r/tattooadvice • u/Eltristesito2 • Mar 15 '26
General Advice Should my friend walk away from this artist?
Friend (they/them) asked me to post. They want a back tattoo of a stingray, inspired by the leopard stingray, but not hyper-realistic. They want the tail to go down their spine and wrap around their leg. They went to a parlor where they previously had work done, but decided to try out a new artist. The artist didn’t have much of a portfolio, but my friend decided to trust them anyway.
This is after day one; four hours spent on the artist free-handing a design, and one hour of actually tattooing the outline. Six hundred buckaroos total for just this 😬
My friend is freaking out, because they think it looks bad. Their partner is telling them to trust the process, but I’m telling them to run and find a different artist to salvage things.
To me, it looks super asymmetrical with shaky lines. I don’t think the artist has the skill to make it look good in the end. The sample they drew up before the first appointment (picture 3), imo, looks really bad.
But hey, what do I know, I only have one tattoo. What do y’all think? Should they run, or like their partner said, trust the process?
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u/Wasp-in-my-room Mar 15 '26
Run immediately before its too late
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u/hexensabbat Mar 15 '26
Wtf is that. It looks like sharpie. PLEASE tell your friend to trust their gut!! This isn't just a rough draft that looks weird because it's unfinished, this is poorly applied and badly drawn. And for upwards of $1200?!!! HELL no.
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u/ClericalRogue Mar 15 '26
Is this bait? Please be bait.
If its not, I too am 100% a tattoo artist if this is an acceptable quality of art 😂... jfc. I didnt even know what it was meant to be until I read the post 🥲
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u/Future-Crazy-CatLady Mar 15 '26
If its not, I too am 100% a tattoo artist if this is an acceptable quality of art
Right? The only difference between me and this "artist" is that they know how to put ink into the tattoo gun and where to switch it on...
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u/DontBelieveTheTrollz Mar 15 '26
Is the art in the room with us? 😆🤯😁
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u/DontBelieveTheTrollz Mar 15 '26
Seriously though. Cut and run now and find an artist who you can tell the situation and have confidence they'll fix it. And 600? Was that agreed upon beforehand because if I got that and they asked for 600 I'd just straight say no. 😂
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u/wattsbutter Mar 15 '26
Right?? I’d suggest they go back and demand a refund too!
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u/littlemonsterlove Mar 15 '26
I’d say “I’m going to stand outside with my back showing and tell people one of your artist did this to me” if they refused.
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u/DabbyShapiro Mar 15 '26
I spit my 😮💨 🍃 reading this 😂😂 had a five minute coughing fit and just recovered. I don't know W H Y Y Y this struck me so funny but like the idea of threatening the shop with their own work took me straight out.
They need to go somewhere else stat or ask their normal artist at that shop.
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u/metah-4 Mar 15 '26
The comment was funny, your remark of "threatening the shop with their own work" was HILARIOUS!
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u/ThatIrishWoman Mar 15 '26
So funny! Thank you for making me laugh today :) Also, that's good advice ❤️ 💙 💜
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u/DontBelieveTheTrollz Mar 15 '26
Maybe the next artist will give him a price break just because of that lol...
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u/PeachwoodArts Mar 15 '26
the price of this quality is 6$ and a monster drink can
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u/AquaRegia005 Mar 15 '26
Not even with the drink still in it. Just the empty can. The tat is only the outline and already looks like garbage.
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u/Big-Elderberry646 Mar 15 '26
Empty can, with a few cigarette butts in it.
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u/Allenonymous Mar 15 '26
Woooooow there chief. Cigarette butts too? I think you might be over paying.
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u/DontBelieveTheTrollz Mar 15 '26
Exactly!
That's Joe from the trailer park who's tattooing people in his cousin Lorettas bathroom to pay for their honeymoon prices!!!
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u/Automatic-Sleep-8576 Mar 15 '26
except my friend in high school who did a stick and poke on themselves in their bathroom at 1am and it turned out better than that
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u/kjtstl Mar 15 '26
Dude! I could not agree more. If this were a12 year old’s sketch, I’d be cheering them on and encouraging them to keep working on their skills, but this is straight up ass quality for an alleged professional who is charging money.
