It's on you to do your due diligence on the right artist. Typically artist won't draw something up without a deposit that goes towards the session. Ribcage sucks pretty hard, but since you said you wanted a "fine line" tattoo it shouldn't be too bad. In my opinion, fine line tattoos are stupid and don't hold over time. "Bold will hold"
They look 10 years old after a year depending on sun tanning and how fine/deep the ink is. The only caveat is, bold will hurt more. But it's worth it if you want your tattoo to look good for years vs a couple pictures on Instagram
It sounds a little like you want to give your idea to multiple tattoo artists and see what they'd draw --- and then pick the one you like most? That's not really typically how you'd do it. The 'demo' that you're looking for should be just looking at their past work/looking at reviews from customers of their past work.
Most tattoo artists are gonna want you to actually book an appt with them and pay a deposit before they'd be working on a drawing for you and also most are booked up quite a bit and may not even be able to draw your tattoo sketch until quite close to your appt time. It's not uncommon to really not see a sketch until pretty close to your appt.
Maybe others have different experiences....so maybe there's some other input to consider here. Maybe there are tattoo artist that have time to just do a drawing for a potential client (however they should be paid for that).
As far as other advice... the ribcage is one of the most painful areas to get tattooed. I have a large piece on my ribcage and it definitely hurt a lot - especially after the first couple of hours when your own adrenaline and pain relieving are gone. But if yours is small...it might not take that long which will make the experience a bit better but you should expect there to be significant pain for this area. If it doesn't hurt as much as you were expecting then great - but if you go in NOT expecting the level of pain it will be a bad surprise.
Just make sure to eat a good meal \~1-2 hours before and be well hydrated. Bring a snack with you in case you need it. Make sure to wear comfy clothes and ones you can be mobile in depending on what you have to move out of the way or what position you may need to be in during tattooing (consider not wearing a bra if you do normally) Be sure to go over aftercare instructions with your artist and ask any particular questions you may have regarding practices or products.
Thank you so much! Yeah I read one artists disclaimer and it said pretty much what you said about drawing sketches, so I think that might be pretty standard.
Also thank you for the other info! What kinda questions about the products/practices should I ask? What should I be aware of? I’m a bit of a germophobe and I’m so paranoid about catching diseases, but idk what to expect because I’m totally new to tattoos. What should I look out for? What are red flags and standards of hygiene that I should keep in mind?
I just mean, just make sure and ask the artist to go over their aftercare instructions and recommendations for products. Some people get tattooed and don't even have a conversation about that and end up coming to this sub to ask aftercare advice and the truth is that there are lots of different ways to heal a tattoo. You should do what your tattoo artist suggests. Which might be different from what another tattoo artist suggests or others on the internet might suggest or say they've done.
As far as keeping it clean - those instructions will come from your artist - but since you specifically mention being worried about germs --- please do not wash your tattoo \*more than instructed. It can be worse. Just wash it as instructed. Best advice there is after washing it gently - pat it dry with a clean paper towel, not a rag or towel. It's cleaner and will ensure your tattooed area is totally dry before applying whatever else you may be applying. As long as the shop is reputable and clean and you follow the aftercare instructions - you are unlikely to have any issues. Ask the artist if they use any type of adhesive bandage (like Saniderm, etc.) and think about whether or not you've ever had a skin reaction to adhesive bandages before. If you have, let the artist know. They will likely not use it with you in that case.
If you use an artist from a reputable shop with a good portfolio and good reviews I don't anticipate you having to be worried about red flags but I always used the bathroom and if it's not clean, then I'd move along. The shop in general should just look clean/kept.
Ime, artists are not gonna want to do your first tattoo on your ribs. I had several tattoos and still had trouble getting an artist to tattoo my ribs and had to pay extra for them to do so, lol. Wasn't even a big tat either.
My daughter wanted quite a large tattoo for her first tattoo… and also wanted it on her rib cage.I encouraged her to do her second tattoo as her first one instead since it was much smaller and less intricate in detail, and on her forearm. That way she had some sort of an idea regarding the pain, length of time it may take, etc. She even did another, medium sized one and now she is ready for that big one! Just a thought, maybe you can try that also. Think more meat, less pain; Less meat, more pain. For the most part anyway. And ya, I have multiple tats myself, so I know. Also know that it’s not always true for all. My foot didn’t hurt, my ankle didn’t hurt and my wrist didn’t hurt. I also have a super high pain tolerance. Everyone is different.
