My wife's first tattoo

While I do not have a tattoo myself... I do appreciate the art form.

40 minutes is awfully fast for such detailed work. He must be good! Please extend my congrats to the Mrs. on her new Art.

Dave

nice. i've always wanted a barcode tattoo on the back of my neck (ala the old show Dark Angel, anyone remember that? ) or perhaps woodstock (snoopy's friend) tattooed on my butt j/k on that last one.

in either case, I am really not ready for one. perhaps after a few shots of the supposibly-alcoholic sake, then maybe.

-digital

Drinking before a tattoo is generally considered a Bad Idea. For one, it may impair your ability to objectively think about what is going on. Also, alcohol will thin the blood and may increase bleeding during and after the work is done. A good tattoo artist will ask if a person has been drinking, or partaking in other substances, and will refuse to work on someone who has.

http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/Drinking_Alcohol

I was never a fan of tatoos because of the chance of getting disease from the needle, and because they are permanent and look ugly as your body ages and changes shape (I am sure fake boobs look weird when you are 90 too).

I do like some of the tatoos I have seen on people, but I would never get one myself.

A popular tattoo artist can make a fortune. One of my models has a beautiful phoenix covering her whole back down to below the small of her back. She said the tattoo artist charges $150 an hour and is booked up, so I'm considering the profession myself. Might be hard getting used to clients throwing up on you, though, but for that kind of money, who cares.

I've always had a hard time with a tattoo artist that charges by the hour, myself, simply because that can lead to unecessary work being done, or the work that's being done dragged out.

Gary will look at what you want, and flat out tell you a price before getting started. My wife's tat was $200 (not including tip), and only took 40 minutes or so. Someone charging $150 an hour might've done the same work in an hour and a half, thereby charging 50% more. Gary makes enough money, though, to have paid for three daughters to get through college, and to pay alimony to two ex-wives.

Gary does have a sign in his shop stating: "Tattoo pricing is subject to change at any time based upon the customer's attitude."

And he means it.

On the "cleanliness" subject... a good tattoo artist is clean. He has to be. If people get sick from his shop, he loses future business. As a matter of fact, Gary is one of four tattoo artists who help draft the laws governing tattoo regulation for the state of Texas, which include sanitary regulations. His shop may smell of cigarette smoke and sweat, but his steriliztion equipment and tattoo machine are immaculate.

And tat's will change shape with the body, of course, which is why people who are serious about how their tat looks will be serious about how their body looks. I, for instance, need to get mine touched up, but am going to lose another inch or two around my belly first. The circle is a bit of an oval right now, and I want that changed before I get any new ink.

Also, speaking of cleanliness, it's one of the most important things to educate one's self about when shopping for an artist, right along with the quality of their art. First among them is that any artist should be fully willing and happy to explain and demonstrate their sterilization techniques. Every set of needles used should come out of a sealed autoclave packet, with a chemical indicator signifying that it's been processed. Quality tattoo shops are very likely to be cleaner than your doctors office. Very good shops employ methods that rival surgical rooms in a hospital.