WideOcean

I'm going to talk to this fellow on Saturday
https://www.facebook.com/ziyoutattootangping?fref=ts
Dragon leg sleeve. Rawr.

At the risk of sounding like a savvy turd, I've been living here for enough years to know that this is not a "cultural thing" that I have to understand. Chinese are, in principle, much more worried about keeping up a standard of formalities and a strict customer-service provider relationship. This also goes for tattooing (and I had this experience the first time) where the collector respects the artist for his craft, and the artist respects the customer for the flattery of his trust. And, absolutely, for his money, that he wants and deserves.
Despite accomplished tattoo artists actually being called "master", by employees as well as customers, they are fully aware that they're selling a service and that a forthcoming and polite service attitude is of the utmost importance. If you're selling something in this country, you need to be convincing people that it's amazing, always, or potential income is out of your door before you know it. In principle.
For example, my first tattoo artist gave his apprentice a massive amount of shit for not answering the phone politely enough, when I was there. This is not Japan or Korea, but relationships and formalities still can have a very artificial look to the Western eye.
My grasp of the Chinese language is far from terrible, but the fact that I was speaking Chinese with him actually made it worse, because it's not common for an expat to speak it. I should have actually stuck to English, but then again his English wasn't competent enough to understand something like "I don't like water splashes too pointy and transparent." Me speaking Chinese made everyone more curious about the words coming out of my mouth.
You know, screw it, maybe he was having a bad day, maybe I was having a bad day. It just didn't work. He's a fine artist and I'm sure he's going to make a lot of people look better.
Someone earlier said I don't have to like someone to get tattooed by them. I couldn't disagree more. He's not my nurse, he's not my doctor. It works both ways: I don't need his tattoo. I just don't feel like making someone richer with my money, if I don't like them.
That story with the roses... speechless. Thanks for sharing.

I'd like to chip in from the point of view of East Asian art. The way this art has been and is handled has a certain importance here, since a big part of tattooing is strongly influenced by it.
Someone noted that many copies come from China and/or Korea. That is correct. It would be however very ignorant to immediately dismiss this as lack of creativity or thievery.
Traditionally, copying of masterpieces in East Asian art is not just flattery. It's the most important exercise for a student. There is a massive amount of EA art for which it is impossible to determine the author with absolute certainty, just because of how furiously students would immediately start reproducing it, over and over, often creating nigh-perfect copies of the original masterpiece. Every line, every dot, every detail. The original creators' glory would not only remain intact, but be exalted by this. This form of copy is done openly and honestly. Only after many years of copying, slowly, a practitioner of art would come to develop his own style.
Ed Hardy and a Chinese guy who is doing my sleeve discussed exactly this in an interview in the last TCM.
I think this applies, to a certain degree, to all art forms, Eastern or Western, just not to the same degree.
For me the question would be: Is Shige in any way harmed, if a tattoo is copied and people know it's Shige's?
Who is, actually, in any way harmed, if a great tattoo is copied? Someone's individuality or personality? Should we give tattoos that kind of importance? Should we give any thing that kind of importance? The ability to say "I am the only one who has this", is not just determined by positioning of pigments, but by the moment in time and the persons involved and the words said and the hours spent on it. That makes a tattoo unique, for me.
If I see someone with my exact same tattoo because he saw it on a website, I personally wouldn't care. I might even be flattered, hell, I'm not above pride. On one condition: honesty.
I might get tattooed by a Chinese guy who does amazing copies of Shige, and I have absolutely no problem with that, for the simple fact that the second he shows you that tattoo, he say's "This is a Shige design". Yes, it's from Shige, but now it's also his, through his hand and his eye, and it's also the first person's who got that kind of tattoo. And then it's also mine. Art just does that and I like to see it as a continuous, conscious and honest line of interpretations of subjects.
I don't care if it's a painting on silk or a tattoo on skin that is copied, there's no difference. It's a tribute to a masterpiece and the acknowledgement of beauty.
As long as there's honesty.
If you acknowledge your master, you're a student, if you don't...well, I guess then, and only then, you are a thief.

