Please help me get a tattoo
October 7, 2022 1:03 PM Subscribe
I've never had a tattoo. Do you? If so how did you find someone who does quality work? I'm in the Charlotte / Davidson / Lake Norman area of NC. There are a lot of tattoo shops. Are reviews reliable? I presume a request to lie down is reasonable, i. e.: I want an inner wrist tattoo, but I need to lie down due to hip injury. This tattoo is to honor my BFF. If you've done that, what did you come up with? I have photos similar to what I want, but not exact. I presume the *tattooist* will take the info and create what they think I want - and we can tweak it til it's "right"? All recommendations, tips, suggestions welcome. Thank you!
Instagram is the best way I have found to find a tattooer. Find the accounts for the shops around you, find the artists who work there, check to see who they follow and who follows them.
posted by spindle at 1:21 PM on October 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by spindle at 1:21 PM on October 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
Person with tattoos here. OK, so once you find someone whose style resonates with you, call them up and explain what you want. They will probably make an appointment to talk to you about it, where you want it, what you want, etc. If you find a piece of flash you like - those are the images in the binders - you could probably get it done right there, although my experience has always been that there's a first appointment to talk about it and a second appointment to actually get the ink. If you and the artist decide you need a custom piece, they will come up with an idea or a couple ideas for you that they will email. Then you can decide and make the appointment for the actual tattoo. Lying down is totally fine and in fact they may ask you to do that anyway.
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:34 PM on October 7, 2022
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:34 PM on October 7, 2022
I have a fair number of tattoos.
Some artists will tattoo whatever you bring to them that you want. Some folks will take what you have and modify it. Some folks will want to do something completely original that they draw. There is nothing right or wrong with any of the above approaches - it depends on what you're looking for and how the artist works. My mom's memorial tattoo is exactly what I brought to the artist (plus the color work) because I had a friend draw it and it was what I wanted. Mom's birthday tattoo from this year and my FIL's memorial and our wedding flowers, I sent my artist (different artist, same shop) a bunch of inspo photos and she drew something up. So figure out if you want something exact, if you want something original, or if you want something between, and find someone whose style you like and who can work with that.
Speaking of style... do you know what you're looking for? Do you want something geometric, watercolor, botanical, dots and shading, just black and white, traditional, etc.? If you don't know the terms for what you want, look through a lot of pictures (Instagram is great for this) and figure out what speaks to you.
If you are not white, look for an artist who has pictures in their portfolio of people who are not white - and preferably, people who generally match your skin tone. Not everyone can make color pop on Black or Brown skin (heck, not everyone can make black and white work on darker skin). Don't let them tell you they can without pictorial evidence.
Ask people around you whose ink you like where they got it done and who did it and how their experience went; that will be more reliable than online reviews.
I'm up in the GSO, and have a shop I love, so if you're up for a field trip up 85 memail me and I'll be happy to send links to their stuff.
posted by joycehealy at 1:35 PM on October 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Some artists will tattoo whatever you bring to them that you want. Some folks will take what you have and modify it. Some folks will want to do something completely original that they draw. There is nothing right or wrong with any of the above approaches - it depends on what you're looking for and how the artist works. My mom's memorial tattoo is exactly what I brought to the artist (plus the color work) because I had a friend draw it and it was what I wanted. Mom's birthday tattoo from this year and my FIL's memorial and our wedding flowers, I sent my artist (different artist, same shop) a bunch of inspo photos and she drew something up. So figure out if you want something exact, if you want something original, or if you want something between, and find someone whose style you like and who can work with that.
Speaking of style... do you know what you're looking for? Do you want something geometric, watercolor, botanical, dots and shading, just black and white, traditional, etc.? If you don't know the terms for what you want, look through a lot of pictures (Instagram is great for this) and figure out what speaks to you.
If you are not white, look for an artist who has pictures in their portfolio of people who are not white - and preferably, people who generally match your skin tone. Not everyone can make color pop on Black or Brown skin (heck, not everyone can make black and white work on darker skin). Don't let them tell you they can without pictorial evidence.
Ask people around you whose ink you like where they got it done and who did it and how their experience went; that will be more reliable than online reviews.
