Heroes & Ghosts

I went in to get advice on a finger tattoo.  I was told by Ellie that he was one of the only tattoo artists in Richmond that would do finger tattoos (this is not true, almost all do).  Ellie did give me some good advice about how risky finger tattoos are and that I should consider putting what I wanted somewhere else on my body.  He was not very open to trying something else on my finger.  It was either his one interpretation or it was a crappy tattoo.  I have researched that you should really listen to your tattoo artist so I appreciated his honesty.  I decided to pass.  

I called around and found another tattoo parlor that was also honest but WAY more collaborative and open minded.  I think the artist at Heroes & Ghosts just didn't have the skill but didn't want to say so.  He could have just told me to find a different artist that worked with smaller needles. He seemed to have a preconceived notion that because it was my only tattoo that I was too "square" to handle a tattoo.  He seemed offended.  The tattoo had a very specific meaning to me and I would not have gotten it for any other reason.  I am glad I passed on working with them.

My tattoo is pretty messed up

I enjoyed my time getting my leg piece done and that is saying a lot since it was a 5 hour appointment.
To start, I had an idea for a dinosaur landscape. I took a photo in to the shop and spoke to a guy. I explained my idea and he said, "have a seat and look over these portfolios". Their concept is that you are not scheduled with the next person available; you are scheduled with the artist that you select based off the portfolios. What an excellent idea?!
It turns out that I selected the artist I spoke to when I walked in. We discussed my idea further and he said in a few days he would have a drawing made up.
So the day of the scheduled tattoo....it went by almost completely painless. His drawing was 100% what I had pictured in my mind. I adjusted one small item, a small tree in the back ground. He had it as a pine and I wanted more of a fern. He made the adjustment by hand instead of recreating the whole stencil.
I can't describe the technique used for the different shades of colors because I am naive but I will say that the artist was able to create bright, vivid colors. He added multiple shades of blues and purples throughout the tattoo.
The whole experience was completely stress free and an enjoyable time. Everyone there was very friendly. They were not stuck on themselves and didn't make me feel uncomfortable at all. The only weird part of the whole thing was that the artist assistant told that she did not believe in dinosaurs. Don't get me wrong, I am not putting her down for her thought but it was a weird thing to say to someone who is covering their left leg with pictures of multiple species.
I added a photo for reference on the quality of their work.