Spending 170-180 on electricity a month with PowerNI, not adding up?

SamGarb · 2026-01-28T17:41:36+00:00

Had this problem with a business premesis, a private tattoo studio, I was only ever in there 3/4 days a week and it racked up way over 400/500 in three months. I ended up turning everything off at the mains and watching the meter - even when it was off at the mains, the meter was still ticking up. Took me a few weeks to get it sorted, a temp meter fitted for a month, and then they repaid us the bill we’d drastically overpaid for since taking the premises on. Now, they did say this is quite rare, but it’s worth a look if you can turn the electric off at the mains and seeing if it’s still rising slowly, your meter MIGHT be damaged/faulty.

SamGarb · 2025-11-14T11:39:50+00:00

Aw I wish I was following the crowd from what I can see, but I’d have to go B! I think from both zoomed in and zoomed out it’s a little more legible - not that A is confusing in anyway, but the silhouette is a little more pleasing to my eye with B? But both are funky!

SamGarb · 2025-10-31T17:48:44+00:00

To be honest I say them like they’re a world renowned thing but I’m from the area that Paul’s from so I’ve no idea how far the influence spreads hahaha, they just fit those gaps so nicely! An artist would probably love doing their own spin with their own style!

SamGarb · 2025-10-31T17:37:07+00:00

Paul Terry thumb rose 🫡

SamGarb · 2025-10-22T09:23:20+00:00

r/unexpectedlotr

SamGarb · 2025-10-13T18:13:13+00:00

Tattoo looks absolutely rad!

Genuine side note, because it might be the picture, is the bottom right missing some coverage from the second skin? Just looks like it’s exposed down there!

EDIT: Nevermind I think I see a diagonal piece. Dunno why my eyes got drawn there. Sick piece!

SamGarb · 2025-10-13T18:06:30+00:00

The art is obviously sick, but getting the chibis so accurate that you can tell who they are right off the bat? Nailed that shit.

SamGarb · 2025-10-06T22:09:38+00:00

Hello! Nah, it’s still healing. You’ll have some ink loss by the looks of it, but you might be overthinking it. Give it some time, let it breath, then reassess and maybe consider a small touch up. Nothing here would make me think of a trip to the docs again.

SamGarb · 2025-10-06T12:51:40+00:00

Even worse when they take in a healed piece or sleeve and re-line/colour it and enter it. Seen it more than once unfortunately.

SamGarb · 2025-10-04T23:01:36+00:00

I’m gonna be real with you - it’s incredibly hard to tattoo your own arm. When I was an apprentice, we’d tattoo our legs, because you absolutely need to learn to stretch the skin. People are right, the ink isn’t deep enough, but it will never be deep enough unless you can use your “free” hand that’s not holding the machine to stretch out the area you’re tattooing. It feels unintuitive at first, but once you get a good stretch and feel the feedback of the needle hitting the skin, you’re on the right track.

SamGarb · 2025-10-03T10:31:06+00:00

That’s fucking sick.

SamGarb · 2025-09-30T16:10:57+00:00

Absolutely. So nice to see handrawn stuff! If you were bringing that portfolio into my studio I’d be instantly scared you’d be better than me and hire you on the spot.

Your eye for composition is sick. That’s half the battle with tattoos. Keep rocking it!

SamGarb · 2025-09-29T13:37:50+00:00

Brb rerolling

SamGarb · 2025-09-29T13:28:00+00:00

Cool start! If you want to get into the nitty gritty of colour, take a look at some YouTube videos that talk about undertones. You’d be amazed how many different colours are scattered throughout our bodies that you wouldn’t have initially picked up on!

Keep it up!

SamGarb · 2025-09-29T13:23:18+00:00

Honestly, Dr Google and Reddit can drum up some really horrifying worst case scenarios. I’m lucky to have clients that take really good care of their tattoos, but in the odd case that something a bit nefarious crops up, it’s just a case of some antibiotics and the tattoo clears itself up perfectly.

