Forging Bonds: The Vital Role of Client Connection as a Tattoo Artist

Each tattoo starts with a heart felt description from the client and its my responsibility to transform that vision into a tangible work of art. The smoother this translation process, the better the outcome, this largely depends on how well I understand the person I'm collaborating with.

There are times, when someone’s flying in and I don’t have the luxury of sitting down with them as much, in such cases, we do our utmost with the information available. However, the more I get to know a client, the more fluent my job becomes. Over time, as we spend more hours together during tattoo sessions, our bond naturally deepens. We engage in conversation, go back n forth about life and experiences, I like to find out the types of things your into and not into. The more time we put into this stage the easier the overall project will go.

If your in my chair, any of my clients will tell you, were having a good time, we’re talking, joking with each other, jammin to music or a movie, we’ll stop n have food breaks. Honestly were just hangin out which is one of the aspects i treasure most about my career.

I think this relationship between myself and the client is the most important thing outside of the artwork.

Don’t get me wrong; when people come into the studio they want a really nice piece they want the artwork done skillfully and the tattooing to be bulletproof, but really its about the whole experience.

When I get a tattoo from someone, if it's uncomfortable or awkward, and there's no interaction, it doesn't matter how good the tattoo is – I probably won't return. I want my clients to be comfortable, but I also want to be at ease. I achieve this through the conversation, by learning about the person, who they are and where they’re soul find happiness. These are the elements that create a truly unforgettable, incredible tattoo.

Im tattooing 6-7 hours a session, I spend a lot of time with my clients. It matters to me that we have an easy time together, chopin it up all day, talking shit back n forth,  laughin n havin a good time. To me this is all part of a complete session.

Ive been in the service industry for my whole working life and i think im fortunate that customer interaction is something that comes a bit more natural to me but learning how to be confident to communicate about the nuances that come with taking a piece of artwork and translating it into a super well executed tattoo. Learning how to be honest about whats possible not only right now, but also what will hold integrity for its entire existence, how it will live in the skin, proper composition and size, what I’m capable of as an artist as well, id say this was a bigger challenge for me, especially in the beginning.

Energy is one of the most important aspects of tattooing, during a session its crucial that everyone is always comfortable, relaxed, and feeling good about each step of the process. So everyone is open and able to put everything on the table, tattooing is an intimate process and until humans develop the ability to read minds, we have the trust one another to share these things with each other, that trust is everything. It gives me freedom in my artwork, it gives the client a worry free atmosphere not only about what I’m doing with their skin but who they’re transferring this energy with.

Sometimes I’m creating the most important thing someone will ever put on their body, sometimes its truly life altering and in order to achieve that successfully both client and artist really need to be in very vulnerable spots to reach the goal. At times, people trust me with things they never tell other humans. Setting each client up to be in a mental place where they can rest assured, they found their artist, they feel like this artist gets me, lets run with it. That’s the atmosphere I strive to create with every project I take on. I’m Ryan Allison in Quad Cities Davenport, Iowa. Bring your tattoo ideas where we treat ya like family!