How long does a sleeve tattoo take?
Several full-day sittings spread over months, not one long appointment. A half sleeve is commonly two to four days of work, a full sleeve four to eight, with three to four weeks between sittings so each section heals before the next begins.
Why it cannot be done in one go
Skin stops taking ink cleanly after several hours of work. Push past that and the last hour goes in worse than the first, which you then live with.
There is also the gap between sittings. A section needs three to four weeks to settle before the area next to it is worked, or the healing sections interfere with each other.
A rough shape
Every arm is different and this depends on detail more than size, but as a starting point:
Half sleeve · two to four full days, spread across two to four months.
Full sleeve · four to eight full days, spread across six months to a year.
Colour and photographic realism sit at the longer end. Bold traditional and heavy blackwork sit at the shorter end.
The whole thing is designed first
The composition is drawn as one piece before any of it is tattooed, even though it goes on in sections. Building a sleeve out of unrelated tattoos added over years is how people end up with an arm full of work and no piece.
You do not have to commit to every sitting up front. You do have to agree the design before the first one.
Planning around your life
Tell us at the consultation if there is a holiday, a wedding or anything with a date on it. Working backwards from a fixed day is straightforward; being told about it halfway through is not.
Related frequently asked questions
We do not quote before we have seen the idea · size, placement and detail move the figure too much to guess at. The consultation is free, the deposit amounts are published, and the final price is agreed with your artist in person before any work starts.
Read the full answer › Do I need to know exactly what I want?
No. You need enough for us to start a conversation · a subject, a rough placement, or even just a picture you keep coming back to. Turning that into a design is the work you are paying an artist for.
Read the full answer › Do tattoos hurt?
Yes. Every tattoo involves some discomfort · that is the nature of the work. How much varies from person to person and depends heavily on the part of the body being tattooed.
Read the full answer › How long after a tattoo can you swim?
Wait until it has fully closed, which is usually two to four weeks. Pools, the sea, hot tubs and baths all mean soaking an open wound, and that is how tattoos get infected and how ink gets pulled out before it has settled.
Still want to ask somebody? That is what the first conversation is for.
- Written and checked by
THRONE , a tattoo studio in Northampton.
Last checked 28 August 2026 .