I'd like to chip in from the point of view of East Asian art. The way this art has been and is handled has a certain importance here, since a big part of tattooing is strongly influenced by it.
Someone noted that many copies come from China and/or Korea. That is correct. It would be however very ignorant to immediately dismiss this as lack of creativity or thievery.
Traditionally, copying of masterpieces in East Asian art is not just flattery. It's the most important exercise for a student. There is a massive amount of EA art for which it is impossible to determine the author with absolute certainty, just because of how furiously students would immediately start reproducing it, over and over, often creating nigh-perfect copies of the original masterpiece. Every line, every dot, every detail. The original creators' glory would not only remain intact, but be exalted by this. This form of copy is done openly and honestly. Only after many years of copying, slowly, a practitioner of art would come to develop his own style.
Ed Hardy and a Chinese guy who is doing my sleeve discussed exactly this in an interview in the last TCM.
I think this applies, to a certain degree, to all art forms, Eastern or Western, just not to the same degree.
For me the question would be: Is Shige in any way harmed, if a tattoo is copied and people know it's Shige's?
Who is, actually, in any way harmed, if a great tattoo is copied? Someone's individuality or personality? Should we give tattoos that kind of importance? Should we give any thing that kind of importance? The ability to say "I am the only one who has this", is not just determined by positioning of pigments, but by the moment in time and the persons involved and the words said and the hours spent on it. That makes a tattoo unique, for me.
If I see someone with my exact same tattoo because he saw it on a website, I personally wouldn't care. I might even be flattered, hell, I'm not above pride. On one condition: honesty.
I might get tattooed by a Chinese guy who does amazing copies of Shige, and I have absolutely no problem with that, for the simple fact that the second he shows you that tattoo, he say's "This is a Shige design". Yes, it's from Shige, but now it's also his, through his hand and his eye, and it's also the first person's who got that kind of tattoo. And then it's also mine. Art just does that and I like to see it as a continuous, conscious and honest line of interpretations of subjects.
I don't care if it's a painting on silk or a tattoo on skin that is copied, there's no difference. It's a tribute to a masterpiece and the acknowledgement of beauty.
As long as there's honesty.
If you acknowledge your master, you're a student, if you don't...well, I guess then, and only then, you are a thief.

I'd like to chip in from the point of view of East Asian art. The way this art has been and is handled has a certain importance here, since a big part of tattooing is strongly influenced by it.
Someone noted that many copies come from China and/or Korea. That is correct. It would be however very ignorant to immediately dismiss this as lack of creativity or thievery.
Traditionally, copying of masterpieces in East Asian art is not just flattery. It's the most important exercise for a student. There is a massive amount of EA art for which it is impossible to determine the author with absolute certainty, just because of how furiously students would immediately start reproducing it, over and over, often creating nigh-perfect copies of the original masterpiece. Every line, every dot, every detail. The original creators' glory would not only remain intact, but be exalted by this. This form of copy is done openly and honestly. Only after many years of copying, slowly, a practitioner of art would come to develop his own style.
Ed Hardy and a Chinese guy who is doing my sleeve discussed exactly this in an interview in the last TCM.
I think this applies, to a certain degree, to all art forms, Eastern or Western, just not to the same degree.
For me the question would be: Is Shige in any way harmed, if a tattoo is copied and people know it's Shige's?
Who is, actually, in any way harmed, if a great tattoo is copied? Someone's individuality or personality? Should we give tattoos that kind of importance? Should we give any thing that kind of importance? The ability to say "I am the only one who has this", is not just determined by positioning of pigments, but by the moment in time and the persons involved and the words said and the hours spent on it. That makes a tattoo unique, for me.
If I see someone with my exact same tattoo because he saw it on a website, I personally wouldn't care. I might even be flattered, hell, I'm not above pride. On one condition: honesty.
I might get tattooed by a Chinese guy who does amazing copies of Shige, and I have absolutely no problem with that, for the simple fact that the second he shows you that tattoo, he say's "This is a Shige design". Yes, it's from Shige, but now it's also his, through his hand and his eye, and it's also the first person's who got that kind of tattoo. And then it's also mine. Art just does that and I like to see it as a continuous, conscious and honest line of interpretations of subjects.
I don't care if it's a painting on silk or a tattoo on skin that is copied, there's no difference. It's a tribute to a masterpiece and the acknowledgement of beauty.
As long as there's honesty.
If you acknowledge your master, you're a student, if you don't...well, I guess then, and only then, you are a thief.

