fair enough, but to say it’s insulting and then outright refusing someone is just a case of the tattooist putting himself before his customer. when these people walk into a shop with a piece of work the “my way or the highway” attitude IS unprofessional. It’s the same attitude these kids have (that think themselves to be some sort of rockstar) and elder tattooists in the industry carry with them.
right out of the gate you have zero idea of the why and what this mean to them. and they are the ones that have to live with the tattoo.
It all depends on what you capacity they consider themselves to be in. Are you just the craftsmen to do the work or are you as a consultant to talk them out of what they want into something that’s more of what you want. some people don’t want every piece on them to be another chance for the artist to have a jerk session.
sure, talk to them and try to swing them around to some familiar ground for you. share some of your experience, but shutting someone down just because it’s their skin and their choice is far from insulting and is a closed minded view. not to mention poor business.
