Tattoos?

[madison-russell]

Freelancing is one of the few jobs where absolutely no one cares if you have tattoos, so I was wondering if any of you have any, and if so, what are they? I just got my first two tattoos yesterday and I'm absolutely in love with them. The first picture is an equal sign with rainbow dots for gay pride, and the second picture is the Atlanta skyline. I'm moving from Atlanta to New York in August so wanted to take a little piece of Atlanta with me. 

[colettelewis]

Each to their own about tattooing, but I think it is the greatest pity to mar/poison beautiful skin with ink dots.Especially when ideas and ideals change over the years - so what might seem important today tattoo-wise -  might lead tomorrow, to one wishing that it could be eradicated, which of course is possible, but is painful and could lead to scarring. 

The other thing is, that like it or not, one gets old. Wrinkled skin does not look good with tattoos. 

[atlinguist]

I recently met an entrepreneur who was thinking of hiring a heavily tatooed guy. He decided against it because, "although he is a nice guy and I really like him, I can't let him knock on old ladies' doors to make the deliveries". So sad. 

[madison-russell]

Alexandra,

I work in human rights activism and tech accessibility, two fields where looking and thinking differently are good things. My bosses have more tattoos than I do.

[atlinguist]

I'm glad to hear it, Madison. We see a lot of tatoos here in all kinds of industries as well. I think that guy was just having us on.

[mtngigi]

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@Nichola L wrote:

Each to their own about tatooing, but I think it is the greatest pity to mar/poison beautiful skin with ink dots.Especially when ideas and ideals change over the years - so what might seem important today tatto-wise -  might lead tomorrow, to one wishing that it could be eradicated, which of course is possible, but is painful and could lead to scarring. 

The other thing is, that like it or not, one gets old. Wrinkled skin does not look good with tatoos. 

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I have to laugh at people thinking tattoos make them different somehow. Now you stand out from the crowd if you haven't succumbed to the tattoo craze. I'll never get the point, not to mention the waste of money spent - if I want to see nice artwork, I'd rather buy a piece of artwork done on a different medium, rather than on my skin. Decisions made when one is young are invariably regretted in old age.

[madison-russell]

Like I said in another comment, Virginia, I don't need to worry about regretting my decisions when I'm old! I'd rather be happy with how my life is now than die with regrets. 

I'd also rather have beautiful art on my skin that can be with me forever than buy a painting that can be stolen, ruined, or decay overtime. 

[danfue]

Those tattoos look very nice Madison, simple and elegant! Did you get both done in one session? That's pretty hardcore for a first-timer 😄 Those colored dots might fade after a while though, so you might want to get them reworked from time to tome.

I got quite a few myself, as my sister happens to be a tattoo artist. I've never had any problems in my professional life, but all my tats are either very small or covered by clothing most of the time.

I certainly think that Nichola is right in terms of styles and preferences changing over time, but I also believe that a carefully designed tattoo that has some form of meaning or symbolism will never go out of style. Sure, if you get some cookie cutter tribals and barbed wire done on you arms or back, then you're essentially running around with the equivalent of an 80s mullet for the rest of your life.

[colettelewis]

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@Daniel F wrote:

Those tattoos look very nice Madison, simple and elegant! Did you get both done in one session? That's pretty hardcore for a first-timer 😄 Those colored dots might fade after a while though, so you might want to get them reworked from time to tome.

I got quite a few myself, as my sister happens to be a tattoo artist. I've never had any problems in my professional life, but all my tats are either very small or covered by clothing most of the time.

I certainly think that Nichola is right in terms of styles and preferences changing over time, but I also believe that a carefully designed tattoo that has some form of meaning or symbolism will never go out of style. Sure, if you get some cookie cutter tribals and barbed wire done on you arms or back, then you're essentially running around with the equivalent of an 80s mullet for the rest of your life.

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 ___________________________

I have never thought it necessary to publicly label my beliefs on my skin. I still feel that it is a pity to mar skin with unattractive ink dots, no matter how well applied. However careful, design goes out of fashion. I have yet to see a tattoo that is original and not derivative - a tattoo that is, let's say - museum worthy.  

Tattoing for me is almost on the same level as self harm, but as I have already said, each to their own. 

[madison-russell]

Thank you for your comments Nichola. I thought long and hard about my tattoos and didn't do anything spur of the moment. I chose two symbols that will never change: I will always be gay, and Atlanta will always be the place where I grew up.

And also, luckily I don't have to worry about wrinkles. I have a genetic disease that dramatically decreases my life expectancy, so I won't get old enough to need to worry about that 🙂

Thanks, Daniel! I did get them both in one session, and had to take lots of breaks because I thought I was going to pass out. Definitely worth it though. 

I'm sure I will have to get the dots touched up at some point, and luckily my artist will do it for free and lives in the same town as my parents, so whenever I visit I can just pop in. 

[prestonhunter]

re: "Freelancing is one of the few jobs where absolutely no one cares if you have tattoos"

What jobs have you actually had where people cared about your tattoos?

