Reworks
Is it okay to rework an artists work that is currently not tattooing?
The short answer is yes, especially for an older tattoo. As tattoos age they fade and wear with the skin (checkout an earlier post on why ink fades) so it is common for people to want reworks and touch ups down the line. Lots of times people no longer live in the area where it was first tattooed or like this person, their tattooer has retired or moved on but there are some rules. I would also like to make it clear that the procedures I touch on are specific to our studio, other studios may also do it this way and some may not but here is how it works at our shop.
As a general rule we don’t touch work done by other artists in the Grande Prairie area if they are still tattooing. If you really want something reworked even though it may violate this we can do a consult and see what your options are and do our best to help you. This isn’t super relevant to the question but I feel like it is important to touch on our ground rules getting into this.
It is completely reasonable to ask an artist for a rework of a tattoo, especially in this case where the artist is no longer tattooing. At our shop we require a consult for a rework before booking you the actual appointment just to make sure that the piece can be reworked. This consult also helps the artist visualize how they might rework the piece so when it comes time for the tattoo you both have a clear idea of what to expect. A rework can come in many forms so the consult also helps with our understanding of what you’d like to see from the rework. The one major exception would be that if the artist you’re asking to do the rework feels that the tattoo was done well and they don’t see anything that they would change then, of course they wouldn’t do the rework.
All of our artists are capable of doing reworks, right now Bryan happens to be doing a lot of these just because of how the bookings fell. So definitely get in contact with the shop or checkout Bryan, @blue.s.ink on Instagram and we can book you a consult to see how we can help you with a rework!
Check out some photos of reworks from both Loren and Bryan:
I would also like to thank whoever used the anonymous Q&A function!! When I was building this website it was one of the features I was most excited about offering and this is my first question! Please ask more, I love answering your questions. Even if I don’t know the answer I love learning and I will do the research for you!
