I got tatted by Billy Greenway on Monday for a very special and personal tattoo. I made the appointment about 3 months in advance since I wanted to be sure to get an appointment for the date I was in town--planning ahead worked out!
Billy is free-spirited, but he gets shit done, and done well. He made me feel comfortable with trusting his artistic judgment by showing examples of concepts from previous work and explaining why he thought something would work and why it wouldn't. I have no regrets in letting him run in a completely different direction than the idea I had initially presented to him. The resulting tattoo ended up looking BEAUTIFUL--especially considering he freehanded the watercolor paint-streaks which is the most gorgeous part of it. He helped me understand every part of the process by patiently answering any questions that came up during the session. Amidst the jokes and conversation, he'd notice when I'd tense up from the pain and check in with how I was doing. Oh and did i mention he's light handed and quick?? I thought everything was gonna take at least 5 hrs but I was in n out the door in less than 3. He even wore a shirt that fit with my tat so it was cool to see the artist just as stoked about my tat as I was :D After it all, I'd love to come back and have him work on another piece! I've found my go-to for watercolor/paint work :)
I had a shitty tattoo done on me in the past elsewhere, so trusting someone with another tattoo was difficult, but it paid off in this case. Moral of the story is, do your research, and if you like the artist's style (which I did after viewing Billy's portfolio), let their creativity flow!