Given the time commitment and network of basic biological, anatomical, and health knowledge required, that doesn't strike me as an insane price, assuming an artist who is able to create the requested art.
A friend who is heavily inked has gone on at length to me about understanding skin elasticity--particularly how it changes over a lifetime--as well as the way joints and muscles change and distort visual lines, etc. It sure seems like a skilled trade to me.
And, I don't know, depth of penetration of a needle in flesh and sanitation don't strike me as minor things to get right.
People love to make things seem harder than they are. I tattoo people, I am aware about skin types, usually thats not a big issue unless its heavily scarred. The quality of your tattoo machine matters most, as my 70€ eBay makeshift one wasnt nearly as good as a proper one. Amount of ink matters, needle depth, skin type, sweat. But thats stuff you have figured put after your 20th tattoo. Its like knowing datatypes in programming. You just know stuff after some practice.
> People love to make things seem harder than they are.
In my experience people tend to underestimate or downplay how difficult something will be or how complex it is. This happens in people who know only a little about something, but also in people who are highly experienced because it becomes normal and easy for them and they can quickly evaluate a situation and know which considerations don't apply.
> But thats stuff you have figured put after your 20th tattoo.
So... after spending hundreds, if not thousands, of hours learning a skill?
I got a tattoo back in the day and specifically went to one the guys in my platoon said was good due to him being featured in magazines or whatever. It's kind of an important thing to get right on the first, not 20th, attempt IMHO.
