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This F.A.Q. is here merely to answere questions we hear all the time and to express a few personal opinions and suggestions to anyone interested in tattooing. It is written with my own brand of humor which you may or may not enjoy. The content is the sole reponsibility of Chris Borge, the owner of Electric Ink Tattoo. So don't take it too seriously, read on and enjoy.
Do we do body piercing?
NO, We no longer are offering any body piercing services. We tried it for a
while and it was more trouble than it was worth so we've discontinued it.
Do we do temporary tattoos?
No, if it don't make you bleed, we don't do it.
Does it hurt?
Of course it hurts, we're sticking needles into you. Now levels
of pain is a different story. Generally speaking it's an annoying
kind of pain, not unbearable but also not a pleasure. (There are
those who enjoy it but they're another story entirely) The least
painful areas are generally the outside of the arms and legs.
Chest and back are somewhat more painful and usually the sternum
and the ribs are the worst. Genitals I think you can figure out
for yourself. A good rule of thumb is that anyplace that feels
good to be touched is going to suck to be tattooed. A common myth
is that fatty areas are less painful than muscled or bony areas.
The level of pain doesn't have anything to do with fat, it's all
got to do with nerve endings. That means a tattoo on your butt
isn't neccessarily going to be less painful than somewhere else.
It does tend to get more tender when you get toward joints (not
the kind you smoke) Wrists, elbows, knees, ankles, those kind
of spots. Thats because nerves use these spots as anchors as they
move on throughout your body so you have a greater concentration
of nerves there. (Is the fog starting to lift).
Is there anything I can take for the pain?
Not much. There's not awhole lot that works, though there are
a couple which I'll go over. The best of the bunch is a topical
ointment called EMLA, it's a topical anesthetic thats made for
doing skin grafts. It works better than anything else I'm aware
of, in fact I use it myself when I'm getting back work. (I never
said I was a tough guy) It requires a prescription and its alittle
pricey. It doesn't get you high or anything like that and it's
not a classed drug so most doctors don't seem to have any problem
with prescribing it (unless they have an attitude against tats).
It does require some preparation though. It has to be put on an
hour before the procedure and is effective for about two hours.
It's also availible over the counter (no script) in Canada if
you're northward bound. If you have more questions about this
e-mail me (cborge@tiac.net) or call the shop (401-435-3393) and
I'll be happy to fill you in. And no I can't get it for you or
give it to you, the law frowns on such things.
Narcotics are another item, they have a limited use. They can help in that they make you not care about the pain, you feel it but so what. I don't really recommend them, I've found they make me feel like crap in general and aren't really worth it but not everybody agrees with that. Then there's the legal side, and driving under the influence and on and on with the evils of narcotics. nuff said.
Things that don't work.
BOOZE, Please give me a break, just because you're father got
drunk for his tattoo in 1952 doesn't mean it was a good idea.
The only time I ever got sick and light-headed from being tattooed
was the one time I got tattooed drunk. All it does is give you
booze balls, and if you need that to get tattooed you shouldn't
be getting tattooed to begin with. When you're drunk you're more
likely to pass out, get sick, or make a lousy choice of designs.
It also causes you to lose all your muscle tone which makes it
harder to tattoo, it makes you bleed more (Alcohol thins your
blood) which makes it harder to tattoo, and drunks STINK. If you
think you'll get an artists best work when they have to hold their
breath to tattoo you because of the booze stench oozing for your
pores you're WRONG. We don't want drunks in the studio, thank
you.
Pot, cocaine, LSD,ect.
Sorry, all these things just intensify the discomfort. In other
words, it makes it worse than using nothing at all.
How much does it cost?
The minimum charge is $50-, average price is generally $80 - $125.
All designs in the shop are priced, custom work is $150- per hr.
There is an additional surcharge of $20- on work done on the neck
or between the sternum and the crotch front and back. This is
because those are more difficult areas to tattoo and it takes
longer. There's no surcharge on custom work since you're paying
for time to begin with.
Can I bring in my own design?
Yes, by all means do. We can usually work from just about anything,
magazines, photos, cd's, statues, pendants, we've seen all these
things in the past and have worked up designs from them. This
is custom work and is $150- per hr. drawing time is free, you
only pay for tattooing time. Although we ask if you want something
drawn up that you plan to get the tattoo if the drawing is satisfactory.
All finished drawing are property of the studio and don't leave
the premises until the tattoo is done. That means if we draw it
we keep it, if you get the piece you can have the drawing later
but if you decide not to get the tat, you don't get the drawing.
