New Way to Tattoo ?

[ckelly78z]

I think if I were in the military that a company tatoo would be cool, or the olympic rings if had competed in the games, but everything else looks cheesey to me.

[rcooled]

Originally Posted by BigInJapan

Most of the time...getting a tattoo isn't about a trend nor image. It's mostly about appreciation for art. YMMV.

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte

In that case, based on 99.43% of the tats I've seen, it must be appreciation for grade-school level art.

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

You have seen VERY little.

Well, I do see quite a few tattoos and have to agree with BlusSkyJaunte on this one. I live in a CA beach town that's home to a university and which also supports a diverse music and arts scene, and I also get up to San Francisco quite regularly. Tattoos are everywhere around here! It always makes me wonder what could possibly motivate so many people to choose such cartoonish renderings to permanently emblazon on their skin. Does the unicorn tattooed across some young woman's upper chest really have so much meaning to her that she needs to display it there for the rest of her life? Has Darth Vader really had a such a profound effect on some guy's life that it requires his likeness be displayed on his neck forever?
There are some tattoos out there that are definitely the work of talented practitioners, but now that the masses have latched onto this ancient art form, the stuff that most choose to adorn themselves with is pure crap. Many are embarrassingly silly, and merely serve to call attention to the fact that the owner has absolutely no class and even less artistic sensibility.

[tevake]

I don't have any tats myself, and do see plenty that surly will come to be regretted.
But some of the traditional Polynesian designs are both dramatic and bold in design, and reflect a very high leavel of skill and artistry in their application.

http://www.apolynesiantattoo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/polynesian_tattoo_meanings_turtle_shells_design_sa mple.png.jpg

I did say they are bold. But there is a bit of symbolic meaning and a statement about the wearers place and function in the community .

[tevake]

Also want to share the traditional method of doing the tattoo .
It's done manually with a needle mounted off the sidei at the end of one stick, that being tapped with another stick. It's a slow but apparently very accurate way of doing it.
http://www.mooreatattoo.com/images/tahitian_tattoo3.jpg

Cheers Richard

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by widebody911

+1

If I blow my money on some overpriced parts, I don't have to come up with idiotic justification for it 20 years later.

Some of my tattoos are over 25 years old. No need for 'justification'. I still like them, and recently had one redone to freshen up the color.

Ah yes, the age old 'you're going to regret it when your older!' argument from the non inked.

[HardDrive]

bwt, not disagreeing with the fact that there are many, many absolutely horrible tattoos out there.

[A930Rocket]

My son is a freshman at university.

As part of an athletic team, several members have gotten a "Y" tattooed on their arms or upper body. He's debating if he should get one on his upper back/shoulder, but in a few years when he's sure.

I've told him to wait until he's at least a rising senior when he knows he's made it.

I prefer he didn't get one. Just my .02

[HardDrive]

Tell him it hurts like a sumbiatch. Thats the truth.

[Pazuzu]

I'm not gonna get into the argument of whether tattoos are good or bad or evil or great or what, because one side of that argument is wrong

Instead I'm going to say that Mr. Holloway's idea of a morph-able one shot "thousands of needles stabbing you at once" idea is downright torture. A tattoo hurts. A gun stabbing you several times at once (no one does single needle work...) hurts. After a while, your body goes numb to the pain. after a while longer, your body fatigues from the pain (ask the doctors here). 3 or 4 hours of constant tattooing is the limit, you actually start to damage systems after that (long term trauma).

A complete tattoo at once? you'd have people passing out left and right, especially if it was more than a tiny flower.

[M.D. Holloway]

Oh come on Mike, a couple shots of tequila, a split second later and you have an instant tat...no more hours of torture.

[Head416]

I got a 6 hour tat a month ago... I learned my limit is about 5 hours.

It's a portrait of my wife of 10 years. I'm blown away at how realistic it looks, truly amazing. And if God forbid she isn't my wife until the day I die, I'll have more important things on my mind than a picture. We were joking that I would have to have it covered up by turning her into a zombie.

My first one was a symbol of my favorite band when I was 19. I wouldn't get it today, but I don't regret it. It's a landmark from my life, and it's part of my body now. No big deal.

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by Head416

My first one was a symbol of my favorite band when I was 19. I wouldn't get it today, but I don't regret it. It's a landmark from my life, and it's part of my body now. No big deal.

That "Village People" tattoo might make you some new friends if you are incarcerated.

[M.D. Holloway]

Dated a girl that had ink on the small of her back that read 'This End Up'


I really liked her. Turned me on to some funky stuff. What a fun girl, maybe too fun.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by BigInJapan

Most of the time...getting a tattoo isn't about a trend nor image. It's mostly about appreciation for art. YMMV.

I think you have it backwards. Sometimes it's about art. The fact that it became so widespread so quickly says to me that it's largely a fad.

[M.D. Holloway]

There is far, far more to tattooing than just injecting ink into the skin.

Seems like the majority of people getting tats are young girls trying to look sexy and cool. I sure there is a subculture that identifies with skin ink but that's a small number now. Looks to be to be a fashion trend.

I've not seen many tattoos that are rich in symbolism or meaning - while I'm sure they are out there, the ones you either see or are shown seem rather beignine if not trite. Others seem like they were forged in a prison cell.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by M.D. Holloway

Dated a girl that had ink on the small of her back that read 'This End Up'

I really liked her. Turned me on to some funky stuff. What a fun girl, maybe too fun.

And boy did she know how to climb a roof!

[scottmandue]

RE: fashion, what is in style does swing the pendulum... Darth Vader may (or may not) be dorky now but who is to say in ten or twenty years it may be retro kwel?... (that is why I went with the captain Kirk tat).

Seriously, there are groups of folks in their 20's who dress in 1940's garb and go swing dancing... who is to say what is 'in' anymore?

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

I'm not gonna get into the argument of whether tattoos are good or bad or evil or great or what, because one side of that argument is wrong

Instead I'm going to say that Mr. Holloway's idea of a morph-able one shot "thousands of needles stabbing you at once" idea is downright torture. A tattoo hurts. A gun stabbing you several times at once (no one does single needle work...) hurts. After a while, your body goes numb to the pain. after a while longer, your body fatigues from the pain (ask the doctors here). 3 or 4 hours of constant tattooing is the limit, you actually start to damage systems after that (long term trauma).

A complete tattoo at once? you'd have people passing out left and right, especially if it was more than a tiny flower.

Yeah, no experience here but I think the 'one shot' is a no go... however a robo-tat is interesting... it could use UV, IR, X-ray to gauge depth, have hundreds of small fingers to stretch the skin.

On the other hand as I and others have said (IMHO) think the tat thing is as much about the experience and interaction with the tat artist.

[HardDrive]

An automated system could have a use. Perhaps not for artistic ventures, but what about for tagging troops? If you have a biodegradable ink that would fade away after a persons service is done, you could ink service numbers and medical info on to soldiers. Nothing to carry.

[SCadaddle]

My friend once told me his 60ish year old sister called him one day to tell him about her new (and only) tattoo---- a smiley face on the bottom of her big toe. He asked her why she did that and her reply was "when I die and they tag my toe I'll get the last laugh!".