I live near Corpus Christi, TX. I am looking to get a really nice portrait tattoo of my Father who passed in Feb.. I know they are hard to do so I want the best in the area. Does anyone know a good website, forum or anything where I can do some research? I have been calling and visiting local shops but they all claim to be good at portraits. I don’t want to just trust their words for it and end up with something I will regret the rest of my life.
Help please!
Beth
At our studio, we do not SPECIALIZE in portraits so we refer them out. That’s all there is to it for us. We only let our clients go to someone who does them almost exclusively.
It is one thing to see a decent looking portrait in a portfolio, but if you cannot see a reference photo, you have no idea if the artist has captured that person well. Always see both a reference photo and the tattoo after picture. Don’t rely on drawn designs.
Another tip is to see how well they do celebrity portraits – faces you know and see all the time – I call it the Elvis test. Anyone who has done a lot of portraits have likely been asked for an Elvis – trust me, I have seen a lot of poor quality Elvi out there! (haha).
Look at the work of some of the great portrait artists like Nikko Hurtado, Bob Tyrrell, Aaron Bell, Anil Gupta (there are many more but these are who come to mind at the moment.)
If the work doesn’t measure up – keep looking.
most tattoo artists have pictures of their work. ask them about it.
References :
Calling and visiting is a good start. I would ask to see some of their work when you stop in places. If they seem good, have them draw up the portrait and see what you think. Alot of tattoo parlors have websites and they post their work. That’s how I found my tattoo parlor. I liked the work, and they had photos of the shop on the site, so I could see how sanitary it is.
Good luck.
References :
You definatly need to be looking at portfolios when you go to visit a shop. Also, when/if you see people with really well done portraits ask who did it. Most people are happy to talk up their tattooists.
References :
go to each and every one of them. they have thier work in books at the front of the shop, compare and find out wich ones you like the most
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the only way to really find a good one is go into all the shops and ask..look at the portfolios of their work and talk to them, ask how long they’ve been tattooing and ask them if they are comfortable doing portrait tattoos..typically they won’t do a tattoo if they aren’t sure that they can make it look good..another thing you can do is ask if they know anyone who speciallizes in portrait tattoos..i know they aren’t going to want to throw names around easily cause that means they’d be losing business…but my mom always taught me it doesn’t hurt to ask
References :
go to different studios and look at artist’s portfolios and talk to them, they don’t always put everything out
References :
There are a lot of Studios in Corpus Christi..
It’s a tourist town…I can however recommend
you call, or visit one in Houston..They will give
you good advice. It’s a great shop and good
people with great talent. You are smart to do
good research….the more you learn about tattoos
the better your chances of getting quality art ….
Shaw’s Tattoo Studio
1660 Westheimer Rd.
Houston,TX 77006
713)528-1255
References :
Here’s a link to TattooNOW’s texas gallery
http://www.tattoonow.com/tattoos/texas/
there are almost 800 tattoos from great artist who work and travel to Texas.
There are a few annual conventions in Texas were you would have the chance to view tons of portfolios and speak to many artists. I fact:
November 2nd – 4th 2007
9th Annual Texas Tattoo Round Up
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dallas Market Center
7050 N.Stemmons Freeway
Dallas Texas 75247
Reservations 214 630-8500
More Info: 517 540-6055
http://www.eternaltattoos.com
If you are really serious about getting the best portrait you can you might think about saving your money and traveling some of the best artist doing portraits today:
Mike Devries, Mike Demasi, Nikko , Shane ONeill . . .
Or you could take all these folks advice, (these are alot of great artist in Texas!) . . . .
http://www.tattoonow.com/facemaster.cfm?task=message_list&thread_index=148&generate=1
Good Luck and remember great tattoos take patience.
References :
TattooNOW.com
http://tattoos.com/convent.html
MDTattoos.com
http://www.tattoonow.com/tattoos/Nikko/
http://www.tattoonow.com/artists/Shane_ONeill/
You are smart to be doing research – keep at it – if you were in Cleveland I could point you in the right direction – but the best advise I can give is look at other people’s work, check the artist’s portfolio and don’t take someones word that they are good at portrait work.
My hubby is a tattoo artist and darn good one – but he won’t attempt a portrait. Because there are so many small lines they can "go south" real fast and it’s hard to recover something like that – really no room for error.
References :
Go the extra time and get it done by Kat from LA ink, she is the best B&W portrait artists! Plus you can get on the show -
References :
http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/la-ink/la-ink.html
At our studio, we do not SPECIALIZE in portraits so we refer them out. That’s all there is to it for us. We only let our clients go to someone who does them almost exclusively.
It is one thing to see a decent looking portrait in a portfolio, but if you cannot see a reference photo, you have no idea if the artist has captured that person well. Always see both a reference photo and the tattoo after picture. Don’t rely on drawn designs.
Another tip is to see how well they do celebrity portraits – faces you know and see all the time – I call it the Elvis test. Anyone who has done a lot of portraits have likely been asked for an Elvis – trust me, I have seen a lot of poor quality Elvi out there! (haha).
Look at the work of some of the great portrait artists like Nikko Hurtado, Bob Tyrrell, Aaron Bell, Anil Gupta (there are many more but these are who come to mind at the moment.)
If the work doesn’t measure up – keep looking.
References :
shut up!!! my artist just moved to corpus christi texas this year and he has gotten AMAZING at doing portraits!!! he mostly does color portraits and of famous people but he really does rock!!! he works at shipwreck tattoo and here is a link to his myspace with some of his tattoos… his newest is dorothy from the wizard of oz and it is great!!! yay! i will be so excited if you get one from him!!! tell him brandi from shreveport told you about him!!! yay! he’s finishing my tattoo in new orleans at the convention. i’m jealous that you live so close to him because i can’t get tattooed all the time now.
oh, his name is james clements by the way.
http://www.myspace.com/jctattoos
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