Picking a tattoo artist is the most important decision you will make in your tattoo journey.
What they don't tell you about anime tattoos
Picking a tattoo artist is the most important decision you will make in your tattoo journey. Tattoos are permanent (or extremely expensive to remove), so picking the right artist the first time will save you lots of headaches in the future.
We’ll go in depth on how to pick your perfect anime tattoo artist, so let’s go!
All tattoo artists are not created equal, the quality of your artist depends on lots of factors.
Factors like: experience tattooing, quality of equipment used, customer service skills, sanitation knowledge, and healing process explanation.
Tattoos are broken up into different styles, with some of the most popular being:
Realism: Tattoos that look like photographs or realistic images.
Anime: Tattoos featuring characters and styles from Japanese animation.
Watercolor: Tattoos that look like watercolor paintings, often featuring pastel colors and abstract designs.
Neo-Traditional: A modern take on traditional tattooing, often featuring bold lines and bright colors with more intricate designs.
Japanese: Tattoos with traditional Japanese themes and styles, often featuring large designs and intricate details.
Blackwork: Tattoos made entirely of black ink, often featuring intricate geometric designs or bold, graphic images.
Dotwork: Tattoos made entirely of dots, often featuring complex mandala designs or intricate patterns.
Tribal: Tattoos inspired by traditional tribal designs from various cultures around the world.
Geometric: Tattoos featuring geometric shapes and designs, often with clean lines and symmetrical patterns.
Traditional: Classic and timeless designs often featuring bold lines and bright colors.
Each artist will have a style they specialize in. Be wary of tattoo artists who say they do every style. Each style has it’s own intricacies and takes YEARS to master.
If you’re reading this, you probably want an anime tattoo. It’s important to know that tattoo artists can also have their own unique styles, or combine two different ones.
Examples such as:
Anime Dotwork
How do I find an anime tattoo artist?
Now that we know the different types of artists out there, how do we find them?
This is where you have to do a bit of research but, the gold standard is on instagram.
Search “anime tattoos” and “anime tattoo artists near me"
Find some artists that you like, and see who’s in your local area. You can search “anime tattoo artists” in google maps & find some local artists to you, but since artists are usually working in tattoo shops you might be more hard pressed to find them individually on google maps.
There are some speciality tattoo shops that only do anime, but you’re more likely to find an anime tattoo artist in a shop where there are different styles being done all the time.
You can use the animetattoos.com artist directory and explore artists local to you, but don’t be afraid to travel for the perfect tattoo. Your tattoo is permanent, so make sure you pick the right artist for the job.
What to look for when searching for an anime tattoo artist
The first thing you want to look for when searching for an anime tattoo artist is do they do the style that you want, or do you see something similar to what you want on their page already?
If you’re planning on getting a manga panel tattoo, and you see manga panels on their page that’s a good sign that you’re headed in the right direction.
What's the vibe of their feed? Do they post a lot of BTS content? Can you feel the personality of the artist through their posts?
Or are they throwing up sloppy images of slapping a few hashtags and calling it a day?
If an artist is sloppy in how they present their work to the world, you can imagine how they perform the work. Now, I’m not saying an artist with a bad online presence will be a bad artist, but do you want to take the chance?
How organized is their booking process? This can give you a general idea on how busy they are, and how organized their business is.
There are a few ways artists can go about booking clients, and each way tells a short story about the artist & where they are in their business.
Instagram DM booking- This artist is probably building their clientele base up, or just starting out. You can usually expect a decently fast reply. Artists who are booking by DM usually won’t break the bank. Take a look at their instagram page & see if you like their style. There are apprentices or newer artists who’s work kicks older artists ass.
Email booking- This artist probably has enough of a clientele built up that they had to take it out of their DM’s. Some artists have booking assistants but if the artist doesn’t you might have to wait a bit to get a response. Tattoo artists are very busy between drawing tattoos, prepping stencils, and actually tattooing so don’t expect a super quick response. Expect to book out a few weeks into the future. This is the median price point typically. Take a look at their instagram page and make sure they do the type of tattoo you want.
Website form- This artist has built up enough clientele that DM’s and Emails come in too frequently to reasonably keep track of. A website helps artists filter who is serious, and isn’t serious. This type of artist will usually have some sort of system in place to respond back to you within 24 hours, or a booking assistant. Expect this artist to be the highest price point of the 3 booking types. But their work usually speaks for itself.
How to budget for your anime tattoo
”A good tattoo isn’t cheap, and a cheap tattoo isn’t good” - someone way smarter than me
The quality of tools your artist uses matters a lot, if you’re only looking for the cheapest tattoo around you risk infection, quick fading, and poor work.
An artist's experience can be the difference between scarring your skin, your tattoo fading within a year, or your tattoo lasting 20+ years.
A cheap tattoo artist might not use good ink. What is the easiest way to sell cheap stuff? Give cheap quality! Don’t risk your artist using cheap Chinese ink, or outdated equipment to save a few bucks. You’re better off saving up for the artist you really want, it’ll be worth it!
While every artist charges differently, a general rule of thumb is the bigger you want it, the more it’ll cost you.
Also consider the state and area you live in. New York prices will typically be more than Wyoming prices.
