BLACK PINES GALLERY
Welcome!
If you made it to this page, it means you have an upcoming appointment with us at Black Pines Gallery and we are so excited to welcome you to Texarkana and to our studio. We are also very excited to be part of your tattoo journey by collecting a piece of art from us.
In this page you will find helpful tips and advice as you prepare for your trip and tattoo session.
Preparing for your session
The following tips and advice are to help you prepare for your session. Following them will help you get through it better and for us to be able to do our best work on you.
Basic info
If you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment please reach out with as much time in advance as possible. Due to a busy schedule, in order to stay on track and be efficient with our time, no designs or drawings are sent before your appointment. We will design the tattoo to look and fit the best on your body based and inspired by your vision and ideas. On the day of your appointment, we will show you a digital mock up and go over the design with you where any adjustments can be made at that time if necessary, before agreeing on sizing and exact placement with you before starting the session.
Your payment will always be taken at the end of your session for the amount agreed upon. We accept both cash/card payments and ApplePay (tap with phone).
Make sure to have a photo ID with you for the consent form which must be filled out each time you visit and get tattooed with us. You must be at least 18 years old to get a tattoo.
Unfortunately NO kids are allowed in our studio. If you are coming with a friend or group and have a child, someone will have to wait outside with the child while you get tattooed. Tattooing involves chemicals, blood, sharps, and many safety precautions that children don't know about and aren't capable of following. There's a huge risk that they could be exposed to HIV, Hepatitis or other bloodborne diseases, not to mention getting into chemicals that might burn or potentially be fatal to them. It's just not safe to have kids in a tattoo studio.
Skin
Please drink plenty of water starting 24-48 hours before your appointment. Moisturizing the area to be tattooed for a few days before your appointment will also aid in your skin being healthy and hydrated and make the tattoo to be applied easier.
Please avoid sun exposure/sunburns prior to your tattoo. We will not tattoo an area that has a sunburn.
Ladies, if you have a spray tan please be aware that we will rub and clean the area as much as possible at the moment of preparing the skin for stencil placement. We will try and get as much of it off without irritating the skin. Knowing the true skin tone with which we are working is important for us to know what the correct contrast of our work should be. If possible, please wait to apply or until it is nearly gone to come to your session, when getting a spray tan please wait until your tattoo is fully healed before applying.
You do not have to shave the area being tattooed, we can do this during prep. Guys, if you have a lot of hair in the area to be tattooed, please trim a day or two before the appointment that way we can shave the stubble.
Diet
Diet plays a very important role in both before and during your tattoo. Getting tattooed on an empty stomach will not only make the discomfort and pain higher, but it could also lead to lightheadedness and fainting. Sugary snacks and drinks are great to snack on throughout the session. You are welcome to have them while you get tattooed just be mindful of anything that is very messy. We do have mini sodas, chocolate, chips in case if at any point you feel dizzy or nauseous and need to ask for something. Have a good breakfast/lunch before your tattoo appointment. Avoid very inflammatory foods such as pastas, a high amount of processed foods and sugar (the snacks and drinks during is ok, it’s mostly the larger meals with lots of sugar which could cause inflammation.) This affects the skin as well and it can cause the tattoo to hurt more as well as the application to be tougher. During your appointment, if it is a long session, the artist will take short breaks throughout the tattoo, at which point you can also eat. You are more than welcome to bring food to the studio and store it in our fridge. Or we recommend downloading DoorDash or Uber Eats and have food delivered to the studio. Or, you can also go pick something up if you would prefer.
Please avoid consuming alcohol a couple days prior to your session. This will also alter the way your body and skin reacts and withstands the tattoo, as well as causing abnormal bleeding which will in turn push ink out during the application and affect the quality and healing of the tattoo. We will not tattoo you if you appear or are under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
During your session
Your comfort is important during your tattoo. We recommend dressing comfortably. Please avoid wearing bright colors (this is for photograph purposes after your tattoo). Go for colors such as black, white, grey, or any muted colors. Or if you would like to just bring an extra t shirt to change into for the photographs and wear whatever you would like during your session that would be totally okay too. Bring a hoodie, sweatshirt or blanket you can wear in case you are cold (zip up hoodie in case you are getting an arm tattooed that way you can have one arm out).
