Tattoo and Piercing Questions Answered!

[Pav]

See as how I'm currently a NING and all, I was thinking about starting a thread that would let the curious know a bit more about myself, while also allowing me to learn some new names in the community.  Lilias mentioned some of the members were into ink, so I thought I'd start up a general tattoos/piercing topic.

I am currently a licensed tattoo artist and body piercer in the state of Missouri (in the ole U.S. of A.).  I make mention of the state, because there are different laws state-to-state.  If you have any legality questions, I might be able to answer you, but will probably just be pointing you in the direction of where you can find such information.  Aside from that, anything goes.  Feel free to ask about the tattooing process, stories from the shop/my days as an apprentice/etc.  The only information I will withhold is that which I feel could be used wrongfully (by scratchers).

It would be fun if this topic expands into more than just little old me jabbering away.  If there are other licensed artists or piercers who want to join in the answering, I'd love to have some support.  Also, anyone that has a collection of tattoos will be pretty knowledgeable, so you all jump in, as well!

To get things started, I'll ask the question I get, unfailingly, every day:

Q:  Does getting a tattoo hurt?!

A:  Short version- Hell yeah, it does!   Long version-  Anyone who tells you getting a tattoo doesn't hurt is a liar who is just trying to sound tough.  Now, there are certainly areas where it hurts far less than others, but barring any previous nerve damage, you're going to feel it.  I work with some seriously rough-and-tumble dudes, and not a single one of them will tell you a tattoo doesn't hurt.  They'll have no qualms about telling you to man up and take it like a champ, though!
The best way I can describe getting a tattoo, and I've heard many-an-artist use this same reference, is a cat-scratch on a sunburn.  It will sting like a surface burn while they're working, but the second the needles pull away, the pain stops (at least, it should, if you have a decent artist).  Depending on the location of the tattoo, the majority of pain/discomfort comes from the healing process.

Oh yeah, in light of tonight's television line-up on TLC, I'll go another.

Q:  How do artists feel about tattoo schools?

A:  Tattoo schools are an abomination.  Nobody, and I mean nobody, can learn to tattoo in two weeks.  It's just not possible.  Maybe you'd like to get a root canal from a dentist who learned from a two-week crash course?  Tattoo 'schools' are a disgrace to the art form, and the fact that TLC is taking advantage of tattooing (...again...) to boost their ratings is despicable. 

Anyway, I hope to field some good questions, hear some funny stories from the rest of you, and feel free to post your own art, if you've got it!

[Oniya]

I like looking at people's ink (especially if well-done), and I've given a few of my characters some interesting artwork, but I'm a bit too skittish to go under the needle myself. 

I've never heard the term 'scratchers'.  Could you explain this term?

[Oniya]

Ah!  Like the sewing needle, thread, and ballpoint-ink jobs you see in prison tattoos.

[Oreo]

Awesome to see you got this opened, Pav. I have heard different versions of getting a tattoo done on scar tissue? At one time I had considered getting one to cover a portion of my eyebrow. No brow grows there from my face meeting up with the sharp edge of a palm tree in my youth. >_> Never look behind yourself while running away from someone in a friendly game of Tag.

I was told that you can't tattoo over scar tissue. Fact or fiction?

[Caeli]

When people come to you wanting a tattoo, do they usually have a complete design in mind? Or do you help to customize what they want into the finished design through consultation?

[Oreo]

Hmmm, a little bit of both then. It was a very small scar and is covered easily with an eyebrow pencil. I am just not much for makeup and would prefer and easier fix. Thanks, I might look into it.

Do you ever give advice when people want to put a name on their skin? I have seen this mistake come back to bite so many times. "I really thought they were the love of my life..." Do you often get people wanting to cover an old name?

[Oniya]

Because I've seen so many on the web:  Do you correct your customers' spelling?

[Chelemar]

Hi, Pav,

Welcome to E.  I just came across your thread.  Great read so far. 

I love my tattoo and want to get another one, though... I am on coumadin,  (blood thinner) and have to lower my dosage for a day or so to get the tat done.  I was on a coumadin holiday for medical reasons and scheduled my tat during that holiday for my last one.

About tat's hurting... 

The black outline hurt a lot worse than the color.  I got my tat on my upper left chest.  The closer the artist got towards my throat, the more pain there was.  He was really kind, though.  Before he started he made sure I was comfortable, explained everything he was going to do, and told me that anytime I needed him to stop, that he wanted me to just say "stop," and he would immediately to take a break, though I never really needed him to.  I will admit I was glad when the outline was over, though the colorization didn't bother met much at all.

