keepcalm

Nice, congrats! I just started going to a climbing gym, and I'm looking forward to one day soon finally having more upper body strength than a 6-year-old.

Would love to, thanks! What days are you there? Also, congrats on getting the ball rolling for your back!

Great read -- thanks, @Graeme!

@HaydenRose, I sympathize with your husband! My list of expensive things I want/need is too long for my own good, and every time "a tattoo" bubbles up to the top of it, I feel some guilt, haha!

@Colored Guy, very sorry for your loss. I hope you can remember her in awesome ways as you go forward.

Fair point. I like the feeling of getting something on the spot, but I also like more personalized designs. Guess you can't have it all! I'm on cancellation lists for a couple of SF artists I like -- am wondering how that will work. Not sure how much advance notice I'll get if they have a spot open up! Thanks, all.

Reviving this to ask: What if it's a walk-in tattoo, you give the artist an hour or two (or whatever) to draw it up, you come back in, and you just really don't like it at all. Is it super-rude to ask for a complete redraw? What if you decide you just don't want it anymore -- should you offer to pay for the time it took the artist to do the drawing? I don't think it would often be the case that your vision and the artist's were SO far apart, but what if?

@CultExciter -- I'll be in SF for the next month(ish)! Are we still Instagram buddies? I'm going to DM you my number. Would be funny to meet you on the West Coast when we're both from the East Coast.

It does - I've learned a lot from these folks. And welcome! I used to live in DC. Have you started looking at artists and shops yet, or still just kind of thinking?

Here's a new watercolor piece from Tattoo Paradise in DC, posted on Facebook today, done by David Cavalcante. It's interesting because it looks like it's actually a black and gray tattoo, with color around it. So I guess when the watercolor fades, you'll just have a b&g tattoo. Not a bad idea?

Come onnnn... you know you want to share a piiiicture! :)

!! At which shop can I find cltattooing?

I'm going to be in San Francisco for roughly the next three weeks, and I'm half-heartedly trying to get on a couple of cancellation lists for shops I like -- not sure how much luck I'll have, though. Anyone know of good Bay Area shops that take walk-ins? Perhaps I will widen the net...

Got it -- thanks, all, for educating me, ha!

@Rikhall *whistle*

So... it's just supposed to look like metal?

I just Googled "chromed out tattoo" but am still unclear on what it means :(

Glad to see this thread still popping up every now and then! I'm getting a big piece on my right thigh in September; that'll keep my legs asymmetrical. I kind of want to get something on the back of my left elbow so I don't look quite so symmetrical from behind (right now each of my shoulder blades are covered equally). Booo, symmetry! Haha. BUT I haven't ventured down either arm yet, and that'd be a big step for me, so still pondering. Found an artist I would LOVE to give some highly visible real estate to, though! He's in Germany, and I'll be there this fall. Coincidence? I THINK NOT

That's okay! I felt similarly indecisive before getting my first tattoo. It's scary how easy it gets (comparatively) once you're over the initial hump, though, haha!

Hi Matt! Do you have any tattoos?

I've gotten four tattoos at Tattoo Paradise and can highly recommend the shop! Scott M (who doesn't work there anymore but is guesting there sometime now or very soon) and Dave Cavalcante have both worked on me. It's a clean shop and the guys and gals are fun.

I will! Am very excited but sadly have to wait until August! Thanks!

Thank you for saying this! Haha! I always feel like a SUPER uncool client when I walk into a tattoo shop! Partly because I am barely covered, and partly because I just don't feel like I'm totally "in" the tattoo world. Jokes go over my head in the shop, people talk about artists or things I don't know about, etc. My image probably doesn't help -- I look like a pretty all-American (and likely naive) young white girl, so I know people are out there making assumptions about me, haha! Anyway, I try not to let it bother me and just go in, be friendly, learn what I can, and get nice work that I love!

Wow, thank you everyone for the detailed replies! Of course, I've never said anything like "This is all shitty!" after seeing a design, haha. I usually love the designs I've been shown as a whole. The changes I've requested in the past have been small, and they only required the artist to redraw a small part of the design, not the whole thing. I always try to be kind and courteous, of course -- after all, this is part of my point: This is someone's art, and even though it's going on my body, I don't want to insult anyone! At the same time, I want to really love my tattoo. The times I've asked, the tattooer has said something like "for sure, no problem" -- and made the change I asked for. I've never asked for more than one change per tattoo I've gotten. And I didn't ask for any changes at all for two of my pieces. I dunno. This is the hardest part of the process for me, probably. I have taken a page out of "the book" here from you guys and learned to pick artists whose work I just totally love -- my next tattoo is being done by one of those people (Dennis del Prete at Providence Tattoo in RI), and I don't anticipate wanting anything on his design changed. Anyway, good advice here -- thanks again, all.

Searched for this but didn't see anything -- point me in the right direction if there's already a thread covering this... So, even when I make an appointment far in advance, my experience so far (4 one-shot sessions) has been that the artist doesn't have anything drawn up until I come in to actually get the tattoo. And I get this -- people are busy and like to do one thing at a time. However, it has me wondering about the etiquette for if you see the drawing and want to change something about it. There you are, staring at your artist, and s/he's ready to start working on you, because you booked this appointment time, but you want to ask him/her to change something about the design s/he drew up. Do artists expect this? Do they work possible re-drawing time in to the time you booked for your appointment? Or do they expect you to just agree to the design and get started right away? It's been a very uncomfortable moment for me the times I've asked if something could be changed. I didn't know if I was offending the artist, or doing it wrong? How much is too much to ask to be changed? Like I said, I understand they can't work up a drawing for everyone far in advance, but I always feel pressure to accept the first thing they show me when I arrive to get the tattoo done, and it gives me anxiety, ha. What does everyone else do? What is expected? Would love perspectives from tattooers on this, too!