I'm a tattoo artist who underwent a standard apprenticeship under a certified tattoo artist. I am an artist first, tattooer second, which means I put creativity and art into my tattoos, not just the 'you pick it, we stick it' type of tattooer. Apprenticeships for tattooing vary by state, according to the laws. I'm also a trained body piercer, as well. Any questions about the job or apprenticing, I'd be happy to help!
PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT price tattoos. Seek a shop for that.
It is possible to tattoo over scars, but you have to make sure the scar is fully healed. New scars are dark in color; a tattooable scar is light or white in color. If you tattoo over an area with a fresh scar, you run the risk of breaking open the old wound. You have to understand, too, when covering up a scar, that tattoo artists are able to disguise the abnormal coloring of skin where a scar is, but we can't take away the puffiness or shape of the scar.
Cover ups are best if the image used has a lot of lines and a lot of shade points; it makes it easier to cover whatever is underneath. Things like flowers, dragons, owls, etc, make for great cover ups, because the artist can layer ink and shade well.
You can present anything to a tattoo artist that gives them an idea of what you are looking for. I had a customer bring me the plaster stepping stone that had her son's handprint in it as a reference one time. I've been brought pictures, drawings, t-shirts, birthday cards- just about everything.
You can always ask an artist to draw you up something, but keep in mind 2 things:
1- They will probably charge you a deposit to do a drawing. That money will then be applied to the tattoo when you have it done.
2- You will more than likely not be able to leave with that drawing, or even take a picture of that drawing, to help you "think". This protects the artist's custom drawing, and ensures that they will be inking it, after putting the time and effort into drawing it.
Tricky question to answer. Tattoos can be shaded, yes, even if blacklight ink is used. Now, blacklight ink is brighter than regular ink, so, in my opinion, it can look a little cartoony just because it's a neon color.
Please note, too, that blacklight ink is NOT FDA approved to be tattooed onto humans like those websites tell you. It's FDA approved to tag fish for classification purposes. AND, blacklight ink does NOT last as long as regular ink. My advice on blacklight ink is to pass on it. It's more expensive than regular ink, so the tattoo artist generally charges more, and it only sticks around for, on average, a year. I'd get a regular tattoo and forget about the blacklight ink.
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Different inks can result in differences between the old tattoo and the touchup. It could blend fine, and it could be a trainwreck. It all depends on the artist's ability to match the color or blend the old tattoo into the touch up work.
To have proof that they checked your age. If the ID is fake, then they can produce the photocopy, showing that they checked your ID, and to them, it seemed real. This releases them of liabilities later on.
Pain is relative to the person. I have that section of my body tattooed and I couldn't stop laughing. I've seen people almost come off the table while getting that area tattooed, and I had one customer fall asleep.
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