Traditionally, you would have chosen your tattoo design from the designs on the wall of your tattoo studio, or from their stock books of predrawn designs. These designs are reffered to as ‘Flash Art.’ This work was rarely designed by the tattooist, but instead bought in from ‘Flash Art’ suppliers. Thankfully today things are different. While there are still tattooist who rely heavily on Flash (often because they have limited artistic ability of their own), there is an increasing number of tattooist who will design custom work to your specifications. This obviously requires a higher degree of artistic skill, so you should expect to pay slightly more for bespoke work than for flush, but you will be guaranteed an original piece… not the same tattoo that five other people are walking round town with.
In addition to this, your artist will be able to work with you to generate a tattoo that is personal, has more meaning and is less likely to go out of favour with you in a few years. This all adds up to better value in the long run.
At Rebel Inks Tattoo, we don’t carry ‘Flash’ art. All our tattoos are generated bespoke for the customer to ensure you only get the best in custom designs, unique to you. Because of this, we suggest that you begin with an initial free-consultation with your artist to discuss your design. If you can bring your tattoo artistany reference material that you think is relevant, it will help both of you understand each other much easier. You don’t have to have exact images, even if your examples simply have the same ‘feel’ as what you are trying to convey, it will help your tattoo artist understand your needs. Your tattoo artist should also give you lots of good advice regarding the limitations of the art (don’t forget we are talking needles, ink, and skin here, not pen and paper). They should advice you as to placement, and how the tattoo is likely to be viewed, for example, a small piece that would work well on the wrist, might not work well placed on the thigh. They should also discuss how well your tattoo will stand the test of time. You can generate some amazingly complex and delicate tattoos, but tattoo link spreads and thins under the skin over time, so your dainty tattoo might look great on the day, but may look fuzzy and unrecorgnizable after just a couple of years. A slightly bolder design could look great for ten years or more. The choice is always the customer’s, but it should always be an informed choice.
Once you have had the initiial conversation with your tattoo artist, you will usually then want to book in some time at the studio. Your tattoo artist will usually have a good idea at this point as to how long your tattoo is going to take, and will advice you on cost. Booking your appointment usually reqiures a deposit (unless your tattoo comes in under a certain stipulated price), which is to discourage time wasters and to offset against the artwork the artist will produce for you should you not turn up. When you do turn up, howver, your design work will be free and your deposit will be then offest against the price of your tattoo. A few days before your appointment, we usually email your design to you (unless other arrangements have been made), so that you can approve the design or make any changes that need to be made to the design. We are not precious over designs, we understand that it is your tattoo, so don’t worry about offending our artist if you don’t like your design, it will be redrawn as many times as needed to make sure it is perfect for you.
