Tattoos

[moon child]

You know, I was thinking...I really want a tattoo, but you're not supposed to harm yourself or others. Would any of you consider tattooing as self harm?  

[Reivyn-chan]

I wouldn't consider tattooing as self harm at all.. but I guess it really depends on the person getting it. Some people do enjoy the sensation of getting the tattoo. If this is self-harm.. well that also depends on the person. I've seen people string themselves up by hooks and consider it a spiritual experience.. neutral I think it all comes down to why you want to get the tattoo..

I'm still debating what I want for my tattoo's.. Lately I've been attracted to wings. Not something overly large, probably just from the top of my shoulder blades to mid-back. And maybe a lotus flower.

Also my fiance wants to get a matching tattoo. Something like Starbuck and Anders wedding band from Battlestar Galactica.  

[too2sweet]

It depends on how you define harm. To me just because something is painful, doesn't necessarily mean that it is harmful. I consider something harmful if it causes lasting (or at least long term) damage to a person - either physical, emotional or spiritual. Tattoos hurt like crazy, but when you are done you have somthing that is beautiful and since it quickly heals - you have not been harmed.  

[Korealia]

i will try to be very careful of how i phrase this.

having done tattooing and piercing for a stint, here is a few words to the wise:

1. pigmentation. the pigmentation of your skin is directly related to the pigmentation in tattoo ink. the more pigmentation you have in your skin (i.e., the darker you are), the less color your skin will be able to hold (especially the color white, which requires a lot of pigment in the ink). thus, people who are blindingly 'white' will be able to hold most colors, where as someone who has very, very dark skin will only possibly be able to hold black, red, green and blue. in my personal experience, being half asian (my mother is Thai((land)) and my father is 'white'), i have a yellow tonal quality to my skin, which makes it reject straight blue colors (i have a flaming heart on my left calf on the outside and the other artist had to run the blue THREE TIMES to get the color to 'kind of' stick...we wound up using a turqouise, which got the job done a little better, because my skin is accepting of green). so be very careful of color as you are choosing your tattoo.

2. shape. the shape of a tattoo is very important. now matter how 'straight' you percieve a line to be, or how 'circular' you percieve a circle to be, a line is not straight, and a circle is not perfect. because the stencil conforms to the shape of your body, skin is flexible and the tattoo will never be 'perfect' anything. and if you feel it is, think again - time and age makes circles into ovals and lines ghastly crooked. i personally suggest organic shapes, and to note, if you're doing pentacles, you may wish to consider organics anyway, such as a 'ring of leaves' with 'sticks' that lay in the shape of a star.

3. accuracy. do not ever, EVER trust what's on the wall! flash art can be misleading! if you are bent on getting a kanji or other symbol, PLEASE check against several sources before you have it permanently inscribed on your body. 'flash art' is the sheets which are pasted on walls and in racks for people to thumb through and pick artwork from. sometimes it is bought through a company from a reputable source, other times, artists come in off the streets and sell these sheets for 20-100 bucks a pop, depending on how good the art is. i never seriously considered it until a woman who hung out at the shop all the time decided to 'get even' with an artist and have work done elsewhere. she had a kanji on her neck and flaunted it, crooning over the skill, style, and grace of the opposition.

one of the guys who worked with us WAS chinese, and looked at it. then he laughed.

"What's funny?" she demanded. he shook his head.

"It says Princess," she primped.

"No. It doesn't," he replied.

"What does it say then, hmm?" she was getting hot.

"It says 'River Slut'," he said, then laughed again, setting titters going all over the shop. She stormed out, furious.

Another story along those lines was one woman who came in while I was in my apprenticeship. She was very rude, very arrogant, and wanted some sort of quote tattooed over her back. She said she wanted it exactly as it was written, she wanted the letters in such-and-such style, and she wasn't going to pay any more than 'x'. She haggled with one of the artists and annoyed, he handed me the stencil, I drew it up, and he set into the work. About halfway into it, I was talking to some of the other shop crew about her haughty behavior and I had the scrap of paper with the quote in my hand. I stopped mid-sentence, because something about the quote caught my eye. I read it. I re-read it. But I couldn't figure out what was wrong with the quote. I passed it around, and they didn't see anything either. When the thing came back to my hands, I realized with a very large sinking feeling what was wrong.

