How do you choose the right tattoo artist?

By looking at healed work in the style you actually want, rather than at fresh photographs of anything. Every tattoo looks good on the day. What matters is what it looks like a year later, and an artist who is proud of their healed work will show it to you.

Healed work is the honest test

A fresh tattoo is wet, high-contrast and photographed under a good light. A healed one has settled, softened and shown whether the lines were laid in properly.

Ask to see healed pieces. Ask for one at least a year old. Any artist worth booking has them and will be pleased you asked, because most people do not.

Match the artist to the piece, not the studio

Tattooing is specialised. Somebody outstanding at bold traditional may be the wrong choice for a fine-line botanical, and both of them may be the wrong choice for a photorealistic portrait.

A portfolio with twenty pieces in one style is a better sign than one with two pieces in ten styles.

What the consultation tells you

This is the part most people rush, and it tells you more than the portfolio does.

Do they ask about placement and how you use your body, or only about the picture?
Do they say no to anything? An artist who agrees to everything is not thinking about how it ages.
Do they explain the reasoning, or just quote a price?
Are you comfortable? You will be in a room with this person for hours, sometimes across a year.