Oh. My. God.
I'm so excited right now I can barely sit still. I started shopping around for artists to do my peacock faux half sleeve. I really fell in love with another guest artist at Ink & Dagger. His work is really realistic and just flat out beautiful. He also has a really great range. I went out on a limb and emailed him. I explained my idea and then said up front I had a very limited budget. I knew it was a gamble and I was fully prepared for him to say no. He emailed me back in less than half an hour with this:
Hey Emily,
A large Peacock tattoo sounds awesome. Absolutely something I would enjoy working on...[the price I named] is a pretty tight budget for a large tattoo especially if you are looking to get a detailed piece more on the "realistic" side. I would say depending on size you could be looking at 4- 6 hrs worth of work. But seeing that you've got such a cool idea.. I know I would have fun doing it. I'll find a way to work with that budget. I am tattooing in norway right now.. I can make an apointment for you in february though. I'll be at ink and dagger by the 15th. What days are good for you?
~Kurt
I emailed him back immediately with the date I wanted. Of course, seeing as he's in Norway, I probably won't hear back until sometime tomorrow. If everything falls into place, I'll have a fabulous peacock by the end of February. *squee!* It just goes to show that having the guts to ask can actually get you somewhere.
Now I'm browsing the portfolios of other artists to see what's out there. I emailed Russ back thanking him and telling him that I was happy to wait until he was free. He also thanked me for giving them a positive review on Yelp. So yay. There's another artist who I really like. I just have to decide what I want him to do for me and where! I'm running out of space! Apparently this particular artist is booked 2-3 weeks out so I have time.
