Any silence is an awkward silence.

If there is one thing I have learned in the last few years, it is that the vast majority of those who come to get tattooed or pierced enjoy the social interaction that is commonplace in most shops.  Much like they do with their hairdressers, bartenders and even therapists, our clients want to be able to engage in conversation and have a positive experience.  Whether it be a tattoo, piercing or any other form of body modification, we are performing painful procedures on every person who sits in our chair.  Many people are nervous, anxious and in some cases truly scared before the procedure regardless if it is their first time, or 100th.  Engaging in conversation with not only the person in your chair, but others around you does a great deal to help put them at ease and decrease their anxiety level.  Social interaction helps to shift some of the focus away from the pain the client is being sujected to.  Silence, on the other hand, creates an environment where the only thing they have is the pain.


Imagine how awkward and uncomfortable it would be to have someone inflicting pain upon you, for several hours in some cases with only an occasional word or two.  It is our responsibility to ensure every person who walks out the door had a positive and enjoyable experience!  Personally, I like to joke around and have fun with those I tattoo as well as others around me, and for each person who may not appreciate that approach, there are countless others who return because of it.  You can never please everyone, but if they see that you enjoy what you are doing and making an effort to connect with them, the vast majority will do the same.  


We DO NOT work in a funeral home or library, so it shouldn't sound and feel like one.  With a shop on almost every corner these days, you need to  create a positive and enjoyable experience for your clients....or someone else will!!!

Awesome Tattoo Artist....or THIEF????

It seems that the the number of tattooers stealing pictures from other's portfolios and posting the as their own is drastically increasing.  I have personally called out 2 such people recently.  One of these individuals (who I will refer to as Russ), even after the actual person who did the tattoo claimed itin a public forum, still tried to say it was his.  Many of those who are stealing the work of others, do so as a pathetic last ditch effort to make themselves appear to be better than the tattoos they actually do.  With the quality of tattoos being done becoming more and more amazing, those who have not improved their skill level are resorting to drastic measures in a desperate effort to stay in business.

We like to feel that by looking at a tattooers portfolio, we are able to make an informed decision as to who will mark us for life.  This premise has become more complicated, as these thieves are becoming more and more common.  My suggestion, when looking at someone's portfolio is to look for things that don't belong.  When you see that all but a handfull of the tattoos are total garbage, and then a few are completely clean and awesome....something is not right.  It is normal to see a gradual improvement or shift in overall style when viewing a portfolio, but keep an eye out for drastic differences.

There is now a search feature on Google images that allows anyone to determine whether someone is a photo thief.  In the images search box, there is a camera icon, click the icon.  Locate the photo that you want to make sure belongs to that tattooer, right click and copy image URL.  Paste the url into the search box back on Google and the results will come up for most photos.  If all the results reference someone besides the portfolio you found it in....guess what?

I felt this topic needed to be touched on due to the amount of people not only losing hard earned money, but more importantly, having their bodies destroyed by these scumbags.

Thanks for reading.

Aran Campas