Process · four steps

Idea, brief, drawing, skin.

Six to ten weeks end to end, and three points along the way where you can still walk. Here is exactly what happens at each of them, including the two where money moves.

Ironwood / The consult

The brief

Written, through the form. References, placement, scale, and roughly when you want it. If it is a cover-up, a clear flat photograph of the existing piece. We reply within five business days and the reply names an artist.

5 days

Free

The consult

Sixty minutes in the shop with the artist who would do the work. Sizing, refinement, a placement test in marker, and an hour estimate in writing. The deposit is taken at the end of this, if you want to go ahead.

60 min

$200 deposit

The drawing

Three to five weeks while your artist draws. One round of revisions, by email. You see the final on the morning of the session, as a stencil on your skin, and you can still say no at that point.

3–5 wk

Included

The session

Two to eight hours depending on scale. The booth is blocked for the day: no double-booking, no rushing, and no music you did not approve.

2–8 hr

$200/hr

Where money moves Brief
free

Consult
$200 deposit

Deposit applies
to the final
session

Session
$200/hr
$1,200/day

What the deposit is for

It books the drawing time, which is the part of this that is invisible and is where three to five weeks of an artist’s week actually goes. It comes off the final session, so it is not a fee on top of the work; it is the first $200 of it.

It is non-refundable and it does not transfer to another artist or another person. Both of those are in the house rules with the reasoning, and neither is negotiable, including the time somebody offers to pay double.

Seventy-two hours notice to reschedule, once. Under that, or a second reschedule, and the deposit is spent.

Three places you can still walk

After the brief. We name an artist, a rough window and a rough number. If any of the three is wrong for you, say so and nothing has cost anything.

At the consult, before the deposit. Sixty minutes is enough to know whether you want this person drawing on you. Perhaps one consult in eight ends here and that is a good outcome, not a failed one.

The morning of, at the stencil. The stencil is on your skin and you are looking at the actual size in the actual place. If it is wrong, it gets moved, resized, or the day gets cancelled and the deposit stays spent. Nobody has ever regretted saying so at the stencil. Several people have regretted not.

Asked often.

How long is the wait for a tattoo at Ironwood?

Six to ten weeks from brief to session for most work. Longer for Marek, and River’s list is closed until spring. The drawing takes three to five of those weeks.

Do I have to pay a deposit for a tattoo consult?

The consult itself is free. The $200 deposit is taken at the end of it, only if you are going ahead, and it comes off the final session rather than being a fee on top.

Can I see the design before my tattoo appointment?

You see it on the morning of, as a stencil on your skin at actual size in the actual place. Sending a drawing by email a week early sounds better and is worse: a design reads completely differently flat than it does on a curved body.

What if I want to change the design?

One round of revisions is included, by email during the drawing weeks. At the stencil you can still change placement or size. What you cannot do is change the subject on session day and expect it drawn that morning.

Start with the brief.

Five minutes to write, five business days for a reply, and no money until you have met the artist in the room.

Request a consult See the work first

What the deposit is for

Three places you can still walk

Asked often.

Read next.

Start with the brief.