Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but…

Let’s examine this for a tattoo.

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder is a theory of mine. You will hear me say this saying at the shop all the time. I believe in this quote and I believe it applies to tattoos.  A lot of people that don’t know any better for tattoos think just any ole’ tattoo is cool, because tattoos ARE cool, but there are some things people need to be made aware of.  First off, tattoos need to be executed nicely. Lines need to be clean, straight and even. Shading needs to be solid or blended well or faded out well. And then the image needs to be designed well. A lot of artists out there rely on eye popping bright color- but that can be distracting from the image and if it is drawn poorly,  the bright color will hide that.

I am just frustrated because so many people are coming into the shop that got tattooed at other local shops close to our area (I am not naming anyone) and their tattoos are terrible! They come to me to have it fixed!

This piece when finished wouldn't
 necessarily need perfect
lines - the shading would
clean up any discrepancies.

Something that can avoid all of this is, look at their portfolios! This is rule number one. If you think their work is great go for it. But if you are on the fence, don’t let them talk you into it. Tattoo competition is high. Tattoo artists are selling themselves left and right! You can’t even listen to the radio without hearing an ad for a tattoo shop! I always say if you have to advertise, what does that say? Tattoo business is mainly a word of mouth referral business. Tattoo shops that have to try so hard getting their name out there, makes me wonder…

So back to my theory -beauty is the eye of the beholder, a lovely gal came in today that I have worked with before, and I know exactly what kind of style she likes. Well she went to another artist and got something done that she is very unhappy with. The lines are far from Stellar in my book. Everyone else that sees her tattoo tells her it is great, but when I look at it, I think the lines are unacceptable. I am a stickler for clean perfect lines, and have worked hard on achieving perfect lines. Technically speaking, if you find a liner needle that is great for you and you slow it down and stretch the skin taught, you can really achieve beautiful lines. The first thing I thought when I saw her piece was, man, that artist really needed to slow it down and stretch the skin. I have tattooed her before and I know she sits well. So I know this is not a client-not-sitting good situation. This IS totally the artist’s mistake! So anyway during our talk she told me everyone else thinks her tattoo is great, but I certainly don’t. I know I am an artist so I have a critical eye, but if this was done from my shop I would be mortified. And yes, we are human so every once in awhile there is something that is not perfect from our shop. But we strive and work very hard had producing the very best for our clients.  

 I have another short article called tattoo matchmaker that would be good to read alongside this article… I think tattoo artists need to know when to recommend a client going to another artist that would execute the design better… I also think there are a lot of people tattooing out there that probably shouldn’t be. But if they are being  supported by people that like their work, then beauty is in the eye of the beholder certainly is true!