Patchwork vs. True Full Sleeves
I’m just going to go over a few things about what is considered ongoing work, and the differences between full and patchwork sleeves. These topics are intertwined, and this section will explain more about what they are and how I treat them in my booking process!
First order of business: addressing what it means to be a client with ongoing work. I personally have a LOT of repeat clients. This is absolutely amazing and I love each and every one of you. Realistically, I will be tattooing a lot of you for a very long time. However, I’ve come to realize that I can’t treat every existing client’s body as ongoing work. There are just too many of you, and I only have two hands and only so many hours in the day! I need to save that category to prioritize people who have literally half-coloured-in pieces. I’m sure we all know how much it sucks to walk around with a half-finished piece, and I need to give those priority bookings. So, ongoing work = half finished piece, OR a half finished true sleeve/full back that was originally booked and consulted as a true sleeve (not a patchwork sleeve).
Moving forward, anything that isn’t considered a true sleeve or full back (think full skin coverage, cohesive theme, entire arm/leg lined in our first session) will be booked one piece at a time. I know this might be stressful for some of you but it’s the only way I can see for me to safeguard my time, mental, health, and energy moving forward. It’s just not physically possible for me to devote the same energy to patchwork sleeves as a full sleeve requires, because I have so many people wanting them.
Now, what this actually means:
Patchwork sleeves (collections of individual tattoos on a limb that can stand alone as their own unique pieces) will be booked one session at a time.
You will have to fill out a new booking form every time you want to book a new session. Depending on the piece(s), I may be able to do multiple pieces in one session.
I cannot give you the time/energy commitment I normally give to full sleeves. While eventually these pieces may result in you having a patchwork sleeve, I cannot guarantee the usual “one a month” time frame and sworn dedication to tattoo you until your arm is complete.
You may have to wait, and you won’t take priority over any of the other submissions I get during a booking period. If you submit a booking form for a piece I’m not a good fit for, I won’t take it on (even if I’ve done 5 tattoos on your arm already). Everything will be booked based on what I’m feeling the most passionate about during that booking period.
If this doesn’t work for you:
I get it, it can be stressful to not have a set plan. If you’re the type of person that needs everything to be planned for your arm before we start, you can wait to submit when my books open for full sleeves/backs.
These full sleeves/back submissions will go through the same booking process as individual pieces, and I’ll be selecting them based on what I’m passionate about and what I think will push me creatively. I will only be taking on a few of these per year.
Because these sleeves require a MASSIVE amount of time and energy commitment on my part, I require a much greater financial commitment on the client’s end. They will be booked exclusively in full day sessions on the high end of my flat rate, because these projects usually take me upwards of 10 straight hours to plan and draw. This is all done on my own time, and is the reason why I just cannot realistically do the same thing for clients who want a patchwork sleeve.
Beyond the financial requirement, I also require a time commitment from full sleeves in order to complete it in a timely manner. I require larger deposits for full sleeves to ensure that you’re committed to working on it every 1-2 months. Otherwise I lose the creative flow that is so necessary to do these projects properly.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read everything! While I understand that this might be upsetting for some of you, please understand that these boundaries are set out of love for you, for myself, and for the art of tattooing. I need to make sure that moving forward, I maintain a healthy workload and work/life balance in order to be able to keep tattooing your awesome ideas!
I also want to clarify that I LOVE working on patchwork sleeves. My style works perfectly for them! I just need to make sure that I’m realistic about what I can offer for them in terms of commitment, and that everyone is on the same page with how I’m booking them!