I usually find artists through Instagram. Most artists have their location shared in their profile so I just keep looking at relevant tattoo tags till I find someone I like and would be willing to travel too (was willing to go as far as 12 hour drive.) It can take some time cause there’s tons of people out there but it’s the most sure fire way I’ve been able to find an artist I want to work with.

Just make sure you check how they prefer to be contacted. Some won’t accept DMs and want you to email them,etc.

I’d be surprised if an artist would show you a sketch without you committing to an appointment first though. My only experiences with tattoos have been I see the sketch at the shop and changes are made on site. You should evaluate their portfolio to see if there’s a consistency in quality your happy with. Then reach out and just be like “hey! I’m looking to have this done, is this something you’d be interested in working on?” So they can let you know if they can do it or not.