@diabeticwolf This is the 4th thread you've started on this topic, and you're basically asking the same question over and over. Please keep it all in one thread from now on!
- - - Updated - - -
Also, I would recommend you have the tattoo designed and drawn up by a professional tattooer. Don't go out and get something you find through a google picture search tattooed on you. You mention so many cool subject matters in your first thread. Wolfes, snakes, crocodiles... They all make super cool tattoos! Spend more time finding a tattooer you like and less time searching for images that were never meant to be tattooed in the first place.

I'm going to talk to this fellow on Saturday
https://www.facebook.com/ziyoutattootangping?fref=ts
Dragon leg sleeve. Rawr.

Not saying it's bad, it's just an incredibly idiotic, slutty, soulless gimmick.

I think good work is costly mostly because the artist can "afford" to be pricy. He has gone beyond the need to compete for customers through low prices. If you're not gonna pay a high price, someone else is already trying to get a spot, and will, gladly.
A high cost is usually a good sign and is very often in proportion with quality. People are aware of the internet and forums like these.
Stay the hell away from making a convenience-based choice, man! A backpiece cover up is pretty hard to cover up again.

Ego stroke? Sure, they're worth it, but that is the enabling factor that makes them, in the end, pricy.
The demand-supply principle here is simply the artist being aware that they supply a service, whose demand is beyond ready availability, hence the high price.
I think few artists would, in their ideal world, NOT charge high prices. Those who can, do so, because the quality of their work and the recognition they get enables them to do it.
Yup, I did get a raises at work. I also negotiated salaries based on the increasing quality of my background and the knowledge that my employer was aware of it. That doesn't change that I would've gladly enjoyed the salary I have now when I started out. I just knew I had to earn the trust.
Everyone does, for sure, get the tattoo they deserve.

If theres anything I've learned, as I'm sure have many others on this forum, is that skimping on the price of a tattoo will ultimately get you something you regret. I know I'm telling you to suck eggs, but I just can't emphasise it enough. Save for another year if you need to, heck you might be on a waiting list for that long anyway.

At the risk of sounding like a savvy turd, I've been living here for enough years to know that this is not a "cultural thing" that I have to understand. Chinese are, in principle, much more worried about keeping up a standard of formalities and a strict customer-service provider relationship. This also goes for tattooing (and I had this experience the first time) where the collector respects the artist for his craft, and the artist respects the customer for the flattery of his trust. And, absolutely, for his money, that he wants and deserves.
Despite accomplished tattoo artists actually being called "master", by employees as well as customers, they are fully aware that they're selling a service and that a forthcoming and polite service attitude is of the utmost importance. If you're selling something in this country, you need to be convincing people that it's amazing, always, or potential income is out of your door before you know it. In principle.
For example, my first tattoo artist gave his apprentice a massive amount of shit for not answering the phone politely enough, when I was there. This is not Japan or Korea, but relationships and formalities still can have a very artificial look to the Western eye.
My grasp of the Chinese language is far from terrible, but the fact that I was speaking Chinese with him actually made it worse, because it's not common for an expat to speak it. I should have actually stuck to English, but then again his English wasn't competent enough to understand something like "I don't like water splashes too pointy and transparent." Me speaking Chinese made everyone more curious about the words coming out of my mouth.
You know, screw it, maybe he was having a bad day, maybe I was having a bad day. It just didn't work. He's a fine artist and I'm sure he's going to make a lot of people look better.
Someone earlier said I don't have to like someone to get tattooed by them. I couldn't disagree more. He's not my nurse, he's not my doctor. It works both ways: I don't need his tattoo. I just don't feel like making someone richer with my money, if I don't like them.
That story with the roses... speechless. Thanks for sharing.