'Their' was spelled T-H-I-E-R. (Yes, I even remember what word it was. Nothing about the quote, just the misspelt word.)

At my realization, I looked up and also noted that the artist was taking a break. He was complaining about the girl's attitude problem, and the boss walks up.

"It's about to get worse, man," I said. I handed him the paper and explained to him what was wrong.

The boss hit the roof. He gave her 50% off the tattoo and chewed me from one side to the other. I was pretty mad myself, yelling at him for the nerve of blaming it on me. "She told me she wanted EXACTLY that quote! How was I supposed to know that SHE CAN'T SPELL! I was just copying what I was told to copy!" He chilled out eventually and we went across the street for a drink.

BUT...as entertaining as I hope that story was, it's totally true. SO PLEASE use spell-check on any quote before you bring it in. When I looked at the words and made the stencil, my focus was on the task, not the grammar. And being that I take a lot of care in my spelling, I try to be as accurate as possible. It did not occur to me to spell-check her words. I can't imagine that it's the first time, or last time, this kind of thing happened.


that's just three serious, basic suggestions from someone that's seen quite a bit.  

[Esselean]

I only have one tat and it's not witchy or anything
I also want to get a butterfly on the back of my neck when i have the money blaugh

Oh and by the way my tattoo didn't hurt at all. In fact I was just sitting their chatting with my friend until the girl who was doing the tattoo told me to shut up and stop moving then i just sat their falling asleep.  

[Inzumi_May]

i think a moon would be pretty razz on like a ankle or something razz  

[Clair Fay]

In a couple months I just plan on getting a pentacle on my lower back (yes, trap stamp, whatever). Other than that, I don't have much else inspiration for a tattoo, and even that tattoo I might not get. Depends on what happens. Maybe I'll get it done in Canada, maybe here in Cali--wherever the wind takes me, I suppose. biggrin Lol  

[Xanadu_B]

I don't have one and as someone else said earlier I have few pounds to not find again before I think about it. When I've done that I will be thinking about a yellow rose with a dragon in the centre. Those are the main affinities I always have finding me. My daughter will be getting hers sooner. At the end of Feb she is getting one on her left shoulder with a circle of feathers around a dove and a raven. She's been thinking about it for a long time and the images are both personal and spiritual for her.  

[o sunflower king]

I want to get three tats.
I want a tree, maybe the celtic tree of life. I am going to design it myself.
I also want something tribal. When I find my spirit animal, I may have it done in tribal style.
I also want a pentacle. 3nodding

 

[Angelbaby In Love]

Everyone's tats are great. I have 4 as of now: a small heart on my right forearm, a butterfly on my lower back, tigger w/ a butterfly on my left calf, and a heart w/ roses and my hubby's name on my left upperarm. My hubby did 3 of them and will doing more as soon as he gets new equipment. My next tat will be the Triple Goddess, I don't know where that is going to go yet.  

[Angelbaby In Love]

Korealia

i will try to be very careful of how i phrase this.

having done tattooing and piercing for a stint, here is a few words to the wise:

1. pigmentation. the pigmentation of your skin is directly related to the pigmentation in tattoo ink. the more pigmentation you have in your skin (i.e., the darker you are), the less color your skin will be able to hold (especially the color white, which requires a lot of pigment in the ink). thus, people who are blindingly 'white' will be able to hold most colors, where as someone who has very, very dark skin will only possibly be able to hold black, red, green and blue. in my personal experience, being half asian (my mother is Thai((land)) and my father is 'white'), i have a yellow tonal quality to my skin, which makes it reject straight blue colors (i have a flaming heart on my left calf on the outside and the other artist had to run the blue THREE TIMES to get the color to 'kind of' stick...we wound up using a turqouise, which got the job done a little better, because my skin is accepting of green). so be very careful of color as you are choosing your tattoo.

