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Tattoo artist recommendations

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    #152
    Shattered Dreamer
    Registered Users Posts: 332 ✭✭Shattered Dreamer


    Just thought I'd share my experience of Dublin Ink from last week. Went in the first day and the staff were incredibly nice, showed them the design I wanted, they copied it, made suggestions, quoted me a price of about €450 for an upper arm, gave me an appointment to come back for a consultation. Got there a few days later for my consultation (Norbi was the tattoo artist) and jesus christ the tattoo artist couldn't have been a bigger A hole. Told me he didn't like my design idea and wanted to make a bunch of changes to it and was just incredibly rude and short.When I asked him about price he just said €110 an hour and that this would probably take 2 1/2 sessions to complete (each session is 4 hours so that's €1100 for the time he claimed he'd need). I was talking to friends of mine who have quiet a lot of larger upper arm, sleeve and full thigh tattoos and they said €110 an hour is extortionate. That guy would really want to work on his people skills especially considering how much money he charges. Kind of a shame really because I had a look at his portfolio and really liked his work. This will be my first tattoo and I think he just say a mug he thought he could bleed some euros out of.

    Based on what I've read in this thread I think I'll give Wildcat and Skin City a look instead.


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    #153
    muffles6012
    Registered Users Posts: 14 ✭muffles6012


    Its really shocking what a bad rep they have and they dont seem to be doing anything about it? Obviously still getting the business. I went to wildcat again recently and delighted with outcome!


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    #154
    Esoteric_
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭Esoteric_


    From what I know of Dublin Ink, the behaviour doesn't surprise me.

    If you're not happy with an artist, it's always better to leave and find another one. Check out Snakebite, Wildcat, Skin City and Hydraulix.


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    #155
    innad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 306 ✭✭innad


    Based on my past experiences with Dublin Ink, I wouldn't go back there, either. I found them really poor at keeping appointments, not only the time/date, but also the correct artist.. If I make an appointment with a certain artist, I don't think it's too much to expect that artist to be the person to do my tattoo on the day?!

    I also found them quite unwilling to commit to any sort of price on a piece until after it was done (other than a rough estimate of "oh, it'll take about 2-4 hours. Roughly.", which, considering they didn't take cards at the time was pretty annoying as I had no idea how much cash to take with me. Even a "it definitely won't be more than €xx" would be appreciated!

    They do get some great guest artists, and produce some good work, but their attitude and communication amongst staff could really do with an overhaul.

    This is just my opinion btw, based on my own experience!


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    #156
    Dermighty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,748 ✭✭✭Dermighty


    Shattered Dreamer wrote: »
    Just thought I'd share my experience of Dublin Ink from last week. Went in the first day and the staff were incredibly nice, showed them the design I wanted, they copied it, made suggestions, quoted me a price of about €450 for an upper arm, gave me an appointment to come back for a consultation.

    For reference I'm 6'3", 100kg and my entire outside upper arm (just above the elbow up to the collar bone) took 5 hours @ €100 an hour with Pawel in Skin City. €110 is the most I've ever seen anyone charge in Ireland (except Chris Crooks in Belfast but he is a different animal).

    For that kind of money I'd rather wait 2 years and go to someone like victor Portugal where you wont pay much more than €100 an hour and you'll get something legendary.


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    #157
    Marty McFly
    Registered Users Posts: 11,224 ✭✭✭✭Marty McFly


    Dermighty wrote: »
    For reference I'm 6'3", 100kg and my entire outside upper arm (just above the elbow up to the collar bone) took 5 hours @ €100 an hour with Pawel in Skin City. €110 is the most I've ever seen anyone charge in Ireland (except Chris Crooks in Belfast but he is a different animal).

    For that kind of money I'd rather wait 2 years and go to someone like victor Portugal where you wont pay much more than €100 an hour and you'll get something legendary.

    Remis in Ireland charges 150 an hour ;).


    On times and cost there is no set rule really it depends on the artists speed and the level of detail involved in the piece and whether it colour or black and grey there are so many variables it can be hard for an artist to give an exact price hence why most charge by the hour and will try give a rough estimate of time and cost but can't set it in stone.

    Now Tomash B who I'm booked in with in September is the first I've encountered charging by piece not hour, he reckons it will take 5 to 6 hours.


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    #158
    innad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 306 ✭✭innad


    Marty McFly wrote: »
    On times and cost there is no set rule really it depends on the artists speed and the level of detail involved in the piece and whether it colour or black and grey there are so many variables it can be hard for an artist to give an exact price hence why most charge by the hour and will try give a rough estimate of time and cost but can't set it in stone.

