How to research and select a tattoo artist?

Makhaira

Makhaira

Makhaira

Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2007
Posts
4,969
Location
Lancashire, UK
Ok, so I'm hoping for some advice on good information sources to research tattoo artists for what I'm after - so far my approach has been random googling which feels a bit haphazard - I've not found any good online information hubs and I'm hoping you guys can fix that.

I'm in Lancashire, looking for my first tattoos. What I'm after is clear, dog paws done from a specific photo each. Style is black and white, realistic, shaded. 3 to be done at present for our 3 dogs, likely on the back of a calf but I'd take advice from an artist on their suggestions.

Any and all pointers on this welcomed, for obvious reasons I want to get my choice right!

Many thanks.
 
Have you not got any friends with tattoos? As they would be a good starting point to ask where they got theirs done.

You can look for similar style tattoos on instagram and ask them about the artist then see if the artist has any photos of other tattoos online. My friends are always posting photos of their new tatts and hash tagging the artist or company that did them.

I wouldn’t look for paw prints itself.. more of the shading style. It often helps if you can get a drawing of tattoo you want in the style, then the artist will have a clear vision of the end goal.

If it’s to your liking then contact the artist and talk to them.. it may be possible for you to see some of their work in real life.. things look different online with the filters that some people use.

Personally I would be prepared to travel to get a tattoo done, most people would stick to the same artist once they found one that they trust. Heck I used to travel back to my home town for haircuts, then across greater Manchester as I moved up north then moved again to another part of the county. Tattoos ain’t going to grow back in a few weeks.

Most artist are honest about their limitations and they will know if they can replicate the drawing or not.. it will give them an idea on how long it will take and how much they will charge you.

Tattoos are normally done in stages.. outline, based colouring/shading then highlighting.. if you are unhappy at any stage, you may want to switch.
 
Through recommendations. Every artist will have something they're better at than others.

For yours, if you're after someone who could do that, there's a guy in todmorden who should be able to nail it. Oddly enough called Guy. I've had some work from him that's been exceptional (for more photo realistic stuff, I wouldn't use him for geometrics, linework, etc).

 
tattooed friend recommendations first but also visit the artist, talk to them about their styles and view their portfolio ( a must to see if their styles suit what you're after). Some might say the style isn't suitable and suggest another artist (these are the good ones :) ) I wouldn't just go with the first one you come across either, visit a few then you may end up back at the first again. I've used 3 artists in my time, the second one although very good rubbed me up the wrong way during session 3/3 and also when requesting my design seemed to think that a whole back tattoo was ok to design on the day, i insisted on at least 2 weeks preview which was good because we went through several redesigns. With you having an image to go off this wouldn't be an issue for this one but something to consider if (when) you get more.
 
I bought tattoo magazines over a few months and found an artist who was good at the style I liked.

Some are great at portraits, others at abstract designs. Colour Vs gray-scale etc. I think it's better to match the style you want with a tattooist's work rather than choose based on a recommendation.
 
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Fab thank you all. I absolutely wouldn't choose solely based on recommendation but will gladly take pointers on where to look - I'll check out the advice given here and reach out to people I know who have had work done. Many thanks.
 
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