how small is to small? - Page 4

jerseyjaywymbs · #31 09-18-2008, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maetoch

HA!!! this thread made me feel better. last week i had a customer come in wanting 5 horseshoes, 6 spurs, 2 feathers, her husbands first initial, her childrens full initials(2). they wanted this as a bracelet on her wrist and i s&!t you not, they actually told me " we want this to look like its real ". WTF??? oh i forgot to add, they wanted the initials put inside the feathers and shaded in so they would blend in with the rest of the shading in the feather.

her husband had a tattoo he had received about 4 years ago by an ex employee of ours, that had feathers in it and the childrens initials inside the feathers. this guy rolled up his sleeve and said" lookit thar ewe cant even see them initials in thar can ye?" to which i pointed them out(they were 4 shades darker than the rest not to mention bolder).

anyway these people wanted me to do the same in the feathers on her wrist. when i started to explain to them that it wasnt going to work and why, the husband puffs his chest out at me(which was hilarious in its own right) and tells me " If'n ewe caint do it, ewe aint no real arteest". so, he picked up his "drawing" and he and his sister(oops wife) walked out. at first i was a little bummed out because money just walked out the door, then i thought f@#k it, thats just one less s&!tty tattoo out there.

word, let's not forget, you also don't have to deal with them coming back for a second crappy tattoo as well. if you give em' one, they'll want more for sure.

wendykustom · #32 09-18-2008, 03:07 PM

We have two sayings in our studio - "its like a tattoo but smaller" and "there is small, and there is poxy".

Don't know if you use the word poxy in the States but here in the UK its a derogatory term for something tiny and pathetic.

Both these phrases usually work a treat with no further challenge.

Now my bigger issue, maybe one for another thread, is "I want it just in outline"? Why? Why half a tattoo? Why just the painful part at that!! Or the other thing - you finish the outline and they say "ooohh, i quite like it just like that" - NOOOOO!!!!!!! You're having it finished or you never darken the door of my studio again, LOL!

Good forum BTW - my first post but nice to see things are the same over the pond as the are here in the UK! People are the same the world over I guess...

Wendy
Kustom Kulture, UK

john cothran · #33 09-18-2008, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wendykustom

We have two sayings in our studio - "its like a tattoo but smaller" and "there is small, and there is poxy".

Don't know if you use the word poxy in the States but here in the UK its a derogatory term for something tiny and pathetic.

Both these phrases usually work a treat with no further challenge.

Now my bigger issue, maybe one for another thread, is "I want it just in outline"? Why? Why half a tattoo? Why just the painful part at that!! Or the other thing - you finish the outline and they say "ooohh, i quite like it just like that" - NOOOOO!!!!!!! You're having it finished or you never darken the door of my studio again, LOL!

Good forum BTW - my first post but nice to see things are the same over the pond as the are here in the UK! People are the same the world over I guess...

Wendy
Kustom Kulture, UK

they just want the line work so their friend or cousin can finish it cheaper.

wendykustom · #34 09-19-2008, 01:49 AM

Yeah, or cos they've bottled it and think they can get out of sitting through the rest of it. Yet when we push them to get it finished they're ALWAYS glad we did.

Anyway, a little off topic but got it off my chest

CRose · #35 09-28-2008, 01:28 PM

So this lady walks into the shop wanting a realistic fairy, full bodied, under 4 inches tall. I explained to her that doing a cartoonish fairy 6 inches or bigger would look better because of the detail in the face, ect.... and a realistic one at that size is not gonna look good walking out the door let alone after the test of time...She asks me what the defference betweeen realism and cartoonish is....soooo... after I showed her a portrait on one arm and a cartoon bat on my other she looks at me and goes "What you can't tat it cuz your heavy handed?" After I almost pooped myself, now knowing how completly dumb the general public is, I explain why that doesn't make any sence, she says " Well... I'm not a tattoo artist and I dont care. I want it that small" storms out and walks to a shop that does anything... I mean anything to make some green... she comes back in to pick up her husband who I tattooed and there it is... a gnat in the middle of the leg, which by the way looked like poopie... You ask... "Chris what's the moral of this story...." Don't shave a bear, he might not like it... or soory wrong one... If you think it might be too small than it is.... It's not gonna look good, and even if they are happy with it others are gonna see it and its gonna look like crap to them... It's your name on it...

CRose
myspace.com/kultureshock760

Curby · #36 10-15-2008, 08:03 PM

I always heard, "You're only as good as your last tattoo". If it's gonna be too small, I do my best to educated my client on what will happen over time. Occasionally one even listens. I use the "It's gonna cost the same either way, why not do it a little bit bigger?" and "It looks bigger on paper than it will on your arm/shoulder/ass.".

They don't listen, I won't do it...I'll either pass it off to one of the other artists or just shrug and say "Sorry, you're a pretty girl/good looking fella, and I'm not gonna put something on you that I don't think will look kick ass, sorry."

jerseyjaywymbs · #37 10-16-2008, 01:16 PM

my favorite small tattoo is the marilyn monroe dot, doo doo brown, takes 5 seconds to apply and bam $50 bucks just like that, lol... not to mention you get to put something called doo doo on some ones face, hahahaha....

conorblue · #38 10-16-2008, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerseyjaywymbs

my favorite small tattoo is the marilyn monroe dot, doo doo brown, takes 5 seconds to apply and bam $50 bucks just like that, lol... not to mention you get to put something called doo doo on some ones face, hahahaha....

haha. this lady came into a shop i worked in with a face FULL of moles and asked for another one from my friend John. He obliged, and then she had the nerve to come back and be all like..."it's not big enough"...haha! man, he didnt know which one was the tattoo with all those moles on that face!!! what a great story.

john cothran · #39 10-17-2008, 12:17 PM

cant make that stuff up. i was so beside my self when that happened. never gonna forget that one conor true classic. should have never done it. just couldn't tell her no for some odd reason. their was really no reason not to do, except for the blinding obverse. here's your sign, kick my self in the a$$. hind site is 20/20 and all that sh!t. wont happen again ill tell you that.

conorblue · #40 10-17-2008, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john cothran

cant make that stuff up. i was so beside my self when that happened. never gonna forget that one conor true classic. should have never done it. just couldn't tell her no for some odd reason. their was really no reason not to do, except for the blinding obverse. here's your sign, kick my self in the a$$. hind site is 20/20 and all that sh!t. wont happen again ill tell you that.

aw s&!t man, i had never done one...and seriously...today someone came in and asked for a mole tattoo. at our minimum of 60 bucks and a half an ink cap filled with dark brown, i just couldnt resist.

and here i am a wee bit richer and part of the mole tattooing world.