FAQs
What are your prices?
Pricing for tattoos can be confusing. There are so many artist, with a endless variety of styles, experience levels, skills and demand.
I try to keep it as simple and as fair as I can. My minimum charge is $100 and I charge an hourly rate of $170. I also have a day rate option which offers a bit of a discount for large scale work that takes multiple sessions at $850. The day rate covers between 7-9 hours of my time.
Do you offer numbing cream?
I do not like to use numbing cream. I avoid it for a number of reasons. First of all it can effect the skin and ultimately how the tattoo heals. Additionally numbing cream never lasts more than 2 hours regardless of what it says on the package. Once the effects wear off the tattoo hurts far worse than if you did not use it.
Instead I use products like vasocaine and bactine. These come in a spray and contain some lidocaine which take away some of the pain without the negative side effects of numbing creams.
The best way to handle tattoo pain is to come well rested and well fed to your appointment, drink plenty of water and breathe deeply and calmly. Your body will naturally acclimate to the pain.
All that being said I will under extreme circumstances use numbing cream for clients that absolutely cannot sit still during a tattoo. Every rule has its exception.
How do I find the best tattoo artist for me?
Think about the style of work that you are interested in and look for artists that are well versed in that style. Keep in mind that most tattoo artists are well trained in a multiple styles, even if they have a primary style. I, for example, specialize in illustrative black and grey but I also do black and grey realism, American traditional and Japanese traditional on a regular basis.
Ok, so you’ve figured out which style you like and have a few artists in mind. Take a look through each of their portfolios and look for healed photos of their work. If an artist has no close up healed photos of their work I would call that a red flag. When you look at their healed work take note of any signs of blown out lines, light spots or over saturated tattoos.
Lastly, it may be worth talking to the artist online or better yet stopping by the shop. If you plan on working with a tattoo artist you’ll be spending lots of time with them. You might be bummed out to spend hours and hours with a person you don’t really get along with.
How do I find a quality tattoo shop?
There has been a recent explosion in the amount of shops in the industry. It can be overwhelming finding the one that is right for you. I have a few red flags and green flags to help.
Red flags:
1. Avoid shops that are not owned by tattoo artists. Everyone thinks they want to own a cool tattoo shop but tattooing is a unique craft that really is best served by people who know and respect the art from and have first hand experience with it.
2. Any shop with ink in the name. I know it sounds silly but it is almost a 100% certainty that if a shop’s official name has the word “ink” in it that it is not owned by a tattoo artist but some industry poser ripping off other people for their talent.
3. A shop that has no art on the walls. In these days of AI image generators, phony shop owners and tourist trap shops I think it is really important to see hand made art hung in the shop. This tells me that the artists there are capable, creative and skilled. It also tells me that the artists working there are true fans of the medium and of art in general. When there is no art on the wall it tells me that the shop cares more about money than art, does not have the ability or desire to hone their artistic ability and is probably tracing all their designs off the internet.
4. Shops with a minimum charge that is too high or too low. A fair minimum charge in St Petersburg Florida is $80-$150. Higher than that means it may be a great shop but not exactly a “walk in shop.” In that case make an appointment and get your money’s worth. Anything less than $80 and you may be working with an apprentice or an unskilled artist. Apprentices need to learn! but just know you’ll be doing this person a favor more than they’ll be doing one for you.
Green Lights:
A shop full of artists that are happy, independent and fairly treated by the shop. You’ll know if the vibe is off and if it is, this might be why!
Just like anything else a busy shop is a good thing. If you need to wait for a couple hours to get tattooed do not be discouraged. It’s probably a good sign.
Physical portfolios and lots of original art to look at. This tells me that the shop is confident in their work and eager to share their art.
It should be clean! Does it smell like soap or 2 day old take out? It is very possible to get sick from hanging out at a dirty tattoo shop. On the contrary a properly maintained shop should be cleaner and safer than the hospital.