There are questions you should be asking your artist which are completely acceptable BEFORE your tattoo. I say before because its very distracting to try to answer a million questions while tattooing. Please … please … please do NOT ask a bunch of questions while your artist is working. Speaking for myself I cannot hold a conversation while tattooing, I have a hard time hearing (there is a loud machine next to my ear) as well as im trying to concentrate. This is why I have a television in my room and you get the controller.
Moving along, these are the things you should never feel shy about asking:
1. Do you have a portfolio?
Any good artist will have a professional portfolio available for you to view. Checking out the work will show you the artist’s strengths and specialties.
2. How long have you been tattooing?
We all started somewhere, tattoo artists will have ideally served an apprenticeship from a licensed professional artist so by the time he or she begins to work on a customer they would have had at least a year under their belt. No mentor worth a dime will turn an apprentice on the public without being positive, and he or she is ready to tattoo professionally. See question one, the portfolio should give you a good idea of the quality of the work.
3. Do you use single use needles and how are they disposed of?
In this day and age there is NO excuse not to use single use needles …
enough said. All needles should be disposed of in a sharps container which is removed by a company who deals with bio-hazard waste.
4. How is your equipment cleaned?
All equipment should be cleaned in an autoclave which is used to sterilize medical equipment. Any items which cannot be put into the autoclave (such as counter tops) are cold sterilized using a germicidal spray.
5. Are you licensed?
Not only should your tattoo artist be licensed by the board of health in their state BUT the license needs to be on display for you to see.
Any professional artist should be willing to answer these questions for you and you should not be shy about asking them!
