Pro edition
Consult Sheet.
Eight things written down before the stencil goes on, and the zone table already filled in so nothing has to be remembered mid-consultation. Every dispute I have ever had with a client was about something on this sheet that neither of us had written down.
Before the stencil
- Placement, named not pointed atWritten down as one of the eight zones, because "on my arm" covers three of them with three different floors.
- Longest edge, in millimetresNot "small". Small is the word that produces a design under the floor, and it is always the client and the artist meaning two different things.
- Thinnest line in the drawingMeasured, against the floor for that zone. If it is under, the design is redrawn now rather than argued about at the stencil.
- Tightest gap in the drawingThe number that actually decides whether it is still readable at ten years, and the one nobody checks.
- Existing work within 50 mmSpacing, weight and whether it is healed. A new piece 20 mm from a four-year-old one has to be drawn against what that one has become, not what it was.
- Skin notesScarring, keloid history, moles inside the area, recent sunburn, and whether they are on anything that thins the blood. Any of these moves the plan.
- Session cap for the zoneFrom the table below. Agreed out loud before we start, so that stopping is a plan rather than a failure.
- Aftercare handed over, on paperAnd the six-week photograph asked for, in writing, because verbal is worth nothing at week seven.
The numbers, to check the drawing against
| Zone | Floor | Gap | Cap the session at | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outer upper arm | 0.25 mm | 1.5 mm | Easy, 3–4 hours | — |
| Outer thigh | 0.25 mm | 1.5 mm | Easy, 4–5 hours | — |
| Upper back and shoulder blade | 0.3 mm | 1.8 mm | Moderate, 4 hours | — |
| Inner forearm | 0.3 mm | 2 mm | Easy, 3 hours | — |
| Ribs and side | 0.35 mm | 2 mm | Hard, 2–3 hours maximum | — |
| Ankle and top of foot | 0.4 mm | 2.5 mm | Hard, 2 hours | — |
| Hands and fingers | 0.5 mm | 3 mm | Hard, 90 minutes | Only for people who already have visible work, only bold, and only after a conversation about the fact that it will need redoing. |
| Neck and throat | 0.5 mm | 3 mm | Hard, 2 hours | Not on a first tattoo, and not on the same day you decide you want one. Come back in three months and I will still be here. |
At the stencil, out loud
“This is the last moment it can move. Stand up, sit down, look in the mirror, and look at it in a photograph on your own phone — the mirror flips it and your phone does not. I have moved a stencil eleven times for one client. I have never once regretted moving it and I have twice regretted not.”