Three ways to sit down
Priced by the day, not by the hour. Design, aftercare and touch-ups are inside the number, so the figure you agree at the start is the figure you pay at the end.
- A full day in the chair. One client, studio closed, no one waiting behind you
- Fully custom design drawn from scratch for your body, never pulled from a sheet
- Two concept directions, then revisions without limit until you say stop
- Stencil mapped and approved on your skin, in the mirror, before anything starts
- Suits a large ornamental piece, a blackwork panel, or the start of a sleeve
- Design and drawing time, roughly 6 hours of it, included
- Aftercare kit and a printed healing plan
- Touch-up at six weeks, free
- Colour top-up at twelve months, free
- Healing check-in on day ten
- Two full days, booked as a block and held for you
- A complete half sleeve, back panel or large ornamental piece, finished
- Body-mapping session before day one so the piece flows with the limb, not against it
- The whole project quoted up front. One number, agreed before the first date
- Digital copy of the final artwork, yours to keep
- Everything in The Session, across both days
- Priority rebooking, you get first pick of the next quarter
- Photography of the finished piece, files sent to you
- Touch-ups on the piece free for twelve months
- Payment split across the two sessions, no interest, no admin fee
- Four full days spread across the calendar, at your pace and your body’s
- A full sleeve, a back piece, or a body of work planned as one thing
- Concept phase first: reference, mood, drawing, mapping, sign-off. No date is set until you love it
- Studio closed for every session. You are the only booking that day
- One artist start to finish. Nothing handed off, nothing rushed
- Everything in The Project, across all four days
- Lifetime touch-ups on the commission
- Full photographic documentation, healed and fresh
- A direct line to Aya between sessions, not the studio inbox
- First refusal on her calendar for anything you do next
- Payment staged across the four sessions
All prices in ZAR. Deposit secures the date and comes off the total. Multi-day work is paid per session.
The Redraw Promise.
Your deposit buys drawing time, not a trap. You get revisions without limit before the session,
and you approve the stencil on your own skin, in the mirror, before a single needle comes out.
If the design still is not right on the day, you leave, and the deposit is refunded in full within 48 hours.
No debate, no guilt, no “but I already drew it”.
Revisions without limit before you sit.
Stencil approved by you, on your skin, in the mirror.
Free touch-up if it heals unevenly, and a free colour top-up at twelve months.
Full deposit back if you change your mind before ink.
Start with a consultation.
Thirty minutes, no charge, no obligation. Tell Aya the idea and she tells you straight whether it works on that spot, how many days it takes and what it costs, to the rand, before you commit to anything.
Before you ask
Because Aya takes four clients a week, not forty. Every piece is drawn from scratch, the studio closes for your session, and the price covers the design time, the day, the aftercare and the touch-ups. There is no hourly meter and no second invoice. If you want a small piece for a few hundred rand, there are good artists in Cape Town who work that way. She does not.
It secures your date and pays for the drawing, and it comes off your total. You get unlimited revisions before the session and you approve the stencil on your skin before anything starts. If the design still is not right on the day, you walk and the deposit is refunded in full within 48 hours. That is the Redraw Promise. Cancel with less than seven days’ notice and it is forfeited, because that date could have gone to someone else.
Multi-day work is paid per session, so a R15 000 project is R3 500 to book and the balance split across the two days. No interest, no admin fee. EFT, card or cash, all the same price.
Placement matters far more than you do. Outer arm, thigh and calf are comfortable for most people. Ribs, sternum, spine and inner bicep are sharp. Aya tells you before you book which category your spot falls into, and you can stop the session at any moment. That is never a problem and never costs extra.
Rarely, and anyone who promises otherwise is doing you a disservice. A half sleeve is normally two days with six to eight weeks between them so the first pass heals flat before the second goes over it. That is why the packages are structured in days rather than hours.
All colour softens a little in the first year as it settles. That is normal, and it is why a free colour top-up at twelve months is built into every booking. What kills colour is sun, not time. SPF 50 on it and a well-packed piece still reads bright a decade later.
Yes, with the right palette. Some pastels and light yellows genuinely do not hold on deeper skin tones, and Aya says so up front rather than taking your money and letting it disappear. She steers the design toward what will stay saturated on you, or builds it in bold black with colour accents.
Within reason. Send a clear photo in daylight and Aya tells you straight whether it can be covered, needs lightening first, or is better reworked than hidden. She will not take a job she cannot do well.
Valid ID, 18 and over, no exceptions. A proper meal beforehand, water, snacks, headphones, and something loose to wear afterwards. Do not drink the night before. Thin blood makes a worse tattoo, not a braver client.
Still unsure? Send the question. You will get a straight answer, not a sales pitch.