I had two great artists down in Cornwall who did my two biggest pieces (8 and 6 hours on my ribs, which I don't recommend) but since moving to Leeds, I've had very little chance to get anything done. Last year, however, I started to plan a memorial piece for my Grandad Ron.
As my grandad used to have a boat that he would take us fishing on, I wanted something nautical. I also wanted hydrangeas - they used to grow in his front garden - and for the whole tattoo to look like a painting. This meant I needed to find an artist with this type of style.
After an initial email, I popped in to talk about what I wanted and she seemed to get it straight away, even though I failed to bring in a examples, which is a bit of a faux pas when you want something specific (although I did email them over that day). I booked my appointment but had to reschedule twice due to different things coming up, but Ruth was really good about it and got me this month.
I was happy to go with what she thought, after all, she is the pro. Other than a few small specifications - where the arrow was pointing on my compass and the colour of the flowers - I let Ruth do her thing as I totally trusted that it would look awesome.
While I had booked in for a full day session, we managed to get the tattoo done three hours early with just one quick break so I could stretch my back - lying on your front for several hours is not that comfortable! I was told I sit well, which I've been told before and think is a good thing as I can imagine that there is nothing worse than a client who can't sit still.
Overall, the experience was a really positive one and I am beyond happy with the results. Although my tattoo is still healing, I can already tell that it's going to be amazing once totally healed and I am already planning the piece for my other leg, which I want Ruth to do in the same style.
All in all, I definitely recommend Ruth and the studio as a whole, as all the artists are insanely talented. I love that there are so many amazing talented tattoo artists on my doorstep, it was definitely worth the move up north.