@annenas all of my tattoos (except for 2) were given by people I knew already or at random tattoo parties where everyone just tattoos each other. I personally find most shops quite unappealing and think tattooing is such a personal thing that it is much better outside the bounds of capitalism. Though I think the fact that people are making their living making art is great I think this is all a precarious balance.

I use Instagram mainly to find tattoo artists. It’s kind of annoying because other than that, I don’t really want or need an Instagram account. And I’ve also heard artists express frustration that they have to spend so much time managing social media to attract clients. But currently that is the way it is.

I’m also pretty bold about going up to strangers in semi-social settings like club meetups and the climbing gym and asking about their tattoos. Sometimes you make a friend, and you get artist recs!

Mostly I’m also using Instagram to find Artists that I like, some other Tattoos happend quite spontaneously.

Maybe another way would be to look at webpages from expos / events in your area (like e.g. Kaiserstadt Tattoo Expo) where various artists that are coming to the event are shown?

Instagram is pretty much the tattoo artist yellow pages.

Its the only reason I had the app in the first place. Deleted it and only access Instagram on desktop now

I see the other comments are mentioning instagram, and I’d like to add that if you see a tattoo in the wild that you like you can ask the person about it, and also ask the person for their artist’s instagram and get it that way :)