Now that we have established that you and I love Tattoos, let’s get back to bigger topics. How do you determine one tattoo is good? How to select a great design? Why some tattoos look like shit after healing? What are your rights as a customer? A good tattoo artist or a good studio is one that you will go back to, a second time or more. A good Tattoo gives you the feeling of accomplishment every time you look at it, or ideally it should. The process starts with you, the customer, from the moment you decides you want to get inked. This cannot be over emphasised, but getting a tattoo should be an informed decision. People get impulsive with tattoos, but there are some basics rules you need to follow and things you need to know even in such cases. Get a good design concept: This shouldn’t be a surprise. Think- You wants to mark yourself for the rest of your life. Do you want the design to be something unique and special, or you just want a tattoo? (I’ve come across a lot of patrons who comes in the latter category, but I will come to that later) Get a design concept that is personal and important to you. I’m not looking down up on all the Thrishul Tattoos that walks into the parlour every week. No way. That’s our bread, after all.. Take this as a chance to show off your originality, and you don’t want to waste it. Believe me, you get a very generic tattoo and you will most likely start regretting it just in days.

Research online, think well, and get a concept that might be awesome and personal. Your artist should be able to convert it to a nice tattoo. That’s their job. If you want to go with a picture straight away, a tattoo can be made of anything. A magazine pic, a cartoon character, a video game screenshot, a page from your old “Amar chitrakadha” collection- as long as it can be printed, it can be tattooed. And believe me, a good artist always prefers a challenge. More on Designs: Images or designs concepts consisting of human figures have to be anatomically correct. In a lot of cases it doesn’t, and patrons mostly look at the overall aesthetic of the tattoo, and hence may doesn’t pay that much attention to the figures individually. It’s only after the initial novelty of getting that highly anticipated tattoo wanes out, that these minute details comes to attention and the regretting phase starts. I get a lot of requests for correcting these sorts of images and since almost every artist now a days use high quality products, it’s sometimes really tough to do these corrections. Pay attention to everything involved guys, when the topic is getting a Tattoo Background Search: This is very, very, real. Do a thorough background-search of your artist and studio. Even studios that look very professional have employed inexperienced artists in many occasions and have messed up tattoos for customers. Take some time to check the individual portfolio or social media pages of your artist and see their works. Confirm their style is what you want. Request for another artist, or select another studio if you are not happy with what you get. It’s always easier to do it before you get inked.

Don’t settle for cheap: This doesn’t happen with everyone, but sometimes we get swayed by a seemingly very good offer. It’s exactly as the saying goes- “You get what you pay for”. In cases where the second point is met and you get awesome rates as part of a promotion from a reputed artist, you are just lucky. But in the majority case scenario, if someone is offering you a tattoo in dirt cheap rates, chances are very high that you’d regret getting it from him/her and would actually have to spend more on it to get it to a presentable state. Talk to your artist. Gain confidence in them. Explain your concerns. They should be able to address them all. If an artist is pressing you to opt from a list of designs they prefer you to select from, do it only if you’re absolutely sure you want just that. After Care: This is something even artists are divided on, as every artist follow a slightly different after care procedure that they have narrowed up on after years of experience. One thing is sure, your tattoo is only half done when you walk out of that studio. The other major half lies in the aftercare, or how your tattoo recovers. Take care of your tattoo for the first 3-4 weeks like you take care of a baby. It’s an open wound and it should be dealt like that. Avoid anything that can possibly cause an infection, or can harm the ink. Your studio should brief you in detail on this. Some major points to be noted:

Scabbing is normal, excessive scabbing is not, and is a sign of skin damage If your ink appears smudged, it can be because of various reasons, but the biggest being you artist went too deep. Don’t apply anything that contains alcohol or petroleum products. It can damage the ink Yes olive oil is good for your tattoo. Once the scabbing is gone. Till then a good unscented moisturizer is enough. There’s a myth that a tattoo shouldn’t be washed. This cannot be more wrong. You want your tattoo to be devoid of dirt and infections, you cannot achieve that without keeping it clean. Wash your tattoo regularly- 3 to 4 times a day. And moisturize it. (Don’t overdo the moisturizer though) This is a strange tendency, but people just seem to love touching your fresh tattoo. Don’t let them do it. You’re inviting infections. Avoid heavy sweating, dirt and dust, chemicals like fuel, swimming, work outs- for at least 2 weeks. No one tells you this, but it’s better to avoid sun exposure without a good sunscreen for the rest of your life, if you love your ink. Let your tattoo heal well, and after your new skin hardens in 2-3 weeks, you get an idea how your tattoo will look for the coming years.

What If? What if shit hits the ceiling? What if even after taking care of all this and still your tattoo appears damaged? Well, there are a lot of variables involved and some times, shit just happens. In cases like that, your artist or studio must offer you free touch ups, or charge you a bare minimum for it, till the time you are satisfied. Sometimes, especially with big pieces, some areas of your tattoo might need a touch up and it shouldn’t be a major issue. Cover-ups: Don’t go to the same artist who messed up your tattoo for a cover-up, until unless you’re absolutely sure it was your mistake and you insisted on a shitty design. Cover-Ups can be costly, time consuming and in some cases ineffective, so have a good talk with your artist before you settle for something. And please be very cautious when someone says they have learned, and just want to practice so they’d give you a deal. Check their previous healed works and then only proceed Last but not least, I won’t consider myself the best out there or even a perfect artist. But these things needs to be said, and someone has to do it.. For me, like every artist, this is a journey of learning and being better than you were the previous day. We, artists are and always should be, on your side, and want you to have a great looking tattoo and be happy and proud of it.