Tattoo

I've been DIEING to get a tattoo, since the day I turned 18. I've been thinking about it for almost a year now, and I can't for the life of me figure out what I want to put on my skin. Im trying to find a quote or something, a music lyric, that has a lot of meaning to me, enough to put on my skin, but man, I havnt found one yet. Then again I was thinking about getting the cover art of The Used new cd "In Love and Death" (ill put a link to a picture of it at the bottom), somewhere, maybe on my back. Then again I was thinking maybe just to get the heart hanging on the tree. And to put that somewhere ingenious. But I have no idea. I want one so bad, yet I cant decide what of. Maybe Im trying to hard, lol. Then again I want something original, man. I dont even know. Do any of you have tattoos? If so how in the world did you decide what to get one of? Any suggestions?


Link to picture
http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=17489
81&imageID=19326175&Mytoken=20050402112437

Chuckle, yes, perhaps you are trying to hard. I've got my left arm sleeved, and working on my right. There are a few things you should keep in mind though. What you want may not transfer well, the human body is not flat after all, but any tattoo artist worth his gun will be able to adjust. Second, how will it look in 30 years, when your skin gets all droopy. You can also get some tattoo artists to draw it on you with inks first, to see how you like it, that way you have time to decide if its right for you before it is made permanent.

you wanted something original so why not try to draw something from your heart or maybe a short poem that you like really well or wrote think of how many of their fans probably already have that tatoo on their body somewhere and that makes it un original and yeah pagan is right get it drawn on with ink first cuz its cheaper to draw it on deside you don't like it and look for another than to ink it on with the gun and have it removed or covered up later on

if i were you (and of course im not) i would stay away from anything band related. you love your music, i know. but so many strange things happen and you could (i say could with strong emphasis) regret getting it later.

just to throw out a few examples -

a friend of mine was a HUGE rage against the machine fan. of course they have since broken up. well when they broke up my friend was completely devistated, so much so that he sold all of his RATM cds and videos and shirts. he still likes the music of course, but there is some bitterness there and im pretty sure he wouldnt want a tattoo related to them in any way now.

another example is a perfect circle. another huge fan i know become outraged recently when they released a cover album.

i am personally a die hard green day fan. and i am VERY glad i never got that gay little flower they use to use. and as cool as the granade heart is, ill never get it inked on me.

Yes, choseing a tatoo is hard. I want one after my grad. One of the worst things you can do is copy another tatoo. So pick something simple, like a word or initials that means something special to you and then add an image to it, or the word/ initials could be the image. Try sketching some things out and colouring them in. I think my worst fear is getting an infection, the needles not being sterelized properly, therefore contracting something, bad ink. I heard that the ink may irritate your skin after you had it for many years. Your supposed to ask to watch them sterelize the needle and make sure they put new ink in. So I think that the health risks are whats drawing me back from getting one. I don't mind the pain, and I won't have any regrets if I get one. If I were to get one, I'd get it done where no one can see--like it's my little secret.

Many municipalities will issue Health Certifications when an artist completes a special course, and some will check up on artists regularly, and give certificates if they pass an inspection. You should check with your health department, to see if they offer that, or have a list of 'artists' who have infected people, or exhibit poor hygiene. Other than that, you already noted some of the more important things, such as fresh ink. To add to that, make sure they use brand new cups to.

As for originality and choice, I Dreamt my Dragons.

Originality IS important to me, the last thing I want is to see someone else with the same tat as me. And I know what you mean about the music idea and stuff too. I've thought about it like that too. But I guess the main reason that getting something related to music is jumping out at me is because I have NO idea what else to get lol! I play soccer, but who wants a soccer ball inked on them? Not me. I would feel like a little girl with a soccer ball on my back, or chest. lol. I really like some of the tribal designs I've been seeing, but then again I dont want one because EVERYONE has tribal tats. On their arms, or legs, or backs. Its just to common. Grrrrr lol.

