"Does it hurt" is almost always the first thing someone writes to me, before they send a reference or ask about an area. I get it: it is the part of the process no photo can show. At NARA I would rather answer it straight, in the consultation, and not once you are already in the chair.
Does it hurt the same everywhere?
No. The area matters more than the size of the piece. Ribs, neck, hands and feet hurt more and force slower work. They do not feel like a forearm, even at the same size. It is one of the first things I check in the consultation, right after seeing where you want the piece.
It also changes how the session is organized. A sensitive area asks for more breaks and a different pace. When I plan a piece over bone or a joint, the time I set aside already accounts for that.
Why do I never say "it does not hurt at all"?
Because it is not true. Promising you will feel nothing is a fast way to lose the trust of someone about to spend hours in the chair. What I can tell you, with your skin in front of me, is how much it varies with your area, your size and how much detail the piece carries. The scope of the commission depends on the same things.
A clean line piece on a fleshy area feels different from one with dense shading in the same spot. There is no fixed number by size: pain rises and falls with the density of detail, the same way the real working time does. That is why a generic pain chart off the internet does not answer your case.
What happens in the consultation, before the needle?
The one-on-one consultation exists for this as much as for the design. That is where we look at the skin, talk the piece through calmly, and where I tell you if an area is not the best one for your first time. The question about pain gets settled there, with information about your case.
If it is your first tattoo, that conversation goes slower. I would rather you leave the consultation knowing what you are walking into: the design you will carry and how the session will feel. Better that than finding it all out on the day.
What can you do to make it manageable?
Sleep well the night before, eat before you come, and skip alcohol on the day of the session. Nothing different from what anyone who does this for a living will tell you. Arriving rested changes how a long session goes, especially if the piece needs more than one sitting.
The rest, the pace, the breaks, how a sensitive area gets worked, is handled by whoever has the needle in hand at the time, not by a guide written for any studio. That is why at NARA the session is done by the same person who designed the piece. She has known your skin since the consultation.
And if it is your first time?
I always ask, before we talk design. It does not change whether I take the piece, but it does change how I plan it. If you have never been tattooed, I would rather not start with a difficult area or a long session, even if the reference you bring points that way. Some pieces can be adapted to fit a shorter session without losing what makes them yours. That conversation is worth having before we set a date.
It is not only the body that gets ready. The nerves of waiting usually weigh more than the sensation itself once the session starts. I hear it from almost everyone getting tattooed for the first time. Showing up already knowing what to expect brings that part down, though it does not remove it.
If the question you are bringing is whether it will hurt, that conversation starts in the consultation, not in a one line message. Write to me and book a one-on-one consultation: we will look at the skin and the area, and talk calmly about what you will feel in your piece.
More on how a commission is put together, step by step, is on the commission.