What to do when you find your epidermal artist

After you’ve found your epidermal artist, call the shop and book a consultation with the artist you want.

Be on time to the consultation, and don’t cancel.  Cancelling is not cool and neither is being late. An artists’ time is just as valuable as your time, so give your artist some respect.

First, talk about health. Before you even consider having someone make a hole in your hot bod, print off the health page, and ask away!  Any artist who makes having a clean environment a priority will be more than happy to answer any of the questions you have.  Ask to see their Blood Borne Pathogens certificate, and ask questions until you are comfy as a kitten that they are keeping you, themselves and the environment clean.  Remember if you are not comfortable getting work done there then, thank your artist for their time, and leave.

Discuss the piercing you want to get.

Talk about placement.  Be prepared for feedback from your piercer.  A good piercer is going to tell you where they think it will sit best for healing and aesthetics.

Discuss healing and aftercare: cleaning your piercing, how long it will take to heal, etc.  Your piercer should have a printout of the instructions.  Get a copy.

Discuss the type of metal / jewelry you want to use.  Ask to see a Mill certificate.  FYI--Titanium is the best quality and the most expensive.

For some piercings, you will need to get a starter jewelry piece so that it will heal properly.  Depending on the piercing you could be waiting anywhere from just a few weeks to heal to nearly six months or more.  You might want to discuss what kind of jewelry you can use for when you are ready to upgrade.

Discuss cost.  

Book your piercing appointment. Be prepared leave a deposit as most shops ask for one.  The deposit should be going towards the work you are getting done.  

Buy the products you need for cleaning your piercing.

Your piercing appointment day comes. YAY! Don’t forget to clean behind your ears, floss and repeat step #2.

Woo! You now have a hot new piercing that looks wicked AND you have a clean conscience!

Follow the instructions your piercer gives you for after care.

After you’ve started your research, call the shop and book a consultation with the artist you want.

Be on time to the consultation, and don’t cancel.  Cancelling is not cool and neither is being late. An artists’ time is just as valuable as your time, so give your artist some respect.

First talk about health. Before you even consider having someone mark up your smokin’ bod, print off the health page, and ask away!   Any artist who makes having a clean environment a priority will be more than happy to answer any of the questions you have.   Ask to see their Blood Borne Pathogens certificate, and ask questions until you are comfy as a kitten that they are keeping you, themselves and the environment clean.   Remember if you are not comfortable getting work done there then, thank your artist for their time, and leave.

Discuss the piece you want to get.  If you are getting a custom piece, bring references.  If you are getting a flash, have it picked out. More on custom pieces - Be prepared for feedback.  Artists will give you their skilled opinion.  Don’t give a reference of some other dude’s tattoo and say you want that exact thing.  Each artist who does custom work takes pride in their art, and also respects their fellow tattooists’ work.  Copying is not cool, not to mention it totally defeats the purpose of getting a custom tattoo.  Be unique.   

Placement – where on your bod is this art going? Discuss.

Size – Give dimensions.   Remember, bigger is better. Be realistic--this is going on your bod for life, you want something that is gonna look good for the majority of it, and your artist will tell you if the size and detail you want is going to be an issue.

Colour – does the colour pink make you giggle or gag?  Or are you going with black and grey?  Let them know.  

Healing and aftercare— Every shop and artist has their own specifics on how they want you to care for the tattoo after it’s been done. They should have a print out of instructions.  Get a copy.

Now you can discuss time and cost.  Some large custom piece work takes hours of work. Discuss in detail how many sittings you are looking at and total hours.  Consider your pain tolerance. Some tattooists are gentle like lambs, others press really freakin’ hard and face it, it’s painful.  Now’s the time to figure this out and plan for sittings as long as you’re comfortable. There may be windows of space between sittings, as it can take a few weeks to heal. Discuss all this with your tattooist.

Book your appointment. Be prepared to leave a deposit as most shops ask for one.  The deposit should be going towards the work you are getting done.  

Some artists will have you come in again before your appointment to review the sketch they did.  Others will show you the sketch the day of the tattoo, and will make any adjustments to the design while you are there.  Ask them how they work.

Go and buy the products you need for aftercare.

Your tattoo appointment day comes. YAY! Scrub with soap, or flowery body wash if that’s your thing, and repeat step #2.

Woo! You now have wicked piece of artwork on your bod AND a clean conscience!

Follow the instructions your artist gives you for after care.