Tattoo Wisdom Sought

[tball]

I have no tattoos...only because I haven't been able to convince myself that in 30 years I wouldn't regret what I had chosen. There is a subtle distinction between that and regretting "having a tattoo". You inked types probably understand the difference. Anyway, in a moment of clarity after much Patron tequila the other night, it occured to me that I should just have "I will probably regret this." tattooed on my left tricep or shoulder. I figure that's timeless enough. The wife countered with "My wife told me not to do this." which is also pretty good. I'm considering taking the plunge.

Thoughts? Flame away. (...CAW!!!)

[goofyboy]

Bad idea. The only thing I regret is that I did not o bigger with mine. I will get another one at some point.

[Faust]

I have 2 tattoos, one on each arm. They are both really symbolic for me with images representing my parents, amongst other things, and that's why I got them.

I have a few other friends with tattoos as well, and they tend to be the artistic types, and they have tattoos because they like the designs, art, expression, etc.

I don't know anyone that got a tattoo because they wanted it to be a joke... imo that probably isn't the greatest reason to get one, not because you will regret but because it would just be a waste of money, but to each his own.

Going off the subject a bit... generally speaking I've noticed that people who have tattoos tend to be more care-free and easy going. There are tons of people without tattoos that say things like 'Don't do it! You'll regret it! It will look horrible in a few years! You might get an infection! It will damage your skin!'...... but you rarely hear someone with a tattoo trying to impose their opinion on the matter one way or the other.

[tball]

...except goofyboy

[Jester]

I say don't get one unless you're really certain you want it. If you need to be convinced to get one then don't. Too many people these days getting tattoos just because it's the cool thing to do.

Just go visit a parlor and ask to see someone's portfolio. A good portion of it will be cover-ups of other tattoos (mostly someone's name/initials). That's testament enough that there's still plenty of dumbasses who jump into it without thinking it through. Don't be part of that statistic.

[Ohioboarder]

I have one and wanted the same design for 2-3 years before I got one. Mine is very meaningful to me. I may get another but nothing has struck me as something that I want to have forever.
The best cover-up I've seen is a dude who has his wife/GFs name tattooed on the bottom part of his chest had it covered with a black bar and "you must be this tall to ride this ride" tattooed under it.

[Suprahunter]

Why would you want to just follow . Just like ruffel shirts, bell bottoms and afro hailstyles . Tatoos are just the flavor of the day in 10 years you will ask yourself what was I thinking? Be oridinal do something on your own that will please your wife and not make yourself look like just another lemming.

[STPHNSN23]

[Neognosis]

I've had mine for a long time and never asked "what was I thinking."

HOWEVER... if you don't really FEEL the urge to mark your body permanently, don't do it. Those of you with a lot of tattoos know what I mean. For some, it's a fun, trendy thing to do and show off. For some it's deeper than that, even if the design isn't that significant.

[ohsix]

I had a few ideas for tattoos I wanted in college. Some of them I even liked for a few months. Now, I'm glad I didn't get any of those because I think they were really stupid ideas. I feel like I've matured a lot since then and probably still have a ways to go. When I want a tattoo for a couple of years and don't think I have matured much in those couple of years, I'll assume my maturity has peaked. At that point, I'll be ready for a tattoo.

[Chattwake]

A friend of mine in college got drunk in Mexico and got a tattoo of a rat smoking a joint on his chest. He regretted that decision a lot.

[Neognosis]

We won't tattoo anyone under the influence of anything.

My first tattoo, gotten 20 years ago now, is two dolphins swimming in a circle.

Can you say "DUMB?"

It was cool for, maybe.... a few months.

do I regret it? absolutely not

Will I have it covered? Absolutely not


It is a record of who and what I was 18 years ago, and what I was doing and what I thought.

[Neognosis]

OH, and this is serious, if you are really thinking about getting a tattoo, wait a few months and get every issue of Tattoo Energy and Tattoo Life that comes out. Look at the tattoos carefully. Note the lines, the shading, and sense of depth.

Get educated on what is possible with modern tattoo machines, and learn the different styles. Know what is "traditional" and what is "photo-realistic" and everything in between.

That way, when you look at an artist's book, you will be able to tell how good they are, and you will have a much better idea of what is possible.

[USMGolfer]

I've debated getting them for a little bit. The only one i can think of getting that I wouldn't regret is getting my fiance's name tattooed on me left ring finger. There are a few pro golfers who have done this for when they play the ring doesn't mess w their grip.

I've been in the operating room w my dad before and seen the different tats people get... needless to say there are some interesting ones. There was a nurse who had "Terry's Pu$$y on the inside of her leg." Her name wasn't Terry and neither was her husbands.

[b_girl]

I'm one of those people who hasn't ever gotten a tattoo because I couldn't decide on what I wanted... I wanted it to have meaning. My husband has quite a few tattoos and loves them - he doesn't have any regrets.

