We all have that time when it was our first tattoo. It is important, especially if this is your first tattoo, to know what to look for when considering a tattoo artist for your tattoo. There are, obviously, really great artists and like every profession there are some no so good ones.
In fact, you might want to be sure to not end up with a tattoo from some friend of yours who maybe doodles all the time and “always wanted to do a tattoo!”.
So if you are smart enough to go looking for a good tattoo artist for your tattoo, here are a few pointers to help you find one that will give you a tattoo you will happily show off for many years to come.
Take Your Time
It is important to take as much time as you need to find just the right person. We all get excited about getting a tattoo once we make the decision, but relax, think a while about what you want and where you want it done. Talk to your friends who have tattoos about their decisions. Check out lots of tattoo sites to see what others have done. Once it is done, it is there for a long long time. So be the smart one who thinks about this and doesn’t just go out and do it because you want one now.
Check Out Lots of Studios
Chances are, unless you live out in the country, you have several tattoo parlors to choose from in the town or city where you live. Go to them, talk to people there, look at their samples books. Maybe hang out a bit and see what the clientele is like. Are these your kind of people? Different parlors or studios have different kinds of clients and this will reflect in the tattoos that they are best at doing. Make sure the vibe is the right one for you.
The Work is the All
Don’t hesitate to check out not only the sample books on any place you are considering, but hang out and see them in action. Does the work that you see them do live up to what is in the sample book? It is pretty obvious when the art isn’t up to par, and not everyone can be a rock star in the tattoo world. But you should be able to see if they can deliver the goods. And don’t hesitate to walk, no matter how much you like the place, if they can’t give you a piece of art on your bode that you will love for a long time.
Trust Your Friends
Chances are if you are considering getting a tattoo, your friends have one or two of them already. Face it, most of us hang with people who think like us. So talk to them about their choices, their regrets and what they think is important. If they have an awesome tattoo, who did they get it from? Everyone loves to share expertise, and your friends would love to drag you to their favorite tattoo studio and introduce you to the awesome dude or chick that did their favorite tattoo.
So take your time, talk to friends and check out the scene thoroughly as you make this decision. The tat is going to hang with you for some time, so make sure it isn’t one you are going to be needing to find a way to disguise in a few years – make it one you are going to show off proudly for years to come!
When I got my first tattoo, back in the dark ages, there really was no one to ask about stuff like safety. You found a tattoo parlor that looked reasonably clean and safe, and you told them what you needed done. But these days more people are getting tattoos and there are actually some good safety rules about them. So I decided that I would not only give you a list of questions to ask, but a bit of an idea about why to ask them. These are all great questions to ask anytime you are considering going to a new tattoo parlor that you haven’t used before, no matter how long you have been getting tattoos.
- Ask to see their autoclave and be sure you get a good look to see that the sterilization certificate is up to date. Note: An autoclave is really just a big pressure cooker that makes sure that everything is sterile. It is a good idea to see it up close and personal to see for yourself that it is clean and well kept. If they act like it is too much work to show it to you, don’t go to that shop.
- Watch one of the tattoo artists at work – is he wearing gloves? Note: Artists need to wear gloves anytime they are dealing with tattooing because of the possibility of infection. Even though this is more to protect the artist than you, it shows responsibility and you want that in someone sticking a needle in you!
- Does the artist have a training certificate? – This one should be obvious, you want someone who knows what they are doing!
- Has everyone who tattoos been vaccinated for hepatitis? – This may be a low in your state or may not be, but you should ask. The better tattoo parlors do this voluntarily and it is a sign that they are a place where you don’t have to worry about the spread of disease.
- Autoclave Needles are removed in front of you – This is to be sure that they are actually using the sterile needles when they do your tattoo. You should tell them this when you first come in, and if they act affronted, don’t use that place.
This past summer saw the annual rite of summer for those of the inked tradition, the chance to gather with others of your tribe and trade information, tattoo designs and more at the travelling circus called the Immersed in Ink Convention.
If you have never been to one of these I really recommend it, if for nothing more than the sideshows. They do remind me of the old carnie shows at circuses where they would display the Fat Lady or the Tattooed Man. This year we had the priviledge to see Rob Hill and Live Human Suspension. If you have seen the pics you will know that this is indeed a side show.
But the show isn’t all freakshows and side tents – some of the best tattoo artists in the country show up for this show, and the art walking around on everyone’s skin is a treat for anyone who is an appreciator of the artform. Ink Magazine is the host of the event, and as this is the sixth year for the show, they must be doing something right.
I was surprised to see a magic show listed for the Kentucky stop, which is the 7th one for the show this past summer. I know there are always plenty of vendors with every kind of art and merchandise such as t-shirts and jewelry to ink supplies and more. Most shows run for three days, with such events as drawings for free tattoos, displays of tattoo art at a gallery and of course a contest to decide on the best tattoo at the show.
All in all, a colorful event that just the memory of can brighten up the gloomiest winter afternoon. Be sure to check out the coverage in Ink Magazine, and if you get a chance to, swing by one of their shows next year. They should be starting up again in January and you can check out their site here to see if they will be in your area.
