My process as a tattoo artist ♦ Kaiiza

To me, the connection with the artist matters as much as the quality of the work.

Face to face the first meeting

Every project starts with a meeting at the studio, a chance to discover the space and a face-to-face conversation. Your idea, my suggestions, a price range and the next date. A tattoo is more than an image. Whether it's a spontaneous idea born from an aesthetic crush, a personal/intimate/vulnerable step, both at once or anything in between… we'll spend time together, and it's there to stay with you for the rest of your life. The connection matters as much as technique in the experience of getting tattooed.

Kaiiza seated and smiling, talking with a client at the studio, bookshelves in the background

The details people share are what allow me to create something more personal.

The why for a stronger what

Knowing the why makes the project more personal. Your project may be a spontaneous idea or one you've thought through for years. A purely aesthetic urge, a laugh with your mates, or a personal step full of meaning. It's all valid. The answer can be short and simple. The details I'm told and what I read in non-verbal language let me make it more personal. In my experience, this leads to: “You understood exactly what I wanted, even though I didn't know how to explain it.” and “You made it even better than I imagined.”

Tell me what you want, and you'll discover a project made by hand, with heart.

Human-made

Here, every design starts with a conversation. I ask people to come without AI-generated images for several reasons.

First, the image has already filtered the story and erased ideas I might have had. It's like putting my creativity through a funnel before we've even had a conversation.

The risk is getting attached to an idea that often can't be made as shown (too small, too many details, the movement of the skin/body ignored). The image wasn't generated with my hand or my experience in mind, so even if it's “just” to give me an idea, it won't match what I'm going to create.

Tell me what you want, show me things you like that might inspire me, and you'll discover a project made by hand, with heart. This stage is an integral part of my creative process. I love it, and I don't want artificial intelligence to reduce it.

Kaiiza seated at the studio table drawing in a notebook, smiling, bookshelves in the background

Some projects call for a placement that moves very little, while others gain strength through movement.

Anatomy

I create on a surface made of volumes that vary and move, asymmetries and perfect imperfections: the body. The placement, the size, the way the piece moves with your anatomy are an integral part of its strength. Skin stretches, folds, lives and I compose with it. Some projects will need a placement that moves very little, while others will be strengthened by movement.

Rigorous & slow when it matters

The people I've had the pleasure of tattooing often notice, appreciate and praise the same things: my rigour and the importance I give to applying it. Precision is a kind of concentration I love! Whether I'm placing the project or making the tattoo, when it takes time, I take it. On the day, I work at the pace the project requires and that time is what gives the result “the extra”.

Kaiiza seen from behind, seated at her workstation, preparing the tattoo machine in front of the frame wall

Hands holding an ornamental line drawing on paper, prepared before the session at the studio

Tight vertical shot of the tattoo machine held by a black-gloved hand against the skin

It's a style you can keep feeding: the piece evolves, you add to it, over time.

Legibility at a distance & over time

In everyday life, the people around us who see us are, on average, between 1 and 4 metres away. That distance is worth taking into account, not only so the tattoo can be read and understood, but also for aesthetic reasons: a piece that's too small shouldn't look like a smudge from social distance.

You choose a tattoo for now, but you'll still be wearing it decades from now. It's important to take into account the changes over time that are inherent to tattooing. One point to consider carefully: a tattooed line loses sharpness and gains thickness over time. Spaces that are too small, details that are too fine and dense are very likely to fill in and blur over the years, making the tattoo hard to read. Very fine lines, for their part, are prone to more irregularities and are likely to fade considerably over time.

Graphic tattoo with abstract lines stretching along the leg, black ink

Letting go for a better result

The best tattoos often come when you let go of the design and of controlling every detail. If you choose to contact me because you like my work, the price you pay for your piece includes my experience, my knowledge and my ideas: make the most of it! Tell me what you want, share what matters to you, and trust the process and my instinct.

I'll create a piece that reflects the reasons you chose me. Trusting me is what lets your project become even better than you imagined.

In practice

what should i bring to the first appointment?

Your wishes, your ideas, your photos, your real references: anything that inspires you is welcome, even if it has nothing to do with tattoos. The only thing I ask you to leave out is AI-generated images: we start from you, not from a ready-made picture.

i don't know exactly what i want yet?

The appointment is precisely there to refine your idea. You can come with a vague feeling, a placement in mind or a few references. I ask you questions and make suggestions to turn that first idea into a precise project.

will you tattoo me on the day of the first appointment?

No. The first appointment is a conversation: your project, its feasibility, the price range. The tattoo session is set afterwards, with a deposit to confirm it. That gives me time to create your design, and it gives you time to decide with a clear head.

does the first appointment cost anything?

No. The conversation at the studio costs you nothing and commits you to nothing: it's setting the session, with the deposit, that launches your project.

what if i don't like the design on the day?

We adjust it together: time is planned that same day to modify the design before we start. That's exactly why you discover it at the studio rather than by message: you react in front of me, we talk it through, and nothing gets tattooed until the design is yours.