It’s well known that the prices and quality of a tattoo can vary. It seems to be, in 2012, that the average rate across America is $150 an hour with custom work from more popular, more talented artists fetching as much as $250 an hour, if not more. It’s hard to believe in today’s economy that artists can charge so much, given that the time needed to complete the average half-sleeve project could be between 8-12 hours. With 18+ years of experience as a tattoo artist, Adal clearly ranks with these top-earning, popular artists, however, he is of the opinion that tattoos need not be excessively expensive, and that someone’s budget should not exempt them from getting his high-quality tattoo work.
Given the cost of living in New York City, in conjunction with these high tattoo rates, many individuals seek out the cheapest possible option when getting a tattoo. Furthermore, there seems to be an abundance of under-skilled tattooers offering cheap tattoos as a means of practicing and trying to learn a complex form of art. Since tattoo apprenticeships are not readily handed out, it is understandable that a beginning tattooer would use every opportunity to practice, which in most cases, leaves the person being tattooed highly unsatisfied with low-quality, under-skilled artwork. These tattoos are, 99% of the time, nothing close to the tattoos that people search for and fawn over in magazines and online.
If you are serious about getting tattooed, and even if you are working within a budget, come and talk to Adal. Adal always works with the client to come up with a price that is reasonable for him or her, not based on an hourly rate, but based on what is appropriate for each tattoo project. For instance, if you are interested in engaging in a tattoo project that will take over 4 hours, Adal is very open to negotiating on a fixed session rate, that is not so focused on counting minutes and hours. The price of any tattoo project that takes less than that amount of time will be assigned a flat price which is determined by the tattoo’s size, complexity, and design, generally based on the rate of $150 an hour.
Majestic always operates with a $50 minimum for a tattoo that takes half and hour or less.
For specific inquiries about the price of your tattoo idea, send Adal an email or call him at the studio at (212) 431-3323.