He said it never really surprised him, women always seem to handle the pain much better than the men.  Do you find that to be the same?  Men handling the pain better than the men?

[Lilias]

What's your take on scarification? Can any artist do it or there are more 'advanced' specialists?

[Kendra]

First one I got I cried like a baby, second one I think I bit my other hand and nearly drew blood. Think the more I've gotten done over the years, it's not so much that the pain becomes less but I've become more used to it, if that's at all possible. I did find that the lower part of my back was excruciating compared to the upper part, I seriously thought it would hurt most around the shoulder blades because of the bone there but not so much.

We have a tattoo exhibition every year not far from where one of my sisters live and I attend it every year. It's brilliant to see the art work but I'd never get a tattoo from there. The guy who has done mine I've had to book three months in advance.

Have you ever had someone complain about a tattoo you've done?
or heard of any one wanting to get their tattoos removed?

[Kendra]

thanks Pav
the most I've been suggested was to get plastic surgery done on my arm to remove it - the tatts not the arm ;)
I didn't know they could be lightened which could be an idea as well and get something else to cover up - sort of mute really as the cost of either would break my wee piggy bank  ::)

I never heard of those Tattoo schools are there many in the states?
how are they even legal?

[Oniya]

thanks Pav
the most I've been suggested was to get plastic surgery done on my arm to remove it - the tatts not the arm ;)
I didn't know they could be lightened which could be an idea as well and get something else to cover up - sort of mute really as the cost of either would break my wee piggy bank  ::)

I believe I saw a documentary on gangs that talked about the lightening being done with lasers.  It's one of those things that helps with rehab after a young person has decided to leave a gang, but has to deal with the 'colors' tattoo or other marks.  (The 'tears by the eye' tattoo being a classic one.)

[Avis habilis]

Speaking of tattoo removal, do any of those do-it-yourself skin peel creams or ointments work at all?

[Mithlomwen]

I have 3 tattoos currently (would love to have more eventually), but one of them has faded quite a bit over the years.  Should I try to get it redone (as in redo the outline and the color) or would I be better off trying to cover it up? 

[Kuroneko]

I have eight tattoos currently.  The last one I got in Japan last year from an apprentice of Phillip Leu's, Horizaru, or En.  While I have to agree that tattoos do hurt, I don't think it's that bad.  Once the endorphins kick in and I breathe correctly, I fall asleep every time unless someone is talking to me, lol. 

[grdell]

Can I assume that the best advice you could give someone who wasn't absolutely sure that they wanted a tattoo at all is to not do it?

I've always been a little fascinated by them, but never to the point of "Oh my God, I have to have one." I've toyed with various ideas throughout the years, but never really been able to make up my mind or commit to one design. I dislike permanence, you see. And I'm also the kind of person who wonders "What will this look like when I'm 70?"

Plus, one of my best friends got one done (on his shoulder!) by what you would call a "scratcher". I came home one day and he was sitting on my couch with his sleeve rolled up so that it could heal and I just took one look at it and instantly knew he must be regretting it. It looked horrible. Luckily, he didn't get any infections or scarring or anything, but it was pretty ugly nonetheless.

So really, the closest decision I've made concerning whether or not to get one is that it would have to be something of tremendous importance to me that isn't going to change (which means music related - that's one aspect of my life that's never going to go away), that it would have to be put somewhere that would be easily covered up when I have the need for discretion, and that it would have to be put somewhere that will age well (the skin won't sag excessively). Other than that, I still haven't made up my mind.

[DiverseDesires]

I read all this with a lot of interest, thank you so much for this. I'm going to be getting a tattoo in a couple of years (have to wait until after an operation) and I've a couple of questions, not sure if you'll know the first as I'm in the UK, but you mentioned the differences in training and going to a good, reliable and safe artist, how do I find that out? Do you have any recommendations for accreditation to check etc in UK? Whenever I pass a studio/shop, I always have to stop and look, can't wait to have mine especially as I have wanted it for such a long time, but I want to be safe and happy with the end result.

As an artist do you sometimes get sick of doing the same things? Or having to do just script? And what was your favourite tattoo, one you designed and created?

[Oniya]

I'm always amused by the people that get a tattoo in Chinese/other ideographic language and they pick the wrong symbol.  ;D

[Kuroneko]

I think meaning is highly personal.  One of my tattoos is in tribal style and actually means a great deal to me.  First, I drew it myself, so no one else will ever have it and second, it's all spirals, which have a great deal of spiritual significance to me. I guess you could call it tribal celtic, lol. I also got it to mark an important life event.

