Multi.Colored—tattooed people, tattoo dreams

Frequently asked questions about tattoos and tattooing:

How do I get a good tattoo?

It’s not a simple or instant process, so don’t go thinking you can just walk into the nearest shop and come out with something fantastic. You’ll need to do research. Go to as many tattoo parlors as you can and look carefully at the artists’ portfolios. Never mind the flash on the walls. Concentrate on what the artist puts out as examples of his or her work. Also, when you’re out and about, if you see someone with tattoos that appeal to you, don’t be shy. Most multicolored people are delighted to hear you like their artwork. Ask where they got it. Carry something you can write on so you can make a note of where to look.

How much does it cost?

This is something each artist determines for him/herself. Most charge by the hour, and many have a one hour minimum. You should get an estimate from the artist when you discuss your design. The final price may or not be the same as the estimate, but it should give you an idea of what to expect. And be sure to bring extra money to tip the artist. Good work should be rewarded.

Can’t I just find something on the wall in the tattoo parlor I like and go with that?

Absolutely, if what you want is something that’s on the tattoo parlor wall.

What do I need to do to prepare to get tattooed?

Bathe or shower that morning. Wear clothing that you can adjust or remove without flashing the neighborhood. Eat a light meal shortly before your appointment but don’t stuff yourself. Don’t drink a lot of water or soda, because you don’t want to interrupt the artist repeatedly to go to the bathroom. Do not, under any circumstances, get drunk. If you’re nervous, have a good friend or family member go with you for support.

What do I do after I get tattooed?

Besides pay the artist and tip him or her, you mean? Be sure your artist gives you aftercare instructions. Don’t let him/her put plastic wrap over your new ink. You may want to keep the bandage on overnight so you don’t stick to your bedsheets. Wash your tattoo according to the instructions and keep it moisturized with the product your artist recommends, or with Burt’s Bees Hand Salve, which contains just about the same ingredients as proprietary after-tat products and is much more widely available. Do not pick the scabs off, do not scratch no matter how much it itches (and it will) and don’t be in a hurry to get out in the sun. Healing takes time and your body is unique, so don’t go by someone else’s timetable.

And the #1 frequently asked question: Does it hurt?

You betcha. But getting it removed hurts worse. So be very sure of what you want, where you want it, and whom you want to apply it before you start!

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I’ve mentioned before that I wanted to get a tattoo when I was 16. I used to draw a design on my skin every day–a little doodle of a flower on the inside of my left ankle, where the eagle-eyed enforcers of the dress code wouldn’t be likely to see it. (Yes, folks, in those days back in the stone age there was a Dress Code and if you didn’t adhere to it in every particular you would be sent home to change, if not some worse punishment.)

Nowadays, of course, there are no dress codes in school (or at least not the do-or-die kind we had) and it’s possible for a person to be legally tattooed at the age of 18. I was reminded of this yesterday when I went to my niece’s high school graduation and noticed what appeared to be a tattoo of an ankle bracelet on one young lady as she stepped down from the stage with her new diploma.

My niece wants to get a tattoo herself, and wants to start off with one on the top of her foot, going up the ankle on the outside. She’s 18, and can get one legally if she wishes, but she hasn’t gone ahead with it yet.

On the one hand, I would like to encourage her to go ahead, but on the other hand, is a design you choose at age 18 going to be something you’ll want to keep for the rest of your life?

If I’d had that little flower permanently inked into my skin, I don’t know how I’d feel about it today. I might just show it off as an example of what my younger self thought was worth keeping. I might have had it covered up with something much more elaborate later on. I don’t think I would have had it removed, because it would represent something that once mattered to me very much.

How old were you when you got your first tattoo? Is it something you want to keep for life?

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OK, so I am a John Prine fan.

A long-time online acquaintance is thinking about getting a tattoo. He’s a diabetic, as I am, and wanted to know what he should take into consideration before he makes his final decision.

I, of course, pointed him here to my series of posts on first tattoos, but I’m sure there are other things I hadn’t thought of.

What would you tell someone who’s mid-40s, thinking of getting a first tattoo?

photo credit: darkenstormyknight1

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I’m thinking of turning some of my entries into an e-book about getting your first tattoo (which can go into more detail than a blog post).

While y’all wait for me to get that together, there’s an index to my series of posts on first tattoos here. Enjoy. And if there’s any information I left out, be sure to let me know!

Edit:  For some reason the link doesn’t appear to work…  I need to fix that, pronto!

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When tattoos were first invented, the process was pretty simple. Grab a handful of ashes from the fire, maybe mix them with some animal fat, rub that on your skin and poke the design with a thorn or something else equally sharp. Or carve the design into your skin and then rub in the ashes. Or thread up a needle, rub the sinew (or whatever cavemen used for thread) in the ash mixture, and pull it through the area of skin you wanted to decorate.

Ow.

Later on, people figured out how to make colored tattoo ink by mixing various minerals with animal fat (same stuff they used to paint on the walls) but the process of embedding it in the skin was pretty much the same. Good thing nobody ever heard of germs in those days.

Today we have ink in dozens of colors from hundreds of manufacturers, and the process of applying it is both easier and more complex. But just as back in the old ashes-and-bear-grease days, not every person’s body is going to react well to the addition of the design.

The fact is, although tattoo inks are manufactured to be as nonreactive as possible, people do have allergic reactions to them. And perversely enough, the skin often doesn’t react to the ink till days or even weeks after the tattoo is done, so it wouldn’t even help if there were a “patch test” for tattoo ink. Sometimes it’s even worse–you’ve gotten sensitized to some brand or color, but you won’t find out about it till someone applies that brand or color to your skin in a future design.

