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What Do I Do DURING A Tattoo Sitting

Writer's picture: Memphis MoriMemphis Mori


During your tattoo or piercing there are several things to do or not do that will make your experience way less stressful and more comfortable, not just for you, but for your artist and others in the shop around you. Please remember that in most shops you are not the only client and that you can make or break the experience for someone else.



  • Don’t vocally be a snob or brat about tattoos or piercings. you may think you’re being funny and ‘cool’ by insulting infinity symbols, but you never know what someone else has or wants. don’t be a dick.

  • Feel free to chat. Don’t push your artist or others to talk to you but don’t feel obligated to sit in silence, there are often times others who would love to have someone else to chat too just to take their mind off of the pain. Avoid conversations that may offend others but chatting about what you're getting, your jobs, school, kids whatever is sometimes a great way to kill time.

  • Bring headphones if you plan on doing anything that may be noisy, please don’t ever watch youtube videos on speaker, or listen to your music loudly without headphones. this is for your artist, the other clients and generally everyone in the shop’s sanity.

  • Be respectful, if someone has a terrible tattoo, keep your mouth shut. it can be hard, but unless you want to be marked as a giant douche forever going down in the shops history - don’t say anything.

  • If you’re uncomfortable physically or because of something going on in the shop - conversations, music, etc - speak up.

  • If you feel unsafe, leave

  • If you are worried about what the artist is doing or how they’re doing it, ask them to explain what they are doing, or just voice your concerns. at the same time, don’t micro manage your artist. you should have done your research before sitting in their chair and you should trust them. now if you see your design of an arrow that’s based entirely off of straight lines and a good few of your lines are anything but straight, speak up. if you’re getting a 8 hour portrait and 5 hours in it looks like a disaster, trust your artist as there are no portrait artists in the world that don’t have their piece looking like a complete disaster at some point or really right up until the last 30min when they finish everything up and suddenly it’s amazing.

  • If you are feeling sick, speak up. if you need a break, take a break. preferably not every 10 minutes but once every hour isn’t normally the worst thing.

  • If you smoke, don’t stop every 30 minutes. chew some Nicorette or do something to get through a few hours.

  • If you sweat, when you get a break go rinse or apply deodorant

  • If you have coffee or something to eat, pop a mint or chew some gum

  • Don’t be a gossip. don’t talk negatively about other shops or artists hoping to get your artist to join in.

  • Try to sit still, your artist knows it hurts and they are trying not to hurt you, but the more you whine, twitch or jerk, the more your artist has to fix, which means a longer sit and overall a less clean design.

  • If you know you have a low pain tolerance, please try to avoid areas like ribs, feet, inner bicep, back or inside of thighs, knees, chest or armpit]


Please be advised that sometimes an artist may NOT be able to do a tattoo or piercing due to unforeseen circumstances - please heed their advice and understand that they are looking out for you, reasons like


  • sun burns

  • cuts, scrapes rashes

  • excessive sweating

  • antibiotics

  • cold or flu like symptoms

  • infections in other areas of your body

  • open wounds

  • proximity to periods for certain genital piercings or nipple piercings


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