Over the past few years I've been through quite an ordeal with my family and them, essentially, not agreeing with my choices in life, etc... it's messed with me quite a bit... but I'm surviving and managing as well as I can.

So I've been thinking a lot about a tattoo... One of my favourite bands is Rise Against, they have a song called Survive... and I think these lyrics really apply to me, and make me feel stronger and give me hope that things will work out:
"How we survive, is what makes us who we are"

What I'm getting at is, although I don't have any myself yet, make sure what you get reflects you and means something to you, don't just get something for the sake of getting it.

[Neognosis]

Bgirl, I have noted, in the shop's customers and in myself, that people tend to get tattoos during or after a life changing crisis or decision or to mark the start or end of a different phase in their life.

It's often subconscious and they don't even realize it.

I think this is an interesting bit of psychology, and it sounds like you are backing up my theory.

BTW, lyrics on the ribs is, for some reason, very popular with girls lately.

[b_girl]

[jt09]

wait a month before you do it. i'd bet it won't seem like such a good idea then.

[Neognosis]

[JeffreyCH]

I got my first one 24 years ago, still looks about the same. For 13 years after I got 1 per year, kind of a visual summary of that year. They all mean something to me. If you decide to get one, get something that symbolizes who you are, or things you believe in. Don't ever get a name, unless it's your kids name(s). An ex of mine had the foot prints (from birth cert) of her 2 kids with their names on her shoulder blade, good stuff.

To tell the truth, I've had mine so long I don't really think about them one way or the other except for the memories of that time in my life. Be sure to research the artist once you decide what you want. Some are good at copying patterns and coloring them in, others are true artists, learn the difference. Great tatts aren't cheap and cheap tatts aren't great

[Neognosis]

[BrtnDan]

I wanna get "DRAKE" tattooed on my forehead. Seems like a good idea. Thoughts?

[JeffreyCH]

[Bambamski]

I've been thinking about a dragon Tattoo for a long time now on my left shoulder. I think this is the year.

Camera Boy what's the best way to go about the drawings and ideas? I've picked a bunch of sketchs but ultimately I'd want the artist that's doing my tattoo to design the drawing. Do your customers typically bring in ideas and drawing themselves and then have the artist put something together.

If I said Tattoofinder.com Right facing Dragon by george something like that would that be enough. or would they want more specific drawings to go from? Or is everyone a little different?

http://www.tattoofinder.com/find_tattooOne.asp?flash=50429

SOmeone said expect to pay some cash and don't cheap out. I couldn't agree more, money isn't an issue as I don't want to find the cheapest guy out there to do a tattoo. Ball park though, what do they cost? 750 bucks? more? less?

[Neognosis]

The best thing to do is to first visit a few places around you, and also check out some places online, if you are willing to travel and spend BOATLOADS of money. Be prepared to wait many months if you pick a popular artist.

Check out as much work as you can and when you narrow artists down to a few based on their work, go visit them at their shops and schedule a consultation.

Show up to the consultation with all the reference art you have. Print it out, if at all possible. that's much better than showing up with a bunch of URLs.

If you want the artist to do have input into the drawing, tell them that and tell them that the reference material you printed out is just that... reference to give a sort of flavor of what you like, and they can take it from there.

Then they will set up an appointment for you after they take a deposit of anywhere from 20 dollars to a few hundred, depending on the artist and their policy and their shop.

At your appointment, you will see the drawing and if you like it, they will put it on you. If you don't, they will tweak it and then put it on you, or reschedule the sitting, depending on how off the mark their interpretation is.


Yea, good work will cost you good money. A guidline is 125 an hour of tattooing time and up. More trendy artists that can get away with charging up to 500 an hour will do so, and people will pay that. But 125 an hour is a good guidline, with variables on the final cost being how well you sit and the intricacy of the design... meaning that if you squirm around and your design is very complex with many small lines, it will take more.


A brief look at the URL you posted....Ok, to estimate time, I need to know how big and where. That tattoo has a lot of fine detail lines.. you will need to go pretty big if that's what you want.



Ok, now, what I've written above are guidelines, and generally how it works.

HOWEVER, keep in mind that tattoo artists are generally a bunch of spoiled, moody, immature primadonnas, and they often do things differently from shop to shop and artist to artist. I work at a custom shop, which means that they don't do flash, they draw everything themselves. Our artists like reference material to get a feel for what you want, and then they do the drawing themselves, and they won't do the exact same tattoo more than once, unless you are a couple or brothers or a family and you all agree that's what you want.

A "street", "walk-in" or "flash" shop will be perfectly fine with you picking something off the wall and having the artist reproduce it exactly on you, and hundreds of other people around the world will be wearing the same tattoo.