2. shape. the shape of a tattoo is very important. now matter how 'straight' you percieve a line to be, or how 'circular' you percieve a circle to be, a line is not straight, and a circle is not perfect. because the stencil conforms to the shape of your body, skin is flexible and the tattoo will never be 'perfect' anything. and if you feel it is, think again - time and age makes circles into ovals and lines ghastly crooked. i personally suggest organic shapes, and to note, if you're doing pentacles, you may wish to consider organics anyway, such as a 'ring of leaves' with 'sticks' that lay in the shape of a star.

3. accuracy. do not ever, EVER trust what's on the wall! flash art can be misleading! if you are bent on getting a kanji or other symbol, PLEASE check against several sources before you have it permanently inscribed on your body. 'flash art' is the sheets which are pasted on walls and in racks for people to thumb through and pick artwork from. sometimes it is bought through a company from a reputable source, other times, artists come in off the streets and sell these sheets for 20-100 bucks a pop, depending on how good the art is. i never seriously considered it until a woman who hung out at the shop all the time decided to 'get even' with an artist and have work done elsewhere. she had a kanji on her neck and flaunted it, crooning over the skill, style, and grace of the opposition.

one of the guys who worked with us WAS chinese, and looked at it. then he laughed.

"What's funny?" she demanded. he shook his head.

"It says Princess," she primped.

"No. It doesn't," he replied.

"What does it say then, hmm?" she was getting hot.

"It says 'River Slut'," he said, then laughed again, setting titters going all over the shop. She stormed out, furious.

Another story along those lines was one woman who came in while I was in my apprenticeship. She was very rude, very arrogant, and wanted some sort of quote tattooed over her back. She said she wanted it exactly as it was written, she wanted the letters in such-and-such style, and she wasn't going to pay any more than 'x'. She haggled with one of the artists and annoyed, he handed me the stencil, I drew it up, and he set into the work. About halfway into it, I was talking to some of the other shop crew about her haughty behavior and I had the scrap of paper with the quote in my hand. I stopped mid-sentence, because something about the quote caught my eye. I read it. I re-read it. But I couldn't figure out what was wrong with the quote. I passed it around, and they didn't see anything either. When the thing came back to my hands, I realized with a very large sinking feeling what was wrong.

'Their' was spelled T-H-I-E-R. (Yes, I even remember what word it was. Nothing about the quote, just the misspelt word.)

At my realization, I looked up and also noted that the artist was taking a break. He was complaining about the girl's attitude problem, and the boss walks up.

"It's about to get worse, man," I said. I handed him the paper and explained to him what was wrong.

The boss hit the roof. He gave her 50% off the tattoo and chewed me from one side to the other. I was pretty mad myself, yelling at him for the nerve of blaming it on me. "She told me she wanted EXACTLY that quote! How was I supposed to know that SHE CAN'T SPELL! I was just copying what I was told to copy!" He chilled out eventually and we went across the street for a drink.

BUT...as entertaining as I hope that story was, it's totally true. SO PLEASE use spell-check on any quote before you bring it in. When I looked at the words and made the stencil, my focus was on the task, not the grammar. And being that I take a lot of care in my spelling, I try to be as accurate as possible. It did not occur to me to spell-check her words. I can't imagine that it's the first time, or last time, this kind of thing happened.


that's just three serious, basic suggestions from someone that's seen quite a bit.

Thank you for letting everyone know that info. And sharing your stories with us.  

[whiporwill-o]

eh, i'm afraid of needles and i don't like the idea of injecting ink into my flesh, but to each his/her own. if i knew for a fact that i would forever have the same likes and dislikes and that my body would never change with age then i might consider it, but i fear consequences. my mom has a tattoo of a unicorn at the top of her right breast, she had it done about 25 years ago and now she calls it 'the buffalo'... i'll just express myself through removable accessories, but i admire anyone who has the cahones to sit in a chair for hours with someone stabbing them repeatedly with a needle full of ink heart