And even more annoyingly, sometimes part of a tattoo will react and another part with the same color won’t. My ankle tattoo (the Egyptian design shown in a previous message) has one area of red ink that remains raised, itchy, and flaky two years after it was applied. The other red area was like that for nearly a year and then settled down. One of the teal green areas raised an actual blister about a year after it was applied, but is fine now.

Go figure.

How can you insure that you won’t have a reaction to the ink? You can’t have absolute security, but choosing your artist carefully will help. An experienced artist will have an idea which inks are least likely to cause problems and will almost certainly be using those in preference to other brands. He or she will have plenty of suggestions for dealing with reactions should they occur. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Of course, if you do what I did and get a tattoo on the spur of the moment from an out-of-town artist at a tattoo show, that’s not going to be quite as easy as going back to a local shop to show the artist what happened and ask for help, but if that’s what you’ve done, do call the artist ASAP and explain the problem. He or she will want to know that one of the inks is a potential troublemaker.

Red ink seems to be high on the list of potential allergens. It certainly has been a problem for me. I don’t know whether I’m going to get more tattoos and hope for the best, or stop with the three I have to avoid future problems. Tattoos are addictive, and I certainly want more. But do I want to take the risk?

Who knows?

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It’s always best, as the old saw goes, to begin at the beginning.

When it comes to getting a tattoo, though, there’s a lot more to be done than just sitting down in the chair and waiting to be decorated.

Which comes first, choosing the design or choosing the artist? Obviously, neither should be done on the spur of the moment or because all your friends are doing it. This seems like a no-brainer, but cyberspace is full of stories of people who ended up with ink that they really didn’t want. That’s why tattoo removal is such big business these days.

When I was 16 I wanted a green flower on the inside of my left ankle. So much so that I carefully re-drew it every day, for years. If I’d been able to go ahead and make it permanent at that time, you bet I would have. I’d undoubtedly view it as a cute exercise in nostalgia if it were there today, and I could always hide it under a sock or a pair of black nylons if I wanted to. (I have a much more elaborate tattoo in the same general area today and I’ve hidden it under dark nylons a time or two. You usually don’t want to go to a job interview displaying your art unless you’re going to work for an artist.)

I’d personally answer the artist-or-design question by saying “Pick the artist first.” You can get a really good idea of whether you want this person doing something permanent to your body by visiting the shop, making it clear to the receptionist that you’re in the market for a tattoo, but not today, and taking your time to look at the flash on the walls (if any) and the artist’s portfolio, which should be available. No portfolio? Uh… try another shop. You’re making a lifetime commitment to this body art and if the artist doesn’t want to show off his or her work, you don’t want to be the sacrificial lamb.

You should also pay attention to how the artist interacts with the people he or she is decorating, and the general ambience of the shop, and the customers. Now, I freely admit that when I got my first tattoo, I did it on the basis of having seen a newspaper article about the artist and having decided that I really liked his attitude. When I finally went into the shop, I looked a bit out of place–a 46-year-old mom amongst bikers, truckers, kids, and eager candidates for World’s Most Tattooed Person. But looks aren’t everything. The artist understood better than I did what I wanted, adapted my original idea, and gave me something way better than what I would have gotten if I’d been left to my own devices.

As for the design, ideally, you would have one of your own, one that’s meaningful to you, something unique. But that’s not always practical or necessary. Picking flash off the artist’s wall or out of his/her portfolio is certainly the path of least resistance. And certainly one can get a spectacular tattoo that way. Just do yourself a favor and don’t be getting the world’s ten billionth copy of the Tasmanian Devil or Yosemite Sam on your butt, OK? As in all fashion, timeless design is the key.

I’ll talk more about coming up with my own designs in future posts.

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I think I was sixteen when I first decided I wanted to get a tattoo. We lived in a little armpit town called Beatrice (bee-ATT-ris) Nebraska in those days. Not only was there no tattoo parlor in town, I suspect anyone who tried to open one up would have been ridden out of town on a rail.

Had to content myself with drawing on my skin in green ink. Behind my inner left ankle, where it wouldn’t be seen by the Enforcers of the Dress Code. (Our high school principal was a dead ringer for Mussolini and ran the school with about as heavy a hand.) If I had had any clue how to make that design permanent in those days, I probably would have. Would I have been embarrassed by it in later years? Good question.

The design itself would have been obviously homebrewed (a cartoon of a flower in a pot, which I still like to doodle to this day–dunno what that means). But during the 60s and 70s it certainly would have been a mark of distinction. Where I lived, people didn’t DO that. I liked being different then. I like being different now.

So, in the mid 1990s, I read a newspaper article about the only tattoo artist in town. We’ve long since left the armpit of the midwest behind and we’re living in the LA megalopolis, so it’s surprising that at that time there was only one tattoo artist in this town. I read the article. I liked the guy’s attitude. I said “When I get my tattoo, he’s doing it.”

Of course, in those days I had no money for something like that. I was working for barely more than minimum wage as a supervisor in customer service in a big-box store. However, the store actually came to the rescue (not that they knew what they were doing). They had a contest for “friendliest store in the chain,” and the company offered to hand $50 to every employee in the store that won.

Our store won. I had $50 that I hadn’t planned on having. I went to get my tattoo.

All I wanted was seven small stars, for personal reasons too complicated to explain here. The artist thought that over, decided it was too blah and undistinguished, and drew me a new design. Seven stars, with a swirl of multicolored dots around them. I thought it over. Said yes. He quoted me a price. I went off to the ATM.

While I was sitting in the chair (and believe me, I looked every day of my 46 years) people wandered in and out of the store. They’d see me. They’d drop their teeth. Truthfully, I can’t remember when I’ve had more fun. The tattoo hurt, but not enough to change my genuine joy.

“Now you’re one of us,” said the artist when he’d finished.

Yeah baby. I sure am.

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