(IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT MESSAGING: I receive a lot of messages so things get buried really easily. If I don’t get back within a day or two, message me again. I try to respond to every message I get.)
Stuff you NEED to know beforehand. Muy importante.
The minimum is $100… and I don’t give “bad bitch” or bachelorette party discounts so stop asking me that.
My rate is $200 per hour. Flat rate. It makes the math easy for all of us. It’s $300/hr if I come in on my day off but that is only an option if my family hasn’t already made plans that require me (which they often don’t tell me about until the last minute.)
You will be required to show ID before you can be tattooed. Even if you’re super famous. It’s the law. Sia, that means you.
Please don’t bring me other peoples’ designs as anything other than inspiration. I am an artist with formal training and experience. In layman’s terms, that means I can draw… and I’m proficient at it. I used to be a comic illustrator before this. Not only do I prefer to design your tattoo myself, most of the time when people design something for you it’s not formatted in a way that I can stencil on to you which means I have to redraw the whole thing anyway or trace it. That said, I would be more than happy to design my own version of their artwork.
I WILL tattoo other people’s handwriting if you can bring me a nice clear image of it.
Drink water beforehand. Hydration is important… in fact, not to sound like a mom or anything but you should probably be drinking more water than you do in general. Just saying.
I will not copy a tattoo you found online. Period. Inspiration is one thing. Plagiarism is another. I mean, would you want someone you don’t know taking your tattoo idea and ripping it off? That would creep me out, personally.
I have no problem working on another artist’s tattoo as long as you have their permission or you do not plan on going back to that person for whatever reason. I don’t know, maybe he likes Disco too much. I also do not mind if you allow other artists to work on my stuff. I find it fun. You just have to send me a picture of what they did with it because I’m nosey.
A minimum $100.00 deposit is required before any appointment is accepted. That deposit is your confirmation and the time will not be held for you until the deposit is received… and unless you live out of the area, you gotta’ bring it to me in person. That way we can discuss the design, sketch it out, measure you or whatever else needs to be done. I will send you a link to pay the deposit online if you’re not local.
I hate to be this way, but while I’m on the appointment thing… You have 24 hours to get back to me if I offer you a specific time/date otherwise that slot will not be held and may be offered to someone else. I can’t hold slots for people who don’t confirm stuff because my calendar just ends up being a bunch of question marks and no actual appointments. I’m sorry to be that way but it happens all the time and I lose out on full days of work. I like time off as much as the next person but I have a mortgage and the bank doesn’t make exceptions.
Also on the subject of appointments… and please try to imagine I‘m saying this as nicely as possible… If you want me to sketch something up, you have to make an appointment/deposit first. That’s pretty much the industry standard. I don’t want to be a jerk here but designing is more than half of the work. Designs literally take hours to come up with. Do not ask me (or any other artist) to draw it first to see if you want to make an appointment; it’s basically asking us to work for free, it’s dismissive of our time, and it’s disrespectful as hell. Not trying to be a jerk but I HATE when people ask me that. EVERY tattoo artist hates that. Seriously.
Anyone under 13 will not be allowed in the booth while I’m tattooing you. We don’t need to traumatize the young’uns.
You may only bring 2 people into the booth with you. That’s all I have seating for and it gets cramped really quick. I probably would avoid bringing more than that with you in general because anyone else has to wait in the lobby for a couple hours and that’s really really boring.
You must be at least 18 years old to get a tattoo in California. This is the law. Anyone who tells you differently is wrong and operating illegally.
You may be required to remove clothing if you plan on putting the tattoo somewhere that is covered. I tend to want at least 6 inches of bare skin around where I’m working because clothes are festering with all kinds of nasty little bacteria and I don’t want them contaminating the area.
Tattooing is messy and the ink stains your clothes… bad. Especially black ink. In fact, it’ll your ruin sheets for the first couple days if you’re not careful. Don’t wear your favorite H&M shirt or Forever 21 jeans. You will hate me if I ruin it with big black smudges.
I don’t use any topical numbing treatments because I am not a licensed anesthesiologist and do not know enough about the potential side effects to be comfortable taking the risk. Besides, many of those products aren’t approved by the FDA and we don’t know if the people making those home brew ointments wash their hands. They probably do but why take the risk?
I recommend Zydrate for pain reduction. More info on that can be found HERE.
Don’t be drunk. Drunks don’t listen. I know; I am one. They are disruptive and they also can’t legally sign release forms. Bachelorette parties, I’m looking at you again.
Oh, and this is just something to think about. If you get a tattoo or a piercing, you have to stay out of water for anywhere from a couple weeks to 6 months. Sometimes more depending on what it is. If you’re on vacation in Palm Springs, I’m guessing you plan on some pool/hot tub action and you cannot do that if you have a fresh tattoo… like, at all. So it’s best to book your tattoo toward the end of your vacation so you don’t have to spend your whole trip staring at the pool party with sad envy and wondering what could have been.