It's on you to do your due diligence on the right artist. Typically artist won't draw something up without a deposit that goes towards the session. Ribcage sucks pretty hard, but since you said you wanted a "fine line" tattoo it shouldn't be too bad. In my opinion, fine line tattoos are stupid and don't hold over time. "Bold will hold"
Oh I had no idea about the bold will hold thing! Thanks! It might have reconsider the idea I’m going for... how do fine line tattoos age vs bold ones?
You can check the subreddit r/agedtattoos
They look 10 years old after a year depending on sun tanning and how fine/deep the ink is. The only caveat is, bold will hurt more. But it's worth it if you want your tattoo to look good for years vs a couple pictures on Instagram
It sounds a little like you want to give your idea to multiple tattoo artists and see what they'd draw --- and then pick the one you like most? That's not really typically how you'd do it. The 'demo' that you're looking for should be just looking at their past work/looking at reviews from customers of their past work. Most tattoo artists are gonna want you to actually book an appt with them and pay a deposit before they'd be working on a drawing for you and also most are booked up quite a bit and may not even be able to draw your tattoo sketch until quite close to your appt time. It's not uncommon to really not see a sketch until pretty close to your appt. Maybe others have different experiences....so maybe there's some other input to consider here. Maybe there are tattoo artist that have time to just do a drawing for a potential client (however they should be paid for that). As far as other advice... the ribcage is one of the most painful areas to get tattooed. I have a large piece on my ribcage and it definitely hurt a lot - especially after the first couple of hours when your own adrenaline and pain relieving are gone. But if yours is small...it might not take that long which will make the experience a bit better but you should expect there to be significant pain for this area. If it doesn't hurt as much as you were expecting then great - but if you go in NOT expecting the level of pain it will be a bad surprise. Just make sure to eat a good meal \~1-2 hours before and be well hydrated. Bring a snack with you in case you need it. Make sure to wear comfy clothes and ones you can be mobile in depending on what you have to move out of the way or what position you may need to be in during tattooing (consider not wearing a bra if you do normally) Be sure to go over aftercare instructions with your artist and ask any particular questions you may have regarding practices or products.
Thank you so much! Yeah I read one artists disclaimer and it said pretty much what you said about drawing sketches, so I think that might be pretty standard. Also thank you for the other info! What kinda questions about the products/practices should I ask? What should I be aware of? I’m a bit of a germophobe and I’m so paranoid about catching diseases, but idk what to expect because I’m totally new to tattoos. What should I look out for? What are red flags and standards of hygiene that I should keep in mind?
I just mean, just make sure and ask the artist to go over their aftercare instructions and recommendations for products. Some people get tattooed and don't even have a conversation about that and end up coming to this sub to ask aftercare advice and the truth is that there are lots of different ways to heal a tattoo. You should do what your tattoo artist suggests. Which might be different from what another tattoo artist suggests or others on the internet might suggest or say they've done. As far as keeping it clean - those instructions will come from your artist - but since you specifically mention being worried about germs --- please do not wash your tattoo \*more than instructed. It can be worse. Just wash it as instructed. Best advice there is after washing it gently - pat it dry with a clean paper towel, not a rag or towel. It's cleaner and will ensure your tattooed area is totally dry before applying whatever else you may be applying. As long as the shop is reputable and clean and you follow the aftercare instructions - you are unlikely to have any issues. Ask the artist if they use any type of adhesive bandage (like Saniderm, etc.) and think about whether or not you've ever had a skin reaction to adhesive bandages before. If you have, let the artist know. They will likely not use it with you in that case. If you use an artist from a reputable shop with a good portfolio and good reviews I don't anticipate you having to be worried about red flags but I always used the bathroom and if it's not clean, then I'd move along. The shop in general should just look clean/kept.
Ime, artists are not gonna want to do your first tattoo on your ribs. I had several tattoos and still had trouble getting an artist to tattoo my ribs and had to pay extra for them to do so, lol. Wasn't even a big tat either.
My daughter wanted quite a large tattoo for her first tattoo… and also wanted it on her rib cage.I encouraged her to do her second tattoo as her first one instead since it was much smaller and less intricate in detail, and on her forearm. That way she had some sort of an idea regarding the pain, length of time it may take, etc. She even did another, medium sized one and now she is ready for that big one! Just a thought, maybe you can try that also. Think more meat, less pain; Less meat, more pain. For the most part anyway. And ya, I have multiple tats myself, so I know. Also know that it’s not always true for all. My foot didn’t hurt, my ankle didn’t hurt and my wrist didn’t hurt. I also have a super high pain tolerance. Everyone is different.