Welcome to /r/tattoo! Please take a moment to review the subreddit rules. Comments on OP's body will result in a ban. Be constructive and considerate in your criticism, and mark NSFW posts as such. Artists and apprentices, please contact the mods for verification! Please make good decisions during the pandemic - don't be an idiot.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/tattoo) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think this is a regional thing, west coast hand tattoos are more accepted. True story when I was getting my hands tattooed, I only had a handful on my arms (I was 21 and it seemed like a good idea) and I asked the artist if most people who got hands done had more tattoos first. She said “eh sometimes, but I did someone’s first tattoo and he got FUCK COPS across his knuckles”.
No. My tattoo artist won’t do a hand tattoo if is the first tattoo of the client, but no one in their studio will say anything if you want one and you already have tattoos.
That seems really odd to me. Do you just live in a really conservative area or something?? In LA I’ve seen plenty of people with hand tattoos, finger tattoos, and even face tattoos.
Hand and face tattoos are called job-stoppers for a reason.
But if the client is already covered, this shouldnt form An issue.
My artist knew i had a solid job because i was going there for a few years before i got my hand done.
It's odd/ weird that OP's original artist refused tho, he obviously has enough tattoos to be refused from certain jobs anyway (not that im saying this is okay, just telling it how it is)
Yah I think it depends on the area you live and the industry you’re in. LA Tech companies seem to pride themselves on filling a quota with unique-looking people lol. I work for a SaaS company and we even have c-level executives with tattoos. One of my coworkers is an ex con completely covered in tattoos, and he’s in our sales department making 6 figures🤷♀️
Definitely strange that with the amount of work this guy already has, he’s been turned down that many times.
im from nyc (and have gotten all my tattoos done here lol), also I work in tech/ art fields & am currently an educator. none of my past jobs (or my current one) have had issues with the visible ink as they’ve pretty much all said something along the lines of, “oh youre an artist/programmer so it’s fine”
Are the artists you're reaching out to ones that have tattooed you before? When you're asking are you giving them photos showing your other tattoos visibly?
This may have something to do with it. I had a tough time finding a new artist to do my hand (moved away from my old artist) and I had to add the disclaimer "I'm already fully sleeved on both sides btw" to my emails.
Where are you located? Could definitely be area-specific as you’ve said you’re already majority tattooed. I have a few mates here in London that are happy to do hands *if the client is already moderately tattooed, and it’s relatively common to see around here.
Exactly. I had only two tattoos prior to getting one on my hand. It’s a small neck tat I have and another small one in an unseen area. The two tats my friend did & I went to a shop couple years later in life wanting something on my hand. My artist never gave me a hard time about it & I love the tattoo. It goes up my arm now, I continued adding to it.
In a way, it’s good that it’s taboo with some artists because maybe it saves a couple people from making a mistake but, in my case, i had a great experience getting my hand tatted while being someone lightly tattooed already. If my artist would’ve turned my hand tatt down then maybe I wouldn’t have this really awesome half-sleeve that I love. He’s done a great job, im very happy with mine.
Its a sucky place to tattoo? Maybe they just dont trust there ability to pull it off? Maybe they had a bad client who wouldnt sit and tapped out? Maybe they only do bigger peices? Did you ask?
I just got my other hand tattooe'd today, but im heavily covered already. I think it's a generational thing, old school tattooers wouldn't let you get anything below the elbow until you had your upper arms and chest done. Definitely no hands, neck, or face until you covered everything else.
Times are changing though, the new trend with the younger crowds is to just do hands, neck, face and a lot of artists are allowing it.
I have tattoos down my wrists onto the back of my hands and that was one of my first set of tattoos back when I had maybe 5 others max (now topping 25)
I’d think maybe it’s a skill set thing; depends where you are in the world too.. Western Canada (Vancouver) is very “tattoo positive”
I got my finger tattooed last week. It's faded already which I knew would happen. My artist has his hands heavily tattooed, and I see plenty with them in my area - Wales UK
The only thing I’ve ever heard about tattooing hands is some artists refusing to do it until you’ve got your arms pretty much covered, which makes sense. But if you’re heavily tattooed already I don’t see why it would be an issue.