    A rough estimate is all I've ever looked for.. DI weren't willing to give me even that! OK I'll stop bitching now, sorry :o


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    #159
    Marty McFly
    Registered Users Posts: 11,224 ✭✭✭✭Marty McFly


    innad wrote: »
    A rough estimate is all I've ever looked for.. DI weren't willing to give me even that! OK I'll stop bitching now, sorry :o

    Sorry that wasn't aimed at anyone in particular I was just making a general statement :). I wouldn't be the biggest fans of Dublin Ink myself trust me, although they have impressed me of late with some of there impressive guest spots they have gotten in, they've been pushing the boat out in that regard.


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    #160
    innad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 306 ✭✭innad


    Marty McFly wrote: »
    Sorry that wasn't aimed at anyone in particular I was just making a general statement :). I wouldn't be the biggest fans of Dublin Ink myself trust me, although they have impressed me of late with some of there impressive guest spots they have gotten in, they've been pushing the boat out in that regard.

    :)

    Yeah some of their guest artists I'd be quite interested in, but based on past experience I just don't see myself going back there. Luckily we're not short of talented artists in Dublin :)


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    #161
    Dermighty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,748 ✭✭✭Dermighty


    Marty McFly wrote: »
    Remis in Ireland charges 150 an hour ;).

    Now Tomash B who I'm booked in with in September is the first I've encountered charging by piece not hour, he reckons it will take 5 to 6 hours.

    Yeah how could I forget about Remis :P

    Well charging by the piece and then telling you how long it's going to take is the same as charging by the hour as far as I'm concerned.

    When I was getting mine done I asked how much it would cost when I was half way through the tattoo (having been told already that it was 100 an hour) and I was told, 500, it took about five and a half hours.


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    #162
    Ms. Koi
    Registered Users Posts: 2,168 ✭✭✭Ms. Koi


    Heading into Spilled Ink in September (hopefully!) to get a watercolour piece by Anto, can't wait. My sister has a piece by Paul and it's amazing. She's friends with the lads, but the work they've done on people I know etc is great. I'm really looking forward to it!


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    #163
    innad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 306 ✭✭innad


    kellief wrote: »
    Heading into Spilled Ink in September (hopefully!) to get a watercolour piece by Anto, can't wait. My sister has a piece by Paul and it's amazing. She's friends with the lads, but the work they've done on people I know etc is great. I'm really looking forward to it!

    I love Spilled Ink. Paul is working on my half sleeve at the moment :D


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    #164
    Marty McFly
    Registered Users Posts: 11,224 ✭✭✭✭Marty McFly


    Dermighty wrote: »
    Well charging by the piece and then telling you how long it's going to take is the same as charging by the hour as far as I'm concerned.


    He said roughly 5 to 6 hours could be longer, but if you want to break it down to an hour rate at 400 to 450 he is one of the best value for money artists around. Very few in Ireland can touch his level of work.


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    #165
    Marie.D
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3 ✭Marie.D


    Hi ,

    Can you help me to find a really good place to make a tatoo?

    Thanks


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    #166
    Esoteric_
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭Esoteric_


    Marie.D wrote: »
    Hi ,

    Can you help me to find a really good place to make a tatoo?

    Thanks

    What kind do you want? Style, colour or black and grey?
    We can help you a lot more if we know what kind of idea you have :)


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    #167
    Marie.D
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3 ✭Marie.D


    Esoteric_ wrote: »
    What kind do you want? Style, colour or black and grey?
    We can help you a lot more if we know what kind of idea you have :)

    Hi Esoteric !

    I want just a black one. This tatoo will be a date like VII / IV / MMXI . And I want it on my wrist :)
    That's my idea .. :)


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    #168
    Esoteric_
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭Esoteric_


    Marie.D wrote: »
    Hi Esoteric !

    I want just a black one. This tatoo will be a date like VII / IV / MMXI . And I want it on my wrist :)
    That's my idea .. :)

    Then I'd recommend skin city, snakebite, or hydraulix :)


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    #169
    Marie.D
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3 ✭Marie.D


    Esoteric_ wrote: »
    Then I'd recommend skin city, snakebite, or hydraulix :)

    Thank you very much Esoteric ! :):)


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    #170
    jess.becks
    Registered Users Posts: 17 ✭jess.becks


    Spilled ink are suppose to be one of the best and i got a fixed price today and a really good price


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    #171
    jess.becks
    Registered Users Posts: 17 ✭jess.becks


    Totally understand how u feel i was bitchin like crazy today skin city wanted up to €1,500 for my tattoo i needent tell you what i said.got 2 other quotes one from spilled ink €400 and one from wildcat for €500 absolute madness for that kinda money wana be goin to miami ink haha!


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    #172
    Dermighty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,748 ✭✭✭Dermighty


    jess.becks wrote: »
    Totally understand how u feel i was bitchin like crazy today skin city wanted up to €1,500 for my tattoo i needent tell you what i said.got 2 other quotes one from spilled ink €400 and one from wildcat for €500 absolute madness for that kinda money wana be goin to miami ink haha!

