'I'm a tattoo artist - and am sick of people asking for these basic inkings'

Every tattoo has a story behind it - whether it's a memorial inking, an artistic design, or a spontaneous moment from a stag do.

It has prompted a group of artists to share their least and favourite things to ink onto their clients - as they reveal the pieces they're tired of doing.

On Reddit, a receptionist at a Scottish tattoo studio called out customers who ask for "pocket watches, roses, and infinity symbols". They said: "I always thought I would be super positive and think everyone's allowed to get whatever makes them happy, and totally still stand by that but it just really surprised me how many people were all happy to get exactly the same tattoos, and how easily people were influenced by each other.

"It was much more rare to get an original tattoo idea than I thought it would be. I just feel bad for the poor artists who have to churn out the same motif again and again."

Seconding this, a client added: "My artist is really good at line-work flowers 10/10, that's that's why I went to him, it's exactly what I wanted. Turns out he's trying to step away from that and ideally do more creative things but 'it's my bread and butter'."

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Meanwhile, another tattoo artist expressed their disinterest in inking the "longitude-latitude coordinates" of their client's hometowns, saying the idea is overdone. One artist said: "[I'm tired of] nautical sleeves. I'm from an island and is it brutal trying to make it 'unique' when every fifth person has one. Anchors compasses, and maps Feathers and pocket watches are close second."

Adding to this, another added: "I’m an apprentice right now, but practically all of the artists in my shop have agreed on a few things. Infinity symbols (especially with words), anchors, birds, and feathers that turn into birds. However, that being said, my mentor followed that up with, 'But, that’s your job security. You’ll always have girls coming in for the most basic tattoos, and no matter how tired you get of them, they’ll pay your bills'."

Sharing a story from when they got inked, one user said: "My tattoo artist and I were talking about this when I was in last time - he pointed to a coffee mug on his desk that was full of infinity symbols with different words inside them so he could just pull them out when people came in and asked for them. Bonus, there was even an infinity symbol turning into birds."