Tattoo artists in Buenos Aires?

January 26, 2010 9:09 PM

A dear, dear friend of mine has just died. I want to get a memorial tattoo, but I happen to be in Buenos Aires for the next two months. For all sorts of reasons, I'd like to get the tattoo while here in Bs. As. Problem: I don't know of any good tattoo artists here. Can the Hive offer any recommendations of tattoo artists in Bs. As. whose work they have *personally* experienced or seen?
posted by alaaarm to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (6 answers total)

Unfortunately, I don't know anyone IRL who has had work done in Buenos Aires, but I asked a friend who's pretty into BA's tattoo scene. He said that Nosferatu (for old school styles) and American Tattoo (for more modern/colorful stuff) would be your best bets. He added that for a portrait he would go to American Tattoo.

The best way to find an artist that works for you is to go by the studio, look at their portfolios and talk to them. Talk to the person working up front, they should be able to point you to the artist whose style best suits what you're trying to achieve. Someone who does excellent abstracts might be completely wrong for a realistic-style portrait.
posted by jedrek at 1:24 AM on January 27, 2010

Best answer: In my experience, it is a very good idea to wait six months or a year after a friend has died before getting a memorial tattoo. Emotions are running high, and quite often people get a bad tattoo (with a good intention behind it) that they soon wish they had taken more time to design and plan to do properly.
posted by Jairus at 6:06 AM on January 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

Seconding Jairus. Not that mine's a bad tattoo, just a bad choice of placement.
posted by MuChao at 12:15 PM on January 27, 2010

I'm so sorry for your loss.

What Jairus and MuChao said. A friend made that mistake, and later regretted it hugely. I'm not anti-tattoo at all, but are there other ways to consider memorializing your friend in the meantime?
posted by liquado at 1:58 PM on January 27, 2010

On top of what others have said, different artists have different specialties (portraits, lettering, black & grey, pin-ups, old school...) I have some beautiful tattoos, but when my friend wanted to get something very different from mine, I had no recommendations for her. Any artist who claims they can do anything are probably to be avoided (unless you WANT something generic, in which case, go to anyone).
posted by coolguymichael at 3:04 PM on January 27, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks for the sound advice. Perhaps it's best to wait a couple of months until I'm back in Vancouver…
posted by alaaarm at 4:42 PM on January 27, 2010