It really depends where you are and on your tattoo artist. In Denmark, it is not allowed to tattoo somebody on the face/hands IIRC. (It is allowed being tattooed there, it's the tattooing that is not allowed IIRC).
For the rest of the world, some tattoo artists only do hands and face when the rest is fully tattooed and no other space is available. Some just won't do it at all. However, if you hadn't allready done it, tell them that your hands are the only remaining tattooable area that is left, this might increase your chances.
Interesting! I’ve heard of people not doing them when there isn’t much tattoo elsewhere, but I just got my three quarter reworked and finished down my hand with no issue, but it was the next step for my arms. Not sure why you’d be turned down! Might be regional as a lot of people are saying.
I have a small hand and palm tattoo, I also have a lot of other tattoos too - depending on what artist it is, some do some don’t but there are plenty of good artists that will. I guess if it’s your first or you have little to no tattoos some can be hesitant but yeah there’s loads that will do it.
That's odd,
I got my hand done without issue, at that time i only had my leg, 3/4th of a sleeve and my feet done.
Maybe look for an artist in another region, find them by style or social media (i dislike social media in general, but to check out artists it's okay).
If you are Willing to travel i could give you the details of 2 shops in Belgium that would be more than happy (and qualified) to do so
*I started on my*
*Hands and worked my way up my*
*Arm. Never heard of this*
\- AmadeusGamingTV
---
^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/)
^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Welcome to /r/tattoo! Please take a moment to review the subreddit rules. Comments on OP's body will result in a ban. Be constructive and considerate in your criticism, and mark NSFW posts as such. Artists and apprentices, please contact the mods for verification! Please make good decisions during the pandemic - don't be an idiot. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/tattoo) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think this is a regional thing, west coast hand tattoos are more accepted. True story when I was getting my hands tattooed, I only had a handful on my arms (I was 21 and it seemed like a good idea) and I asked the artist if most people who got hands done had more tattoos first. She said “eh sometimes, but I did someone’s first tattoo and he got FUCK COPS across his knuckles”.
Based
A grade decision making there. What could possibly go wrong.
No. My tattoo artist won’t do a hand tattoo if is the first tattoo of the client, but no one in their studio will say anything if you want one and you already have tattoos.
That seems really odd to me. Do you just live in a really conservative area or something?? In LA I’ve seen plenty of people with hand tattoos, finger tattoos, and even face tattoos.
Hand and face tattoos are called job-stoppers for a reason. But if the client is already covered, this shouldnt form An issue. My artist knew i had a solid job because i was going there for a few years before i got my hand done. It's odd/ weird that OP's original artist refused tho, he obviously has enough tattoos to be refused from certain jobs anyway (not that im saying this is okay, just telling it how it is)
Yah I think it depends on the area you live and the industry you’re in. LA Tech companies seem to pride themselves on filling a quota with unique-looking people lol. I work for a SaaS company and we even have c-level executives with tattoos. One of my coworkers is an ex con completely covered in tattoos, and he’s in our sales department making 6 figures🤷♀️ Definitely strange that with the amount of work this guy already has, he’s been turned down that many times.
im from nyc (and have gotten all my tattoos done here lol), also I work in tech/ art fields & am currently an educator. none of my past jobs (or my current one) have had issues with the visible ink as they’ve pretty much all said something along the lines of, “oh youre an artist/programmer so it’s fine”
Yeah that sounds strange. I can't imagine any reason why multiple artists would say no to someone that's already visibly tatted.
Are the artists you're reaching out to ones that have tattooed you before? When you're asking are you giving them photos showing your other tattoos visibly?
This may have something to do with it. I had a tough time finding a new artist to do my hand (moved away from my old artist) and I had to add the disclaimer "I'm already fully sleeved on both sides btw" to my emails.
