A useful tattoo consultation request names the subject or story, where it may sit on the body, its approximate dimensions or coverage, the visual direction, and what must stay or must be avoided. You do not need all of that to begin: Alex's form requires only your name, email, and idea. The other details are optional evidence that can make the first reply and project-specific estimate more useful.
Page, consultation guidance, and sources reviewed 14 August 2026.
Enough to start
Give Alex a name, an email he can reply to, and a rough description. That description can be a subject, person, memory, atmosphere, or story. Alex's published process explicitly says you do not need a finished idea, style label, or reference image before starting. If this is your first tattoo, use the first-tattoo guide to connect this enquiry to artist fit, appointment day, and aftercare.
Useful if known
Add the body side and surface, approximate height and width or coverage, colour or black-and-grey direction, must-keep details, things to avoid, budget, and date constraints. If the style name is unclear, link to the closest work in Alex's finished portfolio instead of guessing.
Describe the direction, not a copied tattoo
Reference images are evidence of taste, not an order to reproduce another artist's finished tattoo. Say what each image is doing for you: the colour relationship, line weight, face, pose, texture, composition, or mood. Identify the one or two details that carry the idea and anything you do not want. For a portrait, the preferred source image and identity-critical features matter; for an animal, species, pose, markings, and whether likeness matters are more useful than a generic label. The portrait and animal guides make those distinctions concrete.
Give placement and size as coordinates
“Arm” or “medium” leaves several design decisions unresolved. If you know, name left or right, inner or outer surface, and whether the work should wrap, stop at a joint, connect to an existing tattoo, or leave room for a future sleeve. Give the longest height and width or describe the intended coverage. A straight photograph and a wider photograph showing nearby anatomy and tattoos can help Alex evaluate the space. The size and session guide explains why dimensions do not convert mechanically into hours; the forearm guide shows the same planning model for one placement.
Know what the first reply can resolve
Alex replies by email with a date, an estimate, any questions, and the next deposit step. The published hourly and full-day figures below are rate context, not a quote for the project you describe. No response-time or current-availability promise is published. Sending the form also does not reserve a date: Rocky Mountain Tattoo's current policy says an appointment is secured only after the required deposit is received and the contract is signed. If you are still months out, Park the Idea uses the same minimum fields without asking you to pretend you are ready to choose a date.
Sources and claim boundaries
No exact project price, duration, session count, reply time, availability month, consultation format, or acceptance decision is inferred here.