Made our honeymoon cruise enjoyable for my wife. Saltines - old sailor's cure, and it works! Our captain even brought a pack back into the engine room once when we had a long, rough surface transit (nuc submarine). We told him we were not allowed to eat in the engineering spaces, then broke out our boxes of saltines when he went forward.

    Nvm

  6. It's not wrong to expect a reply, but you're probably not going to get a response at all.  Most don't show you the design until the day before or until you actually walk in, and some actually draw the design free hand on you!  But if your artist is flexible, you should be able to change up a couple of things and talk it through.

  7. That said, it is kind of a weird US culture that we live in; tip 15-20% for doing the regular job...not going above and beyond, not doing anything miraculous, and there are still empty homes and homeless that we'll look down upon with scorn and say, "well you should have worked harder!"

    I digress.

    My artist does nothing out of the ordinary except tattoo, and yet gets all my dough.

  8. On 4/17/2016 at 4:41 PM, heathenist said:

     

    - - - Updated - - -

    Get the F*** out of here with that attitude. Maybe tipping isn't expected in Australia, and that's fine if you don't tip there. But don't chalk it up to you making $35/hour and the artist making $180/hour because that's such a naive and bullshit way of viewing how tattoo artists are compensated.

    Most artists either have to rent out a spot in a shop or pay a percentage of their earnings to the shop, usually around 30% based on what I've heard. So that $180 is now about $120. I've also heard from artists that just to set up a tattoo costs between $20-40 (which is why shop minimums exist). So now it's down to about $90. Now take into account they only charge for the time they are actually tattooing you, not the time they are setting up, drawing, putting on the stencil, listening to what you want, etc. So a "one hour" tattoo, really probably takes a minimum of 1.5-2 hours. Now that's down to about $45 an hour. Now take into account that most artists don't work 9-5, instead, they might get a couple of tattoos a day, with lots of down time in between. After all of that, that $180/hour doesn't look so glamorous does it? Now take into account that the cost of living in Australia is much higher than in the US, and the fact that your artist only charges $180/hour when many artists in the states charge the same or higher.

    I don't mean to say that this means you should tip, but I think it's disingenuous to act like all tattooers are super rich just because they charge $180+ per hour.

    This is old, but since the thread has been revived, (and not much else going on), I thought it worth to mention the very weird logic in this post.  

    Someone said that since the artist charged $180/hour, and he or she as the customer only made $35/hour, no tipping would be involved...which as an Australian living in Australia is probably par for the course.  

    And then, that post happened (above).  "Let's add on all these extra charges to make it look like the artist makes pennies".  Um, no.

    If an artist is charged a shop fee of 30%, that's fine.  If it costs $40 to set up, that's also fine.  But it doesn't cost $40 PER HOUR to set up does it?  "Listening to what you want"...yes, yes, that takes a whole lot of money.  

    As someone who's done a plethora of different jobs, plus dabbles in the artistic field, *I get it*, but let's not start pulling charges out of the sky to justify an artist's pricing.  I know I can pay $5K for art that would cost $1K somewhere else, and it's not because *he listened more*. Eh?

     

  9. Looks gruesome.  Soooo glad you went to get medical care!  So many folks here will suggest going back to the tattoo artist--even though they can't help unless, um, they are medically trained.  It sucks your tattoo got infected; perhaps it was "luck" of the draw?

    I hope you're feeling better soon.

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