Awe, its sooo little!

Here I am again, bitching and ranting for your personal enjoyment. Okay, typical day at the studio. In walks a potential client.

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.

No! Oh God, No!

If you are an fellow artist then you will know exactly what I'm talking about here. You might even find it humorous. If you are a client of mine you might have heard me talk about this subject. And if you are planning on getting a new tattoo pay attention.

So let me set the scenario for you, we are diligently working away when someone enters the studio. They would like to talk to an artist about getting a tattoo. If it is a female she wants flowers with some swirly things. If the new client to be is a male he might want tribal. In both cases the have a reference picture, more and more often its on their phone (please stop with the cell phone pics). Very rarely its on printed paper.

Every time I'm hoping to see something new, something yet undiscovered. Yet its always the same...




Here are the images...

 

The big pink & yellow lilies that end in swirls on ribs.

 

 The really bad lily, stars and swirls...

 

The classic black and grey roses with swirls, on ribs.

 

The Hibiscus, with names on hips.

 

And the super photoshopped douche tribal that doesn't match.

If I have to see these images again I might have to pluck my eyes out! Please allow me to explain, when you Google something, the images that appear first are the most popular. Thus your "original" idea if found on the first page of images probably isn't too original. I know me and other artists have joked about it. All we have to say are things like "flowers on ribs", and we automatically know what images we are thinking of. 

I get it, you were looking for a design and saw something that struck your fancy. But take it a step further, look up some actual real flowers. Try searching without the word tattoo. Find some flowers you actually like. Allow us to turn those into a beautiful side piece for you. But please for the sake of all things holy, stop bringing us these images! Lol, that is all.