Awful tattoo shops... are people blind?!

[corazon_de_oro]

I'm really bored and this caught my attention today so I thought I'd share it with other lovers of body modification. I just do not understand why people go to awful tattoo artists when there are amazing ones out there. Can people just not tell the difference between a good tattoo and a bad tattoo? Today I was on Facebook and saw where a couple friends "liked" this tattoo shop in the same town as the place I've gone for almost all my piercings and both my tattoos. I was shocked at how awful it was!

Here's a fun comparison with two koi pieces... this is one done by the tattoo artist where I go (linked because of huge picture):
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... =3&theater

And here's a koi by the "head artist" at that other shop:


Another gem by the same guy:


Now, why in the world would anyone choose to go to the second artist and how could they think those are good tattoos? I know that place is probably way cheaper but come on, someone would have to pay ME about a million dollars to have something that awful on my body forever.
What's funny is there are people posting on this place's page saying it's "the best place in town to go for tattoos and piercings" when it's just down the road from probably the cleanest and most professional studio in the state with amazingly talented artists.

There's really not much point to this post... just blew my mind to see how awful that was and had to share with someone, haha. If you have any terrible shops near you feel free to share.

[bradykay90]

Lmfao man that fish looks pissed

[corazon_de_oro]

Haha yeah, I can't tell if those greenish brown things are both eyes or what. It looks like it's infected. Same with the cherries at the bottom.

[aBn]

yeah thats horrible, looks like the fish was hit with a hammer and the cherries look rotten. the other tatt is really good work tho

[corazon_de_oro]

Yeah, I don't understand why some of their tattoos (there are more on their Facebook page like that) have random green/brown spots. It's like "oh, let's just add some color right here to make it look like your flesh is rotting... that will look great!"

[aBn]

yeah i live in a military town and we have ALOT of hack shops. People are constantly going there instead of the couple really good shops we have because of the price. I would rather spend more on quality work even if it means i have to wait longer to save money. i met someone who got a tattoo at one of those shops and he said they misspelled something and the guy told him im sorry but there isnt anything we can do about it now but u can try scatching at it while its healing and it might blur it where u cant tell

[corazon_de_oro]

Oh wow, that's terrible! Yeah, I know people always use the "but it's cheaper" defense but come on, I'd rather just not have a tattoo at all than have a monstrosity like that. I've been wanting another tattoo but I'm short on money, that doesn't mean I'm going to go somewhere like that! I guess some people just have never seen a truly well-done tattoo so they don't know what they're missing. It just doesn't make sense to me because if someone drew that on paper the average person wouldn't think it was very good, so how is it good as a tattoo?

[aBn]

Haha yeh i dont understand it either. i could of already had my sleeves done but i want quality work not just a tattoo so i will continue to save and wait. i want to get my sleeves done by Tim Hendricks but i know financially that prob wont ever happen tho haha

[akPhilly]

I know what you mean,& I personally don't get it either,but I at least know a reason why people do it:alot of people don't know the difference between a good tattoo & a bad tattoo;they just want a tattoo,& they don't seem to even notice if it's bad.Also,& usually it's the same people who don't know the difference,they don't want to pay more than $30 or so for a tattoo of any size.I have a tattoo on my hip that's probably what would be considered small to medium in size-like,5" long or so.And I paid I think,like I dunno,maybe $100 for it-it's plain black,& I got it in the suburbs where even the best artist tends to not charge as much as people in the city,plus this was like,13 yrs.ago.And I'd show someone,& they'd ask how much,& when I'd tell them,they'd be like,'omg,you paid THAT much,you got ripped off,etc',then they'd proceed to show me a big back piece that looked like total shit & proudly tell me they paid like,$40 for it.Some people would rather have crap to save a buck as opposed to pay for an artist that you know does quality work.And even 13 yrs.ago,I didn't consider $100 to be alot for a tattoo,but I guess they did.Or,you'll have people who can't afford to go to a good artist & they want a tattoo really bad,so they go to some kid in the neighborhood who has a tattoo gun,& since everyone else in the neighborhood has bad tattoos,they don't even seem to realize.
oh,& which is supposed to be the fish's eyeball,lol?I've been staring at it for a few minutes,& i can't seem to figure out which part is supposed to be its eye!

[corazon_de_oro]

Yeah, I think you're right that people don't know the difference. I didn't know before either but I wouldn't have thought that ones that are THAT bad were good... I remember thinking mediocre tattoos were good but I know ones with super crooked lines that I could draw a better version of were crap.

The funny thing is, where I go isn't even THAT expensive. I mean, I'm sure it's more than the other place I was talking about but it's not like ridiculously overpriced or anything. Their piercings are actually cheaper than a lot of worse places and the piercer is APP-certified (the only one in my state). I think it's $100 per hour because I remember paying $75 for my small tattoo that took about 45 minutes. To me, it wasn't that bad because they have you pay a $40 deposit when you make the appointment and you pay the rest later, so when I actually got the tattoo I only paid $35. My bigger tattoo was $180 but it's fairly detailed and took a long time.

I think maybe another part of it is that people don't like when they have to make appointments, they want walk-in studios and usually the better places take appointments. I've seen posts on the good studio's Facebook page saying "It's BS that I have to make an appointment, I'm going to (insert name of crappy shop)!"