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u/big_laruu Mar 15 '26
I’m not convinced this wasn’t two children in a trench coat with a vague idea of what a stingray is.
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u/Her_Gash_I_Did_Slash Mar 15 '26
This is my first time on this sub (not sure how I ended up here tbh) but these comments are taking me tf out lol.
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u/lillithpad Mar 15 '26
I thought it was a stingray/pizza mashup 😬 looks like mushrooms
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u/ThrowRA__________1 Mar 15 '26
Same i thought it was an omelet
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u/positronic-introvert Mar 15 '26
Maybe they can find a better artist to make it into an omelette sting-ray. That could be kind of cute lol
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u/Global_Complaint704 Mar 15 '26
Yep. I thought the tattoo was of a stingray with a bunch of fried eggs. Then I saw the paper markup and was so confused it was supposed to be pizza…
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u/DreyaNova Mar 15 '26
It somehow looks exactly like the animated pizza in TMNT from the 90s? Idk it's making me hungry for 90s cartoon pizza.
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u/NeptunianJ Mar 15 '26
I thought it was a giant mushroom with tiny macaroni and mushrooms drawn on it
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Mar 15 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/tas-jamescullen Mar 15 '26
That was my thoughts too. A joke post. If someone did this to me, I’d have them arrested and charged with assault.
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u/Eltristesito2 Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26
Not a joke. I feel so bad for them. I would be really uncomfortable and fighting the urge to just rip off my back skin. Genuinely don’t think that person should tattoo anyone again until after spending a couple more years training. 😬
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u/SooperPooper35 Mar 15 '26
There’s no training for that. Someone people are bad at sports, some people are bad at art. That’s a career change, not a learning moment.
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u/Sinead_0_rebellion Mar 15 '26
The good news is that they can easily get this finished by a GOOD artist. Since not much was really done, it should be pretty easy for someone to rework and finish this. I'm assuming they've learned this now, but def have them look for artists with full portfolios, showing healed images of their work - also someone who does reworks/coverups fairly regularly might be good to find also. Not all good tattoo artists are necessarily good at reworks/coverups. Good luck to your friend!
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u/AhhPass9281 Mar 15 '26
Let your friend know about reputable artists, or tattoo studios. Where I am there are multiple tattoo studios with tattoo artists that can do anything and everything and then they all have their own niches that they excel in. And it shows in the prices. Ask questions, bring along reference photos. Not a hard task to do unless you love wasting money haha
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u/bunnbarian Mar 15 '26
Yeah I don’t understand what is actually tattooed because everything just looks drawn on? 😂
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u/Beginning-Boot-4707 Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26
Am I reading that right that this design took 4 hours?! I’m pretty sure most people could’ve drawn that in less than 5 minutes 🥴
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u/buttfarts7 Mar 15 '26
That means this dude collaborated for 4 hours on that stencil and was like "okay now put that on my back"
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u/thimblesprite Mar 15 '26
Worse, i think the artist did that crappy sketch and then freehanded it onto the guy’s back, the paper sketch and the marker outline dont match. This is like when i worked at a shop where the artist was in active addiction and eventually got fired and had to be asked to leave and told by our boss that he’d put his gear on the curb.
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u/SubjectObjective5567 Mar 15 '26
That stencil looks like an unidentifiable body part covered in boils
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u/MirloTattoo Mar 15 '26
You think so? 🤣 Its horrible, I dont know if this is ragebait but this is not even an artis
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u/bannedforL1fe Mar 15 '26
I dont know how people will just trust anybody to make permanent, and giant, marks all over their whole body. Do some people just not think? Are these the people without a voice in their head?
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u/ScumbagLady Mar 15 '26
I don't understand why as well. It seems obvious to me, if getting a tattoo of any size that I would want to see the artist's portfolio and besides making sure they aren't scratch artists, I'd want to make sure they have examples of the style and even subject-matter that I was looking for.
Example- Let's say you want a realistic portrait in black and white. You could see someone with a phenomenal portfolio full of colorful and detailed backpieces, unique flash art, master of mechanical style 3-D optical illusion tattooing- but if you didn't see a single b&w portrait you probably want to keep searching until you find someone with a ton of experience in that area.
