This is about the only sort of tattoo I could remotely consider getting... Nothing that elaborate, but the idea.
If I lost a child or my wife or someone, tattooing their name on my somewhere.. as an ever present memorial.
Other than that, I can’t ever see getting a tatoo.
“If I lost a child or my wife or someone, tattooing their name on my somewhere.. as an ever present memorial.”
My brother did that, for his son, who we lost early on.
I design tattoos for people occasionally, but only if the design has some meaning to it -otherwise I refuse to be part of it. I have freinds who have full sleeves (ink from wrist to shoulder), and can tell you what each one means. Sometimes they’re part of a lifestyle, like bikers, or if you work in the hard rock music industry, they’re almost mandatory.
I’m fascinated by the tattoo, and it’s history, from the Yakuza tattoos to real tribal ink - I always laugh at suburban warriors with “tribal” ink, like it makes them tough. Humans have been driving ink under their skin for a long, long time, for many reasons - up until the last decade or so, it was the military, the bikers, the underworld that got them - for the military, it was a mark of pride, an event to signal that they are part of a fraternaty - ask a Marine to remove his Semper Fi ink, if you’re bored.
Now everyone gets them, because thug culture has become mainstream.
But, the fad of tattoos is fading, thank god. I see too many bad, horrible tattoos. A tattoo should be planned, thought out, and designed and proportioned to the part of the body it’s going on, but 90% of them are impulse decisions, generally fueled by alcohol, or ego tats, like the run of the mill tribal bicep bands you see at the gym. Like goatees, when everyone has one...it’s past time not to have one.
Tribals crack me up. C’mon, a suburban skinny white boy of Swede extraction has no business putting Mauri tribal tattoos on his flesh. If anything, research the tats your Viking forefathers had, and get that. The only design I’ve ever come close to getting is an intricate Celtic design I found in an art book, as I’m close to 100% Irish.
I hate tramp stamps. They’re cliched, ugly, break up on of the most perfect s-curves, that of a woman’s back. I hate breast tattoos, I’ve never seen one that did’nt look low rent, trailer trash, and cheap. Tattoos on women are hard to design, but I’ve seen some gorgeous ones, using light inks and good design.
I have no ink myself. I’m an artist, I can’t think of anything I can live with the rest of my life, so I have none. I’d love to see them come up with an ink system that fades after a while, like a year or two, using inks that would break down naturally and get absorbed by the body - something inert, maybe triggered by UV light or something like that, so one could change your mind.
Or, I’d love to see henna explored more, with inks that last months, and brighter colors - then one could get a great design for the summer, and by Xmas, it’s gone.
If you want to see something really unique, google UV tattoo inks - inks that only show up under UV light. (ie. in the club. I had a conversation with a female freind who wanted to put the “stocking line” on the back of her legs, for clubbing. I said, go for broke, get fishnets tattooed.)
The tattoos I do NOT get, and think are stupid, are the people who go to concerts, and have musicians sign their skin, then they go out and get it tattoed over.
I can go both ways with tats. Some I love, like Maynard from Tool, who’s tribal spine tattoo is a work of art - but then I see a lovely young woman with a tramp stamp, or an idiotic and poorly drawn ankle tattoo, and I hate them.
My husband has a couple from his Navy days. I've never liked them. I have thought that Olympic rings with the year for Olympic athletes is pretty cool though.