Is this tattoo right for you?

Ciara is a large scale tattooer with a focus on historic and cultural art. Ciara has a strict framework for what pieces they take on, with the idea being that no matter what the client gets in the future, it should be either easily built upon or it should look complete. This means that Ciara doesn’t put small pieces in the middle of an arm, or they won’t put a piece on a back unless it can easily be turned into a full backpiece from shoulder to glutes in the future.

This is a non-negotiable point for Ciara. For more information on this, please read the placement guide in the resources. If you aren’t sure if large-scale work is right for you, consider your hesitation carefully. Large-scale tattooing requires the certainty of the client.

What you bring into session is reflected in the tattoo, every time.

When clients are focused, calm, adaptive, and curious, true magic is possible and that is abundantly clear in the tattoos that come as a result. When clients are panicked, anxious, rigidly controlling, or trying to find healing from a hard experience at the expense of the design process, the tattoos that result often look stilted, unconvincing or inconsistent with the rest of Ciara’s portfolio.

Ciara’s focus is on doing the best tattoos they can, for every client. Let’s keep the focus there and leave everything else at the door.

Is this process right for you?

How is your visualizing?

Ciara doesn’t work in ways that are common in mainstream tattooing. They have a consultation process with every client to get a loose idea of what the client wants and how it might work logistically, but the bulk of the design work happens in person and on an intuitive level. Ciara’s work is also almost entirely drawn on rather than stencilled, which allows for 360 coverage of the body, and it happens in stages.. There are sometimes stages in the freehanding process where the design looks incomprehensible to anyone who isn’t Ciara, and there is often a leap of faith required to make the next step.

Ciara has over a decade of experience as a tattooer, fine art training from Emily Carr University, and they’ve worked at many industry-leading tattoo shops as a guest from New Zealand, to London to the US and Mexico City. Although their process demands a lot of trust from their clients, for those for whom this work is right, that trust is well placed.

If you’re the kind of person who feels like they never get the haircut they’re looking for, or if you feel like all your tattoos haven’t turned out how you thought they would and you went to experienced and reputable tattooers, that might be a clue that you have difficulty visualizing. If you feel like you’re pleasantly surprised most of the time despite that, you’re probable going to be pleasantly surprised by what Ciara does. If this is a source of persistent anxiety and frustration, Ciara’s practice is likely not right for you.