How to Distinguish a Good Tattoo Artist From a Bad Tattoo Artist

A question that is often overlooked by tattoo enthusiasts is how do you tell a good tattoo artist from a bad one? Well, not only are we going to answer that question, but we will also explain why it should be more important than any other tattoo-related question. There are almost an infinite amount of factors that go into separating the good from the bad artists, the vast majority of them being about health and tattoo safety concerns. Vlogigurl wants to ensure that her audience has all of the resources needed to make an informed decision when it comes to picking a tattoo artist for your next tattoo.

We picked out the most important factors that make a good tattoo artist and turned them into a list. Detailed explanations of each factor will also be below.

List of what makes a good tattoo artist versus a bad tattoo artist

Factors	Good Tattoo Artist	Bad Tattoo Artist
The Tattoo Artist Takes the Proper Health and Safety Precautions
Linework is Solid and Consistent
Tattoos Without Gloves
Knows How to Pack Saturated Color Into the Skin
High Quality Portfolio With Lots of Tattoos
Copies Another Artist's Work, Line for Line
Tattoos Highly Intoxicated Clients
Raving Online Reviews
Tattoos in Unsanitary Locations Such as Parties and Garages
Posts Healed Tattoo Photos
Tattoos Out of a Clean and Organized Shop

The Tattoo Artist Takes the Proper Health and Safety Precautions

Most highly professionals tattoo artist are extremely strict about their safety procedures, as they should be. Also, high end tattoo shops will put strict rules on their artist to ensure safety for their clients. Bloodborne pathogens certification is very important for all safe tattoo artist to have and most will have it. Some important things to look for to tell if a tattoo artist is taking safety precautions:

• Bloodbourne pathogens certification 
• Always wearing gloves 
• Always cleaning their machines
• Keeping a tidy work station

Linework is Solid and Consistent

Solid and consistent linework should be prevalent in every good tattooers work, regardless of their style of experience. Linework is the bedrock of what makes a good tattoo. However, having consistent crispy lines is very difficult and takes years of training to master. You should be able to tell how their linework is just by looking at their past work.

Tattoos Without Gloves

Once your artist places the stencil - an outline that the tattoo artist uses while tattooing - they should be constantly wearing medical gloves to protect you and them. They, under no circumstances, should tattoo without gloves. Not wearing gloves is one of the biggest red flags in the tattoo industry.

Knows How to Pack Saturated Color Into the Skin

Tattooing is a technical craft, in order to master it artist have to be trained in multiple different techniques such as linework and packing color. Packing color means the artist is able to completely fill an area with color and not have it be patchy and shouldn't fade drastically over time. This is one of the harder techniques to master and is a great way to tell if a tattoo artist is good or not.

High Quality Portfolio With Lots of Tattoos

Tattoo artist who are proud of their work will show it off whenever possible. You should be able to easily find their portfolio. The portfolio should have high quality unedited images and some close ups of tattoos they have completed.

Copies Another Artist’s Work, Line for Line

A traditional rule among tattooers is to not copy others work, they consider it to be disrespectful. If you love a piece that another tattoo artist has done, do not loose hope. There is a huge difference between completely duplicating someone's design and taking inspiration. Try to work with your tattoo artist to make it unique to you.

Tattoos Highly Intoxicated Clients

There are very few reasons a tattoo artist should ever tattoo someone who is highly intoxicated, one of the only reason would be tattooing their friend. Any intoxicated walk-ins should be turned away immediately. If you see your tattoo artist break this rule, that is a clear red flag.

There is some gray area around clients who come in stoned, a tattooer will have to use their best judgment to see if the person is able to make sound decisions. 

Raving Online Reviews

Almost every tattoo artist has a website now a days. They should have reviews from clients on it, if not, check other online review websites such as Yelp or Facebook. This is an easy way to get a read on how good a tattoo artist really is, especially if the reviews have pictures.

Tattoos in Unsanitary Locations Such as Parties and Garages

Infections from tattoos are extremely serious, some clients have unfortunately died from getting a dirty tattoo. You should not take picking your tattoo artist lightly. Where the artist chooses to tattoo out of is a good indicator to if you are going to receive a clean and safe tattoo or not. They should not be tattooing anywhere outside of a tattoo shop, unless they are making house calls for special clients.

Posts Healed Tattoo Photos

Most tattoos will look amazing right after they have been completed. However, give them a few days and you will see how it truly looks. Making tattoos look good for the long run is a difficult task that only great tattooers can pull off. Check to see if your tattoo artist posts healed tattoos on their social platforms such as Instagram. If they do and the tattoos look clean, you should be in trustworthy hands.

Tattoos Out of a Clean and Organized Shop

How the tattoo shop looks is a great indicator to how your tattoo artist is. Most high end shops hold their artist to extremely high standards and expect completely professionalism at all times. If you walk into the shop and see some crazy stuff going on, such as, a tattoo artist smoking while tattooing. That is probably a good sign to run as far away as possible.

Conclusion

Getting a tattoo can be an amazing experience to add a piece of artwork to complement your skin. However, infections caused by tattoos can be deadly and should be taken very serious. A great way to prevent any infections is by going to a reputable tattoo artist. Hopefully after reading our best ways to tell the difference between a good and bad tattoo artist, you are ready to go get your tattoo! Stay safe and happy tattooing.