Your tattoo journey
Getting a tattoo should feel considered, not rushed. Here is exactly what happens at Papa's Inks, from your first message to the day your tattoo has fully healed.
You send a message, a form, a reference or a rough description. Nothing has to be finished yet. Tell us as much or as little as you have.
It helps to know the placement and approximate size you have in mind, but we can work that out together if you are unsure.
We sit down and talk through the idea. Meaning, references, placement, scale, colour and how the piece will age all come into it.
If your idea will not work well as a tattoo, we will tell you honestly and explain the alternatives. This is the most important step.
The artist develops your idea into a tattoo-ready drawing, composed for your body and the way the design should read.
Depending on the piece, there may be a chance to refine the design before the session. We discuss this at the consultation.
We place the design on your skin before we begin, checking the flow with your body, its curves and the way you move.
Placement is final, so we take the time to get it right and make sure you are happy before the session starts.
The session is calm and organised. Fresh equipment, a considered pace and check-ins throughout so you know how it is going.
Longer or more detailed pieces may be split across multiple sessions. We plan that with you in advance.
You leave with clear written guidance on cleaning, moisturising, sun protection and what a normal heal looks like.
You also leave with a way to contact the studio, so you can ask questions rather than guess.
A tattoo is only truly finished when it has healed. Once it settles, that is the real result — and the one we care about.
Where clients are willing, we photograph healed work, because healed tattoos are the honest measure of a studio.
The honest part
Some studios will take any idea and start immediately. We would rather spend the time up front, because a tattoo is permanent and a design decision made in a hurry cannot be undone.
That sometimes means an extra conversation, or a suggestion to change the size or placement. It is not a delay. It is the difference between a tattoo that works and one that does not.
Tell us your idea and we will begin the conversation.