What makes a good piercer/tattooist?

Will

I think there will be differing opinions on this... or manybe not. Just curious as to what people think makes a good piercer or tattooist?
Is it the ability to do piercings well or is it the whole package? nice guy or girl who goes through everything or is it just the act of piercing/tattooing and it doesnt matter if he or she is sound or not?
who is your favourite piercer or tattooist and why?

For me Im torn between two. One guy back home and one guy here. Paddy in bodyshock is a good piercer in my opinion, he has done most of mine and is usually a good laugh.
The lad here named Ben, hes just real laid back, runs through what hes gonna do and is friendly and chatty. I dont know really, just wondering what people think makes a good piercer or tattooist

amazingemmet

Piercer: some one who understands anatomy is top of my list.

Tattooist: someone who is an artist not a tattooist.

Hellrazer

amazingemmet wrote:

Piercer: some one who understands anatomy is top of my list.

Tattooist: someone who is an artist not a tattooist.

Couldnt agree more with that.
Although I would add good customer service to the mix--a "people" person who will talk you through the procedeure and do their best to keep the mind at ease.

All else including how "sound" they are comes after that.

amazingemmet

I always forget the customer service bit of modding

Fantasy_Suicide

Exactly.
Someone who won't get all snobby about doing a rim or a lobe kinda job.

As you guys must know by now, Mark is my favourite. He's been piercing me for about two years now and I wouldn't let anyone else near me.

I find Mark wonderful to work with. Firstly we get on fantastically. Always helps. And we talk about our ideas and stuff. Example. On Sunday he took time with me to talk about what was gonna happen. He knows I'm pretty experienced and stuff, and he didn't talk down to me like some piercers can do. We talked about where jewellery was gonna go and we talked about sizes. I love the fact he takes time with his customers. He's not the kinda piercer who stabs you and then charges you like 300e. And he'd answer any questions I had. He always took time with me, and has always ALWAYS been fantastic through the piercing process. He does his best to make it as comfortable and as easy as possible.

When I had my conch punched, I was a licke nervous (Weird, I kno.). Mark told me about his experience, being honest with me about how it was gonna be moreso intense than painful. And he was right. It was an awesome experience/feeling.

At the end of it all he kept me sitting for a bit, just to make sure I was 100% ok. That's service for you!

I'd recommend him to anyone, especially someone who's nervous. He's really awesome at reassuring people. He's very creative with his ideas and I haven't had a problem with any of my piercings done by him. He's just an all-round gem of a piercer.

It wasn't me!

A piercer or tattooist should be:

*Friendly: No condescension or anything of the sort. Welcoming speech, comforting if necessary. If they recognise you, they should be cordial and familiar.

*Professional: They should be experts at their craft. No-one should assume they get to pierce or ink people unless they can do it perfectly. To be blunt, I think the health hazards and scratchers should be charged with assault.

Fantasy_Suicide

It wasn't me! wrote:

A piercer or tattooist should be:

*Friendly: No condescension or anything of the sort. Welcoming speech, comforting if necessary. If they recognise you, they should be cordial and familiar.

*Professional: They should be experts at their craft. No-one should assume they get to pierce or ink people unless they can do it perfectly. To be blunt, I think the health hazards and scratchers should be charged with assault.

I agree totally.
Fingers crossed I get this apprentice in September. I'm really friendly as it is, so I'm pretty sure I'll be ok in that department.

I'm really looking forward to researching everything and learning the different ways of piercing. I pay a serious amount of attention to detail when I'm really into something, so I reckon as long as I put in the work, I can be a decent piercer.

We'll find out in a few years!

edibility

Personally a good piercer rarely ****s up, knows what can and can't be done, who's hygienic and who understands the human body extremely well. A great piercer is someone who makes the customer comfortable and minimises the pain (without jeopardising the piercing, obviously). I've had some bad experiences with piercers who go extremely slowly, and it hurts soooo much more. A piercer has to understand that pain will put the majority of people off, and that if the can minimise it they should.