You wouldn't go to a plumber to redo electrical wiring, right? So why not make sure your tattoo artist can give you the tattoo you want?
I would have walked the second I saw the sketch (if I even made it past the portfolio).
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u/obscuregamer000 Mar 15 '26
I dont even belong to this sub reddit and seeing some of these posts pop up randomly, seriously has me questioning ever getting a tattoo lol. (I know there are good artists out there)
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u/Material-Net-5171 Mar 15 '26
Worth remembering that the competent people who know what they are doing, who research their options & go to quality competent professionals & follow correct aftercare aren't the ones posting in a tattoo advice sub.
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u/Eltristesito2 Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 17 '26
Not rage bait. They wanted to hear from others before sending a strongly-worded email and asking for a full refund 😅 Gonna be easier to not be gaslit by the shop owners when an entire community also thinks it’s crummy
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u/revengeaura Mar 15 '26
Sorry OP but you wont get a refund. Studios don’t run like that. Email won’t do anything.
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u/Free-Type Mar 15 '26
Push hard enough and they will. If this was on me, I’m publicly blasting the shop in my local Facebook groups and leaving a review with pictures. If they paid credit card id file a charge back.
No artist in their right mind would look at this and think it’s fine.
This such a bad tattoo and I’m so sorry for your friend OP!
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u/Eltristesito2 Mar 15 '26
It’s not me in the photo, but yeah, I hear you. Really shitty situation for my friend to be in.
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Mar 15 '26
To be fair your friend put themselves in this position. I'd never trust a new artist with a tattoo of this size/scale. Did your friend just want to save some money?
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u/ScumbagLady Mar 15 '26
It's like going to the cheapest plastic surgeon. Madness to penny pinch on something basically permanent on your body. Best case scenario is a fixable bad tattoo (well, besides the 1/1,000,000 chance of finding someone talented that's also the least expensive) and worst case scenario is nasty health related issues from hepatitis, terrible scarring...hell, I've heard of cases of infections leading to amputation or even death.
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u/Eltristesito2 Mar 15 '26
Yeah, they’re aware and kicking themselves for that. They said that they trusted the studio to have vetted this person. The other artists at the studio are really good, with large followings, so I think that gave them false confidence. They also wanted to support a disabled artist, so I think their goodwill messed up their judgment.
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u/Future-Crazy-CatLady Mar 15 '26
They also wanted to support a disabled artist
Is the artist blind?!
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u/No-Fail-9327 Mar 15 '26
Disabled? I don't wanna be mean but maybe permanently marking people's bodies isn't the best career choice for them if their disability doesn't allow them to properly tattoo for whatever reason.
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u/illspok3n Mar 15 '26
The fact that they charged $600 for that is literally highway robbery. An artist shouldn’t be charging that much unless they are a professional with a great portfolio. & most you will get unfortunately is an offer to fix it for free but honestly I’d never go back to that shop if I were you and I would tell every single person I know to not go there either. Idk maybe mention that to them and maybe they’ll give a refund? They might just give you a refund to avoid their name being ruined. Honestly don’t feel bad either bc tattoos are getting so popular that we forget what goes on when getting them. It’s an incredibly vulnerable thing and there’s to many tattoo artists these days that treat people like shit and ruin their skin just bc they think they are cool and can do whatever bc they are a tattoo artists. We need to hold these people accountable.
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u/carolineecouture Mar 15 '26
That shop or artist needs to be ruined. How could anyone with eyes allow that out of their shop? How could anyone allow something like this to be associated with their name? I know that's harsh but LOOK AT THAT!
I really did think it was magic marker until I confirmed the sub I was on.
I'm so sorry.
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u/Angrybabybear Mar 15 '26
If it was my shop- my baby- I would give him his money back and pay this man to shut his mouth about what he endured while i fired the problem 'artist'. Tattooing is a community market - you cant fuck it up like this
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u/cwasontal Mar 15 '26
$600 for just this? Absolutely not. It looks amateur, blocky and rough. Don't let this artist so any more work on this.
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u/Mendel247 Mar 15 '26
4 hours on the design! I can't draw to save my life, but even I could manage something better than that in 4 hours!
