Me, "Hello, can I help you?"
Female, "Hi, yeah, I'm friends with (insert client name here). And I love their tattoos and they told me to come see you."
"Okay, what were you thinking of getting?"
"Well, I want this..."(pulls out phone to show me images) [please people STOP doing this, bring in printed pictures]
"Okay, so you want a (random nondescript design), where on your body and how large would you like it?"
"Well it has to be small, on my ankle or foot. You know, because of (work, my mom, my dad, my grandparents, or some other lame ass excuse.)"
"Okay, how big is small?"
Holds up petite hand and makes circle using forefinger and thumb. A circle slightly bigger then a quarter.
"Okaaayyy, so we will have to simplify it quite a bit to make it that small, you'll lose a lot of detail."
"But I want it just like the picture."
"Well then it will have to be bigger."
"Why? My friend has one and its small like that..."
UGH!
So listen up! Small tattoos are LAME. They suck. And I'll tell you why. Have you ever seen a small flash sheet rose tattoo done in the 80's? Yeah well in the 2000's they look like poop! The outlines have expanded, the colors faded. They are almost unrecognizable... Skin DOES NOT hold ink like paper does. Skin is alive and the ink WILL spread out over time. Even the thinnest lines expand. Areas that are exposed to the sun, like feet and ankles or shoulder blades and such especially in the summer for all you beach goers, take a massive amount of abuse. So all you people who tan, yeah you are destroying your tattoos. But on small tattoos this exposure is worse, it makes them even uglier. So that cute little sun, those tiny stars, the adorable minute clover are all going to look like crap in a few years. I've got almost 8 years in the business and I've seen it! You can trust me cause I got photographic evidence!
Amazing isn't it? Less then 20 years old. Faded, all you see is some pink and green.
Here is another example of a small rose that now looks like purple cabbage.
And here is what age and sun do to small tattoos, this is a blob.
Is this what you want your tattoo to look like? A kind of blob or blur. Is that worth the pain you endured? Or the amount of money you paid? No? Then STOP getting small tattoos!!!! Do yourself and your tattoo a favor, listen to the man or woman who tells you it needs to be bigger. And if you have a problem with that then maybe you shouldn't get the tattoo. Cause down the road, when its all faded and expanded do you know whats gonna happen? You will hate it. Then you'll be visiting the tattoo studio once again only this time its gonna be like this.
Me, "Hello, how can I help you?"
You, "I got this tattoo like ten years ago and now its all ugly, what can I do with it?"
It's true.
It's true.