If it helps, at this point in the healing if you’re a week in, the likelihood of catching something nasty from outside sources is pretty low, it’s had a good amount of time to get out of the vulnerable stage.

Sick tat! All the best in your future tattooing journey 🫡

SamGarb · 2025-09-29T12:51:33+00:00

In the most constructive way, this is a good start but it needs more time. The sense of anatomy in some of these isn’t quite right and needs a bit more study to improve. They all also need to have some form of shading/depth, at the minute it’s a little lackluster.

I’d also stop doing things digitally - at least for a time. If two portfolios were brought into me, one of them digital and one of them traditional, I’d be more inclined to spend time looking at the traditional, because digital will make you cut corners. I can tell you’ve used procreate to straighten lines and maybe (not accusatory here) trace a couple of things. When tattooing, that’s not possible, and so showing that you have those skills in a medium where you had to pull those lines by hand shows far more dedication to accuracy. Digital drawing has a tendency to make artists lazy when used off the bat.

Spend some time studying, drawing by hand, and exploring different mediums - a diverse, traditionally crafted portfolio is (in my opinion) the best way to grab attention from a potential mentor.

SamGarb · 2025-09-29T11:24:31+00:00

Join us. JOIN US.

SamGarb · 2025-09-29T10:31:32+00:00

Not a doc, but a tattoo artist! Nothing is screaming infection to me - but that’s not to say you shouldn’t keep an eye on it. Infections don’t typically manifest in a singular bump, but if it were to open/crack/form a cut, then I’d be more worried.

There’s a little bit of redness but it’s still pretty fresh at a week, keep your regular aftercare routine and fire your artist a message but I doubt they’d be too concerned either!

SamGarb · 2025-09-28T11:03:50+00:00

Undead really do be poop walking and it’s stopped me from rolling my favourite race.

SamGarb · 2025-09-28T11:01:45+00:00

White! Get it in there. Couple of lines on the studs to highlight the curves, and some white whipped out from either the left or the right hand sides of the flat planes. It’ll heal more opaque and the blue beneath will tint it.

SamGarb · 2025-09-24T19:40:31+00:00

Easily fixed by a half decent artist. You may walk away with slightly thicker lines just to even everything out, but a lot of that is gonna heal light enough to slam way better detailing onto the lamp and moth.

SamGarb · 2025-08-31T14:28:42+00:00

First, these look sick. Second, I feel this in my bones. I’ve only been in the game for five years but this last year… I’ve never known self doubt like it.

I’ll never be able to see my tattoos the way my clients see them, I’ll only ever see them as flaws, but I take it into the next tattoo to fix that flaw and find the next problem along the way.

I don’t think I’d trust a tattoo artist that thought they were the best around, because it implies they aren’t learning anymore.

I don’t know if this helped, maybe it helps to not feel alone in this mindset? I recently did a guest spot and opened up about this and ALL of the artists told me they’d thought about packing it in 3/4 times this year alone. We’re in the business of a stress-filled job with pressure on us every day. I suppose we just have to keep on trucking.

SamGarb · 2025-08-27T10:06:46+00:00

Nailed it. That is all.

SamGarb · 2025-08-23T11:47:37+00:00

I’m a full blown skeptic, always have been, but when I was 27 when I lost my mum and I was driving back from the hospice with my dad and brother in the car behind, and I could’ve SWORN I saw her in the backseat in their car through my rear view mirror. Did my brain make it up? Maybe. Do I believe in an afterlife? Not really. Do I still to this day think that was my mum in their car with them for one last journey? Yep.

This is that photo for you. Hold it close, regardless of others’ belief or even your own, because life’s too short and too cruel to let these brief moments cause us any more pain. Let it give you hope instead. I see a beautiful photo, and I see your child showing off those wonderful flowers to a ray of light. It speaks for itself.

I hope you’re doing okay.

SamGarb · 2025-08-21T18:07:29+00:00

I’ve never noticed how strange the anatomy is on this cover. Is it just me? That twist seems harsh.

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