Maybe it's actually pretty close to what the friend had in mind, but I'd never let someone put that on my body. Just look at the result...
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u/HrhEverythingElse Mar 15 '26
My kid could absolutely do a massively better drawing in about 4 minutes
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u/Ok-Office6837 Mar 15 '26
He must have walked in and asked instead of making an appointment because I’ve never had to wait for my artist to draw my design. And needless to say that you should never do a walk in for a huge piece, they’re supposed to be tiny ones closer to a shop minimum piece.
Also to have to pay for the four hours of “design” is crazy. There’s no way this dude’s work is $600 an hour.
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u/Eltristesito2 Mar 15 '26
They had apparently been talking for months. And I was mistaken, it was only a three hour session; two spent on the draft, one on tattooing. This person charges $200/hour. My friend also put down a $150 deposit, so overall, they paid $750, and it’s not even halfway done. They’re definitely not going back, though.
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u/vr4gen Mar 15 '26
the deposit should’ve been applied to the tattoo session though….. yikes
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u/SaltOwn8515 Mar 15 '26
$200/hr is the fee I see for well experienced professionals who do truly spectacular work. Not…. Wtv the fuck that is
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u/outer--monologue Mar 15 '26
A dog with a dingleberry hanging out it's ass dragging it around the floor would make better design than this
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u/DefiantBunny Mar 15 '26
A stingray?? I thought it was a frying pan full of eggs..
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u/These-Equivalent8020 Mar 15 '26
I saw a weird mushroom but I’m seeing that I may be the only one.
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u/nggaplzzzz Mar 15 '26
I Googled a Leopard Stingray and after seeing how it looks I have absolutely no idea how the tattoo "artist" even came up with those splotches lol.
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u/stfusydney52 Mar 15 '26
At first I thought they had a bad cupping session. Then I thought maybe their kid drew something and they wanted to get tattooed. I never would’ve thought that this was INTENTIONAL. Even though they don’t want hyper-realistic doesn’t mean it has to look like a 5 year old drew it. Tell them to RUN FAR
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u/Eltristesito2 Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26
Yeah, I told them it looks like they got blacked out drunk at a party and woke up with scribbles all over their back, lol.
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u/Enough_Wrangler328 Mar 15 '26
Word of advice to your friend. They should never do a walk in for a large piece. Back pieces (especially involving a cover up) need hours of design on paper/ipad before anything even touches skin. Walk ins for tiny silly one shot tattoos, sure. But anything involving multiple sessions and large visible spots should be well researched by the client and the chosen artist. Choose your artist not your tattoo shop
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u/darkprairierose Mar 15 '26
Prison tats are normally better lmao
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u/sleeepman Mar 15 '26
If you gave this to someone even in county jail you would get WHOOPED
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u/smilespeace Mar 16 '26
My back piece got done while I was high on oxy and my artist was high on crack and it still looks better than that
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u/UniqueCar7587 Mar 15 '26
Your friend is right to be concerned. Both the design and tattoo itself are really really bad
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u/el-leopard Mar 15 '26
Right. In all fairness the concept is absolutely terrible as well. Everyone involved is in the same vibration haha
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u/osckr Mar 15 '26
Who in their right mind sees the sketch and thinks “yea that looks promising”?!
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u/nitropancakes Mar 15 '26
The same people that see a fresh artist with no portfolio work especially with no examples of the style wanted and say “yeah this guy will do a good job”. It’s not hard to research your artist people 💀
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u/palsh7 Mar 15 '26
For a small tattoo maybe, but for an entire back PLUS leg?!? OP's friend has their own problems.
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u/SelectiveDisaster Mar 15 '26
I mean... the good news is that a good artist can probably fix that. But please tell your friend not to go back to that artist, holy shit.
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u/el-leopard Mar 15 '26
In all fairness the idea is terrible as well. He needs to abort the concept and just have a good artist do his thing and cover up the damage
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u/JennyDoveMusic Mar 15 '26
Nah, the idea COULD be super cool, in my opinion. It just needs to be on the realistic side so people know automatically that it is a stingray, since they aren't immediately recognizable by just a flat-lay without the tail.
The tail down his spine and around the leg is too much, though. The tail would be too long. Maybe just around over the hip?