As a courtesy to our customers we won't reproduce custom pieces.
If you see a piece in one of our portfolios that was done as a
custom piece for someone we won't reproduce it for you. We don't
think that's fair to the person who came up with the idea in the
first place. If you come in with the same notion or image as someone
else thats different, we'll do that.
Can I get tattooed with my parents permission?
No. You must be over 18 with a positive I.D. Something with your
picture and date of birth. Sorry, thats the law in this state,
no if ands or buts. Just like going to a bar, you're parents can't
legally order you a drink either. We have nothing to do with this,
we don't make the law, we just have to live with it. If you don't
like it, by all means call your state rep and let them know.
Is there anyplace you won't tattoo?
Yes, we don't tattoo heads, hands, feet, or genitals. There are
several reasons we don't tattoo those areas most of which are
pretty obvious so I won't bore you with the details. There are
plenty of places that will but we won't. It's our idea of ethics.
Are needles and/or inks reused?
No. R.I. law forbids the reuse of any equipment in the tattooing
process. Nothing that is used on a client is reused. All needles
and inks are disposed of after each tattoo.
Will colors show on darker skin?
Colors get muted by dark skin tones. When you look at a tattoo
you are looking through the skin at the tattoo. So the darker
the skin the more muted the colors will appear. On coffee colored
complexions (regular with milk) or lighter we can still safely
use colors although the pallette becomes a little more limited.
We can usually use some reds, oranges, pink, and some light greens.
On skin darker than regular coffee we generally recommend staying
with gray shading or solid black, since most complexions aren't
actually black (though some are pretty close) solid black work
will usually show on anybody.
This is also important for people who like to get tanned in the summer. Often after getting tanned the lighter colors on a tattoo will seem to become significantly faded. This is a temporary condition, after the tan fades the colors will come back out again. Remember though the sun is the number 1 killer of tattoos, too much sun worshipping with your tattoos and they will fade prematurely, a little sunblock can go along way towards keeping your tat in good shape.
Will you rework old tattoos or other peoples work?
Yes we will, if we consider the piece salvagable we will rework
it. I include "salvagable" because you wouldn't believe
some of the god-awful messes we encounter. (Remember kids, only
get pricked by a pro) Rework is considered custom work and goes
by the hour, we can usually give you a guesstimate on cost once
we see it and discuss how you want to approach it. We will usually
recommend redoing the whole tattoo rather than just adding spot
color. The reason for this is if you take an old tattoo and just
add a little color here and there it looks like an old tattoo
thats had a little new color added. (looks pretty damn lame) So
we reccommend redoing the outline along with the rest of the tattoo,
it's more expensive but it really makes a big difference in the
final outcome. (Don't cheap it out, you'll be wearing it a long
time).
Will you send designs out over the web?
No. We don't send out designs, photos, samples, fliers, or much of anything else out over the web. If you want us to make up a design for you, you have to come into the shop and talk to us. It's not our fault if you live far away or if the tattooists in your area suck or whatever. What we show on the website is as much as we care to show at the present time. If you don't see what you're looking for,,, keep looking and good luck. Sorry, but we're not a free internet design service.
Do we sell supplies, equipment, flash, ect.
Not generally, on occaision we do have some limited edition t-shirts but those generally get given away to our regulars. We don't sell basic supplies or inks or any medical stuff at all. Also occaisionally we have flash sets for sale, but that is on a real iffy kind of basis, mainly depends on how ambitious we feel and we're generally not all that ambitious. John Moniz has been building some beautiful tattoo machines lately and I've been bugging him to put some up for sale,,, so stay tuned...
Do you take on any apprentices?
We take on about one apprentice every couple of years. The competition is fierce. Potential apprentices should have a portfolio of artwork to show their artist range/ability. Apprenticeships generally last 1-2 yrs. Apprentices taken on to work in the studio are not paid and are expected to show up for a 40 hr week and get all the work nobody else wants to do. It's not glamorous. It's a lot of hard work with no assurances that you'll even work out or make the grade. People can also buy into the business by buying an apprenticeship with the intention of going off somewhere else to ply their trade. We're not really interested in them but the going rate in this area for an apprenticeship is about 25K. Which we consider fairly cheap for a trade that can support you well for the rest of your life, if you're any good.
I hope this has been helpful any mildly entertaining, I will be adding more as I think of it.
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