I'm up in the GSO, and have a shop I love, so if you're up for a field trip up 85 memail me and I'll be happy to send links to their stuff.
posted by joycehealy at 1:35 PM on October 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Oh and I forgot, word of mouth is how I have always found my artists (except the one who's in the family) - ask around! If you see someone with a tattoo you love, ask! Most people are really happy to recommend their artists and may in fact tell you much more than you wanted to know.
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:35 PM on October 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:35 PM on October 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
How I found my artists:
- First, I was looking for somebody reputable who would pierce my earlobes as an adult and not blink twice or treat me poorly. I was in Chicago at the time, looked up all the piercing spots, picked one that had APP (association of professional piercers) members and was easy to get to via public transit, and went. That was a positive experience. Very clean, respectful of someone who isn't covered in tattoos, professional, etc.
- Then I had a shop. They also had tattoo artists. So I looked at their books and picked someone who seemed like they would be ok with my first tattoo idea, contacted them, and set up an appointment.
- That went fine, and I like that tattoo a lot, still.
- But that artist moved, and I needed another one. So I went back to the artists that had been at the tattoo studio at some time, and I found someone whose niche was the next tattoo I wanted. I contacted them, had a consultation, made an appointment. This tattoo artist had a much lighter hand than the first one, and I'd go back to this person for future tattoos (if they're still tattooing in the style I want).
- Yes, I still like all of my tattoos.
Good luck!
posted by Ms Vegetable at 3:40 PM on October 7, 2022
- First, I was looking for somebody reputable who would pierce my earlobes as an adult and not blink twice or treat me poorly. I was in Chicago at the time, looked up all the piercing spots, picked one that had APP (association of professional piercers) members and was easy to get to via public transit, and went. That was a positive experience. Very clean, respectful of someone who isn't covered in tattoos, professional, etc.
- Then I had a shop. They also had tattoo artists. So I looked at their books and picked someone who seemed like they would be ok with my first tattoo idea, contacted them, and set up an appointment.
- That went fine, and I like that tattoo a lot, still.
- But that artist moved, and I needed another one. So I went back to the artists that had been at the tattoo studio at some time, and I found someone whose niche was the next tattoo I wanted. I contacted them, had a consultation, made an appointment. This tattoo artist had a much lighter hand than the first one, and I'd go back to this person for future tattoos (if they're still tattooing in the style I want).
- Yes, I still like all of my tattoos.
Good luck!
posted by Ms Vegetable at 3:40 PM on October 7, 2022
Someone who I follow on Twitter lives in North Carolina, has several tattoos, and really likes this tattoo studio:
"Sweetheart Tattoo is located at 11009 Patriot Highway, Fredericksburg, VA, 22408 and will be open Wednesday through Monday, 11am to 7pm.
To schedule an appointment, either reach out to your desired artist directly or give us a call at 540-940-6839"
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 4:17 PM on October 7, 2022
"Sweetheart Tattoo is located at 11009 Patriot Highway, Fredericksburg, VA, 22408 and will be open Wednesday through Monday, 11am to 7pm.
To schedule an appointment, either reach out to your desired artist directly or give us a call at 540-940-6839"
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 4:17 PM on October 7, 2022
You might like this, or find some other videos of the process: I gave my producer an actual tattoo. - YouTube.
I only have one tattoo and it's from 1990 or so. Back then it was books of designs and books of photos of their work and if you didn't have some design you brought in you sorta used what was on display as inspiration.
The still did a bit of like drawing it on your skin with a pen of some sort to give you a chance to look in the mirror and check it out, maybe even come back tomorrow (just don't scrub it off). Then they did the cleaning and prep and touchup as needed and sorta traced over it.
Mine was simple, no fancy shading or color. So just a basic black outline sort of design.
I do sorta like the idea though of being able to draw and print it out on a temporary tattoo sort of thing. I don't know if that would even work with larger and more fancy tattoos.
posted by zengargoyle at 5:40 PM on October 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
I only have one tattoo and it's from 1990 or so. Back then it was books of designs and books of photos of their work and if you didn't have some design you brought in you sorta used what was on display as inspiration.
The still did a bit of like drawing it on your skin with a pen of some sort to give you a chance to look in the mirror and check it out, maybe even come back tomorrow (just don't scrub it off). Then they did the cleaning and prep and touchup as needed and sorta traced over it.