Ok, I'd love to get some feedback from tattoo artists and collectors alike on this, after seeing a lot of threads on how customers should behave.
I'll try to keep it short and simple.
I'm white guy living in Beijing, China. I started getting tattooed this summer (still in progress). I had a very positive experience with my first artist. I'd like a second piece now and was looking into another guy's work.
I went to see him some time ago.
Boy were we not hitting it off.
It went like this: I arrive and his assistant tells me I have to take my shoes off. I do that and sit on the couch, as invited.
Another Chinese couple is there. The assistant, as per common Chinese custom, brings me a glass of water and the guy's portfolio, which I go through again. For the trillionth time. He's excellent at his style and I already know that. He's not there yet. Two other employees are sitting at tables and drawing. There is no music, it's total silence and neon lights. Cozy as fuck.
About five minutes into my wait, the couple orders a plum juice and pays for it.
Now, I don't have any social disorders, but I am a person that can obsess over a single sentence or detail and construct an elaborate idea on it. The plum juice thing did that for me and it all went downhill from here: Shouldn't you worry about inking people and leave the soft drink business to others? I mean, I get having sugary stuff for people who faint etc., I get offering a free soft drink, considering that you charge like a motherfucker, but this was something off a freaking menu... Is that normal in other places? I'm OK with merchandise and stuff that has an inhouse-creative process behind it. I have nothing but love and respect for plum juice.. but selling it at a tattoo place?
Anyway, I keep waiting. After twenty or-so minutes the boss finally arrives. He says hi to the couple and something like "just a minute". He turns to where I'm sitting and we shake hands. He's smiling and stuff, but I don't know, he comes off as pretty smug. I start remembering his Instagram pics about him smoking Cuban cigars and a table with 10 bottles of Dom Perignon.
He asks me "What do you want?" in English. The rough wording of his question is due to the language barrier, but well, if anything, it certainly didn't exactly help.
The couple and all his employees gather around me to hear what I'm saying. My Chinese is OK, but all the attention towards what the white guy can say and what Asian stuff he wants on his skin makes it very uncomfortable for me to explain in their language how I want my dragon done, to basically everybody there, with him not even sitting down to listen. It's basically the monkey-at-a-zoo feeling that foreigners in China often experience when drawing the locals' attention. You can get stopped on the road for a pic of you here, just because you're Caucasian. Some people are OK with it. I'm not really.
Also, I won't jerk off here on how tattooing is a private, intimate experience, but well, I think taking a fucking second to sit down with me and maybe not have everyone gathering around is written somewhere in the "stuff you do to make a customer feel at ease"-manual.
I start explaining that I'd like design X on part of body Y with background Z. He says "Ok, cool." At this point, he was basically done and ready for the couple.
I get that his life won't revolve around my tattoo, but again, as other top-tier artists in Beijing, he charges considerable sums, and we're talking about a rather large project, so I was expecting some feedback, some criticism, some options, some "no"s.
With this in mind, I ask him if he thinks my idea and some of its details will work. He goes "I can draw whatever you want." Ok, but to my humble knowledge, this one element is not very common, do you think it will work? "It's your tattoo, your call.".
Fuck, ok. How much do you charge per hour? "I don't charge per hour, I charge per project." That's ok with me, but now the whole meeting had exactly cleared 0 doubts.
By now I was really bummed and disappointed. Out of pure small talk I asked how long it would take him to tattoo that. I was asking for a rough hour estimate. He must have understood it for "How many sessions". He snickered, and said "How do I know, that depends on you." At this, the girl from the couple laughed with a knowing grin. I'm pretty sure she was there for her first tattoo. I hope he'll tattoo an elbow inside her knee ditch.
In China it's not uncommon for well respected tattoo artists to operate out of rented apartments, with close to no advertisement.
There are shops in bar streets and amusement areas, but the main business there is alcohol-fueled souvenir flash. The really big guys are custom-only and don't have shops. It's more like a gallery, where they keep their paintings and drawings and have their tattoo equipment and tattoo all day, and live from it. You just won't find them by accident. My first sessions took place in such an environment by a guy that I have massive respect and admiration for, be it for his style, be it for his incredibly humble attitude. He recently had an expo with Ed Hardy here and had Ed at his place for visits multiple times. When you meet him, he has the attitude of a polite and serious plumber who came to fix your sink so that you're fucking happy again. He's expensive as shit and has people running his door in.
This is just to say that he has all you need to start losing touch with the ground. He doesn't, though.
When I went to him with my first idea, he listened, told me right away what would work, what would not, he encouraged me to be bolder with some things and made me turn it down a notch with others.
That was what I was expecting from the other guy. I have a girlfriend to tell me that my ideas are awesome. I don't know shit about doing tattoos. I can say precisely why I like something when I see it, but I'm very bad at the creative part. He didn't give me any personal artistic opinion, even after being presented with options, after I asked for it (politely). It was like asking a high-class hooker is she prefers me to wear a blue or a red condom: It was all up to me and the faster the better.
So. Am I being a little bitch here?
He doesn't need me, he's very popular and enough people are getting tattooed by him. And that's exactly the vibe I got today.
Ok, I'm done, I just felt like writing this. I guess it pissed me off to some extent, and I really can't see any blame on my part.
I'm going to buy a pack of tampons and cry myself to sleep now.
- - - Updated - - -
That "short and simple" thing worked out great.

