My buddy and I were having this conversation the other day.
I’m working on a full sleeve on my left arm from a guy that I really wanted to tattoo me. It took me a year to find him and I have waited 8 months after that to actually get in and see him, well worth the wait in my mind. So my buddy asked if I would get more work by the same guy after we finish the sleeve. My response: “I won’t rule anything out but probably not”
He, on the other hand, has one artist who does ALL of his work. He’s been going to her for years and he has many tats by her. He won’t even talk to anyone else.
Two contrasting opinions on how to go about tattooing a body, I just want to see where you guys fell on the issue.
Collector or loyalist? Discuss…
I would go either way. im getting tattooed by two different people now and i could get more work by either one of them. I see it like collecting art. Most collectors dont collect pieces from just one painter or one sculptor. They might collect from the same genre or style. Tattooing is the same, you collect different pieces from different tattooers. I would kill to be tattooed by shige and filip leu. Hope this helps with the discussion, great topic by the way.
Patrick
Patrick
I feel the same way! For me, getting one artist to do all of my tats would be like going to the car dealer and buying the same car over and over (if I had the money to buy multiple cars, that is). I totally respect the “on the same wave” comment by Butterfly… it took me a long time to find someone I was jiving with but…. I actually like the process of finding someone. It satisfies the long suppressed Cro-Magnon hunting gene in me, I guess.
Yes I agree… I have always thought of having more than one artist only because all of my tattoos i have in mind are very different from each other… I will def enjoy the hunt to finding the right artist for each one. I have this one artist already in mind for my marine life and ocean tattoo for my left sleeve and I have sat on the idea and that he is the artist i want for the past 3 years or so. I cant wait to finally get it but im still adding and taking away from the elements i want.
I would def be a collector because I like the idea of having artists who are specialized in the genre of each tatt i want.
If i ever DO get another I’d get someone else.
But then, my tat was very, very simple. A line drawing that I’d designed myself – I literally just needed someone to smooth the lines out on it and so I think I was tattooed by their apprentice. it’s lovely, and apprentices need to train – they’d might as well do it on someone with a simple design. She was lovely, and put me at ease for my first tattoo. I’m glad I was with her.
But if I was looking for something more elaborate, or wanting more help on my design, I’d look about a bit more
I’ve been tattooed 7 times so far, by 4 different people total.
I’m not a tattoo connoisseur really. I get an idea of what I want to get tattooed on me, then I find a reputable shop. I look at the portfolios of the artists’ work, and I make an appointment with the one that I like the best.
I got my first 4 by 4 different artists.
I got my last 3 tattoos from the same guy. I was happy with the first one, and there was a short wait time for him. So I went back to him again….again I was happy with the work….then I got a third from him….now I’m gonna take a break from ink for a bit.
For my back piece I’m going to really search hard for a great artist. All my previous tattoos were done by impulsively choosing whatever artist could tattoo me the fastest….All my tattoos have meaning to me, but none of them are extraordinary pieces of artwork like some of the stuff I see on here, mainly because nothing I ever asked for requires amazing artistic ability…..I always wanted simple, relatively small pieces.
Now, I want an intricate piece of artwork on my back, done by the best of the best! This next one will be more about the art then the actual meaning of the piece.
I am a collector but a fussy one.
Each artist has a unique style so I would choose which would fit my requirements the best for the type of tattoo that I want.
Also there is so many awesome artists it is something I would recommend to everybody is to keep an open mind and be at least prepared to look around.
That said it is important to try and build a good rapport with the artists you have had work from because you may want an extension piece or new piece in a style you already have.
Take Care
Matthew
I’ve had tat’s done by a total of three artists, it’s a bit of a toss up some of the work is better than others. The artist I currently use has got a great back catalogue, good judgement, flair for original designs, good rep, and isn’t a jaded back street type – he’s managed to rescue one dodgy design and personally – although I’d love to get some work done abroad I’d be happy to get some more work done by him – but I will shop around.
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