Host Craig Reynolds travels around the world to document traditional methods and styles of tattooing, and has himself tattooed in traditional ways by several artists.

The final artist is Zulu, of Zulu Tattoo in Los Angeles. My daughter and I each got two tattoos in Zulu’s shop, although not by the master himself, who is in such great demand (and quite rightly so) that one has to make an appointment months in advance.

Here is the link to information on the History Channel web site.

photo credit: dalbera

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Naturally, a reality show isn’t really reality. The camera crews have to be there, and no matter how much the people in the show get used to the presence of the crew, they are never going to act the same for the TV show as they are when nobody else is watching. Plus, the show’s not going to waste time filming the humdrum events of the average day–they want drama and flash and stuff that’s out of the ordinary so as to attract the audience. I think “Inked” came closest to showing reality and that’s because it focused more on the artists and their interactions than it did on the customers. But how much can you do with a half hour show, especially in a shop where the owner is taking care of other businesses as well?

I’ve seen reports in several places that life on “Miami Ink” isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. The artists aren’t there every day, the people who supposedly spontaneously walk in to get a tattoo have actually been auditioned ahead of time, and so forth. I don’t know if all that’s true, but it certainly seems to be a common topic for discussion. It is pretty obvious that the entire process of applying the tat to the skin can’t be shown, because good, careful work takes hours, and the audience would go to sleep. Not to mention that they want to show multiple customers, not just the work that goes into one piece.

I haven’t watched “LA Ink,” but I did think Kat got a raw deal when they booted her off “Miami Ink.” Too many big egos in one small shop. I’m glad to see she got the last laugh. But I doubt her show reflects the reality of life in her studio any better than the previous one did.

Do shows like this encourage every Dick, Jane and Harry to go get inked? Does it mean that people have unrealistic expectations when they walk into the shop? Is the process shown clearly enough that people realize that it’s messy and painful and time-consuming to end up as beautifully decorated as you want to be? It just seems to me that cutting everything down into a few quick clips gives people the entirely wrong idea.

Anyone else have an opinion on that?

photo credit: leedsyorkshire

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Someone in the paper today speculated that it was mostly tattoo artists who went to those shows. While I must admit that my own experience at tattoo shows isn’t extensive, I don’t think that assessment is correct.

Now, if they’d said it was mostly tattooed people at the shows, that would be OK.

photo credit: Alex Campos ♂

I show, you show…

The first tattoo show I went to was on the Queen Mary, and I ended up getting inked there even though I had not planned on it. It’s just that the lure of Egyptian style lotuses surrounding my already-extant scarab and Eye of Horus was too great. And, of course, there was the fun of lying on the table in the bowels of the ship thinking “Oh, if the Duchess of Windsor could see me now!”

For me, dressing so that all my ink shows is way out of the ordinary. Basically it means clothing that bares my shoulders and my ankle, so it’s usually a thin-strapped tank top and capri pants. One of the reasons I’m thinking of getting a more visible tattoo is so that I can show off my ink without getting undressed enough to freeze my titties off in the winter.

My multicolored daughter and I have been to one of the shows in Pomona (in warm weather) and looked at everything with great interest. The booths full of clothing, accessories and body jewelry were amazing (I bought a t-shirt that says ATM: A TODA MADRE) and of course watching the artists at work can keep you occupied for hours.

Of course, being around all that ink and art makes you want to get more and more and more yourself (as if tattoos weren’t addictive enough). And if you do decide to get inked at a show on the spur of the moment, as I did, then you don’t have time to research the artist any more thoroughly than looking through his or her portfolio, so you’re taking a chance on making a mistake. It’s kind of hard to take that into consideration when you’ve got an artist in front of you ready and willing to get to work on your skin, though.

I wonder if I would have gotten my first tattoo sooner if I’d been to a few shows first? Guess I’ll never know. I’ll probably go to more shows, but not till the weather warms up.

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