And Oniya, there have been some Asian artists that purposely ink the wrong symbol on non Asians.  One girl ended up with the kanji for general tso's chicken around her navel when she thought she was getting something goddess related.  I've also listened to artist Pat Fish go on about how she hates it when Asians get Celtic tattoos (her specialty) for the same reason - lack of connection to the culture. 

[Oniya]

That goes back to having an artist that you trust - as well as having the forethought to doing a bit of research on your own.  (Although, considering the relationship I have with the local Chinese food place, I'd probably recognize 'General Tso's Chicken'.)  :-)

[WhiteTigerForever]

OMG, certain tatoos on guys are soooo sexy, but I want a few too!  I want the tree of life on my back, a full colored mural... a white tiger on my right shoulder and a white wolf on my left shoulder.. and some more but they are soooo expensive!!! Atm I have 10 piercings... 9 in my ears, none gaged (spelling?) and 1 on the right side of my nose. 

I want the names of my children mixed in the branches of the tree and the roots to have God Goddess spelled in there...:D

I want a few other ones too...

[DiverseDesires]

Thank you Pav, that was great info, much appreciated, I may pick your brains a little more when it comes to taking the plunge it's great to have someone so knowledgeable about it here on 'E'

Oniya the 'General Tso's Chicken' made me laugh so much!

I'm sorry to be boring, but I love script tattoos, but then generally I love typography and use a lot of text in my own art work, combing my love of both words, graphics, texture and colour and my first one will be just simple text, but something that has a personal double if not triple meaning and is very important to me even if it will seem perhaps lighthearted. Also, very few people will see it  ;D my secret  ;)

I also love Celtic art and symbols - the ancient more flowing spiral forms as well as the more known keys and knots. I've spent a great deal of time in Cornwall which is very dear to me and encountered lots of Celtic imagery from a young age. The other symbol/icon which has a very powerful effect on me is the image of the green man, so often hidden in our churches - and also the mystery surrounding them. Some images just connect at a deeper level I find, while others leave me cold even if I appreciate the art of them.

Pav are some colours harder to do? Or to be true, as it were? 

[Oniya]

grdell, it sounds like you answered your own question!  A tattoo is very permanent.  While they can be removed (twice as painful and even more expensive than getting a tattoo in te first place), the best bet is to wait until you're 100% positive.
I can't preach, because working in a tattoo shop, shit happens when you get bored, but I always argue that it's best to wait, if you're unsure.

As far as how they'll look when I'm 70 or 80...   I'm of the mindset that if I even make it that far, I'll probably not give a crap as to what my tattoos are looking like.  I'll be old.

I was off surfing the news when I came across an article that reminded me of this.  Apparently, there's some 20-something who made the bright decision to get the word 'skinhead' tattooed in big, black-letter font - across his forehead.  It goes across the entire width and down to his eyebrows.  Needless to say, he's regretting it, has backed out of the culture, and is now wanting it removed.

[WhiteTigerForever]

Thank you Pav, that was great info, much appreciated, I may pick your brains a little more when it comes to taking the plunge it's great to have someone so knowledgeable about it here on 'E'

Oniya the 'General Tso's Chicken' made me laugh so much!

I'm sorry to be boring, but I love script tattoos, but then generally I love typography and use a lot of text in my own art work, combing my love of both words, graphics, texture and colour and my first one will be just simple text, but something that has a personal double if not triple meaning and is very important to me even if it will seem perhaps lighthearted. Also, very few people will see it  ;D my secret  ;)

I also love Celtic art and symbols - the ancient more flowing spiral forms as well as the more known keys and knots. I've spent a great deal of time in Cornwall which is very dear to me and encountered lots of Celtic imagery from a young age. The other symbol/icon which has a very powerful effect on me is the image of the green man, so often hidden in our churches - and also the mystery surrounding them. Some images just connect at a deeper level I find, while others leave me cold even if I appreciate the art of them.

Pav are some colours harder to do? Or to be true, as it were?

*giggles loving the celtic mentioning of the green man*... the stag and ruler of the woods and the male symbol for fertility, in Gaul his name was Curnnunos... No spell can be done with out him or the trinity of a woman and the god and goddess...XD... Yes indeed, it goes way way back into our tribal civilizations and human roots.  ;)

[Jin]

Pav,

I was reading over your thread and I was wondering about something myself.

Have you ever had a problem with putting a tattoo on a diabetic, more specifically a type 1 diabetic who is insulin dependent, or has it ever come up?

If so what Issues could present in this case?