Tattoo Designs
Tattoo：A Whole New Language
Saturday, December 20th, 2008 | Tattoo Blog | No Comments
Tattoos are how my children’s generation expresses its individuality, which is why they all have one.
I have nothing against tattoos: They’ve been used for centuries to identify which sailors on a particular ship got drunk the night before. But at least those sailors, upon awakening and seeing the name Sheila inked into their shoulders, have the satisfaction of being able to say, “Who the heck is Sheila?”
My children are not sailors, but they are all of the generation who are determined to do to their own flesh what the Exxon Valdez did to the Alaskan coastline.
“You don’t need to draw permanent lines in your skin,” I’ve told them. “Believe me - age will do it for you.”
They roll their eyes at this: Clearly, I don’t know anything.
“It’s how I express my freedom of expression,” my daughter says.
“It’s also how incarcerated felons express their boredom,” I counter. Another eye-roll.
“I’m going to get one that says Tabula Rasa,” she announces. “It’s Latin.”
“You don’t speak Latin!” I respond sharply.
“That has nothing to do with it.”
“You don’t even like Latin music!”
It’s ironic that when I say something intelligent, like “Eventually your tattoo will fade and stretch and look like some sort of skin disease,” my children pretend I’m stupid, but when I say something stupid like “You don’t even like Latin music,” they act like I’ve made a good point.
“I like some Latin music,” my daughter corrects.
Tattoo Flash
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 | Tattoo Instruction | No Comments
Tattoo flash refers to tattoo designs that hang on the walls of a tattoo parlor and are available for potential tattoo customers to choose from for tattooing. Such displays of tattoo designs originated from traditional Western tattooing styles and the way flash is drawn is highly systematic.
For example, flash found in tattoo parlors within the same neighborhood often differ only in slight subtle ways and the designs mainly involve pinups images of women, military insignia, ships, fierce animals, knives, and skulls.
Sheets of tattoo flash were first put up for sale by a certain “Lew the Jew” Alberts, a wallpaper designer and tattooist in the early 1900s. Before the availability of tattoo flash, a tattooist who would like to reproduce another tattooist´s design has to copy that design off of a customer´s body.
The brilliant Alberts spotted the business opportunity and started producing tattoo flash that any tattooist could buy and quickly set up a tattoo parlor. Once a flash sheet is acquired by a tattooist, he can simply copy it entirely or make slight alterations, and then use it as his own. Because of such flagrant but legal copying and reproduction, it was quite difficult to identify the original creator of the flash.
Nonetheless, the introduction of tattoo flash gave rise to a win-win situation as the tattooist improved the possibility of sealing a deal by rapidly offering different design choices to customers. In turn the customers can save on valuable time and money. However, even if a tattooist had multiple sheets of flash, the number of choices was still rather limited.
As a result the use of tattoo flash, certain designs or variations of these designs subsequently became classics, worn by a majority of tattooed people in a particular social group. Fads can certainly change over time but certain classic tattoo designs such as the rose remain wildly popular today.
Currently tattooists who offer tattoo flash will use a piece of translucent rice paper to transfer a design to the customer´s body. First, the rice paper is placed over the sheet of flash. Then, the design is directly traced on the paper thereby producing a stencil. Finally, the tattooist will apply a little carbon powder onto the stencil and transfer the design onto the body before actual tattooing.
In the 1980s a wave of change came about when tattoo parlors began to move towards contemporary tattoos or custom designs. Until then, most tattoo parlors had flash covering most walls, the front windows and often the ceiling as well. For those who enjoy the intricate flash designs, you can easily buy a “pork chop sheet” or a sheet of cheap flash designs for a dollar or so.
Article from www.americanchronicle.com
Choosing Your Tattoo Design
Monday, November 17th, 2008 | Tattoo Instruction | No Comments
Choosing a tattoo design is a hard decision to make, but it’s an important decision that should not be taken lightly. After all if it’s a permanent tattoo then it’s one you will have to live with for the rest of your life, and if you’re not happy with it then you’ll have to go through the painful process of removing the tattoo.
So with that in mind, here’s 3 important points to consider when choosing a tattoo design:
1. Does the tattoo design reflect your personality and/or personal interests?
Many people choose to have tattoos on their body that reflect their personality, so it’s often a good idea to choose a design that you think matches your own unique character traits. For example, if you’re a strong masculine character, you may choose to have a lion tattoo. Similarly if you a cat-lover then you may choose a cat-related tattoo design, for instance.
The important thing is that if you do insist on getting a tattoo, then because of it’s permanency it’s always a good idea to choose one that actually says something about you, rather than just choosing a random image that you happen to stumble across. These impulsive tattoos nearly always lead to disappointment and possible removal later on in life.
2. Is the tattoo design appropriate for the part of the body where the tattoo will go?
Certain tattoo designs suit particular types of body more than others so this is another point to take into consideration. You don’t want to choose a great design only to put it on a part of the body where it looks completely out of place. Location is very important. You have to think about the prominence of the tattoo design as well. Do you want lots of people to see it, or is it a more personal tattoo that you only want romantic partners to see.
3. Is the tattoo design timeless?
Following on from the last point, it’s important to choose a design that is not just a passing fad. For example, you don’t want to choose the latest fashionable tattoo designs because in a few years time they could be out of fashion again, and you’ll be stuck with it. You want one that only looks cool now, but will continue to look good in years to come.
It’s easy to make impulsive decisions when you are young, but you have to remember that any design you choose will be with you for the rest of your life. For example, lots of men often get tattoos done signalling their love for their current partner or wife, but with the high divorce rate in modern society is this really a sensible idea?
So to sum up, when choosing a tattoo design you ideally want one that accurately reflects your personality, is appropriately placed on your body, and is one that you will be happy with for the rest of your life.