Mine was simple, no fancy shading or color. So just a basic black outline sort of design.
I do sorta like the idea though of being able to draw and print it out on a temporary tattoo sort of thing. I don't know if that would even work with larger and more fancy tattoos.
posted by zengargoyle at 5:40 PM on October 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
In recent years, it's gotten increasingly hard to get appointments with tattoo artists who have a really unique and trendy personal style. (Not impossible! It just takes some work! Think of them like restaurants with truly famous chefs, where you may have to make a reservation well in advance.)
Often, the process is something like this: "I open my calendar for appointments a few times a year, and I announce it on Instagram when I do. If you email before I'm booked up for the season, and your idea sounds interesting, I'll schedule you. If not, try again next time."
You probably won't have to do this if you want something more traditional-looking, or if you're working with a new artist early in their career. And keep in mind that "traditional" doesn't mean "bad," "boring," or "ugly" — there are very, very good traditional artists who can make you something gorgeous in a timeless style with flawlessly clean technique. I've gotten most of my tattoos from traditional artists, and I'm very happy about it. All I'm saying is, there are enough of those artists to go around, so getting an appointment isn't so complicated.
Tl;dr: If you get your hopes up about a specific very trendy artist on Instagram, be prepared to do a bit of legwork.
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:40 AM on October 8, 2022
Often, the process is something like this: "I open my calendar for appointments a few times a year, and I announce it on Instagram when I do. If you email before I'm booked up for the season, and your idea sounds interesting, I'll schedule you. If not, try again next time."
You probably won't have to do this if you want something more traditional-looking, or if you're working with a new artist early in their career. And keep in mind that "traditional" doesn't mean "bad," "boring," or "ugly" — there are very, very good traditional artists who can make you something gorgeous in a timeless style with flawlessly clean technique. I've gotten most of my tattoos from traditional artists, and I'm very happy about it. All I'm saying is, there are enough of those artists to go around, so getting an appointment isn't so complicated.
Tl;dr: If you get your hopes up about a specific very trendy artist on Instagram, be prepared to do a bit of legwork.
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:40 AM on October 8, 2022
Oh oh oh! My spouse has two new tattoos from someone IN Charlotte! Chris ?Toler? at 7th Sin Tattoo! They say that anybody there is really good, actually! Most of the artists only open their books once or twice a year, so you might need some patience.
Check our all of their work on Insta and then get ready to get in line!
Edited to add: here's my spouse's most recent
posted by Snowishberlin at 1:46 PM on October 8, 2022
Check our all of their work on Insta and then get ready to get in line!
Edited to add: here's my spouse's most recent
posted by Snowishberlin at 1:46 PM on October 8, 2022
I have one small tattoo on my ribcage. I found the artist on Instagram. She is awesome and I love the results but I was not prepared for how incredibly painful it'd be. I have a high pain tolerance (usually) and had heard so many people talk about how meditative they find the process but, damn, it just hurt in a way I had never experienced before. No regrets but just be aware that it may be easy-peasy for you or it may be much more intense than anticipated.
posted by smorgasbord at 7:06 PM on October 8, 2022
posted by smorgasbord at 7:06 PM on October 8, 2022
Response by poster: Thanks everyone! This is all great information, I appreciate it!
posted by racersix6 at 2:31 PM on October 9, 2022
posted by racersix6 at 2:31 PM on October 9, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
Reviews are probably as reliable as reviews of anything else, which is to say not especially. People are more likely to write a negative review than a positive, and you can get a bad tattoo or have a bad experience without having the artist be a bad artist. That said, if you read a review that talks negatively about sanitation kinds of things, I'd probably stay far away from that shop.
Asking to lie down is a perfectly reasonable request, and explaining the reason why is likely to increase the chances they'll go for it.
It's quite common to work with the tattoo artist to find a design that you like and that they think will work well with the size, placement, etc. that you have in mind. If they tell you that something won't work well (too small for the level of detail you want, might not age well, that kind of thing), listen to them.
Read this. Tip well. Don't call them a 'tattooist.'
posted by box at 1:18 PM on October 7, 2022 [3 favorites]