On Touching Up

After reading through Nick Baxter's forums awhile ago, I started to realize the value in touch-ups. Being able to see how your work healed, then tweak it can create a dramatic difference. My clientèle is mixed between walk-ins and custom work, so getting people back for a once over isn't always easy. At Bluebird Tattoo we offer a free touch-up within a certain amount of time. So I really try to use it and have my customers come back so I can use that extra time to edit, correct, and polish.

I imagine some of the big guns don't consider a large piece finished until after a final once over, so charges still apply. For now (and for the foreseeable future) I'm balancing time to make both myself and my customers happy.

Also, I love being able to see how my work heals. I've learned so much by keeping in touch with people and seeing what happens to their tattoos over time. If I can remember how I applied, say, a color blend, I can weigh the effectiveness of that specific technique.

For example, I wasn't incredibly happy with Bjork's face upon initial completion. I'll even go as far as admitting timidity. I didn't fully trust my colors and my application. I don't even like posting the comparison, but I think the healed version of the original tattoo speaks for this post. But now I feel much more comfortable, so I had no problems jumping right into her face.

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