The Process Of Getting A New Tattoo
Last weekend, I travelled across the country to get myself some new ink. I could not have chosen a worse time to get it; I had an essay due on the Friday and one on the Monday, but I made it work. In spite of several friends telling me I was crazy for doing this, I spent two nights on buses to go down to Cambridge to see the tattoo artist of my choice. This is the first, and one of the most important steps in getting a new tattoo: Choosing your artist! After you’ve decided that you definitely want a tattoo, you need to look out for a good artist. You might have a very concrete vision of what you want or just a vague idea but in any case, choose an artist that is right for you. Obviously, if you just want something very small and simple, you can pretty much get it done by anyone. Still, it helps looking at an artist’s portfolio and making sure they are respectable and know what they’re doing. Instagram is amazing for this. Pretty much every artist has their work online these days and you can have a good look at their tattoos, drawings and comments. Something to look out for is progress; if you can see a definite development going on in their work, you know they are taking their job seriously and are striving to improve!
When it comes to more elaborate tattoos, there’s a lot more to consider. What style of tattoo do you want? Someone might be amazing at doing realistic portraits, but that doesn’t mean that they can give you the Disney tattoo you really want. There’s so many different styles of tattoos: realistic, traditional, neo-traditional, black work, watercolour, Japanese and more. You need to find someone that fits your vision. You know you’ve found the right artist when you’d pretty much let them do anything on your body because you love their work so much. Obviously, someone like that might not live in your city. Someone like that might also be quite experienced and famous, and have a three year waiting list, and prices that are just completely impossible for you. That’s the point where you have to decide whether to compromise and go to an artist that might not be just as awesome but more accessible, or whether to wait and save up money for the perfect artist.
I was lucky. Although my tattoo artist of choice lives quite a long way from here, she is still an apprentice and quite cheap, so I could afford to travel. And I’m happy I did! Not only am I blown away by my new tattoo, but she turned out to be the loveliest person, so we spent a great four hours chatting while she was tattooing me.
Depending how thoroughly you’ve talked your tattoo idea through with them via email, you might come into the shop and find an absolutely perfect sketch waiting for you, but don’t worry if it’s not exactly the way you wanted it. They can always change it and after all, it’s going to be on your skin forever. You need to make sure you are getting the best tattoo you possibly can!
And just to get this out of the way. Yes, getting a tattoo hurts. People who say that it doesn’t, are either horrible liars or super humans. It actually hurts quite a lot, depending on where you get it, and how big it is. If it’s just a few lines, at least it will be over quickly, but if you’re getting shading done, that’s where it really gets bad, because your artist has to go over the same spot again and again with about seven needles at a time. But remember: the pain lasts a few hours, and after that you’ll have an amazing tattoo forever.
To make sure that it actually does look great forever, you have to take aftercare seriously. A fresh tattoo is basically an open wound, so please listen to the advice your artist gives you! Don’t take long baths while it’s healing, don’t expose it to direct sunlight, wash and cream it regularly. You paid some good money for this, so look after it!
As soon as it’s healed, after two to three weeks, you’ll have an amazing piece of art on your body to show off forever. (And don’t let those stupid comments get to you, you look great with it!)
photo by @jessica_penfold on instagram