We do allow guests however due to limited space, we do ask that only 1-2 people be in the station area at a time. We do have other artists and clients sharing spaces so we want to be courteous to all.
Pain Management
You may take over the counter medication if you choose. We as a studio ask that you please do not use any numbing products aimed for tattooing. These products are not well received in the general tattoo community and each client, project, and their skin is different from one person to the next and the way these products are made are not with your best interest in mind. Numbing agents can make a person’s skin swell, turn red, and become very difficult for the needles to properly puncture the skin and apply the ink to the correct layer of the skin. We will not tattoo an area where numbing cream has been applied. With that being said, we will use Bactine at different points of the session if necessary. This product contains a small amount of lidocaine which is enough to take some of the discomfort away and get you through the tough moments of the tattoo, but not enough to alter the state of the skin or affect the application. If you follow all the tips and advice above, that in itself will be very effective in managing the discomfort and pain for a long tattoo session.
Travel
Driving
Black Pines Gallery is located at 803 College Dr, Texarkana TX, 75503
Mostly for longer “full day” sessions but can apply to all: If you are driving from a distance further than 4-5 hours, we do recommend considering making the trip to Texarkana the night before your appointment, as well as staying the night after your session to return home the next morning. There are a lot of factors that affect the way your body responds to such a long session getting tattooed. One of the main factors of your body being able to handle the pain and discomfort throughout the day is you being well rested vs. tired from a long trip. The trip after is even more important and we ask that you be mindful of your body and how you feel after your session. When you are done with your session your body, although tired, will still be dealing with the endorphins and adrenaline of getting tattooed. This effect is followed by a crash when your body realizes it is no longer in pain and it may hit you once you are on the road, and this can be very dangerous as your body will be completely depleted and exhausted late at night and falling asleep at the wheel is something to be very aware of.
Flying
There are multiple ways to get to Texarkana if you are flying, here are the closest and more common routes:
Texarkana Regional Airport - 15 minutes from Studio, our Ubers seem to be reliable at anytime, or you can rent a car at the airport. It is a small airport so tickets may be a little higher, and times may be limited. Only American flies in and out of TXK
Shreveport Regional Airport - Shreveport is about 1.5 hour drive from Texarkana. Small as well and easy to navigate.
Little Rock Regional - Little Rock is approx. 2 hours away, it isn’t commonly used by our clients so we don’t have much knowledge of this airport.
Dallas/Fort Worth - Dallas has two airports but DFW is the most commonly used by our clients. Tickets can be cheaper but the drive is 3 hours to Texarkana. If it is cheap enough to where even with renting a car it is more affordable than Flying to Texarkana go for it! But we do recommend flying into TXK if possible.
Lodging
Texarkana isn’t huge by any means, so please don’t make your decision based on distance to studio. You can get to studio from anywhere in town within 10-15 minutes.
Hotels - Please do not stay at any hotels along the State Line. They are the closest hotels to the studio but the areas they are in are not the best and the hotels tend to be in pretty bad shape. We recommend any of the four hotels located off of Cowhorn Creek and close to the Central Mall and Olive Garden. There are a couple off of Richmond Rd which is where most restaurants and stores are located as that is our main road.
Airbnbs - There are a lot of great airbnbs close to the studio and most neighborhoods are nice and quiet. If you find any and want to send the link through your email thread please feel free to do so and we can check it out for you. Again, it doesn’t matter where you stay in Texarkana, the drive will not be long to the studio.
Thank you for your time, support, and trust in making the trip to Texarkana to be tattooed by us and choosing Black Pines Gallery. If we missed anything or you have additional questions please don’t hesitate to ask. Simply reach out to your artist or our shop page and we will reply as soon as we can.