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.
The things that should worry you
Any one of these is a reason to keep looking, and none of them is rare.
No registration certificate, or irritation at being asked for it.
A portfolio that is all fresh work and no healed work.
Pressure to book today, or a discount that expires.
Copying another artist’s design exactly rather than drawing you something.
Related frequently asked questions
Is getting a tattoo safe? How do you know a studio is clean?
It is safe in a studio that is registered, uses single-use needles and opens them in front of you. Every tattooist and premises in England and Wales must be registered with the local council, and you are entitled to ask to see the certificate.
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 › What does a tattoo cost?
We do not quote before we have seen the idea · size, placement and detail move the figure too much to guess at.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.
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 .