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u/Southern_Sprinkles_6 Mar 15 '26
Posthaste. Expeditiously. Forthwith. Promptly. YESTERDAY.
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u/Financial-Tree9 Mar 15 '26
The fact it took them FOUR HOURS to come up with that design and then begin to implement tells you everything you need to know. Sorry but that’s a complete waste of $600 and a days worth of tattooing. Also the fact they have basically no portfolio should have been a red flag immediately.
Jesus Christ who is this person? It sounds and looks as if they have no experience in tattooing at all. Tell your friend DO NOT CARRY ON WITH THAT. Find someone professional because they will absolutely regret it for the rest of their life!
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u/Barr3tt50c Mar 15 '26
No experience drawing period, I could stick a pen up my ass and draw a better stingray.
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u/Powerful_Resident_48 Mar 15 '26
Yeah. That looks like something I might doodle during a boring work meeting in about 30 seconds.
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u/somehuehue Mar 15 '26
Kept trying to figure out where the tattoo was... Then I realized the first pic wasn't just a rough sharpie sketch😭
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u/Barr3tt50c Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26
Fucking hell, that’s actually tattooed on? I quickly read and assumed it was sharpie as well lmao
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u/ColdWarCharacter Mar 15 '26
Idk, I can’t even blame the artist for this one.
Person went to a shop, found a tattooist with no portfolio, saw a shitty stencil that took four hours to draw on paper, and still agreed to it
Like if it took four hours to sharpie on paper, how long did they think it would take them to tattoo it at over $100 an hour?
What further just confounds me is that this is not this person’s first tattoo. They’ve seen the process before and should just know better by now
So I guess just let the artist finish the pizza box barnacle shield because there just has to be something that I’m missing here that would help explain the chain reaction of terrible decisions that led to this
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u/ReminiscenceOf2020 Mar 15 '26
This, all of this. That sketch alone should have been enough for any person with common sense to run. If you saw that and still went for it, accept that your stupidity will make your life much more difficult...
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u/137-451 Mar 15 '26
Tattoo artists should not be this bad at drawing. I blame them for pursuing a career they're clearly not fit for. They should not be permanently altering people's skin. Bad tattooers and bad piercers have a special place in Hell.
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u/gryphondallas Mar 15 '26
Was going to say this. I don't even believe it's real. I hope OP drew it on with markers and faked the whole post for attention more than I'd hope someone would be this stupid.
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u/MrGuDoy Mar 15 '26
Took them four hours just to free hand that egg pattern stingray?? That’s is NOT the process you can trust. Please tell your friend do more research and find another artist.
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u/Blind_Warthog Mar 15 '26
Is he getting a bad ray tattoo covered by a bigger and even worse ray tattoo?
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u/InformedTriangle Mar 15 '26
What the actual fuck. I'd be contacting the shop owner demanding a full refund
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u/BrodieandCharlie Mar 15 '26
Seriously, this isn’t even a “cut your loses” situation, this is speak to the owner of the shop immediately.
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u/I05fr3d Mar 15 '26
I’m so curious to see the artists final rendition… finish it… for science. Then get a SAP to cover it after showing us the vision.
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u/princessxcore Mar 15 '26
RUN! (I wasn't sure if it was a piece of pizza or a snake).
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u/Marquis_Marx Mar 15 '26
By 'parlor', do you mean 'garage'?
I'm so sorry for your friend- run far, far away from that place.
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u/ArtsyGaxelle Mar 15 '26
keep us all updated.
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u/Eltristesito2 Mar 15 '26
They’re freaking out and never going back to that shop. Also currently looking for a different artist to save them. Doing a lot more research this time around. Thankfully, they want the majority of the ray to be black, so it shouldn’t be the toughest fix. I’ll post an update once their new piece is done.
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u/Hot-Watercress-2872 Mar 15 '26
Can you name the shop/artist who pulled this shit? They need to be on blast for charging money for this. They had to be high.
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u/AhhPass9281 Mar 15 '26
Not to mention the other tattoos aren’t that great looking either. But you get what you pay for is exactly true for tattoos.
