I don't know who Kat is but....

...3 week back I was sitting in the chair having something painfully shaded (see my other post!) and was watching the goings on in the shop. There were a few artists working and I was next to one- a young lady- who sat her subject down after he arrived at the appointed time- then went to another area to eat half a burger. After that she came and sat down and put all her gear together then got up and walked away to look at the internet. First it was general browsing then she opens up a tattoo page and prints something off and brings it back to her work area and studies it for a bit. Clean up and gloves on - time to work. She does two small swirly patterns on this guys arm (all outlined)- took all of 10 minutes, and pulls up and stretches and moans etc- does a bit more then pulls up and does the same only with more 'gusto'- I'm sitting there thinking she must of given birth while I wasn't watching! Back to work- another few minutes and she pulls up wanting to know where her flyer from a local fast food place is? Another artist....MINE....says she threw it out because she thought it was finnished with. DRAMA!!!! "I was going to go there today! Where did you throw it?" In the bin-"WHICH BIN?" Hang on I'll have a look- NOOOOOO!...you're supposed to be shading my arm!!...well, at least thats what I wanted to say- I honestly believe that a person holding a multi pinned sharp implement convered in ink and with access to your veins is not a person you piss off! But, off come the gloves and it's bin diving time. Finally found it- amongst the bloody tissues, inky stuff and discarded transfer papers. BUT...she doesn't want it now because it's all dirty....oh dear... My artist apologises and they again become BFFs again...isn't that nice? Clean up again and back to the job..parts of my arm are dripping blood which has run down to my elbow and parts have dried out (I'm not going back there again...) she starts work on the dried out bit and low and behold- it feels every bit as stingy as a retouch! Now I don't profess to being perfect but I have NEVER seen such a display before- she obviously needed a group hug and possibly a lynching... Not to worry- at least their friendship is strong :)

You know I read your first post and was like "WHOA!" but this one I hate to say had me HOWLING!!! OMG!!! I seriously feel terrible for you and worse for the idiots who those bffs are going to tattoo in the future..! Glad you got out when you did...but I think had I been you and I saw that bimbette digging through trash for a flyer I would have told her "See Ya" and headed out the door.

Yeah...you gotta laugh. All this has been my first tattooing experience and I've got to admit, it's good coming on here and hearing how it's really done. To be honest, if I thought this was standard practice I'd forget the whole thing. I actually looked into this pretty hard but it seems like it was just bad luck. What I've got so far is ok and hopefully can be turned into a nice job. Walking out did seem like an option but a situation where you're new and don't know any better coupled with the intimidation factor of a shop full of 'experts' makes you think twice. I kept checking my arm and it looked ok- wasn't until heal up that I thought hang on that aint right. You know that effect you can get with a photo- it's supposed to look like it's old fashioned- instaed of it being black and white its more a brown and white...cant think of the name...thats what some of the shading looks like- pink scarring and black ink... Time to find another shop.... :)