cloudkicker

Quoted for truth, his 108 heroes of Los Angeles is too damn cool I would sport it

I hear you. Believe it not, we're not all millionaires on this board. The most famous and/or expensive artists aren't necessarily the best, and there are some lesser-known artists out there who are incredible and don't charge an arm and a leg. You just have to find 'em.
The thing is, it's not like buying a Kia in hopes of affording a Mercedes someday. (Not that there's anything wrong with buying a cheap car if it gets you there.) You're stuck with that thing for life. So you may as well save up even if it takes a year or more -- which is how long it takes to get an appointment with some of these folks anyway. And we're just talking about local artists! Think about the people who travel to get tattooed – sometimes overseas. Not all of 'em are rich, just committed.
Like my new signature says:

thanks you guys, will check em out after work.
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ya i realize that some work faster than others.. it's just hard to guesstimate a full price because unfortunately i do have a budget.. and i would like to prefer not having a half finished large piece lol.
ya it seems everyone here is set on "save up or dont get it" mentality.. but i see nothing wrong with trying to find an artist that i like that i can actually afford. i'd love to get pieces from all my favorite artists, but i simply can't afford it unfortunately.. /shrug

@cloudkicker Other than the suggestions mentioned, considering your area. Robert Atkinson at Dolorosa Tattoo.

Bill Canales

Check out Jess Yen @ My Tattoo

Chris Brand does the best neo-Japanese in the L.A. area IMO
Sung Song & Julian Zeff @ Unbreakable in Studio City also do nice work
Horisuzu @ Dark Horse & Small Paul @ True Tattoo both do more traditional-style Japanese, and are excellent
There's also Onizuka Tattoo in Little Tokyo, JoJo Ackermann, Robert Atkinson -- the list goes on...
My koi sleeve was done by Kim Saigh @ Memoir. She can do anything.

Try looking up Khuonh Ngyuen out of Daruma Tattoo in San Jose.

Finished up my left side. Background is down to a big wave in the middle of
My butt and a few windbars on my right armpit.

This conversation about taste and whether 'traditional' American tattooing really can be described as timeless is so interesting. It also ties in a way to a conversation I was having with my grandfather a couple of weeks ago after I showed him my tattoos for the first time.
He's 89 years old in November and got all of his 4 tattoos during the 2nd World War whilst stationed in Germany. He has a crawling panther, an anchor, a swallow and his favorite, an eagle on his bicep. He got all of his tattoos in 1944 and he still loves all of them to this day, he says that getting the eagle was one of the best decisions he ever made 'its given me so much joy over the years'. Interestingly though I asked him if he ever wished that he had got more and he said no, he got just the number he wanted and stopped there.
Now this is a guy who has lived with his tattoos for 70 years now, tastes have changed, fashions have come and gone and through it all he's remained stoked with those four tattoos he got in the 1940's! This got me to thinking about my own approach to tattoos and how different it is to his, like most people on this forum I'm always planning who I'd like to get tattooed by and have pretty much mapped out my arms and torso in my mind. But its easy to forget that those images of heavily tattooed sailor from the 1940's actually made up a tiny minority, my grandad was considered pretty heavily tattooed at that time.
I wonder with the whole traditional thing whether we are chasing something that didn't really exist in the way we think it did, and whether he might be onto something when he said to me that if you want to continue to love the tattoos you have through your life then sometimes less is more...
That being said its not advice I'm going to take, I cannot imagine a time when I won't want to get tattooed.
Sorry if that was a bit of a rant and off topic, I just thought it tied in with the flavor of the thread.

I don't know whether this will help ya but, with all my work which has entailed long sittings, we work out design say for my back & I say quote me for the job for a one up front payment.
Then I squirrel away what I need, then after the 1st sitting, I pay for the entire job.
That way, money is only discussed once, and we can both concentrate on the job at hand without any other interference.
Anyway, might not work for you nor your tattooer as it's hard to anticipate every factor regarding application along the way, plus...my tattooer I have known for years also, so he's happy to roll this way.

I just take to the chair and let the tattooing begin, at the end of the session, I ask how much and fork over the cash. Some artists will give you a firm-fixed-price on a big piece, others won't. In the end most of us work well with artists that we've been with forever.

keep researching and keep saving.
if you are looking in the LA area check out place like Onizuka Tattoo, Dark Horse, and Small Paul at True Tattoo. and visit the Perserverance exhibit http://www.janm.org/exhibits/perseverance/

I am new to tattoos also. Just started last year. This is a great site with plenty of people wanting to help. Being new, I had to learn what is "reasonable" in the tattoo world. Reasonable pricing, time frames, pain, what can and cannot be done in a tattoo, quality, fading, etc..
You cannot believe everything you read on the internet or read in discussion boards, but when everyone is giving you the same advice, odds are, it's good advice. One of the funny things about getting free advice on the internet. We sometimes discredit it because it's free.

