Why I Don't Copy Your Pinterest Tattoo Reference (And What I Do Instead)

When a client brings a Pinterest tattoo reference into a consultation, the first thing I want them to know is that I'm not going to copy it. I don't have a catalogue of designs to show them to choose from, either.

I've lost count of how many times someone has come in with a folder full of screenshots and said, "I want something like this." Honestly, I don't mind. I actually like seeing references — they tell me something. Sometimes a client can't explain what they want, but they can show me ten tattoos and say, "something about all of these feels right." That's useful. I can start seeing the visual language they're drawn to before they know how to put it into words themselves.

What I don't want to do is take one of those tattoos and recreate it on them.

There is a difference between being inspired by a tattoo and wanting that tattoo. The distinction matters to me.

What Your Tattoo Reference Photos Are Actually Telling Me

If you've spent hours looking through Pinterest before a tattoo consultation, you've probably already done a lot of the work. You've figured out that you like a particular kind of linework. Maybe delicate botanical details, unusual compositions, black and grey realism, negative space, or the way a certain tattoo follows the shape of an arm.

Those references tell me what your eye is responding to. But they don't tell me who you are. That's where the interesting part begins.

A tattoo that looks perfect on someone else's body might make absolutely no sense on yours. The placement might be different. Your proportions might be different. Your skin might move differently. The way you want the tattoo to age might be different. And most importantly, the reason you were drawn to that tattoo in the first place might have very little to do with the reason the original person got it.

The Question I'm Actually Asking

So when someone shows me a tattoo they love, I'm rarely thinking, "How do I make this?" I'm thinking, "What did they see in this?"

That question changes everything.

Maybe it was the composition. Maybe it was the delicacy. Maybe it was the contrast between something organic and something geometric — or maybe they simply loved how it made them feel when they looked at it.

Once I understand that, I can take the part that actually belongs to them and build something from there. Sometimes the final tattoo barely resembles the original reference. That's usually a good thing, because the reference has already done its job. It helped us find the beginning of the conversation.

Why I Don't Believe in a Catalogue — Every Tattoo Is a Custom Design

A tattoo isn't a piece of clothing that needs to fit a certain size. It lives on a particular body, belonging to a particular person, carrying whatever meaning they've decided to give it. It deserves to be considered that way.

This doesn't mean every tattoo has to be deeply symbolic, either. Some people simply want something beautiful — that's completely valid. But even then, I want to understand what kind of beauty they're drawn to and why, because "I like this" is often the beginning of a much more interesting conversation.

After almost ten years of tattooing, I've become much less interested in asking, "What tattoo do you want?" I'm more interested in asking, "What is it about these tattoos that keeps making you stop and look?"

The answer is usually somewhere in there. And that's where I want to start designing — not with somebody else's finished tattoo.

With you.

If you've got a folder of references and no idea where to start, that's exactly what a tattoo consultation at Moths & Owls Tattoos is for. [Book a consultation →]