"Why didn't my artist post my tattoo?"

I promise they don't hate your ink!

Hey friends! We all know that tattoos tell stories - but sometimes your story doesn't make it to social media. If you've ever wondered why a piece you really love wasn't posted, I wanted to offer a little insight on why that may be. It's not personal, and it's not because they hate it - I promise. Here's the why!

"But the dead shouldn't assault the living. That's no good. The same goes for the living. They should never do anything to mock the dead. Trample into their territory disrespectfully, and you can only blame yourself for your death." - Ayase Seiko, Dandadan

Tattooing is Deeply Personal

First and foremost, your tattoo is truly yours to wear forever! You trusted your artist to bring it to life, and that connection means the world. But not every moment needs to be public - sometimes the emotion, the intention, or even the placement is too intimate to turn into marketing content. Many artists just want to respect that!

Not Every Piece will Appease the Algorithm Gods

Social media is a strange gallery - it tends to favor specifics that often twist and turn in directions that are difficult to predict. Some platforms are oddly specific on what camera specs it may favor, whether a face is present, or what format we choose to post in. It's an annoying thing that shifts at the drop of a new update. This can contribute to what artists decide to share - some of us pay attention to the trends and will post accordingly. It's a business, after all, and tattoo artists have to be their own marketers and pay attention to their niche. Who knows, perhaps those trends will shift back into your tattoo's favor! Not being posted doesn't take away from your tattoo's meaning or from the artist's pride for having created it with you!

The Camera Cannot Always Capture the Magic Accurately

As much as I'd love for every tattoo to shine in a photo as well as it does in real life, photos don't always do them justice - even when using a badass photography setup! Sometimes, we think we captured the perfect photo and then when we move it off the camera...well, it's disappointing. I've even experienced my camera not warning me that I forgot to put the SD card in! The disappointment was debilitating; when I got home bright and eager to upload photos of what I considered to be my next best piece only to find the slot totally empty cause I'm a scatterbrain. Talk about heartbreak! So sometimes it just comes down to bad luck, less-than-ideal camera settings, and a hot mess of a brain.

Your Tattoo is Part of an Unfinished Project

Sometimes the way a sleeve connects (or will eventually connect) to the rest of the project affects how an artist may choose to photograph it. While they might occasionally share a section of a sleeve before it's complete, they may prefer to wait until the entire piece is finished instead. Right now, I actually have several anime sleeve projects in progress that I haven't posted yet, simply because I'd rather show the full design as one cohesive work.

Every Artist Has a Wide Thread of Style

One thing to keep in mind is that while most artists are incredibly grateful and proud of the tattoos they get to create with you, not every piece represents the full scope of their portfolios. Some tattoos are custom explorations, smaller side quests, or rooted in styles outside what that artist specializes in. It doesn't make them any less special - it just means that the overall artistic story that an artist wishes to tell in their portfolios or social platforms are specific and highlight certain styles and subjects.

Ren Behan INK

Most of my clients come to me for anime tattoos or video game tattoos - but every so often I'll get a request for something outside what my online followers expect from me. For example, there are times where a client will trust me with an Original Character they've put their heart into creating - and even though I do custom only, I likely won't share their character, its just too personal to that individual. Unfortunately, when it comes to social media and online portfolios, as artists, we have to pay attention to those pesky algorithms. But regardless, I cherish the work I make with my clients, and appreciate their trust for letting me do so.

Tattoo Portfolio