When I came across fort Apache, they impressed me with their professional presentation, the website was eye catching and the work seemed impecable . The experience in the shop however was less than desirable to say the least. the artist I selected to do my work was Lou. I made several appointments which had to be rescheduled due to his late clients or overbooking. It was not until the third scheduling that I was actually able to see Lou for my appointment. I wanted to cover up another piece.
Lou represented himself as an artist, but I would soon have good reason to question that title. Lou had trouble grasping the concept of my piece. Moreover, he showed a complete lack of customer service in talking over me and not allowing me, the person receiving this permanent art to explain my own vision, and stating he could perform a miracle due to my existing piece. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't cover ups a part of a necessary repertoire in tattooing? What struck me was the way in which he spoke to me, as though this had been my first tattoo. If it had been i might have changed my mind about getting one at all. Lou acted as though i had asked him to cover up a mural rather than a simple and 2 1/2 in chinese symbol (If you can't do that buddy your in the wrong business). His attempts to illustrate the tattoo fell short and looked quite amateur, a far cry from the work he presented in his "portfolio." After two failed attempts to draw his idea of the tattoo directly on me, he finally admitted that the tattoo would not look right, and asked me to re-envision something else.
And in deciding to give Lou another chance, I returned the following day with a new vision and stronger concept that should have been achievable for any true artist. Unfortunately Lou continued on the path of the previous night. He insisted on drawing free hand. He would not produce a stencil. This new tattoo consisted of a feather, with birds emerging in silhouette. The photo i provided was clear and it fit perfectly over the existing tattoo. The sketch Lou produced looked nothing like the model I gave him and he seemed upset that I was questioning the image. He kept stating that he was the artist and I should trust him. After insisting he draw something that resembled my picture he finally drew an ok image which he claimed he would be able to clean up in free style on my back. With anxiety i filled out the paper work at which time I was asked by the secretary to pay all moneys upfront. I explained that I was uncomfortable with paying for unguaranteed permanent mark on my body due to the fact that Lou had yet to provide proof of an image illustrating his understanding or ability to do the tattoo. The secretary advised that it was store policy, and promptly requested my refund and walked out of that place and way from Lou before I received a regretful and permanent reminder of this horrid night. read more