Besides the health issues, I feel that the main problem with this thing is that the UV light necessary to see that part of a tattoo is a highly artificial, technological element, that pulls tattooing too far away from its prehistoric, tribal, ritual, spiritual core.
On a more modern and social level, I just can't imagine how to pull off having a blacklight tattoo without looking like a complete douchebag, I just can't.

At the risk of sounding like a savvy turd, I've been living here for enough years to know that this is not a "cultural thing" that I have to understand. Chinese are, in principle, much more worried about keeping up a standard of formalities and a strict customer-service provider relationship. This also goes for tattooing (and I had this experience the first time) where the collector respects the artist for his craft, and the artist respects the customer for the flattery of his trust. And, absolutely, for his money, that he wants and deserves.
Despite accomplished tattoo artists actually being called "master", by employees as well as customers, they are fully aware that they're selling a service and that a forthcoming and polite service attitude is of the utmost importance. If you're selling something in this country, you need to be convincing people that it's amazing, always, or potential income is out of your door before you know it. In principle.
For example, my first tattoo artist gave his apprentice a massive amount of shit for not answering the phone politely enough, when I was there. This is not Japan or Korea, but relationships and formalities still can have a very artificial look to the Western eye.
My grasp of the Chinese language is far from terrible, but the fact that I was speaking Chinese with him actually made it worse, because it's not common for an expat to speak it. I should have actually stuck to English, but then again his English wasn't competent enough to understand something like "I don't like water splashes too pointy and transparent." Me speaking Chinese made everyone more curious about the words coming out of my mouth.
You know, screw it, maybe he was having a bad day, maybe I was having a bad day. It just didn't work. He's a fine artist and I'm sure he's going to make a lot of people look better.
Someone earlier said I don't have to like someone to get tattooed by them. I couldn't disagree more. He's not my nurse, he's not my doctor. It works both ways: I don't need his tattoo. I just don't feel like making someone richer with my money, if I don't like them.
That story with the roses... speechless. Thanks for sharing.

One other thing, Richard read you entry... He said FUCK EM.
He has an amazing portrait tattoo of his son on his leg, the tattoo is 20 years old, looks amazing, and done by an ELITE European tattooer, and even though it still looks great. He really doesn't like the tattoo, due to the experience... Just his two cents.

