North Edmonton Tattoos | Turning Your Tattoo Vision into Tattoo Reality
Alana: Hi everyone, thanks again for joining us on the Skin Art J YouTube channel. My name is Alana, and I’m joined, as always, by J at SkinArtJ and north Edmonton tattoos. We’re going to be talking today about the entire tattoo process, right from the very start and concept to finish and after care of the tattoo.
Quote of the day is: “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time,” by Thomas Merton. Our fact of the day is the oldest evidence of tattoos is over 5,000 years old from the mummy Otzi, who was found in the Italian Alps. I was surprised by that, but we learned on another episode that Italy has the longest history of tattoos, so that’s very interesting.
J: It is, and then I was aware that it was somewhere in the Alps that there was a mummy that so it it rang a bell.
Tattoos Are Becoming Mainstream
Alana: I love that. While tattoos are becoming more common everywhere, including Canada, some people are still nervous about not knowing what they can expect. In today’s episode we discussed the entire tattoo process from start to finish in hopes of demystifying it for people who are interested.
So, J, there are several steps to getting a tattoo—from finding an artist and picking the artwork. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about the best way to find an artist that you would like to tattoo on your body?
J: The most common way that I know of to kind of find an artist is Instagram. Instagram is the hot spot for a lot of artists, cuz it does allow us to advertise ourselves. And from there it’s figuring out what kind of style someone wants. So when a person comes in that doesn’t have any ideas of what they want but they want a tattoo, I commonly suggest for them to start saving the photos that they find they’re drawn to, the tattoos that they like. And then from there they can kind of narrow and figure out, all right, this is the style I want, and then they can start matching it to the different artists that do that kind of specific work for them. And from there it’s them approaching and figuring out their budget and what they want from that experience and aligning it so that they can have the best opportunity of that.
Alana: Excellent. So they should really keep in mind the art that they are interested in, and finding an artist that matches that will do the style that they’re interested in. That’s a huge part.
J: Yes.
Custom Tattoos VS Flash Tattoos
Alana: Okay, perfect. What is the difference between choosing a flash design or getting a custom design made?
J: So custom is something where someone’s coming in and they’re letting us know that they want something similar to what they’ve brought or given us ideas and how they want it to look for themselves, to which we get to play with it and create something custom. Flash is something that the artist typically has come up with themselves and has produced that they want to create or they want to do on someone, and if someone likes it then they can receive that.
Alana: Okay, excellent. Is it more expensive to get a custom design than choosing from a flash gallery?
J: Not necessarily. Commonly flash pieces do tend to have either set rates or reduced rates as the artist really wants to create that kind of artwork and push for their style in that direction. So a client, if they do just want some artwork that they enjoy from that artist, could potentially go that direction with it. Custom could potentially be more depending on the design itself, how big it is—so different factors in it—but I would say for the most part I would think that flash would be a little more cheaper than getting something customized.
Alana: Excellent. And do you require a deposit before you start creating a custom piece for someone?
J: Yes, every single time.
Alana: All right, that’s good to know. Once the artwork is finalized, what are the steps of getting that tattoo? Walk us through everything from getting to the appointment on time, to placing the tattoo—how that works—all the way to the point of getting ready to tattoo it on their body. What are the steps?
Consultation is the First Step of Getting a New Tattoo
J: So the beginning part is consultation: talking to your artist, making sure you’re on the same page, creating artwork. I have switched over to allowing someone to see it three days prior to their meeting or their tattoo time. Then the day of, you’re showing up—you are ideally prepared depending on if it’s a longer session or a shorter session for whatever comfort that you might need. So if you want to bring a blanket to keep yourself warm or if you want slippers—something to keep you cozy. And then from that is listening to your artist: they’re going to walk you through ideally prepping the skin, cleaning it, getting that stencil on, making sure that both are happy with the placement of it, and then, depending on the position or placement, getting them in certain sitting positions to getting the tattoo complete. Sitting still during the process—there’s many times where I’ve had it that a client doesn’t think that they’re moving yet, as I try to stress or emphasize: everything is connected, any part of your body that you’re moving is connected to the rest and it will impact it. So people texting, people moving their feet—that all interacts with the rest of your body. So sitting as still as you possibly can. Then getting bandaged, getting up to the front and paying for your tattoo, if you need setting up another tattoo appointment and making sure it’s all squared away, and then from that out the door, and you have conversation with your artist if there’s any questions or concerns.
Alana: Excellent. And is there a reason why you have people seeing their artwork three days ahead of time? Is it to approve it? Do you make changes after that point?
Expect Custom Artwork On the Day of Your Tattoo
J: So originally I was sending it to people over email, and I started running into something very similar that I’ve heard others point out before: there were other opinions involved in artwork that was intentional for that person and between me and that person that are creating this piece. So I did find that to eliminate having those people give their other opinions on something that isn’t theirs to receive, I started doing it more of the three days before. So that the client still has the opportunity to see it; I still have the opportunity to tweak anything if changes need to be made; and also to make sure that we are aligned on the same page, cuz some people will claim they want, example, a phoenix, and then turn around and say they want an elephant and not think that there’s any consequences that will be involved with completely changing their main image or idea to which a person has dedicated time and energy towards, right?
Alana: Okay. And how will a person know if they need a touch-up after their tattoo is completed? If there’s anything that has faded or has not stayed properly, or if even there have been instances where it happens: someone’s going to bed and they forget that they have a tattoo and the bedsheet gets stuck and they pull on it and it can pull out ink. So there are multiple varying factors of why someone could come in. But generally if it’s faded or if it’s not fully in place like it’s intended to be.
J: Okay.
Touch Ups For Your Tattoo
Alana: And how long should they wait before contacting the artist to let them know that they think a touch-up is needed?
J: There really isn’t quite a time limit. Some people preemptively already think that they’re going to want a touch-up and they do that and book it right after the session, which, if they don’t need it, it can get cancelled; or if they do need it, it’s there. Other times it can be that month grace period where they finally heal and everything’s settled, cuz we can’t do anything in between that, and then reaching back out and making sure it’s within the three months period to come back in and get anything done that needs to be done.
Alana: Perfect. And what are some of the reasons people want to touch up? Is it color that hasn’t gone in? Is it lines that aren’t quite finished? What are the most common reasons people get touch-ups?
J: It can be just a spot wasn’t saturated enough, or it could be there’s something with the lines that just need a little tweak. Or it could be, once again, clients that have had issues while they were healing it. And another instance I’ve had people use is their animal has scratched their skin while they were healing and it ripped off the scab—stuff like that.
Alana: Okay, excellent. And if people are having questions about the healing process while they’re going through it, the best thing to do would be what?
To Get A Tattoo, Contact SkinArtJ Tattoos in Edmonton
J: To reach out and contact their artist.
Alana: Excellent. All right, that is everything for today’s episode here at the SkinArtJ YouTube channel. Thanks so much, J, for your knowledge and your passion. My name is Alana, and please feel free to hit the like and subscribe button so that you can get notified of our next episode, and visit J’s website www.skinartjtattoos.com, on Instagram @skinartj, on Facebook @skin-art-j, and TikTok SkinArtJ. Thanks so much, and we’ll see you next time.