tl;dr johnny and melanie make a great team. They work well together and their personalities differ but work well at making you feel comfortable and welcomed in the studio. The place is kept really clean and Johnny even offered snacks during a break. It's a private studio which is nice because I don't really a big fan of random people popping in while I'm being worked on. 5/5
In depth review of the whole process.
Objective:
Booking periods happen only so often. I submitted my application with two concept ideas. I received my email October 2nd telling me I was selected for the Feb/Mar cycle. I paid my booking deposit then gave them my availability, they worked with my availability and I was scheduled for March 15th. Once the appointment was confirmed I told them I'm willing to switch appointments if necessary to work around his other clients. My appointment date remained the same but my time was moved to 7am which was nice.
Johnny reached out February 16 for a confirmation on the exact design (I kept going back and forth sending in different things) and March 8th I got a courtesy email for my upcoming session.
I showed up to the studio and Johnny was finishing up the final design. We talked briefly on the different aspects of shading and line work but I told him that I trusted him because he's the artist and he knows what will probably look best for the final piece.
The session was about 6 hours with 3 breaks. Snacks and beverages were provided. The studio itself is open with tall ceilings. It has couches and a long meeting table.
The tattoo I got cover parts of my chest, my sternum, some ribs, and my upper abdomen. It was a painful tattoo
Subjective:
The booking process was really nice and communication from his assistant was nice. I think he got a new assistant sometime after my appointment was confirmed, nothing was wrong with his old assistant but his new one Melanie has a much more welcoming online persona. Her personality in person matches it too.
Johnny comes off as a casual laid-back guy. He's nonchalant yet he's very interested in his clients. He gave me a sense of autonomy throughout the whole process.
In hindsight I gave him very little to work with and while doing the final touches he was asking me what I liked specifically about the reference pictures. I sent him a couple of pictures of different designs by other artists and it was really nice to know he took them into consideration. I've been to an artist before where I brought in printed references and the artist glimpsed at it then pulled out the sketch he already had before I showed up.
While I was being worked on the pain was too much for me to handle in the beginning, given the location and design it's expected to hurt. I asked if I could have a break after the main outline was done and Johnny agreed. I didn't feel any mental resistance from him. He wrapped up the area so I could go outside and get some fresh air. After that I didn't have to ask for breaks, Johnny stopped and gave me two more. I'm not sure how but Johnny knew when I was getting reaching my threshold. Given he's had years of experience I'm sure he's picked up a 6th sense on how to read people.
After the main outline was done Johnny stopped and asked how I wanted the rest of the session to play out. I told him I'd prefer to do the top part of my tattoo because I knew the bold lines would hurt more and I personally like having the most painful part of a tattoo done first. Johnny is the first artist to give me that option.
Johnny himself as a person is hella cool. During the whole session we didn't talk much which was nice because I just wanted to relax (i'm on spring break from nursing school and my life since august has been studying so I actually don't know how to talk to people anymore lmao). From our conversation Johnny comes off as someone who wants to know his clients. This isn't just another transaction for him. He asked me questions to get to know me but he never pushed me to share. We both shared stories and aspects of lives that were interesting.
Melanie went out for a bit and offered to pick something up. Johnny asked if I wanted anything which was really nice and I asked for coffee and a sandwich. When she came back I offered to pay and Johnny told me that he'd pay for it ( johnny is just nice af).
This is my opinion but getting a tattoo is only cool after you get it. When I'm getting work done I'm being vulnerable to the public. I'm not a fan of getting work done while random people walk by watching me trying to hold myself together. The whole process is just painful and it sucks. I like this studio because it's just him and his assistance.
Overall I had a really great experience. It's only been 4 days but I wake up every morning still in awe at his work.
Pros:
Johnny is cool
Melanie is nice
final product is dope
snacks
privacy
Cons:
that shit hurted read more