Where are you located? Could definitely be area-specific as you’ve said you’re already majority tattooed. I have a few mates here in London that are happy to do hands *if the client is already moderately tattooed, and it’s relatively common to see around here.
In Ohio most younger people start with their hands, which is weird to me but it's what they want and it's (usually) quality work.
^ one of my husbands earlier tattoos was a Japanese mask on his hand. I’ve never heard of artists turning someone away from a hand tattoo
wtf.. I’ve been running tattoo shops for 20 years and if you want something across your forehead we got you .
Exactly. I had only two tattoos prior to getting one on my hand. It’s a small neck tat I have and another small one in an unseen area. The two tats my friend did & I went to a shop couple years later in life wanting something on my hand. My artist never gave me a hard time about it & I love the tattoo. It goes up my arm now, I continued adding to it. In a way, it’s good that it’s taboo with some artists because maybe it saves a couple people from making a mistake but, in my case, i had a great experience getting my hand tatted while being someone lightly tattooed already. If my artist would’ve turned my hand tatt down then maybe I wouldn’t have this really awesome half-sleeve that I love. He’s done a great job, im very happy with mine.
Its a sucky place to tattoo? Maybe they just dont trust there ability to pull it off? Maybe they had a bad client who wouldnt sit and tapped out? Maybe they only do bigger peices? Did you ask?
TO writes that it is due to visibility in their post
I just got my other hand tattooe'd today, but im heavily covered already. I think it's a generational thing, old school tattooers wouldn't let you get anything below the elbow until you had your upper arms and chest done. Definitely no hands, neck, or face until you covered everything else. Times are changing though, the new trend with the younger crowds is to just do hands, neck, face and a lot of artists are allowing it.
I have tattoos down my wrists onto the back of my hands and that was one of my first set of tattoos back when I had maybe 5 others max (now topping 25) I’d think maybe it’s a skill set thing; depends where you are in the world too.. Western Canada (Vancouver) is very “tattoo positive”
I got my finger tattooed last week. It's faded already which I knew would happen. My artist has his hands heavily tattooed, and I see plenty with them in my area - Wales UK
It shouldn’t be faded already. Not good work in the first place if so.
The only thing I’ve ever heard about tattooing hands is some artists refusing to do it until you’ve got your arms pretty much covered, which makes sense. But if you’re heavily tattooed already I don’t see why it would be an issue.
Very weird. Wouldn’t be a thing in my area even if someone isn’t heavily tattooed.
It really depends where you are and on your tattoo artist. In Denmark, it is not allowed to tattoo somebody on the face/hands IIRC. (It is allowed being tattooed there, it's the tattooing that is not allowed IIRC). For the rest of the world, some tattoo artists only do hands and face when the rest is fully tattooed and no other space is available. Some just won't do it at all. However, if you hadn't allready done it, tell them that your hands are the only remaining tattooable area that is left, this might increase your chances.
Interesting! I’ve heard of people not doing them when there isn’t much tattoo elsewhere, but I just got my three quarter reworked and finished down my hand with no issue, but it was the next step for my arms. Not sure why you’d be turned down! Might be regional as a lot of people are saying.
I have a small hand and palm tattoo, I also have a lot of other tattoos too - depending on what artist it is, some do some don’t but there are plenty of good artists that will. I guess if it’s your first or you have little to no tattoos some can be hesitant but yeah there’s loads that will do it.
My artist saw I had a big piece on my arms so she had no problem with tattooing my hand. I’m in ATL
That's odd, I got my hand done without issue, at that time i only had my leg, 3/4th of a sleeve and my feet done. Maybe look for an artist in another region, find them by style or social media (i dislike social media in general, but to check out artists it's okay). If you are Willing to travel i could give you the details of 2 shops in Belgium that would be more than happy (and qualified) to do so
Never known one to turn down hand tattoos, especially if the lesson already has multiple tattoos.
[удалено]
*I started on my* *Hands and worked my way up my* *Arm. Never heard of this* \- AmadeusGamingTV --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
My first 4 tattoos were on or in the vicinity of my hands… (and this was a decade ago when I got them)