Ok, I'd love to get some feedback from tattoo artists and collectors alike on this, after seeing a lot of threads on how customers should behave.
I'll try to keep it short and simple.
I'm white guy living in Beijing, China. I started getting tattooed this summer (still in progress). I had a very positive experience with my first artist. I'd like a second piece now and was looking into another guy's work.
I went to see him some time ago.
Boy were we not hitting it off.
It went like this: I arrive and his assistant tells me I have to take my shoes off. I do that and sit on the couch, as invited.
Another Chinese couple is there. The assistant, as per common Chinese custom, brings me a glass of water and the guy's portfolio, which I go through again. For the trillionth time. He's excellent at his style and I already know that. He's not there yet. Two other employees are sitting at tables and drawing. There is no music, it's total silence and neon lights. Cozy as fuck.
About five minutes into my wait, the couple orders a plum juice and pays for it.
Now, I don't have any social disorders, but I am a person that can obsess over a single sentence or detail and construct an elaborate idea on it. The plum juice thing did that for me and it all went downhill from here: Shouldn't you worry about inking people and leave the soft drink business to others? I mean, I get having sugary stuff for people who faint etc., I get offering a free soft drink, considering that you charge like a motherfucker, but this was something off a freaking menu... Is that normal in other places? I'm OK with merchandise and stuff that has an inhouse-creative process behind it. I have nothing but love and respect for plum juice.. but selling it at a tattoo place?
Anyway, I keep waiting. After twenty or-so minutes the boss finally arrives. He says hi to the couple and something like "just a minute". He turns to where I'm sitting and we shake hands. He's smiling and stuff, but I don't know, he comes off as pretty smug. I start remembering his Instagram pics about him smoking Cuban cigars and a table with 10 bottles of Dom Perignon.
He asks me "What do you want?" in English. The rough wording of his question is due to the language barrier, but well, if anything, it certainly didn't exactly help.
The couple and all his employees gather around me to hear what I'm saying. My Chinese is OK, but all the attention towards what the white guy can say and what Asian stuff he wants on his skin makes it very uncomfortable for me to explain in their language how I want my dragon done, to basically everybody there, with him not even sitting down to listen. It's basically the monkey-at-a-zoo feeling that foreigners in China often experience when drawing the locals' attention. You can get stopped on the road for a pic of you here, just because you're Caucasian. Some people are OK with it. I'm not really.
Also, I won't jerk off here on how tattooing is a private, intimate experience, but well, I think taking a fucking second to sit down with me and maybe not have everyone gathering around is written somewhere in the "stuff you do to make a customer feel at ease"-manual.
I start explaining that I'd like design X on part of body Y with background Z. He says "Ok, cool." At this point, he was basically done and ready for the couple.
I get that his life won't revolve around my tattoo, but again, as other top-tier artists in Beijing, he charges considerable sums, and we're talking about a rather large project, so I was expecting some feedback, some criticism, some options, some "no"s.
With this in mind, I ask him if he thinks my idea and some of its details will work. He goes "I can draw whatever you want." Ok, but to my humble knowledge, this one element is not very common, do you think it will work? "It's your tattoo, your call.".
Fuck, ok. How much do you charge per hour? "I don't charge per hour, I charge per project." That's ok with me, but now the whole meeting had exactly cleared 0 doubts.
By now I was really bummed and disappointed. Out of pure small talk I asked how long it would take him to tattoo that. I was asking for a rough hour estimate. He must have understood it for "How many sessions". He snickered, and said "How do I know, that depends on you." At this, the girl from the couple laughed with a knowing grin. I'm pretty sure she was there for her first tattoo. I hope he'll tattoo an elbow inside her knee ditch.
In China it's not uncommon for well respected tattoo artists to operate out of rented apartments, with close to no advertisement.
There are shops in bar streets and amusement areas, but the main business there is alcohol-fueled souvenir flash. The really big guys are custom-only and don't have shops. It's more like a gallery, where they keep their paintings and drawings and have their tattoo equipment and tattoo all day, and live from it. You just won't find them by accident. My first sessions took place in such an environment by a guy that I have massive respect and admiration for, be it for his style, be it for his incredibly humble attitude. He recently had an expo with Ed Hardy here and had Ed at his place for visits multiple times. When you meet him, he has the attitude of a polite and serious plumber who came to fix your sink so that you're fucking happy again. He's expensive as shit and has people running his door in.
This is just to say that he has all you need to start losing touch with the ground. He doesn't, though.
When I went to him with my first idea, he listened, told me right away what would work, what would not, he encouraged me to be bolder with some things and made me turn it down a notch with others.
That was what I was expecting from the other guy. I have a girlfriend to tell me that my ideas are awesome. I don't know shit about doing tattoos. I can say precisely why I like something when I see it, but I'm very bad at the creative part. He didn't give me any personal artistic opinion, even after being presented with options, after I asked for it (politely). It was like asking a high-class hooker is she prefers me to wear a blue or a red condom: It was all up to me and the faster the better.
So. Am I being a little bitch here?
He doesn't need me, he's very popular and enough people are getting tattooed by him. And that's exactly the vibe I got today.
Ok, I'm done, I just felt like writing this. I guess it pissed me off to some extent, and I really can't see any blame on my part.
I'm going to buy a pack of tampons and cry myself to sleep now.
- - - Updated - - -
That "short and simple" thing worked out great.

