NEWS: SuicideGirls Essential Guide To Tattoo Etiquette

CULTURE: SuicideGirls Essential Guide To Tattoo Etiquette

by Clio, Lexie, Thistle, and Vanessa

SuicideGirls’ essential guide to tattoo etiquette: how to keep your artist sweet, and how to get the body art you want.



[Clio in Black Heart]

Do:

• Research to find a suitable practitioner. Look up local artists, and ask around. If you happen to see someone that has a tattoo you are particularly fond of, ask them (politely) where they got it done.


• Look at portfolios. Several different ones if you have to. Find someone with a style and personality that will mesh well with your own – especially if it’s your first.


• Make an appointment, both for a consultation, and to get the actual work done. While walk-ins are convenient, if you have a more elaborate piece, respect the artist enough to give them time to work on it.


• Be original.


• Know what you want, and have several ideas about where you’d like the tattoo to go.


• Make drawings (as long as you don’t have the art skills 5-year old) or find reference photos, as many as you think you’ll need to get across the concept/image you want.


• Listen to the artist’s suggestions, and understand that they may say no to some of your ideas simply because they wouldn’t come out right or make a good tattoo.


• Get something that means something personal to you, as long as it’s easy enough to convey. Getting a tree that twists into a lizard that has bird wings and a feathered mask may be the most sacred thing you could possibly think of in this world, but, really, how would that look? Weird, that’s how.


• Bathe beforehand.


• Bring something (non-alcoholic) to drink.


• Let your artist know if you feel like you’re going to be sick and/or pass out. The last thing you want on your person is a big line going in the direction you fainted because you didn’t tell your artist you were about to black out.


• Tip your tattoo artist. ALWAYS. Even if they’re your best friend. TIP THEM. It’s rude and offensive not to. As a rule, leave an extra 20%, unless it’s something minimal like $50-$60, then tip about $10. If it’s a HUGE piece that the artist works on for over 5 hours, then tip anywhere from 25 to 30%. (If the artist also happens to be your significant other and they won’t accept money, give them some extra good sex that night or something.)

[Lexie in Noir Staircase]

Don’t

• Getting your kids’ names, your parents’ names, your pets’ names, your siblings’ names tattooed on you, that’s sweet. Getting your current significant other’s name, not so much. No matter how in love you think you are, things can go wrong.




• This is YOUR tattoo! It will be on YOUR body forever! If your artist suddenly decides he/she wants to change something on a whim and you don’t speak up about not liking it, you’re stuck with it. Don’t be afraid to speak up, it’s supposed to be a collaboration between you and the artist.




• Cheap prices don’t usually equal good tattoos. In general, you pay for what you get. And if you pay $20 to some person with a homemade tattoo gun, you’ll likely end up with something spelled wrong and whatever it was you were trying to get tattooed looking like Pee Wee Herman.




• Last, but not least, don’t let anyone talk crap about any of your tattoos (unless it’s your significant other’s name). It’s YOUR tattoo. It means something to you. People who make fun of other people’s tattoos are incredibly rude. I have an orange on a toothpick on the back of my left arm. “WTF is that about? It’s so stupid! What a dumb tattoo!” It’s my tattoo I got in honor of my older brother because we both love So I Married An Axe Murderer. Yeah, don’t have shit to say about it now, do you? Ass.

[Vanessa in My Favorite Things]

Love all of this, except the minor bias toward "original" work.

There's a very real and very important position in tattoo culture and history for flash artwork and tattoos. I only have 2 original designs and while they're cool, they're definitely not my best or favorite tattoos. I get way more compliments and discussions on my old Sailor Jerry stuff.

Respect the history, respect the tradition. Some stuff that's been awesome for the last 80 years is gonna be awesome for the next 80.

Umm, ladies . . . I think you just told us all to puke on our tattoo artists.

Question about moving under the gun: when I got my first tattoo (on my ribcage), it hurt so much that my body seemed to go into a bit of shock, and I got the shakes. My artist has been tattooing for over 30 years, so he was able to react quickly, give me breaks, and wound up completing it really nicely. (And yes, I tipped very generously because it took a lot longer to finish than we'd expected). I'm having a large piece done on the other side of my ribcage later this year. Any suggestions on how to reduce my shaking so I don't disrupt my artist's work?

(edited to add: the later tattoos that I got on the side of my breast and over my hip were no problem for me)

Fixed, I guess

Yeah, the best strategy I've come up with so far is just to be really attentive to what I eat for a few days prior, be sure to be hydrated, and to be ready to quit whenever my body says it's time to (and of course still pay for the full appointment). Thanks!

How about, "Don't go anywhere that you can get tattooed without an appointment." ?

It's a pretty good rule of thumb. Granted, sometimes a good artist gets cancelled on, but anyone worth their salt is going to be booked out.

will keep this in mind, getting an upper sleeve done in a week and a half! Didn't have any trouble with my smaller stuff but this is a much larger endeavor.

The tattoos that are usually made fun of are the ones that are repetitive and obviously come from the parlor book or wall. Like fairies, butterflys, nautical stars, and guns pointed at a vagina. There played out. Original tattoo's i always ask questions about because there original and interesting.

Really GREAT article (perfect for me, I'll get tattooed on Friday 11)
But, I think there's a mistake with the girl with 56 stars on face... she's from Belgium actually:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/5603769/Girl-with-56-stars-tattooed-on-face-admits-she-asked-for-them.html


Sorry if you was talking about an other girl!

Pretty good advice. I always tip my artist as much as I can afford (usually between $10-$20) and give him a 6 pack. I now get called "sweetie" and "darling" every visit and am treated very well by the whole shop. Love it!

DONT: get a tattoo if there is a (presumably conservative) person in a position of authority in your life who can scare you into lying to international media and threatening legal action against a well meaning artist...


Thanks for the tip on tipping... After 4 (albeit not very big) pieces, ashamed to say I hadnt once come acros the suggestion before. I could always legitimately blame financial constraints but...
Anyone from the UK - thoughts on tipping?

I concur.

That will depend on where you are. In some parts of the country (middle of Nebraska), there aren't usually big lines out the door.

Great article. I especially like the "bathe beforehand" part. I remember spraying lysol down a girls ass crack one time while doing a lower back tattoo because I couldn't handle the smell... Something to add about diet. If I have a regular client that I know is a 'bleeder', I have them eat jell-o for a few days before their appointment (something I learned from an old school artist), it tends to slow down the bleeding.

Oh, and one more thing, don't touch anything at my station. It's all been cleaned and I don't need your germs all over it. And please, please, please stop calling it a 'gun'. To quote Capt. Don, "To call one's mother a 'whore' is a lesser crime than calling the sacred instrument of tattooing a 'gun'!"

How about "Don't call them 'tats'."

nautical stars have been part of tattooing for generations. I have 2, i'll probably end up with more. Just like I'll probably end up with more old school, Sailor Jerry specifically.

This was extremely helpful, as I'm looking to get a new tattoo soon. Thanks ladies!

If they're that good, they'll be booked with clients. Why wouldn't they be? Even in Portland (which is overflowing with tattoo shops) anyone decent is booked out about three months in advance.

because some artists are in markets where there either isn't as much demand as there could be, or the specifically leave space open for walk-ins. I know a few artists who block specific times of the day or specific days of the week for walk-ins, and they're all incredibly talented artists.