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| - I am currently working on my first tattoo, a sleeve, with Vic Vivid. Everything so far has been wonderful.
I've been wanting tattoos for a long time, but held off until I had a career that allowed it, the money for actual art and wasn't a stupid kid getting impulsive bullshit. I did my research and got to emailing. The problem with going for a lot of prestigious tattooers is they're too busy for customer service and need someone to do that yet many don't have someone manning their appointments. Many of my emails have still gone unanswered. I originally was doing a different subject on my leg, bit found that what I want for a sleeve fits the style of art Vic Vivid does.
I get a response within the day from his shop manager, Nick. We email back and forth and by the end of the day I have a consultation that weekend. I loved the shop - it's beautiful dark walls, gold gilded baroque, chandeliers... It's one of the prettiest shops. It's very clean, and the vibe was just good about it. One thing I like is that while it is open, it's spacious so there's not this feeling that everyone is just so close to each other. I like that there's some feeling of comfort by giving people moving room.
Vics really cool and seemed to like my project which I think makes for a better tattoo when they like what they're doing. It felt right so I put in for an appointment and left a deposit. He seems to be booked at least 6 months out so not years to get in, but still a wait. Usually his Instagram (@vicvivid) will let you know what month is currently open to book. His rate is not cheap, but also not the highest I've heard, either way you get what you pay for. Stop getting cheap shitty tattoos and having to laser and cover later! I did my research on tattoo communities and people there were confident I'd be happy with the end result, he has a good reputation for solid work. I even found former clients online and saw their healed tattoos- they look amazing!
I was so nervous for my first appointment. He first got a picture of my arm and started playing on the computer with some references and putting it on the arm to get an idea of what were doing. Then he made the stencil, we looked at how it sat on my arm and got to doing a colored outline. He specializes in photo realism so there's no black out lines so I have a color outline on my arm. He does both black and grey and color realism but the way he does color I think sets him apart. The saturation and color choices are striking!
All the other guys at the shop were also super cool. They came over to see what was going on and were friendly and made me feel better about my nervousness. I would most definitely recommend them too as they have talent and are good people. They were giving each other a hard time and their banter was keeping me entertained. It's a positive environment and seems like they're a team here.
You're going to spend so much time with your artist and at the shop that a good vibe and liking the people there I think is important. Talent only goes so far... I wouldn't want to sit where I didn't feel good about. I've been to a few that made me feel I should walk back out. I didn't sit with my stepdad at his last tattoo because the artist was hella scummy.
I cannot wait to get this project finished! I'm going to have a beautiful arm. It's a long process, but I know I'm in good hands here. Will update after all my appointments are done, but this is everything I would want out of a first time experience! I really like this spot I am thinking I might just stick to here for my other arm too.
If you're looking for a place to do larger unique pieces this is a great shop to go to. Vic Vivid, Noelin Wheeler, Christian Buckingham and Dwight Bulb will be able to give you something you're absolutely in love with!
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