Oh, and another thing, don't just get some sort of chinese character tatoo just because it looks cool. I know some people who think it's disrespectful if you don't really have a love for the culture and so on.

yeah, that would make sense. I wouldnt do that anyways, I think its lame, for exactly that reason too. With the symbol, comes a whole culture, and religion. One that is very interesting too.

you should maybe wait a bit longer till you really know as i got mine when i was real younge and i kinda regret it its a tazmanian devil its cute but now im older i wish it was more mature and cool.Ive also got a pentagram which i got 4 personal reasons and its done in purple which is mt fav colour so thats my favorite,but im not a pagan.

hey Joel, truly i feel your pain. ive been waiting for a very long time for the right tattoo to present itself to me. at one point i did some research on the Huns (my ancestors) and attempted to create a tattoo which said "coyote" .... i still like the idea, but i ran in to the whole feeling of being trendy, seems like a lot of people get tattoos in some foriegn and/or ancient language. ah well... the search continues.

my only real good advice in the whole matter is, dont rush.

[b]hey, i got my first attoo a ocuple of months ago. i was in the shop with my mate who was getting a piercing i just went for it. Ive wanted one for years but could never think of anything. i just got a blue star with a black outline behind my ear so it never droops and soon im gonna get two dice sitting side by side with the numbers two and two showing. cos im 22. i love my wee star so much and it aint gonna lose meaning cos it hasnt got any.

Not big, but Big things come in small packages. In this case, the meaning behind it. It's Japanese for Hope. I've been wanting to get this since I was 11-12 actually after losing my very best friend in my arms because of a car accident.. And I've always had this midset that there is still hope for me to one day see her again.

*And yes, I've been taking Japanese for almost 5 years and I love it dearly hahaha

Another one that I'm going to be getting soon is going be on my back, maybe I'll post that when I get it. ^___^


http://images16.fotki.com/v286/fileD7vD/696fb/3/391300/1400245/000215.jp
g*


this is what it looks like on my arm, it looks kinda bad in my picture hahah
http://public.fotki.com/Randomraver/ddr_picsand_some/kibou.html

quote:

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Do any of you have tattoos? If so how in the world did you decide what to get one of? Any suggestions?

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I have three Tatoos a skull on my right arm a Canadian leaf with horizontal hockey sticks on my other arm. The one I'm currently getting done is an avenged sevenfold bat. I picked most of my tatoos on impulse with the exception of the Canadian leaf with the hockey sticks.

If this post twice i'm sorry...kept saying i was not logged in.

I know its a bit off topic at first, but its as important as picking your tattoo.
So yay for copy and paste when the fourms say you aren't logged in.


So many well thought out tattoos end up looking awful because the person did not take as much time picking their artist as their tattoo itself.
Just because someone owns/runs/works at a tattoo studio does not mean they can tattoo well or that they sterilize everything properly.
Go from shop to shop, ask to see the artist's portfolio, each artist that works at the shop should have one. Look at each picture and try to ignore the design itself, concentrate on the way the lines of the tattoo look, the way the shading meshes throughout the design. Take a look and see if there are many custom tattoos in there or if it is all flash off the wall. If the artist will not help you develop your design, go to another artist. Artist first...tattooist second.
As for your design, just start doodling just get a GENERAL idea of what you would like on yourself for the rest of your life and your artist should be able to bring that shaky doodle to life. All a good artist needs is a general idea then they will make the design and you guys can both make changes on it. If you are uncomfortable with that, almost everyone knows at least someone who is really creative even if they can't draw...brainstorm with that friend.
If you are really set on getting a band tattoo atleast make some changes to it, personlize it so you wont have the same tattoo as a million other people.

There is always www.ratemyink.com which is a neat place to browse for interesting original tattoos and also a great place to see where i was coming from about awful artists.

This is getting long and there is far too much to put about a sanitary shop, go to http://tattoo.about.com/ and read about what you need to look for to keep yourself safe.