Regardless of what you hear about a tattooer and how much you love their work, if you feel uncomfortable with them, then definitely do not get a big, multiple session piece with them. Not only will the actual sessions be stressful, but if you're anything like me, you will worry every day until your first appointment and in between each subsequent session if the tattoo will be what you want or if this guy will ease up and offer any artistic input.
I had a similar situation, but in the US. We finished the outline and then started talking about colors. The artist had briefly talked about what colors would work before we got started. (Also important to mention, is that when I came in for my consult I said I wanted black and white, but he was adamant about doing it in color. Looking back, I think that was the guy at the desk's fault because he recommended this artist based on what I told him and the artists is heavy into bright colorful floral tattoos). So after the outline was finished, he literally opened his cabinet with his ink bottles and asked me to choose what I wanted. I said flat out, he should use his judgement since he was the tattooer. By then, we had already narrowed it down to red roses, so it was a matter of choosing the red and a highlight color, like pink. He had all different values of red and pink and greens and wanted ME to choose each one. I kept trying to refuse, but he really wanted me to decide. It was my first tattoo and I felt extremely uncomfortable and overwhelmed. Long story short, I left without getting the color and 6 years later still have an unfinished tattoo.
In my opinion, with my experience it was more bad "service" to expect a newcomer to tattooing to know how to choose inks, because we did vibe very well at the consult and leading right up to the outline finishing. But I think you're situation was a combination of bad chemistry/bad service. If you ever feel uncomfortable, just run! Tattoos are a commitment, and to me, the experience is part of the package. If you have a negative experience with a tattoo, then you will have a reminder forever. I know I do.

Besides the health issues, I feel that the main problem with this thing is that the UV light necessary to see that part of a tattoo is a highly artificial, technological element, that pulls tattooing too far away from its prehistoric, tribal, ritual, spiritual core.
On a more modern and social level, I just can't imagine how to pull off having a blacklight tattoo without looking like a complete douchebag, I just can't.

Besides the health issues, I feel that the main problem with this thing is that the UV light necessary to see that part of a tattoo is a highly artificial, technological element, that pulls tattooing too far away from its prehistoric, tribal, ritual, spiritual core.
On a more modern and social level, I just can't imagine how to pull off having a blacklight tattoo without looking like a complete douchebag, I just can't.

I live and work in China and got my first tattoo here this summer. Although more popular with younger generations, in China tattoos carry a much stronger stigma than in the west and are associated with prisons, crime and lack of education, in a much more narrow view than in other countries/cultures. I started a full sleeve and and the general response of my Chinese colleagues in the office (I'm Caucasian) was one of total silence, except for two younger girls, who asked if it hurt and said it was cool.
Old ladies in the bus are scared of me now.
Man I'm such a badass.

Get a brand new tattoo somewhere else -- then you'll stop obsessing!

Admins, could we add a button that will automatically post that OV Dan Higgs video talking about how tattoos go together for whenever there's a thread like this?

One down. LOTS to go!

I got my first tattoo on my 21st birthday -- late-January 1972 -- while on leave after finishing USArmy AIT, before reporting to my first duty station: Fort Richardson, AK. I didn't get any more ink until I'd finished my military service and drifted back to the Ft. Benning, GA area, where I met Louie Lombi, who'd recently opened a branch of his mentor's shop -- "Big Joe" Kaplan, from Mount Vernon, NY. Louie began sleeving me between July 1976 and December 1979; then I emigrated to Israel (!) and fell out of contact with him. We got back in touch in 2001, when I was in South Florida for a computer course (sent from Israel), and found that Louie had relocated to Greenacres/Lake Worth, FL, where my mother lived, and opened a shop of his own: Louie Lombi's Tattoo Paradise. Small world. I finally left Israel summer of 2004, and returned to South Florida. Louie finished my sleeves, and another artist in his employ, "Painless Jimmy" Hankins. Jimmy eventually did my chest, shoulders and "sleeved" my lower legs, ankles-to-knees.
I need a new photo -- this one's missing the bluebirds (PS: the women's heads were done in Columbus, GA by the late Jack Armstrong, in 1977... sponge-in-a-jar)

My shins and calves (missing the wrap-around sides) (Statue of Liberty outline done on July 4th, 2006, and all work on both legs was finished in late 2008)

And feet... (summer of 2009)