As me the Artist and as you the customer, we both have responsibilities when it comes to tattoos. You have responsibilities before and after your tattoo. Now before you get a tattoo you have a responsibility to make sure you go to a reputable tattoo Artist. You must ask around whom everyone else thinks is reputable. If he's in a studio or in a shop? this is a big and very important question to ask yourself. make dam sure that the artist your thinking about is in a studio or shop. Home tattoo artist also known as scratcher pose a serious health risk to you and everyone that person tattoos. A scratcher has not had proper training on the health procedure aspects of performing a tattoo. This so called artist could at least give you a very serious infection and worst this person could give you hiv or hep c or even TB. It is very important that your artist is in a studio and is properly trained. Now that your looking for artist in studios. you need to now check their portfolio. Make sure the tattoos you see in this artists portfolio is of good quality. I mean if the work looks like crap to you, then it is pretty darn obvious that you will not like the tattoo that this person puts on your skin. Now, once you've settled on an artist it is the tattoo artists turn to be professional. He should be respectful and professional. He or she should give you your aftercare instructions and describe them to you in detail. He should do everything in his or her power to make sure his work area is clean and he should be opening clean needles and other packages right in front of you. If you do not see this, ask for it to happen that way. Now after it is all said and done. Your artist should maybe go over your instructions one more time with you. From here out it is your job to take care of it while it heals. This can take from 6 to 15 days before you can let your guard down. You say; how will i know? you will know, for one it wont itch no more.......anyways, a tattoo continues to heal for 30 days, long after it has been done....you should not try to go in for any touch ups until this time has passed. I hope I've been of some help to you all out there and happy tattooing. If you want to learn more on the dangers of scrathers and what these people are, visit TAU ( Tattoo Artist United) @www.facebook.com/tattooartistunited
