The other day, a woman sat in my chair so that we could rework a tattoo she had done in Florida. It was a fond memory from when her children were younger and one of her daughters had drawn it up. The artist that did it, didn't do a bad job, it just wasn't everything she was hoping it would be. As we worked, we were talking about little things she wanted to change and how her daughter hadn't included some things in the drawing and so the artist didn't include them in the finished piece... like flowers on one bush and not on the other.
I asked her if she'd looked through the artist's portfolio. She admitted she hadn't. She had gone on her daughters word. Which is fine... but as close as two people are, there are going to be things that one person likes that the other one doesn't. I told her, no matter what, any shop you go into, ALWAYS look through the artist's portfolio. It's a tool that can help you make a better decision.
She giggled at me. "What am I supposed to do... just walk into a place and say 'Can I see your portfolio?'"
"Yes!"
"Really?" she says to me...
"That's what it's there for. We EXPECT that! This is how you know what kind of work you're getting."
Up until this moment, I had no idea that people felt sheepish about this. You shouldn't. Know what kind of work you're getting for your money. If you don't want to just walk in somewhere, look online. Most artists will have websites or a section on a shop website. Or they'll have a page on instagram or facebook. If you're browsing online, it doesn't hurt to take a trip to the shop after that just to check the place out and schedule a consultation. The artist you pick is just as important as figuring out what you want to wear on your body for the rest of your life.
Storytime:
A while back I had an interaction with a man who was unhappy with his tattoo. He proceeded to show me a wolf on his arm that didn't turn out anything like he wanted. What he wanted, which he also showed me, was a realistic portrait of a wolf howling at the moon. Soft. Flowing. Not quite photo-realistic, but soft and beautiful. No heavy line work. On his arm was a similar wolf, but with harder, more prominent lines. Still well done. Just not in the style he was hoping for. And he was dissing the artist heavily. So I asked for the name of the artist and looked him up. And what I found was that this artist did beautiful work! However, his entire portfolio was filled with work that was more in the style of old-school Americana which is VERY unlike the style this man wanted.
So we had a little conversation and I asked him if there was anything in this artist's portfolio that looked even remotely close to what he wanted. Of course he said no. But then he also went on to say that after looking through the artists' portfolio he wasn't really thrilled with anything he saw in there because it wasn't what he was looking for. 0.0
Then why get tattooed by this artist in particular? Old school and fine to non-line portraiture couldn't be farther away from each other on the spectrum. But he said to the artist "this is what I want" and the artist did it... in the style he was familiar with because that's the work he does. Because, as an artist, you assume that the person sitting in your chair looked at your portfolio and so they're prepared for your type of work. I mean, you wouldn't sit down with Picasso and expect DaVinci. They both paint, but their portfolios are worlds apart.
A portfolio can tell you what genre the artist enjoys and it also demonstrates personal style- the way he or she draws and prefers to work. But for some odd reason, people seem to think it's a book of flash or wannado's or something? I'm not sure what they think it is. Hence, the reason for this article.
I can tell you that in the past handful of years, we've had younger people run into the shop with their phone, hold it up and say "How much?" And it's not always easy to price things on the fly like that without a consultation and finding out exactly what they're looking for. But if you can, you give them an answer and they're off to the next place to see if they can find a lower price. I guess. We've tried telling them "Hey, look through the portfolios to see what kind of work we do..." and sometimes they will. Most of the time though, they're too busy trying to find a cheaper price for something they found online that a few thousand other people already have. This isn't McDonald's. We all work differently.
I was browsing a forum the other day and someone wanted to know how to pick out a good tattoo artist "how do you know if you've got a good one? Do you just go by reviews?" These were her words. And through the vast number of responses, NO ONE even suggested to look through a portfolio, so now I'm not even sure if younger people know this exists.
Sure, you can go by reviews. But I find that people often leave bad reviews just to mess with rival shops... or because an artist couldn't fit a walk-in on a day when the shop was booked solid. When people can't get their way right then and there, they get spiteful and reviews suffer. This is the world we live in.
You can always go by recommendations. But again, everyone has an opinion. I'll often ask people, do you listen to the same music as the person who made the recommendation? All of it? Or only some of it? Because there are probably going to be differences. There will be songs or genres of music you're not fond of. The same goes for art.
And for those who think you can walk in anywhere and get the same thing... remember, you can order a McDonald's burger in New York and it will come with ketchup, onions and a couple of pickles- but in some areas of Pennsylvania, they're going to surprise you with some mustard on that burger. Just some food for thought. ;)
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