What Do Tattoo Sessions with Caesar Look Like?

The appointment routine is a crucial part of the entire tattooing experience. Every tattoo artist has his or her own appointment routine, and today I’ll explain mine to you, so you’ll know what to expect after you make the decision of getting inked with me.

The whole routine starts with a little bit of customer service. After I receive your message along with the attached references, I dedicate time to observe your details.

I don’t have an assistant, I handle my emails myself. Why? Because another person would never see the potential in your story as I do. Thus, the response time might be a bit longer than usual, but don’t worry. If you don’t see an email from me in your inbox within 3-4 days, just ping me gently and ask what’s up.

So, after you send me your stuff, two things can happen:

1. I let you know that I’m sorry, but I can’t take the job and I give you the reason.
2. I tell you I’m happy to take the opportunity and work on your idea because I’m convinced that we can ink your true story in the form of a signature piece of art.

Consultation

After deciding on giving a shot to your story, we schedule a consultation appointment to find out whether we can work together.

Preferably, the consultation happens in person, but if you aren’t within driving distance, we can do it thru the phone at the agreed time.

It is a 1:1 session and takes 30-45 min. And it costs you no money at all.

If we are comfortable with each other, you give a $500 NON-REFUNDABLE deposit in cash, and move of on to the next phase, which is administration.

Just to make it clear once again: the only way to get your money back is if you get tattooed. So, please read carefully the DEPOSIT POLICY.

After the deposit is sorted, we’ll have a little chit-chat about your story and you’ll get some homework to do, which will contribute to your customized unique piece. For example, you’ll need to make a list of what you love in life, hobbies, loved ones, literally anything that matters to you.

The Designing Process

Congratulations, now you’re officially on the Torturing schedule.

The next step is… Session Zero!

Session Zero is where the designing starts.

Creating a strong layout takes long hours, so usually, there’s no time left for tattooing on the first session. This is why I call it a zero session. And there are two approaches to it:

1. We start early in the morning, let’s say, at 10 am, and we start designing. Around 4 pm, we should be ready with the layout. And if we started tattooing after 4 pm, counting with a good 5 hours sitting, you would not be home by dinner time.
2. We first meet during the day, at 1-2 pm. In this case, it’s 100% we won’t have time for tattooing.

Okay, now let’s talk how the design process looks like and how much control you have over it?

Total control. This is your tattoo. And the whole process is a 1:1 experience. It means I don’t do jack sh*t without you.
You’re an active part of the creative process. So, you sit next to me, you show me all your homework and references, and we start brainstorming. Your homework list will get my creativity turned on, and I’ll know how to translate your idea into a signature composition.

Then we’ll put the image references together in photoshop, like a mock-up, and print elements out in different sizes to see which fits the best for that certain body part or area. When this is done, we’ll scotch tape it on you and you’ll get a visual idea which image will go where.

Honesty Comes First

You don’t want any sh*t ink your body for a lifetime, right? Neither I want to tattoo something I can’t identify myself with. Therefore, be prepared for getting a lot of NOs.

Why? Sorry, but in order to make your signature piece authentic, we need to get rid of every single chunk of idea that does not fit the picture. This is necessary for representing the message you wanna showcase on your skin.

Patience Pays Off

Please note that you might be on a months wait list till we can hop onto your story.

You will not see the entire sleeve design in one for the first time because it will not be done in set details like that. These large pieces evolve, grow just like a child. So ideas with smaller details can change in the meantime, and that’s ok.

As I mentioned before, in the case of a full sleeve it can take up to one year to finish the piece. One year is a long time and of course, ideas come and go all the while. We keep the strong ones we both like and discard the ones we don’t.

All in all, you walk in with your idea and references and my job is to translate them into your true, custom story. This is pretty much the process each and every time till getting to the end.

Hurt you soon!

Caesar