    The tattoo you described in another thread is covering at least half your back, as I understand it. Without knowing how big a person you are all I can say is that a tattoo that covers half your back and your side isn't a small tattoo, nor does it take a short amount of time to do, if you want it done in colour it's more time consuming.

    So when you get quoted €1,500 it's because it'll take anywhere around 15 hours, which is 3 to 4 sittings for Skin City, as they seem to like doing around 4-5 hours at a time usually, though I've witnessed them do 6 or 7 hours.

    Personally if I wanted to get a tattoo of that magnitude, and got quoted €400 I'd be more inclined to run a mile than if I got quoted €1,500.

    I've no experience with spilled ink.

    EDIT: I'd also like to add that any place that'll do half your back and your side for €400 are either doing a **** job or doing a very basic tattoo


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    #173
    jess.becks
    Registered Users Posts: 17 ✭jess.becks


    I didn't say the tattoo was going to cover half of my back,it's a hard tattoo to describe i'll post a picture when its done.I want it on the left side of my back and as for prices I got 7 quotes and 4 were £400 to £500


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    #174
    Orim
    Registered Users Posts: 4,971 ✭✭✭Orim


    jess.becks wrote: »
    I didn't say the tattoo was going to cover half of my back,it's a hard tattoo to describe i'll post a picture when its done.I want it on the left side of my back and as for prices I got 7 quotes and 4 were £400 to £500

    Obviously you know best what your tattoo is but I'd be careful of writing off Skin City too fast based on price. They have a very good reputation, which is based on being a good place to go and for putting out some very high calibre work.

    They charge ~100 euro an hour. So in essence at 1500 they are saying that it will be about 15 hours of work to produce a piece to their standard. Spilled Ink and Wildcat wouldn't be too far off that price, so they're saying it's a maybe to 6 to 7 hour job. It could be that the guys in Skin City are overestimating the complexity of the job or vice versa with the others underestimating. It could also be that Skin City will put in a lot more work.

    I say this with no disrespect to the other studios. I especially like Spilled Ink but as always with tattoos, make sure you think about it carefully. Don't bail because of the high price tag.


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    #175
    Dermighty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,748 ✭✭✭Dermighty


    jess.becks wrote: »
    I didn't say the tattoo was going to cover half of my back

    jess.becks wrote: »
    1 i want is large dwn 1 side of my back frm top 2 almost bottom of back


    I must have misunderstood you then...


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    #176
    endacl
    Registered Users Posts: 22,233 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    Dermighty wrote: »
    I must have misunderstood you then...

    Txtspk. It happens...

    :)


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    #177
    jess.becks
    Registered Users Posts: 17 ✭jess.becks


    It's a pity you didn't get to wildcat ink they are very helpful and reply to emails very promtely.I too took a day out yesterday to go round town pricing my tattoo,found most of them very rude and generally disinterested in helping me.Rachael in wildcat stephens green gave me a really good price which was the lowest one so I'm going with her.I found the shop to be spotless and the girl at reception was so nice she even remembered my name from my email which I thought was nice.Overall a great place and great staff the cleanest tattoo shop ive ever seen.


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    #178
    Esoteric_
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭Esoteric_


    jess.becks wrote: »
    It's a pity you didn't get to wildcat ink they are very helpful and reply to emails very promtely.I too took a day out yesterday to go round town pricing my tattoo,found most of them very rude and generally disinterested in helping me.Rachael in wildcat stephens green gave me a really good price which was the lowest one so I'm going with her.I found the shop to be spotless and the girl at reception was so nice she even remembered my name from my email which I thought was nice.Overall a great place and great staff the cleanest tattoo shop ive ever seen.

    I love the work that comes out of Wildcat and have nothing but good to say about them, but if you're just going to go with the lowest price quotes you get, then one day (probably not with this tattoo, because Wildcat are top notch) you will end up with a shit tattoo. Price shouldn't even be a consideration until everything else, like the artist's style, their ability to do the style you want, their portfolio, the studio's gear and hygiene, certs for things like blood borne pathogen studies, etc have been looked at.


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    #179
    Arawn
    Registered Users Posts: 3,158 ✭✭✭Arawn


    Personally I couldn't give a **** what an artist is like personality wise, im not there to be buddy buddy, im there to get work done


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    #180
    dinorebel
    Registered Users Posts: 2,268 ✭✭✭dinorebel


    Arawn wrote: »
    Personally I couldn't give a **** what an artist is like personality wise, im not there to be buddy buddy, im there to get work done
    I get that but great work and good personality make the experience better IMO.


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    #181
    Orim
    Registered Users Posts: 4,971 ✭✭✭Orim


    dinorebel wrote: »
    I get that but great work and good personality make the experience better IMO.

    Depends on the personality of both parties. Some of us just want the best work and if that means sitting silently for a couple of hours then I'm cool with that. The best example is Remis, who I understand isn't the chattiest of blokes but his work speaks for itself.


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