People have questions.
Let us help with that.
What are deposits for?
Deposits not only cover the time we as tattooers spend drawing, but also help us recover some of the cost when we get last minute cancellations. We’re only paid when we work, so when we spend 8 hours on a drawing and then end up with a no-call no-show, at least we can dry our tears on the couple bucks we get from deposits.
2. How much time goes into prep for a tattoo?
It totally depends on the project, but between the emails, the consult, the drawing, and the set-up… prep for a back piece, for instance, can take over 40 hours of work.
3. I’m not sure what tattoo styles I like, what are the differences?
There are dozens of styles out there, and people tend to get them confused. Here’s a basic overview of how we define a few tattoo styles people tend to get confused:
American Traditional
This is a traditional eagle done by owner Kristin Hawk-Snyder. Trad is characterized by immaculate black line work, bold designs, and heavily saturated colors. It has a century of history, thousands of variations, and the ability to read a design from a mile away.
Neo-Traditional
Done by owner Bonnie Ramone, Neo-trad has as many variations as punk has sub-genres, but generally has many similarities with American trad in that it has bold designs and bold colors. It differs in the amount of fine line details and incorporation of other artistic influences.
Illustrative
This is a favorite piece of Bonnie Ramone’s. This style is newer, so the description is a bit more vague, but illustrative tattoos tend to have a heavy fine art or book illustration influence. This can be in color or black and grey and can take influences from anyplace. For Bonnie, Alphonse Mucha, Caravaggio, Edward Gorey, 19c botanical illustrations, Aubrey Beardsley, and Frank Frazetta are frequent influences.
Portrait / Photo Realism
This piece by Bonnie Ramone is a black and grey photo-realistic portrait. Many people get realism confused with more simple black and grey shading, but notice that there are no black outlines here and it literally looks like a photo. If you’re looking for something simple with some shading, this is not realism.
Stipple
Another piece by Bonnie Ramone, stipple tattoos are highly detailed, and are the tattoo equivalent of pointillism. Unlike black and gray shading which uses a set of grey wash inks, stipple tattoos are shaded with a small needle grouping using only opaque black ink.
4. How does tipping work?
Tips for tattoos are just like anything else. Tattooers either work on a commission percentage or pay monthly rent for the station we use. Tips help us cover our supply costs and show us you appreciate the wealth of time and energy we put into your design. The tips we’ve received over the years have ranged from straight up nothing to a pair of $400 boots, but most tattooers typically receive about 20%.
5. How should I prepare for my session?
You don’t need to do much, but not getting drunk the night before, taking a shower before you come in, lotioning the area for a couple days before, and making sure you’ve eaten within 4 hours before you come in go a long way. Truly, just try to relax and have a good time. Bring snacks. Bring a blankey. Dress comfy. You don’t need to impress anyone, least of all us.
6. Can I see my drawing before my Appointment?
Unfortunately, no. Tattooers spend thousands of hours of unbilled time working on designs prior to every appointment over the years. As a general rule, tattooers do not let drawings leave the shop. We do this for 2 reasons:
As much as it sucks, people will steal these drawings and go to a cheaper shop down the street.
The relationship between tattooer and client is intimate, and when a drawing goes out ahead of time, friends and family get involved. It ends up being a little bit like sharing a baby name idea before you’re settled.
That being said, no one at the Kindred Spirit will never start a tattoo before a client is 100% happy with the design, placement, and size, and we are more than happy to make adjustments to a design or even reschedule under certain circumstances to make sure a client is satisfied.
7. How do touch-ups work?
Tattoos are inherently man-made. They are crafted lovingly by hand and by heart, not a machine, and that means that designs will have small flaws. This is beautiful and natural and is part of the joy in getting tattoos.
Tattoos also age. While we do our best to craft designs that will stand the test of time, a 20 year old tattoo will not look like a fresh tattoo. This is also beautiful and natural and is part of the joy in getting tattoos. We all personally love seeing people’s 35 year old tattoos. They’re wonderful.
That being said, sometimes you need a touch-up. Maybe your cat scratched you during healing, or you fell off your bike, or something weird happened. This happens. The Kindred Spirit guarantees our work, and that means if something happens, within reason, we will touch up your tattoo free of charge (though tips are very appreciated), and make sure you walk out loving your hand made art.
8. How long does a sleeve take?
Sleeves, back pieces, and leg sleeves vastly differ dependent on the size of your body and the intricacy of the design. Tattooers have done sleeves in 20 hours, and in 50 hours. If you want color and a background, plan on the upper end, black stipple and no background, the lower.
You pay for your sleeve as you go, and we typically see clients once either every 2 weeks or once a month. This ensures that the project will be finished all looking around the same age and cuts down on reworking needed. You don’t need to save for a sleeve all at once, and breaks happen, but planning your sleeve so that you’re financially prepared is important. You’ll wear this tattoo for the rest of your life, and it is definitely a large investment tattooers don’t take lightly in design or application process.
9. I’ve filled out a form. Now what happens?
So you have your form in, and we now have in our possession your next dream piece. Now what? Depending on your chosen artist, you might be able to get in next week, or you may be waiting upwards of a year. Bonnie an Kristin tend to have a longer waiting list (though quicker openings do happen), and our junior artists have more frequent openings.
Once your form is in, one of our artists will get in touch with you as soon as possible. Bonnie does her own booking, so the process differs, but no matter your choice, you will get an email back on what to do next. If you haven’t heard back, feel free to call into the shop, stop by, or send us a message. We do our best to get back to everyone in a timely manner, but people do fall through the cracks on occasion.