Custom policy and guidelines.

Before you read this super long thing! None of these boundaries are because I believe that my design skills are god’s gift to tattooing or because I don’t like tattooing other ways/things than what I come up with. I simply have found that I am not good at designing customs for people outside of these rules. It’s just a skill I haven’t really found success with. And I don’t want anyone to waste their time on me.

Guidelines and boundaries:

I take a $120 drawing fee for custom tattoos. This is not a deposit and does not go towards the cost of the tattoo.

My rate is $200 per hour (I work very quickly, this is around $15 per inch)

A hand sized tattoo will typically take around 2-4 hours. A tattoo that is twice that size will probably take around 4-6 hours. A full sleeve or large thigh piece will take multiple sessions. But these are just estimates.

When I do custom tattoos it’s very important to me that you have gone through my work and made sure you love at least 80-90% of it enough to have gotten those actual tattoos yourself. If that’s not the case then I am probably not the artist for you. (That really goes for any artist)

For the design itself, I will typically turn down anything that does not sound like something within the realm of things I typically tattoo (dark nature-y stuff/ witchy things/ neotraditional/black and grey). I also ask that you only request 1-3 elements (a snake, flower, dagger, animal, etc) because it becomes more and more difficult to create a design that works the more elements that you add.

The big one: I ask for full creative freedom.

That means you are putting the design totally into my hands and not asking me to design something based off of:

  • Another artists work

  • Your own sketch

  • Your friend’s sketch

  • Something very specific/exact in your head

  • Pinterest

  • A style you’ve seen that is very different from mine.

    This requires a LOT of trust in your artist which is why it is so important to choose an artist whose work you love enough to give them that trust. It also means that if you are looking for a design based off of something you drew yourself or a friend drew, I am probably not the artist for this project.

I will show you the design before you come in for your appointment to make sure you like it!

I will email the design the night before your appointment, giving you the chance to preview it in private and process any feelings/reactions not-in-front-of-me.

Modifications

I will make any changes you request to the design on the day of the appointment when you are there or before you arrive. This is for a few reasons:

  • It is easier/more efficient to show you in person what I am changing and to communicate with the design in front of us.

  • I can approve the changes as I am doing them with you there

  • I am able to limit the amount of free drawing/modification time to what is reasonable to do, to the time before the appointment

  • I am getting your gut reactions and personal preferences only, not your brother’s, boyfriends, mom’s and cousins.

  • It creates a hard boundary for how large the changes are I am able to accommodate without rescheduling and taking a new drawing fee

If you do need greater changes to the design than I can complete the day of the appointment, I will need to reschedule with you and take a new drawing fee.

If I designed an entire sleeve or even a half sleeve and it turns out there was a major miscommunication of what it was you were looking for, or you simply want a re-draw, we may need to talk about other fees or penalties associated with the amount of time wasted on the design (probably close to 14 hours or more of drawing, plus the forfeited appointment). So please, PLEASE!! Be very clear if there is something specific you do or do not want in your tattoo. If the design you want is not a good fit with my work I would rather know that up front and be able to tell you than waste days drawing a design that will not be tattooed.

If all of that sounds good, go ahead and fill out the form (completely!) and add a description of what you are looking for in the message box and submit!

I (or my assistant) will reach out to you whether I am able to do the tattoo or not!