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I’ve been looking at having a sleeve done for a while as part of a cover up, which will be covering up a rushed piece I had done in L.A. at High Voltage (L.A. Ink) last year. I did check out Fishbone early on after arriving in Chengdu, and have to say I wasn’t impressed. I went in as they were doing a back piece, and the place was crowded with hangers on, all smoking right over the guy being inked, and the place was hot as hell. It didn’t strike me as hygienic at all, and I instantly decided I wouldn’t be getting anything done there.
I’ve since decided to head to Hong Kong to get the work done at Tattoo Temple. Look them up online, the artists and artworks coming out of that place are ridiculously good. They also have a page and portfolio regularly updated on facebook. There’s anything from 3-6 months wait depending on who you see, but the wait is worth it as far as I’m concerned. Their studio looks awesome too, and I’ll be heading there for a consultation before the year is out if I get the time.
@ Brendan: Sounds good man. I heard somewhere that 30% to 50% of all work done in some places is cover-ups. I have a pretty simple method for choosing a design: find something i like. Stick it on the fridge. Look at it everyday for a few months, if i still like it, get it.
The only place i’ve heard of with a 6 month wait is Hanky Panky in Amsterdam, and that was after high-profile guys like Rollins and Chilli’s got inked there. But it’s worth the wait i guess.
Like I mentioned earlier, the place in KL was cool cos the guy was professional. No smoking weed, crazy loud music or distractions.
Very slow, methodical and focused.
Speaking of sleeves: there was a Chinese girl at the opening of Xiongmao, with an amazing piece on her arm. Super-detailed Japanese style. Not my cup of tea, but the work was awesome….
Sleeves on a good looking woman are hot hot hot. I recall seeing her and thinking ‘Oh my!’ Unfortunately she had company.
Definitely agree on the waiting it out, my mind has been changing over time as to what the final design will be, but I think I’m close. I have no problem spending time, effort, and money on something that will take up real estate on my body for eternity. I’ve even had 3 removal treatments on the offending tattoo to help get it faded out a little, and might continue on with that here. Bloody painful though!
Here’s a link to Tattoo Temple: http://tattootemple.hk/
@Brendan: yeah, just checked out their site; looks good. Maybe you could talk to them about opening a Chengdu branch!
Quote:Re: the place with 8 WEEKS WAITING TIME! Damn, that’s a LONG wait! I smell a business opportunity in the ‘Du…..I had that idea years ago.. Chengdu could really use a professional tattoo studio. I know a handful of tattoo artists in the city and I haven’t seen anything that I would go to personally. My roommate has some tattoos that haven’t aged really well that he got done in Chengdu.
Tattoo Temple in HK Central is the best place to go, better than anything I’ve seen in the mainland. They have guest artists come from time to time, Paul Booth was there one time when I was there. The girl that runs the shop (Joey) is an incredible artist and the whole operation is extremely professional.
@Charlie: that’s a good point about the fading of tattoos. I’ve seen guys here (a few friends even!) with work that is 2 or 3 yrs old, that hasn’t aged well. That could be down to poor skin care, low quality inks or less-than-stellar work. I have a 20 year tatt (damn i’m old!) that still looks good (unlike the owner)…
Re: Tattoo Temple: that could become a regular thing: go to HK for visa run, shopping and new tattoos!
@Ray–Sounds like you’ve got some great experiences to go with your tattoos! Thanks for the info. You guys got me wanting to get another one. I guess the design search starts now…
I have a few tats and I got most of them in Pai, northern Thailand from my man Poh. For me the skills, ink, environment and relationship are priorities. Funny enough last one he gave me his wife and daughter (and me) were watching TV while Poh buzzed away too.
In China … I don’t doubt the skills per se, but they have a habit here of charging outrageous prices for “cool, international” stuff like yoga, washing machines, coffee and tats. Its bullshit and the quality does not match the bullshit. I would support the guys here and fishbone dudes are cool, but I get my tats in Thailand. Fishbone has a good studio, good ink but every hot young Chinese hipster is trying to get their tat on … so we might have long (8weeks?!?!?!?!) waits.
