The Guide You Should Read Before a Tattoo

What exactly is a tattoo? "Tattoo: The permanent insertion of ink or other pigments below the skin using a sharp instrument." ("Tattoo", 2000) How can you ensure they do not end up with a bad tattoo? The answer is to make sure that they find a good tattooist. If a person doesn't take precautions they may end up with a permanent mistake. If anyone has seen a bad tattoo they know why it is important to avoid. Imagine a very bad drawing permanently drawn onto your body. This is something anyone wants to avoid. When someone ends up with a bad tattoo they can often have it covered. The criteria for covering a tattoo are that it must be at least fifty percent bigger than the original, the focal point must change and there cannot be any bad scarring.("Cover Ups", 2004) If a cover up is not possible or wanted it may be removed. There are three common procedures for tattoo removal; first is laser removal where the pigment is removed with treatments using wavelengths of light. If the tattoo is to deep for laser removal the second step is cutting the tattoo out of the skin which scars, if it is a large tattoo it may be necessary to graft a piece of skin from another part of the body which leaves two scars, one where the graft came from and one where the tattoo was; the last option is dermabrasion which literally rubs the tattoo out of the skin with an abrasive tool. So as one can see it is important to find a good tattoo artist because tattoos are permanent and a bad tattoo can be expensive to fix or scar you.

To ensure a person gets a good design that they will be happy with, the first step in getting a tattoo requires him or her to consider a design that they will want. "There are so many styles of tattoos possible. It may be one of the most versatile mediums behind digital art. You can make a tattoo look like a watercolor painting, a piece of metal, an open wound, or anything else you come up with. But the greatness of the tattoo is limited by the technical skill and creativity of the tattoo artist. You need to make sure you choose a tattoo artist that is passionate about art and capable with their tools." ("Tattoo Artists" 2004). Another important thing to consider when looking at designs is to consider style. When considering personal style one will find a style that they like by looking at design templates. There are many styles of tattoos a few you will encounter are American traditional, Tribal, Japanese, and Chinese. There are many more styles to consider when researching the type one will decide on.

After finding the "look" you like you will need to turn towards each artist's personal style. For example; one artist may have signature of using red shading in all their tattoos where another will use a specific personal style of drawing with each of their tattoos. The thing to remember is that a tattoo is art and a tattooist is an artist.The only difference is that these artists' perform their art on skin. Just like all artists each has their own distinct approach. Think about the difference between famous painters. For instance consider the difference between Van Gogh and Picasso, each clearly had different styles. This is much the same with tattoo artists, each has their own style. "Once you have chosen a few artists that you like, go into their shops and ask to see their portfolio. If they do not have one, thank them and leave. A real artist always keeps a record of their work. If the portfolio is not very well put together, that is also a bad sign. If the portfolio is good, and has close up pictures of excellent looking tattoos, ask yourself a few questions. Do they specialize in a certain look, and if so, is that the look I want? Am I coming to an artist that would want to do this tattoo, or would they be bored with it and do a sub-par job?"("Tattoo Artists" 2004).

The next step in finding a good artist is to know how to spot good and bad work. "Look carefully at the pictures. Check for the quality of the black outlines. Are these lines clean and crisp, or are they shaky and irregular? Also, look at the color or shading. Are the colors bright and solid or are they dull, with missing patches? Do the colors blend smoothly? Is the image easy to understand? Do the tattoos contour properly to the body?"("My First Tattoo" n.d.) Skin is a difficult medium on which to perform art. It is not something even a wonderful artist can sit down and do without proper training and experience. Unlike paper or even canvas, skin is soft, and it stretches constantly. To be able to tattoo skin they must have had some type of training. Many tattooists have attended schools that specialize in teaching the art of tattooing. Some have learned in an apprentice type situation where they are taught by another artist. Others are self taught artists and learned from text books and practice. Regardless of how they learn, any of them can be very good, or not so good. It is very important that anyone considering a tattoo looks very carefully into the artists work and makes sure that the art is high quality and appealing to them. Even a very good artist who does not have a style that appeals to you can make you feel unsatisfied with your tattoo.

Another consideration when looking at a portfolio are whether or not the tattoos in the portfolio are pictures of healed tattoos. The reason for this being a completely healed tattoo will show the quality you can expect. ("My first tattoo experience" 2008). A picture of a fresh tattoo does not always show how good the artists' work is. The reason for this is that as a tattoo heals it will tend to show the true quality of the work. One will be able to tell if the artist blended the colors properly, whether or not the color is uniform or not and whether or not the lines heal properly or bleed and fade. Also most importantly you will be able to tell whether it was done too deeply or lightly. A tattoo that was done too deep will cause scarring. This may result in fading of the ink because it is scar tissue.

Another very good way to judge an artist or studio is to go by their reputation. "The easiest way to find a good tattoo artist near you is to ask people whose tattoos you really admire where they had them done. Make sure you look at the tattoo in detail to see how well executed it is. If the tattoo is a few years old, and still looks great, then that tattoo artist did a good job."("Tattoo Artists" 2004). You can also ask to watch the artist while they are performing a tattoo so you can see them in action. Another consideration when looking for the right artist is their personality. Make sure that you choose an artist that you are comfortable with. Make sure to ask any questions you may have. Another concern is safety. When checking out a studio or artist ask them about health standards and precautions and make sure they use sterilization and are inspected by the local health department regularly. ("My first tattoo experience" 2008). Stay clear of artists who are not legally performing their work. Look at the artists work area; is it kept clean or is it dirty and messy? Make sure that they use new clean needles each time. An infection in your skin can cause a tattoo to become scarred and discolored and it can be quite painful.

As you can see there are many things that one can do to protect oneself from a bad tattoo. You will want to avoid the mistakes that cause cover ups, scarring, or tattoo removal. You can do this by simply taking a few precautions such as knowing the design that is wanted, the style and look wanted and skill and look of the artists' work one is considering. Remember that you have only one body and tattoos are permanent. Always check the artists' portfolio, reputation, and safety precautions to ensure that you get a great work of body art.
Sources:

tattooinfo.net
tattoojohnny.com
tattoofinder.com
medterms.com