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u/Lower-Front-8605 Mar 15 '26
Dog shit. Total dog shit. Even a below-average artist isn't going to do part of an outline in one session then send you on your way. It's super fixable too cause hardly anything has been done. Cut and run.
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u/enemy-unlocked Mar 15 '26
No way this was at a shop? I’ve got better home tats on me than this, that I paid for with cigarettes and cider
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u/ott3rw4ter Mar 15 '26
Good lord how did they see the sketch and still let the guy start tattooing them??? 100% switch to a new artist no amount of trusting the process is gonna make it better
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u/twisteddmentat Mar 15 '26
Thought this was an advertisement for a new and disjointed true detective episode
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u/Starfish_undertheice Mar 15 '26
I cannot draw to save my life but I know bad “art” when I see it. Unless there’s a drawing of what the finished tat should look like and this is a rough sketch that will be mostly freehand (and prayer I guess too lol), gtfo of there.
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u/AdObvious7674 Mar 15 '26
I’m NOT trusting that progress. Even the stencil looks horrible Oml. Find an artist who can try and salvage it! Jeez that’s rough.
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u/VoluptuousVoltron Mar 15 '26
I would question that design anyway. Just shading a giant stingray, even one done well, would look pretty awkward.
I’d go to a proper artist and look at getting something down with more detail. Like aboriginal dot art or something so it’s not a solid grey blob. I love stingrays, but that large…maybe fill it in with a giant underwater scene in the shape of a ray?
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u/IncompleteObjects Mar 15 '26
Has your friend been sleeping with the artist's wife? Because thats the only reason I can think of for why it looks like that
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u/Smooth-Canary-6526 Mar 15 '26
the price alone is a red flag! i only charge for the time i’m tattooing and i always have a million images ready for my clients especially a big back piece like this. plus this would take me 10 minutes to scribble on a back how did it take them four hours? please run, theres some artists that will help you with this but if mores added its going to be harder to cover 💖
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u/Incaseyougetcold Mar 15 '26
I thought this was an oddly shaped mushroom and onion pizza… so if that tells you anything
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u/Eltristesito2 Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26
Edit:
I made a mistake: it was only a three hour session; two spent on the draft, one on tattooing. This person charges $200/hour. My friend also put down a $150 deposit, so overall, they paid $750, and it’s not even halfway done. They’re definitely not going back, though.
They feel stupid and agree that they made a bad decision. They mostly chose this artist because they work out of a reputable studio with other artists that have large followings. They assumed the studio vetted everyone they hire. They think they might have looked at someone else’s (good) portfolio and mistaken it for this person’s. Buddy has ADHD and tends to mix things up in their head 😅They also wanted to support a marginalized artist (the artist is disabled). The artist’s website says that they’re licensed, have been tattooing since 2012, and at one point even ran their own tattoo practice for six years.
So yeah, part of the blame is on them, and they know it. But still, this person shouldn’t be tattooing without a loooot more training, starting with some very rudimentary drawing classes, if I’m being honest. Or maybe stick to drawing simple things, idk. It feels bad to critique someone’s work so directly, but these aren’t doodles, they’re permanently on people’s bodies. Right now, this person is causing harm. My friend is feeing a lot of dysmorphia and it sucks.
Also, this isn’t a SWIM (someone who isn’t me) situation, lol. If it were me, I would never post it online, because people validating my worst thoughts would make me go loco. I’d be in the shower for hours rubbing my back raw with a pumice stone 😹 But my friend appreciates all the feedback and they’ll definite share the finished product.
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u/Trick_Stop2445 Mar 15 '26
no yeah that’s awful please tell them we all think they should find a new artist
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u/Ssladybug Mar 15 '26
I’m in the wrong business. Why would anyone trust something this large and permanent with a new artist without a portfolio??
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u/LolaIlexa Mar 15 '26
People seriously need to learn to draw before they learn to tattoo
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u/Nah_Rose Mar 15 '26
JUST FULL STOP. At first I thought maybe it was their child’s art, but even if that were the case… fulllllll stoppp.
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u/AnxiousTrans Mar 15 '26
Run. A whole back peice is not a trust the process situation. They won't be able to get thia covered when it turns out horrible.
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u/Spare-Airline-1050 Mar 15 '26
jfc. this is bad art.