Inked Brethren of TMB

my grandpa who raised me is 1/2 native american, and he’s really proud of it, as he should be. anyways, he’s having some shitty health problems (fuck cancer), so i got this for him. brought a smile to his face

 

Question bros:

I have a dumb tattoo on my left ankle I don't really like. Got it drunk at 3:00 AM in South America. It's the skyline of Rio around my ankle, kind of looks like a heart ECG.

I want to get it covered up with a bigger piece on my left leg/calf. Specifically something like this with PNW mountains; maybe a half sleeve up the calf:

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I assume it will have to be fairly dark near the bottom to fully cover the shitty skyline I have currently. I'm going to do some research and find a specific artist to find something unique, should be plenty around the Seattle area.

Questions - this is going to be a fairly expensive piece, correct? What kind of range should I brace for? I was guessing around $750, maybe up to $1,000

Second, all of my tattoos are pretty small and not very intricate. I want this one to be more personal, and want to work with the artist before making the final decision. What's the etiquette on that? I would like to see maybe 2-3 drafts before putting ink to skin. Do you tip each sketch session? Only after the final one? I don't want to skimp the guy, and I know for artists time=money. But at the same time I want to spend some time getting this one right because it will likely be the biggest piece I get.

Thanks in advance.

 

the darker the better to cover up your other. that bottom one would probably be best. as far as price, most reputable artists charge $150+ an hour. depends on how fast they work, and how big you go. you don’t have to tip for a sketch. just give them money for a deposit, so they’re not wasting their time.

 

Yes, basically what was said.

Depending on how detailed you're gonna be at grand plus 15-20% tip

 

I’ve never paid a grand for a tattoo. That tattoo should be $400 and a tip tops; You’re getting ripped off if you’re paying a grand for a greyscale tattoo. In my experience you’ll get a couple of drafts knocked out in the allotted time for the session before they start the actual tattoo. No artist I’ve worked with has charged me for the draft time involved and I’ve never had to go back for multiple “drafts” and I have some fairly large pieces.

 

I was actually planning on getting mountains/trees tatted on my thigh and since we both live in Seattle I call dibs. So sorry.

 

So I get a tattoo that last 14 hours and covers half my back.

That's $400?

 

Part 1 of 2

 

I wasn’t clear about my contention that a greyscale tattoo shouldn’t cost a grand. His tattoo shouldn’t cost a grand if the tattoo ends up being exactly what he wants, especially since it’s sans color based on the examples he gave. It shouldn’t even be more than one session. I have had much bigger and more intricate work done and I think the most I paid was $600 on two sessions.

 

How longer were you sessions?? Color doesn't matter, detail does

It depends on how much detail there is on those trees. I have all b/w and one is super fine that took about 12 hours and was charged for 9 across two sessions.

Not many ppl work for less than 150 an hour

 

Fair enough however unless you’re doing something like basic neotraditional often color begets more detail. But I get what you’re saying. It just depends on the tattoo and still there’s no way an ankle tattoo of a forest should cost $1,000. (My two longest were roughly 8/9 hours and one was color and one was not). The shops I go to in Nashville charge around $120 an hour. That seems to be the going rate around the city at reputable locations but there are two other shops that come to mind that charge $150/175. (One because it’s a small shop that consists solely of two ‘specialists’ artists and the other is “famous” so they get to charge more however celebrities like Jason Isbell gets his work done at the place where I get my tattoos so I don’t see why he wouldn’t go to the famous one if more money supposedly indicates better quality as people seem to often think about tattoos.)

Here’s the shop where I get my work done:

https://instagram.com/kustomthrills?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=91ti7p7diq7l

 

Seems to be about 150 in Atlanta.

I took his idea to be more half his lower leg than ankle, so that might be the difference

 

It's gonna be more than an ankle, probably at least halfway up the calf. I'm going to do my own research and get some ideas. Will definitely incorporate the PNW pines, but want some mountains as well. Need to do my homework.

But appreciate the help guys. This is my first real "piece," everything else is pretty tiny and impulsive. Want to take my time on this one.

 

I have a fairly large piece on my leg being finished soon and I think total it will have cost me $500 without tip.

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However most of the small detail is in the color (and obviously I omitted most of the piece because it wouldn’t make sense for where I wanted it)

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I suppose I could see how a full half leg sleeve could reach a grand with a slow artist and tons of detail but that’s just not what I got from the examples he provided. BamaNug we’re gonna need a receipt after

 

Mine cost more than 1000. I guess I was ripped off too.

 

Lil bb medieval skull

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1,000 dollars

 

Got this finished yesterday also:

 

Debating getting one on the outside of my left arm or on my quad. Can’t decide. The arm would effectively fill up both arms without it being a sleeve, if that makes sense.

 

My tattoo artist went to Japan for a few weeks

 

New guy here.. first tattoo, too.

 

Yes, it was quite painful for sure. Thinking my next one will be above the knee on the top of my thigh. Hopefully not as painful

 

Wanting to get something involving this picture/town done on my bicep. Doesn’t have to be exact but I want it to look like something that resembles that town. Local shop told me it can’t be done and to scrap the buildings. I suggested cutting most of them and only having a few but they still wouldn’t go for it.

Can they just not do it or is it a bad idea? It would be my first so I’m out of my element here.

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Cool looking photograph. Nothing further to add

 

Stolen from google. It’s Varenna, Italy. I have one that my wife took of the same place that I’ll be using but it was too large to upload on mobile.

 

I think they’re saying it’s too much detail on a smaller area

 

A. My bicep is plenty big FYI
B. Yeah that was the gist of it. If they did it the lines would eventually run together after a couple of years and just be a black smear. Didn’t know if higher-end shops could do it or if it’s impractical. Birmingham isn’t exactly known for great tattoo artists from what I’ve seen. I got to looking at stuff like BangBang in NYC and thought it might be doable.

Thanks. Guess I’ll do a different area since I’m pretty set on the idea.

 

Can you get them to do an impressionistic version that relies on less detail? There’s a photo app called Prism that you could use to try to make one. Or find a different view of the city that has less going on?

 

I’ll look into that. Probably should have mentioned earlier that I just want black, no color. I’m gonna talk to the guy and see if doing a larger area (chest, back shoulder, thigh) would give me more options.

 

I think what everyone is getting at is this needs to be an entire stomach/chest piece. I look forward to seeing it next time I see you

 

I think a color version would be the way to go honestly. I don’t think black and white would translate the aesthetic of the city as well. Just a thought

 

Trying to make it part of something bigger. Similar to this:

 

Starting to get the itch again. I'm thinking of getting a series of quarter-sized fandom tattoos on one of my calves. Something I can add to whenever the itch comes back but don't want to shell out for a big piece

 

Hi friends, considering getting my first tattoo . Have a general idea of what I’d like, and the below is somewhat close to it. What I want would only have two mountains though and one tree. My questions: how many hours do you think something of this detail would take? Is this too much to bite off for my first tattoo?

 

would only take a couple of hours tops with minimal shading like that

i got my sternum tattooed my first tattoo you’ll be alright

 

Did you end up doing this?

 

Appointment this Friday. Been scheduled for 2 months

 

That’s where I have my one and only. I’m not opposed to getting another but haven’t really been inspired to get anything else.

I love it and haven’t regretted it for one second.

 

Really simple symbol.

 

I started on my inner arm/bicep so that they weren’t super visible, if you like them and as you get more comfortable you can get more exposed areas. Imo