Good luck with your decision! And as an artist i have to throw in... Make sure and go to a reputable parlor, and make sure you do ALL the after care!
Funny that you mention that. Being an artist, myself, I'm also very weary about letting someone else do their art on me and it being permanent. I'd almost have to see a tattoo artist work on someone else before I'd let them do mine.
Also, to...erm, some other people. This wasn't really a dispute as to whether tattoos are right or wrong, even as far as placement. I personally like tattoos and I don't see anything wrong about them. I'm just nervous about my first one.
Funny that you mention that. Being an artist, myself, I'm also very weary about letting someone else do their art on me and it being permanent. I'd almost have to see a tattoo artist work on someone else before I'd let them do mine.
Also, to...erm, some other people. This wasn't really a dispute as to whether tattoos are right or wrong, even as far as placement. I personally like tattoos and I don't see anything wrong about them. I'm just nervous about my first one.
You can TOTALLY request to see a parlor artist work on another person before you. That is actually quite common. (of course the person they are working on needs to agree to it as well) Its a really good idea actually.
and I totally get where you are coming from on the nervous thing. a good thing to do... Decide on what it is you think you want. Then draw it or print it out and put it somewhere you will see it ALL the time. The more you look at it the more you will _know_ whether it is what you really want.
There's a lot of back and forth about where they get noticed and covering them up, etc. I think a good way to look at it is this: Look at tattoos as something that everyone you meet will see and judge you on (whether they decide it's positive, negative or means nothing at all, they will think something), and this will be true forever. If that makes you the slightest bit uncomfortable, don't get tattoos. But if there's something that means something to you, do what feels right.
If there's a chance that in the future you won't think whatever your tattoo makes you think now, don't get it. If you want to be president of the U.S., a news anchor, a Catholic-school teacher, etc., don't get it.
I acknowledge that my tattoos (current and future) could prevent me from keeping company with some people, but my goals don't align with needing conservative people to be okay with my appearance.
I don't know if you've heard about it, but it's newer ink that's designed to be completely removable in one laser treatment (and if you never want it lasered off, it lasts forever), which makes laser treatment a lot cheaper, more effective and less painful. I'm thinking of getting a larger color piece on my forearm in Infinitink in case the design or coloring comes out looking differently than I want.
I remember walking in with a friend to a very high-end tattoo parlor in San Francisco--as in six months to a year wait for a visit--and the artist asked me if I had any tattoos. At the time I didn't, and he (very heavily tattooed) said, and I quote, "Good. Don't get any." He looked down at his arms and shook his head sadly. Then he tattooed my friend. I remember at the time thinking he ought to be fired for clearly not loving his work or endorsing the shop. I wondered why the other artists, who heard him, didn't call him out. Now that I have tattoos, I know better. I should have listened to him. I love the designs very much, but I wish I hadn't been tattooed. Something to think about.
Also, for "Also, to...erm, some other people. This wasn't really a dispute as to "whether tattoos are right or wrong, even as far as placement," that's what happens when you open a topic some people feel strongly about. Thank God for free speech.
One more thing I am nearly out of this demographic at 29, and believe me, tattoos are cute when you're in your teens and twenties, but become not so cute anymore at 30. Just my two cents
Last edited by asharksrevenge; 07-04-2010 at 04:37 AM.
I have every intention of being a tattooed granny. I don't give a pigs fart what anyone else thinks of my skin decoration, they don't have to look at it, and it doesn't prevent me from doing ANY job or being courteous to a customer or anything like that.
You are no different a person than before you had your tatoos done, and if other people have a problem then it's they who should be ashamed and should look to themselves as to why they're so bothered by your choosing to decorate your own body in a way that pleases you.
I could understand people being terribly offended by a tattoo if it was for example, racist, an offensive remark about another religion or group, or very graphic in a depiction of nudity or sex perhaps, but the general range of tattoo art that you see on people , is of no offence to anyone, it simply couldn't be logically. Most of it is either patterns or portraits or pictures of relatively innocuous things.
The peple who judge based on skin art don't seem to judge those who dye their hair a different colour, or have an earring, or wear a particular colour of nail polish. None of those ae really permanent but they still change one's appearance. Do they stop you being who you are or from doing your job? No.
There's nothing" unprofessional" about tattoos. Having one won't stop doing your chosen "profession" and unless you have them on your face or very large ones on your hands, nobody would see the ink anyway . I have 3 on my neck , and 3 on my arms, and worked in a reastaurant. No one said a thing, and most of even the oldest customers ( like 80 years old ) complimented me on my tattoos.
Last edited by honeythorn; 07-04-2010 at 06:41 AM.
I think that if you're not totally sure, wait a while and see if you change your mind. I have 2 tattoos that I got about 10 years ago. They are so "old news" to me now that I don't even notice them. They are basically the equivalent of a freckle. I don't regret getting them, but after a while they lose the novelty and now it just doesn't mean as much as it did when I got them.
I dont know much about tatoos, but I believe that Ive heard that weight loss and gain can affect them. If that is true, then Id be cautious. We are all here because we have some problem with our weight and most of us have lost and gained at various times. Id make sure that I was at a stable goal weight for at least a year before that big of a commitment. I know I wouldnt want to spend that much to deform a perminant mark on my body. Again, I don't know if its true, but Id look into it first.
I think we could use a lot more input in here from a demographic other than 20-Somethings.
Okay, I'll rephrase...I am not ASKED about my wrist tattoo any more than I'm asked about my ankle tattoos. I'm also 34 years old, not a 20-something year old. I've been at my job for 10 years and have attained rank during that time...I have a Bachelor of Arts in Legal Assistant Studies w/ a minor in Criminal Justice...and I am a Nationally Registered EMT (graduating EMT class w/ a 4.0 average, by the way). I think experience says a lot more about someone than their age.
Wow im kinda suprised by some of the responses on this one, I thought it would be a lot more....liberal? Not that it counts for much, but I say if you want it, and it means something to you, that is all the convincing you need to get it. The only thing I consider when I get tattoos is WHERE i am getting it on my body, I have one on my wrist - which is easily covered up by a watch or bracelets and bangles, and one on the back of my neck, which unless my hair is tied up high cannot be seen. I live in a country where tattoos are a part of our culture here, they show your identity (literally) your geneology, who you are and where you come from. Its not uncommon here to see guys and girls walking around with half and full sleeves, tattoos in every place tattooable lol. DOnt get me wrong we dont all look like circus freaks lol, its just the nature of society here. Having a tattoo on your wrist, on your forearm, arm, hands, feet wherever holds little to no bearing as to whether or not you may or may not get a job. I have seen the lady at the supermarket and a lawyer both have similar tattoos in the same place - in plain view for everyone to see.
So I say, follow your heart, do what you want to do because your only doing it for yourself and if you like it, its all that matters!!
I live in a country where tattoos are a part of our culture here, they show your identity (literally) your geneology, who you are and where you come from. Its not uncommon here to see guys and girls walking around with half and full sleeves, tattoos in every place tattooable lol.
That sounds like a really nice place! What country are you from?
I have seen the lady at the supermarket and a lawyer both have similar tattoos in the same place - in plain view for everyone to see.
We had a local lawyer who was VERY well respected and known to be an awesome attorney...she had a mohawk her entire career. I think she did get thrown out of 1 judge's courtroom at one point, but that's it. She's now deceased...but her "different" look didn't hurt her in her profession.
I am nearly out of this demographic at 29, and believe me, tattoos are cute when you're in your teens and twenties, but become not so cute anymore at 30. Just my two cents 
I'm also 34 years old, not a 20-something year old. 
