Custom Tattoo Process

Read this if: You’re thinking about booking a custom tattoo.

Firstly, what is a ‘custom tattoo’?

A custom tattoo is a collaboration between client and artist. A clients idea, concepts and key elements + the artists knowledge and experience to create a well formed design.

Before booking in, it is important to choose an artist whose work and style you feel aligns with your idea. A level of trust, understanding and communication is required to create the best results.

Designs are shown on the day & there are a couple of reasons for this:

• The day before your appointment I will read back through our conversation, booking form and photos to create a design based off your ideas in my style. I draw design the day before each booking as this allows me to solely be focused on your design in preparation for your appointment.

• You’ll only see the stencil i.e the outline of the design on the day. This is because all shading is done freehand during the tattoo process. Looking at my portfolio will indicate what types of shading will be used in your tattoo and how it will look. Unfortunately, it is not viable for me to generate a finished design before every booking, as this would essentially double my workload.

• On the day of your booking, time is allocated at the start to show and discuss your design. This allows us to look at the main structure and layout of the design and make small adjustment if needed and alter the size to ensure the best fit on the body.

Large scale work: to make a large floral design that flows with each clients individual shape and contours, I do not always have a set stencil before the booking but instead have each element printed onto stencil paper and use a ‘cut and paste’ or freehand method to build a design straight onto the skin. This means you do not see a finished design before we start but you are apart of the building process putting your design together on the day.

From an artist perspective: I will always share my professional opinion to help us create a design that is aligned for us both. I want to create a design that is well formed using the best of my knowledge and experience that I have gained within my style, whilst being focused on offering you an experience where you feel safe, heard & understood with the end result of a design you love. In the event that you feel the design does not align with your idea there is no pressure to continue.

This process works for many clients but I know it may not suit everyone, which is why there is another option: Flash Designs

If you want to see a design before committing to a tattoo, I would recommend getting flash.

‘Flash’ is the name given to artwork that is predrawn by the artist at a set size & price, it can still just be a stencil (outline) but a lot of the time it is a finished shaded piece. This allows you to see how the artist intends to shade and detail the design before you commit to booking in.

Note: some flash designs are one off but most are repeatable.

All my flash designs are available to view on instagram highlights & can be booked anytime just get in touch to enquire.

As always, send me a message if you have any questions - chelsealunatattoo@gmail.com