White Dragon Belfast

blockity_block

Hi all!
Planning on going to belfast to white dragon tattoo to get my japanese sleeve done, been search for over a year a tattooist and came across chris crooks, amazing tattooist. Going to the studio in three weeks to book in. Was wondering in the mean time has anyone been tattooed in white dragon or by chris, and whats the waiting list like.
Also have to get sterling so whats the pricing, not that the price is an issue, i would never sacrifice quality to save a few bucks.
Any help is appreciated, cheers.

Diceicle

He's booked up until June / July and is £100 per hour.

blockity_block

Woo that long, that sucks! The waiting begins......

Bi6N

It'll deffo be worth the wait good luck man

blockity_block

Cheers guys, goin to head up to book in when i get back home.

bonzo_k

Hi everybody, a long time lurker here.

Does anybody know the current price per hour for White Dragon in Belfast ? I contacted them a few months ago and was asked to send on my details, which I did. Haven't heard anything since then, but given the waiting list, I am not really surprised. I am planning to get a fair bit of work done, but need time to save for this ( have family etc ... )

Thanks, and have a nice xmas !

Just Like Heaven

bonzo_k wrote: »

Hi everybody, a long time lurker here.

Does anybody know the current price per hour for White Dragon in Belfast ? I contacted them a few months ago and was asked to send on my details, which I did. Haven't heard anything since then, but given the waiting list, I am not really surprised. I am planning to get a fair bit of work done, but need time to save for this ( have family etc ... )

Thanks, and have a nice xmas !

I don't know the price per hour but everybody I have spoken to says they payed top money. I'm guessing it's probably in around £100.

baron von something

when the guest artists were over a few months back they were charging 120 an hour so i suppose chris would charge around the same.he also has a 14month waiting list

bonzo_k

baron von something wrote: »

when the guest artists were over a few months back they were charging 120 an hour so i suppose chris would charge around the same.he also has a 14month waiting list

was that 120 euro or sterling ?

baron von something

sterling

Dermighty

bonzo_k wrote: »

I am planning to get a fair bit of work done, but need time to save for this ( have family etc ... )

You'll have about 2 years to wait so you'll be able to save for it no matter how much work you want done :P

Bob goes to hol

Last time I was there it was £110 an hour, that was last May. But I think Chris was saying it was going to be £120 for new bookings, but can't be sure. You should just ring them, sound bunch up there.

bonzo_k

brilliant . thanks everybody for the info.

bubblebery

Worth every penny !!!

BlackEdelweiss

I think it is going up to £130 an hour this year, get in as soon as you can. It was £90 when I started 2 years ago, £110 for existing customers now.

Marty McFly

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

I think it is going up to £130 an hour this year, get in as soon as you can. It was £90 when I started 2 years ago, £110 for existing customers now.

Its crazy really, now ive no problem spending money to get the tattoo I desire ask Remis hes destroying my bank account, but in a recession its must be the one thing thats continuing to go up in cost.

BlackEdelweiss

Chris lives the lifestyle, rides a harley, drives a mustang, travels the world and is in the process of buying a new house. You could begrudge him for it but I'm happy to see my money being spent like that for what he has given me. I'd be more sickened if I thought he was saving it all. He has people coming from all over the world to get work done now, just check out his facebook page, any photo he puts up gets over 500 likes within the first half hour.
If you want Japanese work done book a date with him and start saving your money. If you get it done anywhere else in Ireland it will just look crap when put side by side with a piece done by Chris.
I'm not being smart, condescending or insulting to other people or artists I'm just being honest. Chris has dedicated his life to large scale Japanese tattooing and is respected by other masters of that field. Once in a while someone really special comes along and in Ireland at this minute that someone special is Chris Crooks.

Dermighty

Marty McFly wrote: »

Its crazy really, now ive no problem spending money to get the tattoo I desire ask Remis hes destroying my bank account, but in a recession its must be the one thing thats continuing to go up in cost.

Everything has gone up in cost, VAT is now 23%.

tattooing prices are proportional to demand.

Nobody pays **** artists 120 sterling an hour...

Marty McFly

Dermighty wrote: »

Everything has gone up in cost, VAT is now 23%.

tattooing prices are proportional to demand.

Nobody pays **** artists 120 sterling an hour...

I know was just saying , im paying 150 an hour for my current one sure.

