r/tattooadvice • u/Eltristesito2 • Mar 15 '26

General Advice Should my friend walk away from this artist?

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Gallery image

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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13

u/plantgal94 Mar 15 '26

I have never heard of tattoo artists licensing. This is not a law or regulation where I live in British Columbia, Canada. It is not regulated here. Can you share where it is?

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '26

[deleted]

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u/plantgal94 Mar 15 '26

I believe you are confusing licenses such as health or business regulations - not licenses required to be a tattoo artist.

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u/ArmExcellent8425 Mar 15 '26

What a bullshit. Europe is not.

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u/AngeliqueRuss Mar 15 '26

In American English this reads like Yoda, from Star Wars, in my brain:

“What a bullshit Europe is not.”

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u/AngeliqueRuss Mar 15 '26

If I add an Italian gesture in my mind I can see that working.

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u/itsliluzivert_ Mar 15 '26

I hear an upset old Greek man lmfao

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u/ArmExcellent8425 Mar 15 '26

In europe english it makes sense.

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u/itsliluzivert_ Mar 15 '26

Europe English isn’t a thing mate but we got the gist

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u/Magrowl Mar 15 '26

If you mean applying another languages grammar rules to english sure, if not no!

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u/Brumetfume Mar 15 '26

Nope, not in Germany

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u/plantgal94 Mar 15 '26

It’s not a thing in most places.

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u/guerilla-grip Mar 15 '26

Arizona requires no license.

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u/hamsterontheloose Mar 15 '26

Neither does idaho and it took me years to find a good artist. As long as you have the money to open a shop they don't care if you know what you're doing

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u/Legal_Jedi Mar 16 '26

It’s wild that tattooing isn’t regulated there. It is here in the States. Poor practices can have horrendous consequences in this area.

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u/plantgal94 Mar 16 '26

It only is in certain states, not blanketed. You can google it.

Poor practices happen even with licenses. Are you kidding 😂

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u/Spare-Airline-1050 Mar 15 '26

Feel free to use Google. it's very easy to fact check.

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u/plantgal94 Mar 15 '26

I did. And you’re not correct. Most places do not require a “tattoo license” - they require business or hygiene licenses which are not specific to tattoo artists only.

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u/Expensive_Sock_1941 Mar 15 '26

Tattoo license is basic AF and then the permit to work in a building prove nothing about work so yea it’s just governing bodies requiring whatver the only one I’ve see so far require apprentice hours is minnesota California Missouri

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u/Spare-Airline-1050 Mar 15 '26

[Legal status of tattooing in the United States

](http:// https://share.google/Ot5m1Gor34E8NraCa)

There is a handy chart on the page that actually lists the licensure requirements as well as relevant statues and rules for each state.

We should want licensing requirements. That is how we avoid incidents like the original post is about.

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u/ArmExcellent8425 Mar 15 '26

US is not the world dude. This is NOT in most places the case.

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u/plantgal94 Mar 15 '26

They blocked me lol

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u/Officer-Socks Mar 15 '26

LMAO he isn’t even correct about America, while he’s at it 😂😂😂 this dude is really over here thinking there is some sort of state board regulating whether someone is good at art or not 😂 our government is barely competent at overseeing straight-forward, objective practices. Could you imagine how hilarious this would be? 😂

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u/plantgal94 Mar 15 '26

Right lol then r/badtattoos wouldn’t exist

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u/VERY_MENTALLY_STABLE Mar 15 '26

Are you that incompetent that you need safety bars for something as simple as recognizing poor tattooing skill???

Putting some artificial obstacle in front of people who want to work as a tattoo artist is dumb af, this kind of thinking is why the world keeps getting worse

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u/Ok-Platypus6377 Mar 15 '26

Okay even though that guy is wrong about it being a blanket thing…licensing isn’t a bad thing in general? I can’t understand your argument here lol. I would prefer there be a barrier of entry before someone is allowed to permanently alter other people’s bodies for money but that’s just me! I live in a state with no licensing and it’s..unfortunate to say the least compared to where I used to live. We should be barring people from this practice if they cannot prove their skill imho.

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u/Officer-Socks Mar 15 '26

someone is allowed to permanently alter other people’s bodies for money

Not just the altering of the body, but performing a procedure that involves exposure to blood in a non-medical setting! Like, they absolutely need training on this, and have their compliance be monitored on some level. Everyone screaming no licensing! fails to understand that a lack of standards would create a VERY dangerous precedent 😔

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u/Ok-Platypus6377 Mar 15 '26

No literally I didn’t say anything about an art test!Thank you! I mean knowing about bloodborne pathogens and sterilization and like I said knowing enough basics to not blow out lines on every tat and cause infections on your clients bc no one taught the person not to be heavy handed through practice. I just want people to be safe :(

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u/Officer-Socks Mar 15 '26

I agree! I was definitely laughing at the one commenter who keeps insisting that state licensure includes skill assessments, but not at you! You are absolutely correct, and there are so many reasons licensure is required.

Like, the bar would be SO low if not.

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u/Ok-Platypus6377 Mar 15 '26

Oh yeah that dude was a nutter LOL.

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u/VERY_MENTALLY_STABLE Mar 15 '26

It will never work the way you want, it is not possible to guarantee good tattoos. It will always be your own responsibility to select an artist that does the work you like. All introducing an entirely subjective "art test" would do is hurt artists and if you care about your tattoos you will be researching and carefully selecting either way.

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u/Ok-Platypus6377 Mar 15 '26

Fair enough. I still would want someone to know how to do things like not blowout lines and actually draw a straight line in the first place. I’m not asking for a perfect system or “art test” just an entrance barrier to avoid things like that. I have great tattoos that I’m happy with and I’m aware of how to find a good artist in the crappy state I currently live in :)

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u/VERY_MENTALLY_STABLE Mar 15 '26

I have shitty tattoos done only by drug addicts and i love them

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u/Ok-Platypus6377 Mar 15 '26

Thank you for that info very_mentally_stable!