He probably used to do neck tattoos but had so many people come back and complained about them afterwards (for the reasons he stated to you) that he just said to himself, “Screw that. I’m not dealing with this anymore. Too much stress. No more neck tattoos.” Put yourself in other people’s position before you go…

I am a tattoo artist as well. I don’t know what Dan’s reasoning is, but I can tell you I would not have tattooed your neck either. His analogy might have been poor, but I think your emotions might have made the story a little different too. I will not tattoo hands or necks. YES, its YOUR body, and YES its YOUR…

Tattoo artists are not in the service industry. I (a bartender and server) am in the service industry. Tattoo artists are artists. It’s right there in the title.

And like (m)any lucky artists They work as individuals on commission to create artwork. Which is why some have years long wait lists and can choose to work…

Right? I was thinking it was pretty bitchy of her to make fun of these people’s tattoos. They didn’t do anything to you.

And he’s entitled to refuse to do any tattoo for any reason, and that’s what happened so I don’t understand why she’s having a fucking toddler tantrum about it. She really does come across as condescending (the whole ugh lasers thing to the employee at the 2nd shop) and entitled.

Exactly. I’v heard those places (neck/face/hands) referred to as a “career enders” as in, no one will hire people who have them, so a lot of artists just don’t do them. The guy at my local parlour said the one time he broke the rule (I guess the art was really significant to the guy who came in and he wanted it on his…

I hated this article with the heat of a thousand suns.

She comes across as someone who is not familiar with tattoo culture. His work - the goofy, the ironic, the “brash,” is very common among tattoo peeps. Her showcasing his work in some taste measure is just ... ill informed.

My thoughts are that this guy is a professional and providing an artistic service (service might be the wrong word here, but I can’t think of a better one), and in his professional consultation made it clear he thought this was a poor idea and didn’t want to be a part of it. I don’t think this is an outrageous concept…

So, a business shouldn’t be able to decide its own policies?

I think we are fast approaching the requirement for 25/7, where people will be outraged if they don’t fly you back one time zone to pamper you just a little longer.

Thank you for saying what I wanted to say in a clearer, digestible way. I have a handful of tattoos, some highly visible, some more discrete. I was in for a touch up a few weeks ago (because I am old and have tattoos old enough to be faded and need touching up, which, for some reason, made me acutely aware of my own…

Not to mention that the work that she included is on the bodies of other people who didn’t ask to be dragged into this and publicly mocked.

All I could think about is that she could have walked out of that shop and taken her business somewhere else. Which she did, fine. Not good though to point out other tattoos and go “Nah nah look how much more tacky this one is!” Doing that turned this into less about neck tattoos and more of a personal vendetta thing.

The internet is the great equalizer for people who want to complain about not getting treated like royalty 24/7.

Yeah, as a heavily tattooed woman I agree. I’ve had most artists make recommendations about placement and style to me. In fact, I’ve had sort of the anti-Dan experience (with a guy who also refuses to do hand and neck tattoos on people who aren’t already covered in tats, btw—it’s seriously a common policy) where my…

The entitlement POURS off the page.

I respect that artist who refused. For whatever reason.

I hate to be Team Tattoo Artist, but just like you can decide where you want your tattoos, he can also decide what work he’ll stand behind and what he WON’T. Clearly you have artistic differences, as evident by your contempt of his other work. So why would you use him in the first place?

I understand why this was an upsetting experience, but tattoo artists refuse jobs all the time for all sorts of reasons. Many have a no necks, no hands policy - it’s quite common. And, as you discovered, what’s off-limits to one artist is totally okay with another - you were able to get exactly what you wanted in the…