When you’re thinking of getting a tattoo, you might be thinking a lot about the investment you’ll have to make. The cost of a tattoo is worth every penny, but you still may have to save. However, there’s one more investment that many people don’t consider when they’re considering tattoos—time. Tattoos can be a large time commitment, and you should know about the amount of time that your tattoo will take, on average, before you go into your appointment(s).

So, how long do tattoos take? As you might expect, the answer to that question depends heavily on the tattoo sizing, among other factors that you need to take into consideration. For example, one factor you’ll need to consider in your tattoo appointment length is actually the placement of the tattoo itself! There are some “tricky” areas that tattoo artists need to take extra care in when tattooing because of nerve endings and bones that can be damaged if they aren’t careful.

If you’re wanting a small, simplistic tattoo with minimal design or detail, you’ll be looking at what is possibly the shortest tattoo appointment time, which is about half an hour to a full hour. This time can become longer with the more detail or color that you add into the mix. If you’re booked & busy but still want a tattoo, a minimalistic tattoo will be your best bet.

Remember, though, that tattoo appointments are not just as long as it takes to ink the tattoo—you’ll have to account for time to design, prep the skin, and set up all the necessary equipment.

As mentioned earlier, your tattoo appointment length will be greater the larger the tattoo is. In fact, it’s not uncommon for larger tattoos to require multiple appointments to finish entirely—that is, it can take longer than an artist’s work day to finish up your ink in some cases!

Any medium sized tattoo (think about the size of the palm of your hand) will only take one session, but it will still take longer because they tend to be more detailed along with their larger size. A medium sized tattoo will take anywhere from 2-3 hours to more than 5 hours.

Finally, if you’re thinking of getting a very large piece, such as a full sleeve or a back piece, you should block off anywhere from 10 to 30 hours, or possibly even up to 60! These hours are obviously distributed across the course of several days with several sessions, but they still add up.

Any tattoo you get will require careful planning and preparation, and of course a lot of time and aftercare. But when you see the final results, it’ll all be worth it. If you want the best results possible, make sure to trust City on the Hill with your next tattoo!