Forum

.

don't know anything about texas laws except the imho
barbarian thing called "death sentence"...

i think there are just 3 things you could do:

- you can move to a more civilized place/bigger town

- you can lean back and wait for cover up work- no joke,
this could develop to a rather big business. charge those
future customers far higher rates than for "virgin skin"
and don't forget to tell them that. this will educate them.

- you can kick 7 colours of shit out of this idiot in order to
persuade him to stop his business.

Here's' the deal:
The kind of clients he's getting you don;t want. They don;t care about your folio, and they would be aftercare nightmares to boot.
If he's dirty in this day and age then it's obvious and they don;t care either, witch means they go there for the drugs too. Ever tattoo an addict? Funny how they heal up huh?
Everyone knows a clean studio when they see it, even druggies.
The problem is shrewd business. He's trying to intercept any you might have. But if this is something your worried about then you need to realize the first rule of any business LOCATION.
Lastly, your portfolio and your rates have to be in balance, in other words we talk on this forum because we feel mikes work is a guideline. Dimitry, boris, booth, tyrel.
Sounds to me this guy can;t hold a candle artisticly, so you better be a blaze brighter than him, or your market value just plummeted. This reflects also on the clientel and what they are willing to pay for and wear for the rest of thier lives, or are they too high to care?
If your work is apples to oranges with his, then your location is holding you back.

My location is holding me back at this momment in my career. Upstate their are few if any shops that have folios other than traditional and new school, and even those are canned and run of the mill. I have no reason to be nice about it, this isn;t my first art form, or rodeo.
Also, in my current area there is no law or certification at all, I talked to the local and the state health departments about it. A business ID is recomended, no one cares about bio production, they said "have fun tatooing, I'm glad your a nurse." And referred to the laws like the "wild west".
It's a blessing and a curse and in the long term may hinder my tattoo carreer. I'll have to counter that somehow,
BUT.....
The last place i lived their was laws in place that i could not afford to abide by, and I tattooed anyway, and tatsoul sold to me anyway.
Maybe because i'm a nurse? Or I conduct myself like a professional?
This scratcher is niether. He also isn't taking business away from you. Since these are clients that can't/won't pay your rates, and will heal a tattoo like shit and hold you responible through word of mouth.
Call the health department, and if you arn't worried about gangsta problems call the cops if the DOH has laws that he is breaking.
Be careful your rep isn;t on the line too, if it's a small town then it can kill your business.
real tattoo artists don;t break peoples hands, pussies do, and in texas like in NY you can get shot dead for trying that old line of BS.Old fat tattooers who can;t draw or paint their way out of a paper bag might have that saying, but this is a different, much more serious time we live in, and pros don't and never did behave like that.

So, I hope my book i just wrote helped. Comming from an unlicensed professional, who has tattooed in very undesirable conditions, and kept things extra clean and sterile, clawed my way out of the flash world and beyond what the local "pros" are doing. I have no peers, friends, or allies in this biz. I spend lots of money on sterile supplies, and follow up on my clients like a doctor. I live in the middle of nowhere and have few clients at all. At least for now.
So i feel your pain here.

If people aren't looking at your portfolio before asking the obvious, I would suggest turning your front door and street facing windows into your portfolio. A vinyl printing shop should be able to do that for you.