Frank Bullitt

Mine worked out at 150 per hour with Ching when he was guesting up in White Dragon. It's something I had no issue with at all, especially considering what I got and how long i'll have it for.

bubblebery

Given that I own a tattoo studio, and have been collecting tattoos for over 20 years, I feel qualified to say that Chris Crooks is worth every penny... That does not mean that other artists will not do a good job for less money, but rather, that in his field, he is a leader. He has invested a fortune in his trade...he has been tattooed in Japan by the leading Japanese artists, he has studied with them and invested fortunes in travelling Japan honing his trade. If you want a cool Japanese tattoo there are many artists in Ireland that can help you. If you want a masterpiece, Chris Crooks is your man!

Dermighty

The guy is an amazing artist to say the least

BlackEdelweiss

I would recommend anyone on this site who has a genuine interest in tattooing to check out the White Dragon facebook page. Just look at the quality of the work, it speaks for itself. i guarantee you will be amazed by it.
https://www.facebook.com/whitedragontattoo?fref=ts

bubblebery

Dermighty wrote: »

The guy is an amazing artist to say the least[/QU

AMAZING tattoo!

bodice ripper

Chris crooks is the best tattoo artist on this island, bar NONE. And by a long ****ing chalk too. Pay the money and get something incredible forever.

Dermighty

Hard to believe that octopus is a cover up too!

BlackEdelweiss

He is really quick aswell. I was booked in for a 6 hour session to get my outline done but he had it finished in 4 hours, and he stopped for a sandwich in the middle of that. That was for a half back down to my knee.

Frank Bullitt

I can vouch for the speed as well. While I was there with Ching a guy got his inner arm done, about 4 hours I think but it was a rather detailed kampala skull.

I have said before, but failing getting an appointment with Chris, getting in with the East Tattoo guys, and specifically Ching, is well worth your while.

bubblebery

Dermighty wrote: »

Hard to believe that octopus is a cover up too!

What and where...thats the sign of an excellent coverup, even the trained eye cannot spot it !

bonzo_k

Yeah, his artwork is pretty spectacular. I got a sleeve done about 15 years ago and said I never get tattooed again until I found the right artist and now I have !
It coincides with my 40th year, and am looking to get my back and chest done.

The cost doesn't really bother me as I know the quality is top notch. I just need to know how much I have to save over the coming 12 to 14 months.

I haven't actually got an appointment yet, just a request from them to see the existing tattoos I have. Finger crossed I will get an appointment Feb or March 2014.

Just Like Heaven

bubblebery wrote: »

What and where...thats the sign of an excellent coverup, even the trained eye cannot spot it !

Instead of working around relatively new or still strong colour/black ink, Chris tattoos the parts to be coloured with white ink, then after headling actually does the tattoo.

bubblebery

fewtinsoffroth wrote: »

Instead of working around relatively new or still strong colour/black ink, Chris tattoos the parts to be coloured with white ink, then after headling actually does the tattoo.

Have you experienced this ? I have a load of stuff that I got when I was younger, i have started the laser process but its a pain... much easier to just try that process when we have free time in the studio... I heard people talking about that process, but never really knew anyone who got it... I would be really interested to see how it works long term ?

Just Like Heaven

I've never done it, and I know lots of people wouldn't be comfortable with it. I'd love to get a back piece from Chris one day and have a piece on my back that would need to be covered/lasered lots first so I'm wondering myself how it copes long term. He explained it on his facebook to someone, and Paul from Spilled Ink asked him the exact question, but he didn't get back to him. Publicly at least.

Pauleeeeeeee

I'm not convinced in the longevity of a lot of the cover-ups he's done at all. A lot of tattooers I've talked with also are unconvinced by how he's approached them (and very talented tattooers from outside of Ireland I might add). What looks good right after the photo has been taken is the easy part. What looks good a year down the lines is the real test.

Putting light blues, yellows, etc over dark black ink just won't work in the long run in my opinion. I've no issues with doing a large scale cover up and having a few small bits showing through after a year because chances are that the new tattoo will be a hell of a lot better than the old one and that slight bit of show through will be a small price to pay. However, covering up a full halfsleeve of tribal with a sky blue dragon and white ink (referencing one that Chris has done here) seems especially risky to me. I'd love to see the healed result of something like that one year on.

At the end of the day though I've only been tattooing since the end of 2010. Chris is tattooing around a decade and is booked out 2 years in advance and is very fast. His style of japanese tattooing wouldn't personally be to my taste too much but obviously a lot of people love what he does and how he does it and I can respect that. But regarding the cover ups...I'm just not convinced.

There's also the possibility that he knows something that I don't know. From all the opinions of other tattooers I've gotten (with many years of experience behind them) it seems doubtful though.

bubblebery

Chris has a style that is not dis-similar to another VERY highly regarded artist, but there is no doubt he is an amazing artist in his own right. Regarding his cover-ups, I was pondering the subject, and wondered why he would not send his clients to a decent laser specialist, perhaps one that he has developed a relationship with. But there are some colors that do not respond well to laser, so perhaps that's his reasoning.

