I wanted to get a half sleeve of four seasons and decided to come here. I know the artist I selected was in very high demand which made me feel more confident. At the consultation I specifically told her that I wanted it hyper-realistic and I had brought many photos of what I was looking for. She seemed super into it and we scheduled out a few months. I was a little disappointed because of the wait (I am not a super patient person) but I figured it would be totally worth it. I put $400 down as a deposit in cash.
A day before the session, the artist messaged me on facebook to touch base. I sent her a couple pics again of the design I wanted and the quality work I was looking for as well as images of tattoos I didn't like. She then told me that she felt confident that she would be able to do an awesome tattoo but wasn't able to give me anything like hyper-realism and could suggest an artist who could if I wanted. When she said this, my heart kind of dropped and I was thinking, "...but that is exactly what I said in the consultation. I said I specifically wanted hyper-realism and I just waited months for the session...". This is why I had printed so many macro photos of things I wanted in the tattoo because they showed the detail I was looking for. I am not sure if she was just super busy the day of our consult and kinda rushing and didn't catch when I told her hyper-realism or what happened. I really would have preferred if she told me right off the bat that she wasn't capable of the hyper-realism I was looking for because then I could have possibly scheduled with another artist and not "wasted" the months of waiting for this session.
After speaking with her and having little time to think it over before the next day, I decided to stay with her because 1. I was impatient and didn't want to have to wait months again just to get into another artist and 2. because I still had confidence in her to put out a good piece.
After the work was done, I went for payment and I don't remember the exact cost (I think total was $800 or $900) but they told me what I owed so I give the amount that the cashier asked for. Then my artist walks over and gives me my deposit money which I was super confused about and then the cashier told me again another price that I still owed after just giving her what I thought was the balance. I thought the deposit money went towards the tattoo so I was a little unsure as to why she gave it back to me. We eventually worked it out but between me paying the cashier and then the artist handing me my deposit money, it was just really frustrating. I should have never been given my deposit back to begin with. I think they should have added the total first, subtract the $400 I gave them already and then tell me what I owe instead of having me pay a balance, handing me back my deposit money and then asking again for money. It really threw me off and I really wanted to make sure I tipped her well for her work. They kind of both looked at me like I was an idiot but maybe they didn't realize that they approached it kinda weird, I really don't know. I have never had that experience with payment for tattoos.
But anyways, overall she gave a really nice tattoo that I do get a lot of compliments on. I do wish that I could have gotten a little more of what I was looking for as far as realism but I am still really happy with this tattoo and will forever be. I guess as far as consultations go I have just learned my lesson to check and double check to make sure we are on the same page from the start.