Thinking of getting a sleeve? (here's how it works)
Thinking of getting a sleeve?
If you're thinking of getting a sleeve or just want to know a little more about how it works. Here's a handy guide to help you through the process.
First things first let us talk about how long a sleeve generally takes…. “How much for a sleeve bro?” It is a question tattooists get a lot and it's a difficult question to answer. There’s a lot of variables when it comes to tattooing a full sleeve, the size of your arm, the design, how well your skin takes the ink etc you might find it surprising to know that not everybody’s skin isn't the same it varies dramatically from person to person. unfortunately, some people just have “tough” skin, and the tattoo can take a little longer to do, age can be a factor in this.
To give you a general idea though, on an average-sized man with average skin most sleeves take me around 6-7 days to complete.
Thinking of getting a sleeve but I don't know how to put it together.
The good news is… you don't. As artists, we train and study how to build sleeves and place the right designs in the right place to make the design fit and flow around your arm. It's quite a complicated process that takes a little trial and error and time to perfect in the design process. Trying to design the sleeve yourself is never a good start and to be honest your artist will probably end up changing a lot of it.
How do I work out what I want?
Deciding what you want… This is probably the hardest part!
I suggest going onto Instagram and looking through as many tattoos as you can. Saving the ones you like and sending them to your artist will give them an idea of what you like, if you’ve already chosen an artist you may want to look through their tattoos and see the sort of thing they generally do.
I've found a sleeve I love can you copy it?
Nope. For a couple of reasons, firstly it's very unethical. Somebody sat down and designed that sleeve specifically for that person. It more than likely took a lot of time and money to do and was custom-made one-off for that person. To then steal all of that hard work is a big no in our industry.
Secondly, it's almost impossible to do a good tattoo from a picture of a tattoo. We need high-quality hi-res images to create your tattoo, usually photos
Try not to be too specific!
I know it might be tempting to dictate to your artist exactly what you want and where you want it but this is a recipe for disaster. Unless you know where to put these things and how to place them (no offence intended) your going to get it wrong and your tattoo will end up looking awkward and uncomfortable. The best advice I can give is to give your artist a list of things you’d like or a few pics you've found then let them do what they’ve been trained to do.
Once your artist has designed your sleeve most artists will send you a design before the day. If there's anything you don't like don't feel bad to tell your artist and ask for changes. There is a specific way to lay sleeves out which a lot of us stick to but at the same time tattoos are subjective what one person thinks is nice somebody else might think it looks terrible. So it's important to make sure you and your artist are on the same page!
How quickly can I get my sleeve done?
Well this is kind of up to you and your budget. (plus your artist's waiting list)
I had a guy fly over from Holland recently and we did a whole sleeve in a week. This is a little extreme and took some long days but as he was flying over he wanted it done in one trip so we worked it out and got it done.
You can do double or triple days if you want to get it done quickly but it's worth having a little bit of patience with it. Tattoos last forever so there's no rush.
I recommend at least 2 weeks between appointments but ideally, once a month is perfect.
Booking your sleeve
Most artists (including myself) are happy to take just one deposit to book all of your sessions. I take a £100 deposit to secure your slot this will come off of the last session.
It all starts with an email. Get in touch with your artist and discuss your ideas. Make sure you are both on the same page and your artist is into your idea. The best tattoos come from artists that are going to enjoy the tattoo.
Thinking of getting a sleeve? If you’d like to discuss your ideas or get your sessions booked you can drop me a message through the contact link below or drop me an email at chrisleetattoo@live.co.uk
https://chrissyleetattoo.com/pages/contact
You can also check out my Instagram here
http://instagram.com/chrissyleetattoo