Cover-ups are as much about changing the focal point of the tattoo as they are "covering" what is already there. If the tattoo looks awesome as a whole, and the old tattoo is not obvious then job done. I would assume he allows clients to come back and get any troublesome spots reworked, and I have no doubt that he stands by his work.

bubblebery

Thoughts...

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=529566997056546&set=pb.111222238891026.-2207520000.1357840686&type=3&theater

Pauleeeeeeee

I think covering up solid black with the type of ink he has used and with what is essentialy a solid field of yellow and a lot of light magentas is being very over optimistic.

Pauleeeeeeee

But for all we know he has told the customer what to expect when it is healed. Even after a second pass (if he does plan on giving it one) you're going to see a good deal of the old tattoo show through. Again though, if it's a case of about 30% of it showing when all is said and done then that might considered a success to the customer and Chris and that's all the matters really.

A freshly done picture like that kind of promotes unrealistic expectations in the general public though I think.

BlackEdelweiss

I think the thing with Chris's cover ups are that the end result will be such a beautiful piece that even if there is some show through that it will not detract from the piece as a whole, it is better that getting a crappy cover up that is made up of dark greens and thick black lines just to hide it all. People will look at the work of art surrounding the faint dark shadows and anybody who dwells on the visibility of the old tattoo is just not an appreciator of beautiful art.
I would hate this thread to get bogged down in the what if's of his cover ups, lets resurrect this thread in a years time if anybody can get hold of someone who got a coverup by Chris and they can show how it looks then. Until then let this thread serve as a guide for anyone seriously considering a large scale Japanese tattoo.
Chris is a nice guy as well and talking to him you can see how passionate he is about his trade and his reputation within that trade. I honestly dont think he would do anything to damage the reputation he is trying to build as a worldwide tattoo artist and he has contacts and friends within the industry at the highest levels who I am sure he discusses things like this.

Pauleeeeeeee

There's definitely varied opinions about cover up approaches to them across the board. From what I've seen though I just happen to be a bit more pessimistic about some of the approaches he has taken. And I chatted to several tattooers "at the highest levels" about it too who would be in agreement.

In saying that, I agree with you that a cover up doesn't always need to be completely "covered up". If the design is done in such a way that it covers things up 90% of the way then it should be distracting enough to the eye for it not to be an issue in the end (as long as the new tattoo is nice of course

Anyway, I'd hate for it to appear like I'm just some bitter tattooer who's trying to stir things for the sake of it. In fact that's why I never usually get involved with any kind of open forum discussion like this because it's likely it just comes off like that.

Chris deserves all the success he gets and he obviously has worked very hard for it. I'm also sure that anyone who goes to get work from him is going to leave a happy customer

bubblebery

I have only met the guy once, and he seemed pretty cool... I spent this evening looking through his portfolio, and am completely in awe of his work, and his technical ability...as for his cover-ups, well the work speaks for its self !

shanec1928

seen this on Facebook Ching will be in Belfast from 27th February to 9th March. don't know if hes booked out or not.

Frank Bullitt

I have 8 hours booked with him, get on it fast!

BlackEdelweiss

Not wanting to stray too far from the White Dragon theme but I just saw these guys website and they look pretty good as well. They are guesting with East Tattoo in April so it a bit of an indirect link.

http://www.dirtyroses.gr/index.php

Frank Bullitt

https://www.facebook.com/EastChing?fref=ts

Just incase you guys might be a little impatient but still want amazing work, that is Ching from East Tattoos facebook page, he will be over soon, I'm booked in to get a chest plate.

If any of you are interested I would get on it soon.

Dermighty

How much does Ching charge? (average hourly rate)

Frank Bullitt

£130 per hour.

bonzo_k

Woo hoo ! Got my appointment with Mr Crooks ! Its beginning of 2015, and so the wait begins, really looking forward to it, plenty of time to save too.

D

Chikablam

2015, that's absolutely insane.
Whatcha getting?

bonzo_k

Chikablam wrote: »

2015, that's absolutely insane.
Whatcha getting?

Yeah, was surprised too, but glad I am in there now. Starting on body suit with a back piece.

BlackEdelweiss

bonzo_k wrote: »

Woo hoo ! Got my appointment with Mr Crooks ! Its beginning of 2015, and so the wait begins, really looking forward to it, plenty of time to save too.

D

Keep an eye on his facebook page when you have some money saved up and you might be able to pounce on a cancellation that he puts up. You have to be quick though and he often likes them to be already starTed pieces but that is how I got all my sittings with him.