Another option is Xiao Yu in San Sheng Xiang, right next door to Orange. Hes a pro artist but amateur tattoo artist. Really cool guy with a somewhat ghetto set up. Idk for me the whole package matters. And of course the needles. And the ink.
As I’ve said, I think “pay by the hour” is BS. What, the guy can’t give me a definite quote? Kinda sketchy…
^ Do you think it’s different if they can tell you how long it’s probably gonna take? Mine would be around 15 hours, at 700RMB/hr.
I’m not an expert in tattoo pricing in Belgium, but I’m pretty sure a long sleeve would end up being more expensive if I got it back at home. They rip off people too.
A friend of mine got a black star in her neck in a well known shop in Belgium, nothing fancy, just a regular 7x7cm black star. She paid about 1300RMB and it took them less than an hour. Easiest tattoo ever.
yeah so much for tattoos being counter culture. 600-700RMB an hour in china is ridiculous. these guys are making serious loot. i also wanted to hear a straight up price, rather than oh you know maybe 3 hours. Just say 1500RMB and it would have been a lot cooler than being on edge the whole time. It ended up being like 1700RMB cuz I decided color at the last minute but I was thinking the whole time that I was going to flip if the tat gun meter hit 3 hrs. a tattoo shop shouldn’t strive for anxious customers.
anyways i’m going to go back to FB for a small tat, well an addition to the piece, but i wouldn’t go for anything big. @Vincent 15 hours man, good luck with that, what is that like 2 months salary?
once in a hostel in beijing a met a crusty british guy nearly 90% covered in tats, he got a really intricate and colorful full leg ankle-thigh in Kunming for 4 or 5 thousand. They just agreed ok 5grand for the leg, lets have a go.
I’m waiting for Jessie to come back to get another big piece, she just charged me 1200RMB for a 4-5hour piece and she spent about 3 hours drawing 2 separate illustrations.
taiwan also has some really nice shops. but i could go on for hours about the wonders of that little island.
So if I wanna get something done in Chengdu should I wait for Jessie? Looking to get something on my back or more on my right arm to make a… 1/3 sleeve, not sure yet, but would like to talk to a good tattoo artist to figure it out and by the sounds of it I should give FB a miss.
I got a piece done in Hangzhou and while everything was sterile I’m not sure how good the ink was as it’s already a bit more faded than an older one I had done in Toronto. How can you tell if the ink is good quality or not?
Quote:I have a pretty simple method for choosing a design: find something i like. Stick it on the fridge. Look at it everyday for a few months, if i still like it, get it.This is an excellent idea.
Just caught this story, had to post it here…
Quote:Just caught this story, had to post it here…I see terrible tattoos pretty routinely in China but that is a true horror story.
Quote:Just caught this story, had to post it here…ice cream cone or what? :p
I might be a little bit paranoia here but is tap water in China proper to take care of a new tattoo?
Quote:I might be a little bit paranoia here but is tap water in China proper to take care of a new tattoo?If your building doesn’t have a filtration system on the water main, I would be really cautious about your tattoo for the first week or so. If you could find a product like Aquaphor, that’s going to help you apply an effective barrier to the tattoo as it heals. Many tattoo studios will recommend this for the first few days to keep the skin supple, aid healing, and help prevent infection.
I hope the studios have heat, I was shivering during both of my tattoos, cold skin+ tattoo needle = pain cave.
btw had no problem with healing, i used this “Detrol” unscented soap and brought some unscented additive free lubriderm for moisturizer
Quote:Small preview of my sleeve in progress 🙂 3 hours in and super happy with the result so far! (This is just the bottom outline)The outline looks great so far. Post some more pictures of the sides. Is that a backwards character on the right? I can’t read it, I assume this was taken in a mirror.
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