What do Popeye, sports star Robbie Williams and Winston Churchill’s mother have in common? They all have very personal tattoos. Although the one that the cartoon sailor sports is to denote he has crossed the Atlantic, and Williams tats are based on Maori tribal designs while Mrs. Churchill’s tattoo was usually discreetly hid by her bracelet. But tattoos as a statement of who we are have definitely become part of the culture we live in. But it wasn’t always that way.
We know that prehistoric man had tattoos, although they were fairly crude affairs, because even the famous Ice Man found in Switzerland has them. But we don’t know why the 40,000 year old mummified hunter has them. In Rome tattoos were considered barbaric and used to denote slaves and in later European history tattoos were pretty much out of the picture entirely.
But when Cook and his sailors hit the Polynesian islands they were fascinated by the islanders and even borrowed the Tahitian word for them: tattoo. The facial tats on the Maori tribal members and full-body designs that included the buttocks on the Tahitians were minutely recorded by the expedition artist and astounded European audiences.
Sailors were fascinated by the ritual and soon had their own tattoos with their own meanings. In fact, the anchor we see on Popeye’s arm is a symbol that the wearer has crossed the Atlantic, no mean feat in the days of sailing ships. A sailor with a turtle on his arm was showing off he had crossed the equator. Gradually the concept of a tattoo for each port of call became popular and by the 1800s 90% of all US Navy sailors had a tattoo. And because the areas where sailors tended to gather was not exactly high class, tattoo parlors sprang up in seedy areas and were then associated with the lower class.
For a brief while in the late 1800s tattoos came out of the lower classes when the Duke of York, who later was to be King George V of England, had a dragon tattoo. This is when Jennie Churchill, Winston’s mother, got her serpent tattoo that went around her wrist like a inky bracelet. Still, she must have had a bit of rebel in her to sport a tattoo, because even then the idea of a woman with a tattoo was pretty risqué.
Even today far more men have tattoos than women. Back when they began their modern surge of popularity in the 70s most tattoo parlors would be lucky to see more than a handful of women in the course of a year come in for a tattoo. From Oxford dons to hip-hop artists, almost anyone you can name is liable to walk into a tattoo parlor these days and roll up a sleeve, or pant leg. And they are still by and large a very personal piece of art.
Tattoo removal just got that much easier with the creation of a new kind of tattoo ink that is easier to laser from the skin. The ink, with the brand name of Infinitink , actually is designed by a chemical engineer so that it breaks down easier when exposed to laser, but looks fine and just as colorful before the procedure. In fact, as the ad says below- you can move one so much easier now…
It may well be that many tattoo artists agree with Brandon Bond, the creator of tattoos for the likes of rapper 50 Cent and boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., but dermatologists are delighted. Bond is not exactly happy that the images that he considers a permanent work of art could be marketed as a disposable item. In fact, he pretty much considers the concept an insult to his artform.
None the less, although 25% of adults under 50 now have a tat of their own to display (when they want to, at least), we are still seeing that the tattoo regret level is high. Those with a tattoo that wish they didn’t have it are now one in six, and that makes for quite a few tats just waiting for the opportunity to be removed. Even Bond, with a pair of intricate sleeves admits to a few of his earlier designs that he wouldn’t mind getting rid of, saying they are “subpar”.
Many dermatologists say that the business of tattoo removal is actually going through a boom these days. It is safe to assume that even with a higher price tag for the Infinitink tat, there is sufficient interest to garner a market for a tattoo that can be removed with only one trip to the laser.
So who is more likely to get a tattoo removed, men or women? If you go by a 2008 survey in Archives of Dermatology, women are more prone to do it, and usually because they care more about what other women think of them. Sexy tattoos with words like “slippery when wet” are more likely to be removed, although the most popular tattoo removal remains names of ex-boyfriends or girlfriends.
So I guess the lesson is to think before you ink! And if you don’t, at least make sure it is one with ink you can remove a bit more easily. Because tattoo remorse can be a real pain!
If you are a lover of tattoos whether you have a tattoo or not, you are going to love this latest addition to the great collection of tattoo books about the new age of tattoos. There are some great illustrations in here of many of the best works of art from some of the more celebrated tattoo artists of today’s tattoo world.
For many of the artists highlighted in this new edition, they were just coming of age at the turn of this century and so there is not as much around of their artwork outside of magazines. In here you will find examples of some of the best work from artists like Mark Heggie, Jose Lopez, Paulie Tattoo, Jun Cha, Eva Huber, Liz Gruesome, Mark Bode, Colin Stevens, Angelique Houtkamp, Yoni Z, Stephanie Tamez, Jime Litwalk, Shawn Barber, Sunny Buick, Clae Welch, Stever Byrne, Mike Ledger, Virginia Elwood and more.
At 188 pages of amazing color illustrations this Ginko Press production will be something you want to pass around to your friends, display at your home or office and even maybe give to that friend who seems to have impeccable taste in tats. You can’t miss with a book like this!