If you're going to Jess Yen's shop you'd be foolish to get a backpiece from anyone but Jess Yen.
Foo dogs are a great subject for a backpiece, especially with peonies. You should probably listen to your artist when it comes to placement.
But if you can't afford a good backpiece, don't get one. Now is not the time to go bargain hunting.
My advice: Get the best tattoo you can. Money is secondary. If you can't wrap your mind around that one, you're not ready to make that kind of commitment. The reason many tattooers can't quote you a price up front is because it's hard to know how long a piece of that size and scope will take, but I'd guesstimate you're looking at least 25-50 hours – 100 on the outside. Hourly rates are mostly meaningless because some of the best artists are very fast and some newbies are very slow. By trying to get a bargain you could end up with a mediocre to bad tattoo that's way more expensive than the one you could have had.
Take the time and save up while you make up your mind. And/or consider getting one foo dog on an arm or a leg and take it from there. From everything I've read, however, you're probably not ready. Feel free to prove me wrong but don't ignore good advice from people who know more than you.

Good advice right there.

i actually met the guy in person.. and well.. i wanted 2 foo dogs on my shoulder blades.. and he was very adamant that i need to rethink my placement because there's no room to expand.. kept saying you can't put water underneath it or anything... and he kept suggesting all my other body parts.. chest.. thighs.. ribs.. anything lol.. but i was pretty stuck with the image i have in mind even though he had good points..
and i think the fact that i'm clean of tattoos made him talk to me differently and i honestly dont know if i was feeling his vibe.. he was really cool on the phone but in person he was kinda pushy.. but he jus came from accross the country so maybe he was tired..
gonna talk to him on the phone tomorrow and see how it goes
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ya i can see why lol... thanks for the advice

hmm... ya i guess u got a point.....well fuck..

If you aren't sure you should postpone your appointment until you are sure. A full back piece is a huge commitment of time, money and pain. I have my last appointment next month and I've been working on my back for a year and a half. I had a full sleeve and chest piece before starting on my back.
It's a pretty risky first tattoo. There are a lot of aspects to getting and being tattooed that you don't understand until after you are tattooed. You don't even know how well you will sit.
Good luck, I hope it works out.

I understand 100%, I will so buy you a beer on that whole statement

want to thank everyone for their replies.. even though every does have their own opinion.. me being naive to the whole thing and hearing people's experiences is really putting things into perspectives well..
i think i like the idea of getting the outline done first and then going for small sessions of shading little by little instead of going for big chunks at a time.. will keep everyone posted after i talk to my artist!

Eff what you've heard. Don't worry about what is common. Get tattooed for yourself without concern for what other people do. That starts with not caring whether how you approach it is similar to how others approach it. Before there was an internet and the false assurance of general consensus there were people getting tattooed any way they could. Don't worry about whether it's normal, just worry about whether it will work.
The one thing I would say, as a tattooer... do not compromise the image. Don't go the cheap route, sacrificing the quality of a permanent tattoo on your permanent body to meet your temporary means. Your body is forever and you will regret it...eventually if not instantly.
And when you have an artist that you trust to do it, take his or her advice. They may say to hold off til you can afford a large enough portion that it will look fluid in the end. Don't try to get one corner done, then a little over here and some in the middle if it will look like disjointed sections poorly stitched together. Always be thinking of the whole. Some styles can be tackled in sections but much of the beauty of a back piece is its wholeness as a large piece. Sometimes this means a whole outline of the principle image has to happen first.

Hey Dude welcome!
I have a piece on my back from 3 years ago that was left to add more too as we went. At the time I was unsure of how to progress, and then my tattoo artist moved 3 hours drive away.
But I am still in touch with him, and he touched up the original recently to make sure it was looking good ready to be added to. I plan on having him and his sister do a collaboration on it to complete in the next year (she is his apprentice but is pretty amazing!). So you are not the only one who might have something spread out. I can only afford to do it bit by bit, and prefer to have longer sessions to get more done in 1 go, which means longer to save! But I have also been getting other work done in between, with different artists I wanted to collect.
Dont worry if your story isn't the same as someone else getting it smashed out in 6 months of mad sessions. As long as you found a great artist to do it justice, then let it take the time it needs to save for the best of the best. You will not regret it!
:)