big decision 1st tattoo = sleeve

chilloutman

hi ok i am interested in getting tattoo for years but any tattoos have seen seem to small and crap.

interested in getting 3/4 of a sleeve on my left arm its my first i am thinking about and probably my last .

i dont want a small one because i think they dont look good.

what do ye tthink guys??

also looking for tattoo artist to design the whole thing want to have a good bit of different color in it i would go and get it done in differnt country if there were better tattoo artist.

any advice welcome??

noaddedsugar

Hi Chilloutman, do you have any idea of what you would like on your arm? As regards artists, Inkfingers Custom Tattoo in Galway are excellent. I could personally recommend Shawn and Steve there, also have seen some of Nancy's stuff and it's all good work. They will ensure you're happy with the design before anything is committed to skin (have had them redraw designs 3/4 times before getting inked).

Diceicle

Hi,

If this is gonna be your last tattoo (the whole thing is pretty addictive but anyway), if you figure this is really your only tattoo then my advice is go to the best and pay the extra cash, I mean get someone world class. Most (not all) artists will do the European Conventions (especially London in September) so its not like you have to go to Japan to get your Japanese tattoo from Shige ( check it out : www.yellowblaze.net )

First off decide on your style then someone on here can advise on an artist.

We do have some great artists in Ireland, JMD, Jani, Pavel, Karen Russel etc but they're not really "up there" on a world scale in my opinion, still all great at what they do all the same.

Regarding getting it drawn up, if you bring your inspiration to the artist at the convention the top class will be able to draw something out there for you.

chilloutman

ya thanks very much ya i would be interested ingetting a world class tattoo artist to do. have u any idea how much a sleeve by an artist like shige would cost???
just looked at some of his tattoos amazing looking exactly the style i would be interested in

LostInDharma

chilloutman wrote: »

ya thanks very much ya i would be interested ingetting a world class tattoo artist to do. have u any idea how much a sleeve by an artist like shige would cost???
just looked at some of his tattoos amazing looking exactly the style i would be interested in

No idea myself really, but lets say a top artist in England would cost around €120/hour (approx).

A full sleeve is about 20 - 25 hours work. So, €3,000.

(Open to correction)

sentient_6

Can i suggest maybe getting something that could be the start of a sleeve potentially? Like get something on your shoulder & based how you get on you can build on it? Doing a whole sleeve as a first tattoo seems like a awfull big step to me.

Diceicle

chilloutman wrote: »

ya thanks very much ya i would be interested ingetting a world class tattoo artist to do. have u any idea how much a sleeve by an artist like shige would cost???
just looked at some of his tattoos amazing looking exactly the style i would be interested in

On reflection Shige was probably a bad example. His work is amazing but I'm reliably informed that he only does major pieces such as full-back and body-suit size tats. Now thats not to say that you shouldnt ask, but he is expensive.
Regarding the point that someone made about a top UK artist being about €120, in my experience they are less than that, last time I checked Jason Butcher cost about £80 (€96), Paul Naylor was £60, as was Bez and they're all amazing.

If I think of any great Japanese style artist I'll post it later.

http://www.myspace.com/alhautryoki

eviltimeban

I kind of took the same approach a few years ago. I had a small tattoo on my shoulder and decided to get a sleeve then, as I liked sleeves and figured that it was the way to go. I started off asking for a half sleeve but in between sessions (and there were a lot of sessions) I decided to go 3/4 as well. And now I'm thinking of going full (a year later!).

Now I know it wasn't my first tattoo but it wasn't far off it! Michele in Dublin Art Tattoo did mine, free handed the whole thing, was good with my feedback and requests, and the whole thing turned out really well. Wasn't too pricey either, even though they charge "by the hour".

Its Japanese style as well.