Was any of that helpful? Being that you already have reference material and an idea, you are, believe it or not, ahead of a lot of customers that walk in and have no idea what they want or if they even actually are willing to go through with it.

and lastly, if you have a consultation or meet the artist and you don't like them for any reason, move on. You don't need a great tattoo done by a total douchebag who you didn't like, because every time you look at it, you will think about what an asshat they were toward you.

[Okie Boarder]

Agree with everything said here with a key emphasis on making sure it is something you want to do. The reason only matters to you, but getting one just to get one is a kind of weak reason.

JeffreyCH, I got my boys' footprints done on my shoulder blades too. I also have an armband that has my wife's name mixed in. I've gotten my fair share of comments on that one...LOL! Everyone has an opinion on names.

I'm starting to think about doing something on my leg to memorialize the injury. I'm liking the idea of something kind of torn skin, bio-mechanical in style. I need to think about it more and decide and that is going to drive when I can get it because of the scar.

[Bambamski]

Cameraboy that's exactly the info I was looking for. I don't want to pay 500 bucks an hour but I don't want to go to the cookie cutter tat shop that does four leaf clovers and butterflies from the wall. Looking for somewhere in between. Looking for that same idea with a couple of original type ideas that only I'll ever have. I would think that if you go to an artist, they would insist on drawing it up themselves and putting their own design into the drawing. I'd expect nothing less....

For the size, when I say shoulder, is that area going to be big enough for that kind of detail? I wouldn't have the tattoo be really visable if i was wearing a normal Tshirt or golf shirt covering to the elbow. I'm ok with someone catching a glimpse of the bottom of the tattoo with the short sleave shirt but not being able to see what the drawing is. I need to keep it a bit covered for the co worker/ golfing thing in the summer for what I do at work. Personal life, I pretty much spend the entire summer in a wife beater or no shirt and I don't care who sees the tattoo then.

last question. Getting the tattoo wet while it's healing. How long before you can swim ect ect? I'm on holidays at the end of March. So if I can't get the tattoo wet for a month then that kind of limits the time frame of when I can get it done.

[Neognosis]

[Okie Boarder]

Couldn't he also get a large waterproof bandage if he needed to? I've seen some really strong and big ones that would completely seal the area it covers and some even have antibiotics in the pad.

[Neognosis]

You don't want fabric or a bandage pressing against the tattoo, and you don't want to cut it off from the air. You want it to breathe.

Yea, I know, the A&D I used also is also an air barrier....

Personally, I would wait a few days, so that any bleeding or weeping stopped, and then I would just swim in fresh water and not worry about it.

NOT chlorinated water though, until it is fully healed.

I can't say what salt water would do to the ink, as I've never gone into the ocean with an unhealed tattoo.

The main threats to your tattoo with water are with dirty water giving you an infection, or chlorinated water bleaching the tattoo. There really is no harm in clean freshwater getting on or in the tattoo, unless you keep the tattoo submerged all day, in which case the pruning and mushiness of the skin won't be good for keeping the color in or healing.

If you would swim in a body of freshwater with an open wound and not worry about infection, then go for it after a day or two to give your skin time to start healing.

shoot, that's such bad advice that i would never give a customer who could come back to the shop after they got an infection or something... but that's what I do personally.

I had a guy come back with a tattoo one of our artists did the previous week and the tattoo was WRECKED. the guy was really mad and kept blaming us. I finally got it out of him that he dropped a tool into a vat of used motor oil and stuck his arm all the way into it to get the tool out.

uh, yea. ya think that could have had a negative effect? Some people....

[ontrider]

How does Caw Caw Caw not come up on google images?

[Bambamski]

I'm doing Cuba again in March. So it would be salt water, which i assume would be bad.

So if your saying 2-3 weeks to heal that's not too bad. If I can't get the tattoo done before the 1st of March then I'll wait...

[Okie Boarder]

[Neognosis]

I have no idea... Saline is actually preferred as a wash for a new tattoo, but I don't know what else is in seawater. It might actually not be too bad, excepting for the drying effect salt water has on wounds.

If it were me, I would just throw some A&D on it and go in and not worry about it, then gently towel it off as soon as I got out. maybe a fresh water rinse before the salt deposits form on your dry skin.

I would say two weeks healing time for a healthy young man. Even less. It's only going to hurt for a few days, and once you have a good peel going, the new skin is already forming over the exposed under-layer. That's usually in a week or less, so...


However, for the record, I have tried every method of healing a tattoo in the book, and I am consistently a "bad healer" no matter what I do or don't do, and get touch ups 6 months later or so.

[weatherford]

A&D is only to be used, say the first day...Lubriderm is the best thing you can put on fresh tattoo's.

I live at the ocean, so if your getting ink, id wait at least 2 weeks before getting "salty" or you would just be wasting your money.