Ok, to say I am pissed would be an understatement ...

Anyone who has read my recent blogs knows I was all sorts of excited to get my other half sleeve done. It seems to have fallen through completely. Lets break the douche baggery down completely and I will see what you guys think before I completely cancel my appointments with this guy.

I made my appointment at the beginning of the summer, he has a bit of a waiting list and told me he couldnt get me in until September, I was cool with it and made the appointments. He asks that I email him any pictures and ideas I may have for the piece to get him started with ideas and what not. I ask when he will have things drawn up, he says not until 1 month before hand at the earliest. I send him the emails (4 to be exact, because he claimed he wasnt getting them) and finally print out the entire email, pictures and all and physically hand them to him. He looks them over and reiterates that he wont have anything until 1 month before. I ask what he thinks this will cost, he says he doesnt work by the hour, that he works by the piece and time spent ... sounds like by the hour to me, but I was willing to spend to have good work done. He says he isnt sure what it will cost me, not what I wanted to hear, but I grin and bear it.

Fast forward to 1 month before the appointment (August 10th) I go to the shop and hes like, hey whats up what are you doing here? I remind him he told me its 1 month before appointment, I would like to see what you have drawn up. He tells me he has been a bit busy and probably wont have anything drawn up until 1 week before the appointment ... more of what I dont want to hear, but I let it go and go on my way.

Wednesday the 3rd was 1 week before my first appointment, so I stop in again, and again, he looks up and say, hey, what are you doing here? I remind him the appointment is in 1 week, I would like to see what you have drawn, he says ... Oh I probably wont have it drawn up until the day of, its all in my head though. He proceeds to explain to me what he would like to do and pulls out a book and thumbs through some pages and points to one particular page with something similar to what I have been explaining. I ask again what this will cost me, he tells me probably around 2 grand.

Now, aside from the fact that it really seems like he flaked and completely forgot to draw up anything for me AND expects that I am going to decide if I like his drawing RIGHT before he tattoos it on me, the 2 grand is starting to sound a bit much. I paid 1600 for my other half sleeve, and again, I dont mind paying a bit more for good work, but someone else in that shop ripped off Zoo for some lettering and that just makes it more sketchy. I just am getting a crappy overall vibe about this guy and the way he handles his job.

I am about to cancel all my appointments and make up some bullshit about my car and just be done with the whole tattoo for the time being and invest the money I have put away for it for other pressing issues. Really bummed that after an entire summer of waiting and looking forward to this, it has completely fallen through and I am quite disappointed.

Anyone know any good artists in the area that take their job seriously?