Posted by Thistle on October 21, 2001 at 08:17:18:
I went to talk to a couple of artists about doing my tattoo. I showed both artists the same piece of art. One artist gave me a flat rate of $85 and said it would take him about 1.5 hours. The second artist said it would take about 3 hours and he charges $100 per hour. The cheaper artist was very friendly and spent a lot of time talking to me. He showed me a portfolio that had decent work in it and mentioned that not all of his best work was shown. He said that he loves to do realism, but I only saw one example of a faerie or an angel in his portfolio. The more expensive artist was quieter but friendly. He blew up my picture on a copier to show me how large he would need to make it in order to give me the detail that I want. He had an example of a pixie in his portfolio and it was good.
I looked at both portfolios, but it is hard to tell if they contain standard work. I tend to believe that you put your best work in portfolios. It is also hard to judge because artists tend to have a favorite style, and that is usually where they do their best work.
What if I can get the same quality of tattoo, or better, for less money? I tend to believe that quality costs more. What if the expensive artist doesn't? I tried to find the artist who did Corey's tattoo, but he works in Seminole now.
What would you guys do?