Is Your Tattooist an Artist ???

[bluntmonkey]

I ask this question a little rhetorically . First a blatant advertisement
Aces High

Aces High Tattoo Shop in West Palm Beach, Fla. will be hosting an in-house-artist only art show entitled, "Genius in Exile" on Saturday, April 21st. All the days tattooing will cease at 7 pm. and the art show will commence at 8 pm. There will be lots of new work from Cody, Phil, Isaac, Chip and Roger, all of whom will have work for show and for sale. Many of us are working on skateboard pieces, but the list includes a canvas or two, many framed pieces, ranging from watercolors, to oils, pastels, and charcoal, and also some 3 dimensional works.

Now for the REAL question when choosing a tattoo how much leeway do you GIVE the artist to express and create his or her artistic talent and technique
to give life to the concept in YOUR mind.
I have both flash "pictures of the wall in a tatt studio" and custom "totally created by my tattooist" tattoos. I have to honestly say the custom work far outweighs the flash work.
When you recieve a custom piece the artist is puttin a little of what I like to call Luv into your body " at least if they are doing it properly and the proof is in the result" I see quite a few posts by people requesting someone to create an image for them because they are artistically challenged.
I feel sites like this that post flash designs should be used more as a tool to help you refine the tattoo image YOU desire by allowing you to view things such as style, shape, location, and all the other elements in a tattoo but I feel the actual image design should be left to the actual artist who will be applying it.
Of course there are exceptions to every rule and opinions are like assholes everybody gots one But those are some of mine. Don't get me wrong sometimes a specific small image rendered well such as insignia , crest or even a small butterfly as an example can be a totally off the chain striking tattoo but but if you participate in an inked life style I think tacos for oranges CUSTOM WORK CREATED BY AN ARTIST YOU HAVE CHOSEN USING EDUCATED MEANS is the Best path to getting a Truly Great Tattoo.
Long Winded today
B

[stu]

I have a tattoist which I have been using for the last 6 months and I have had 8 tattoos done, in which I have let him run with his ideas and suggestions. All have turned out better than I thought

[Dileca]

The 2 that did my back are artists