As I adapt to the newest version of WordPress things are sometimes not where they’re supposed to be.  If you’re having problems finding things (getting a 404 message when you follow a link) I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know.  I’m trying to resolve as many problems with links as I possibly can.

Good thing I enjoy learning something new every day, hmm?

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I’ve been getting a lot of spam messages lately asking how to subscribe to the RSS feed. Fortunately, I have an excellent spam catcher.

But if any real person’s wondering how to do it, just look up above the banner and click on the RSS link. 

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Today at the post office, I was in line behind a very large man whose upper arms were covered with black line tattoos.  I didn’t think of them as sleeves, because they were kind of like Paul Teutul Sr’s conglomeration of assorted images.  At least I thought that was what they were, because the ink had faded so much that it was barely darker than his skin.

He noticed me looking at his arms and we struck up a conversation, as multicolored people often do.  It turns out he’d gotten most of the tats when he was in the Marines, years ago.  I made some comment about how he must have been out in the sun a lot because his ink had faded, and he laughed.

“No,” he said.  “Think about writing on a balloon with a marker and then blowing up the balloon.  That’s what happened to that ink.”

Now, that’s something I had never considered.  People talk often about tattoos sagging when we get old, but I don’t think I’ve ever had another conversation about ink getting faint when it’s stretched over time.  But that makes perfect sense when you think of the balloon analogy.

I know most of us don’t get, or not get, inked based on the possibility of stretching, sagging, or fading.  Have you had any of your ink get “modified” by your body with the passage of time?  What did you do about it?

photo credit: Felipe Katsumata

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I got my calendars mixed up, and thought that the Diabetes Expo and the Ink & Iron tattoo show were both in Long Beach last weekend. (Ink & Iron’s next month.) I thought it’d be an interesting combination of venues, and people could go from one to the other without too much trouble (Diabetes Expo at the Convention Center, Ink & Iron on the Queen Mary).

People who have chronic diseases can’t be as carefree and casual about getting tattoos as perhaps they’d like to be.  While it might not be a case of “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction” for everyone, certainly the process of invading your skin with foreign substances can stress some people’s bodies more than others.  Diabetics don’t heal as fast.  People with autoimmune disorders might be pushed into a flare-up.  People with allergies, especially nickel allergies, might have inflamed skin for years.  People with latex allergies should definitely make sure the artist is using some other kind of gloves.

I have three tattoos, and I’m a Type 2 diabetic.  I also have nickel allergy.  I got my first tattoo before I got my diabetes diagnosis, but I went to the tattoo parlor fully informed the second and third time.  Interestingly enough, I was never asked about health conditions by any of the artists who inked me.  In retrospect, I think I should have been.  I don’t think it would have changed anything, but (again in retrospect) I think it’s only right that the artist should know that much about the person he/she is working on. If I get another tattoo (still under consideration) I’ll tell the artist up front if he or she doesn’t ask.

And, of course, people with chronic medical conditions should absolutely do some research before getting body art or piercings.  The more we know ahead of time, the better we can be prepared for possible problems afterwards.  If I’d known there was a connection between tattoo ink and nickel allergy, I might have changed the colors of my designs (although as it turned out, I had no problem with the blue or green colors, only with the red which does not contain nickel).  Knowing that diabetics heal more slowly would not have stopped me from getting any of my tattoos, but knowing that I had diabetes did inspire me to make sure my blood sugar levels were well under control before I got inked.

Have you had to take your health into consideration before getting inked?  Have you been asked about health problems by your artist?  How did you handle the issue?

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First of all, thank you for subscribing! But could you all please make sure your email address is correct? And that you allow emails from the site to get through your spam filters? I’ve been getting bounced emails lately and I wouldn’t want you to think they hadn’t been sent in the first place.

Thanks!

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Once again, the Ink-N-Iron Festival is coming to the Queen Mary in Long Beach.  As someone who’s attended and who’s gotten tattooed there, I heartily recommend it.  Just think what the Duchess of Windsor must be thinking. 

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Last weekend my husband and I set out for one of our usual weekend hikes in Griffith Park.  For some unknown reason, traffic was backed up beyond belief at the zoo, so we had plenty of time to idle in the line waiting to get into the park from the freeway exit across from the zoo parking lot.

In the truck next to us was a Latino gentleman whose left arm (resting on the truck door out the window) was completely covered by fine-line monochromatic tattoos.  Not much of which I could actually see to admire, because the lines were so fine and the contrast between the lines and his skin was pretty subtle.  No way of telling whether they were done that way originally or whether time and sun had faded the ink.

Tattoo ink being what it is, people with darker skin are sometimes at a disadvantage when it comes to displaying their designs, if the designs don’t have bold lines.  If there is not much contrast between the skin and the ink, the design may not show up well.   The artistry in the designs is somewhat lost in translation, so to speak.

Of course, just because other people can’t see the design clearly is no good reason not to get the design applied.  Speaking just for myself, I didn’t get my ink to show off, I got it to satisfy myself.  And it is definitely possible to have great tattoos on darker skin.  One of the best tattoo artists in Los Angeles, Zulu, in whose shop I’m proud to say I got two of my three tattoos (by his associate artists, since Zulu himself is booked up months and months in advance, and for good reason) creates bold and beautiful designs that are suitable for any skin tone.

Has your skin tone dictated your choice of tattoo? As a generic whitey, I never even thought about taking my skin’s color into consideration.  I’m wondering if other people think differently about the process.

Oh, and if you know any good places to walk in Griffith Park, for an out-of-shape multicolored person, I’m all ears. 

photo credit: Japokskee

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I tend to favor colored tattoos.  I think it’s because I’ve seen so many old tattoos where the black ink has changed color, spread around, or faded out.  The black ink on my ankle tattoo spread, and what was once a fairly attractive Eye of Horus looks pretty amateurish today despite a second artist’s best attempts to make it look better.

From what I’ve seen over the years, the monochrome tattoos can be more elaborate and have finer lines, and certainly there is some amazing fine-line work being done today.  Portraits, especially, can be incredibly lifelike, and some of the tribal designs are amazingly intricate.  For those, adding color would be a mistake.

But on the other hand, there’s nothing like a full-color masterpiece.  The nuances of shading and color, in the hands of a skillful artist, rival artwork on any other kind of surface–and tattoo artists don’t have the luxury of being to erase and start over.  Plus the field of view is somewhat obscured by the ink that’s being wiped away while the process is going on.  And yet when you watch the process the artist makes it all look so easy. 

I’m still mulling over getting another tattoo, and it will be in color.  I’ve already mentioned that it will be somewhere that’s usually visible, probably a bracelet, but I might also get a half sleeve or a design on my calf.  That will depend a lot on the amount of money I’ll have available when the time comes.  Good work is well worth paying for.  I will have to work carefully on the design, though, given the issues I’ve had with red ink on my last tattoo (a shame, because I like a wide spectrum of colors) and go to an artist who doesn’t dig too deep like the creator of that now-smudged ankle design.

Which kind of design do you prefer?  One color?  Fine line? Full color?  I’d be interested to hear what you all have to say.

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The upgrade to the blog is done.  You may see some odd characters in the posts.  I am not sure what caused that, some artifact of the database restoration process, most likely.  But everything’s present and accounted for, and with any luck I won’t have to go through that process again for a while.

New posts as soon as I have time to breathe!

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I need to do some major work on my blogs this week, so if you try to get here and the link doesn’t work or the place looks like it got hit by a truckload of white bread and mayonnaise…     hang in there.   I have worked out the details and will be able to put everything back the way it should be…   eventually.  

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