Tattoo Artist

Tattoo Artist

Tatted Mom

Tucson, AZ

Female, 32

I'm a tattoo artist who underwent a standard apprenticeship under a certified tattoo artist. I am an artist first, tattooer second, which means I put creativity and art into my tattoos, not just the 'you pick it, we stick it' type of tattooer. Apprenticeships for tattooing vary by state, according to the laws. I'm also a trained body piercer, as well. Any questions about the job or apprenticing, I'd be happy to help!

PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT price tattoos. Seek a shop for that.

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Last Answer on May 23, 2014

Best Rated

I got a tattoo that I don't like with my daughters name will a good tattoo artist cover it up?

Asked by Vanessa over 11 years ago

Most tattoos are coverable, yes, but you need to pick your artist carefully. Cover ups can be tricky. When you are looking for a piece to use as a coverup, look for something with a lot of lines and a lot of places the artist can use as shade points- that's what will disguise your tattoo. Flowers and dragons make awesome coverup pieces.

Have you ever had clients who changed their minds about getting a tattoo midway through the process? What did you do?

Asked by lalalauren almost 12 years ago

Fortunately that's never happened to me. I've had to ask a customer to leave in the middle of a tattoo because they weren't sitting still and they were messing up my work (this customer and I had a long history of problems with him sitting in the chair, but the last time I couldn't take it anymore and told him to leave), but I've never had anyone change their mind mid-tattoo. Usually so much time and effort goes into planning the tattoo, and if the person seems nervous we get the money first, just in case, so once all of that is done, the person generally commits.

I have a butterfly tattooed on my lower back. It was done by an amateur. How hard would it be to fix it, or would I have to cover it up?

Asked by Shauna over 11 years ago

It all depends on the tattoo. Some can be fixed, others have to be covered up, some only have the option of being removed. The darker the tattoo, the more difficult it is to cover up, but it's not impossible.

getting a Irish knot bracelet with a dangling celtic cross, would you suggest color of Irish flag or black ink

Asked by smith over 11 years ago

If you are getting the bracelet to look like it's a realistic bracelet hanging on your skin, then go black and grey for authenticity. Otherwise, color vs. black and grey is completely up to the client.

And, in reading further into your question, Irish flag colors might be overkill with the celtic knot and celtic cross. Stick with black and grey, or just green. But that's what I would tell a customer if they came to me with that idea, so it's purely my opinion.

What's a tattoo that's trendy now that you wish would just go away?

Asked by joey friday over 11 years ago

White tattoos. They've been the biggest craze on Pinterest and other online picture sites and people don't understand that they are useless and a waste of money. In these pictures you see online, you can see the tattoo, only done in white ink, just fine because the skin around the tattoo is red and irritated from the tattoo process. Once that redness goes away, the tattoo won't show up the way it looks in those pictures. White ink doesn't work well in the skin anyway in large areas- it should only be used as highlights so it really shows up. White tattoos are a waste of ink, a waste of a tattoo artist's time, and a waste of money because they won't show up a few months from the time they are done.

When people would ask me to do a white tattoo, I'd always get the same reasoning: "I want a tattoo, but I don't want people to see it." My reply? "Then don't get a tattoo, or get it where people can't see it, but getting an invisible tattoo is not smart."

I got a tattoo recently and discussed the coloring with the artist before doing the tattoo. A significant portion needed to be "white", he went with gray. Can it be fixed?

Asked by bob over 11 years ago

Maybe. You have to understand that white is just an accent color, best used in small areas to highlight something, and only stands out when directly next to a dark, contrasting area. If there was a big space of the tattoo that should have been white, the artist may have opted to go with a light gray wash to add dimension to the piece, without wasting white ink on a large area. In larger areas, white ink tends to just fade right into the skin, or even worse, turn yellow over time.

It might be possible to add white highlights here and there to trick the eye into perceiving the whole area as white. Without seeing the tattoo, it's hard to advise you.

So recently got a tattoo and it was supposed to say "into this house we're born into this world we're thrown" but instead of it saying world it says house.. is there any way it can be fixed?

Asked by IsaPerez over 11 years ago

Nope, not without covering the word, which would probably look strange. You might be able to get just that one word removed by laser tattoo removal, but I'm not familiar with the removal process, so you'd have to ask a licensed removal person about that.