[madison-russell]

Well, where I live, nurses, doctors, and teachers absolutely cannot have tattoos. I do live in the conservative South so people tend to dislike tattoos more here than somewhere else. Most office jobs here don't allow tattoos, with the exception of big tech companies like Google and smaller start-ups (usually run by young people). Also, most people working in the tourism industry here can't have tattoos, and neither can government officials. So I'd say that's quite a few.

I created this thread so that people who have tattoos could discuss what they have and we could share pictures and stories, so I'd appreciate if anyone who doesn't believe in getting tattoos could refrain from commenting. 😄

[bobafett999]

Well Madison, I hope you like your colored "whatever' part of your body for the rest of your life.  As others have pointed out the views change over time.  There is a saying,"When you are in 20s you are a retard if you are not a liberal and don't want to change the world.  When in 30's you don't have a heart if you are not a democrate.  When in 40's you must be broke and have no brain if you are not a republican small business owner. after 60s it doesn't matter - people think you are senile anyway".  In my case I skipped all the decades..

[AveryO · Accepted solution]

Hi Madison! 

I love the tattoo with the colours! I'm actually afraid to use colours on mine because it's harder to maintain. Some colours also triggre allergies, so be sure to check first. 

There's a tattoo artist in the Philippines who is known for doing hand-tapped tattoos. Her name is Whang-Od, and I've linked a Wikipedia page just in case you want to read up on her. A lot of tattoo enthusiasts from around the world travel to her town (Buscalan, Kalinga). Pretty far from the city, but a lot of people say it's worth the trip. 

I have four tattoos. Two of which are written in Baybayin (my son's name, which I had inked close to my heart, and my name on the back of my ear).  I also have a koling on my back which was hand-tapped. A koling is believed to be a mythical creature from the heavens who is watching over you, and I had it when I lost someone to cancer. And then, me and my siblings created our own tattoo design which we had inked on the back of our necks. 🙂 I wish I can share photos but I don't have decent photos of my tattoo. (What I do have is a short video of my tattoo being hand-tapped on my back!)

I actually view my back as a canvas, and would want to have my whole back inked someday, with designs from a local artist such as Katrina Pallon (check her out for those who like paintings!)

[madison-russell]

Wow Avery, those sound amazing!

I've never heard of Whang-Od, but I'm going to read up on her now. Baybayin is a beautiful script, and I'm sure your tattoos are beautiful too. I want another one behind my ear, but with how much the neck hurt, I'm afraid to do something else in the area. I definitely want some on my back though.

The artist that I used specializes in watercolor tattoos, so I am planning on going back for a watercolor plant and an image of my grandparent's old swingset in December. The colors were an extremely last minute decision that I made when I realized I was getting an equality tattoo on the 2nd anniversary of the Pulse shooting in Orlando, and I wanted to add a bit more pride in there with the colors. I will probably need it touched up eventually but I'm hoping it will last quite a while. 

Thank you for your kind words! 🙂

[luce-neidert]

I'm glad that when I was young, people didn't have tatoos. That way I don't have to have to worry about the stupid tatoo I've had for 50 years and that looks terrible on my old wrinkled skin. I never had a tatoo done to me and never will.

I go to danse classes with a young lady who's just become a nurse. She has 3 tatoos that look terrible, one with roses all over her arm. She has a skeleton on the leg - very good taste when you're a nurse. Now she's added a ring in her nose to the lot. And she works in a hospital. She reported that one patient had asked for the "real nurse", and she thought it was funny.

I think it's terrible - the hospital should tell her to calm down and stop scaring the poor patients. 

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[digiphics]

I have one that I treated myself when I graduated from college, then I had "ssh" tattooed onto the inside of my index finger to only realize the "artist" spelled it shh, that's shahuh if you spell it phonetically. Since then it basically fell out leaving what looks like a martian footprint which I kinda like. So I'm okay with tattoos and really want more (actually want a full body Munewari Sōshinbori).

If you have em, love em.

[creativedigit]

I never really liked having a tattoo (on my own skin) but I find them cool on others. I just think of my skin, just like any other organ in my body, to be very precious and I don't want to mess with it. Aside from keeping my skin intact, I agree with what Nichola said. I have an older friend who did everything possible to remove an old tattoo and it never worked. He has this tattoo for 3 decades and he tried several treatments and it just got worst and never disappeared. The material that has been used for this tattoo is very old, they used to call it here "The Chinese Tattoo" to indicate how genuine it is since it was known that it's super hard to remove it, especially with time.

After expressing yourself by explaining what your first tattoo means, I can confidently tell you without fear of perceiving this as a flirt, that I REALLY like your haircut.

[alice_m_uk]

I have 3 tattoos, I've had them for so long that I don't actually notice them to be honest, it's only when I meet someone new and they ask me about them. 

My mom got her first tattoo this year, on her 70th birthday, she'd always kind of wanted a little one since she was young but, well...the opinions on this thread clearly show why she never did. 

[reinierb]

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@Alice M wrote:

I have 3 tattoos, I've had them for so long that I don't actually notice them to be honest, it's only when I meet someone new and they ask me about them. 

My mom got her first tattoo this year, on her 70th birthday, she'd always kind of wanted a little one since she was young but, well...the opinions on this thread clearly show why she never did. 

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 Many people would be far happier if they cared much less about what other people might think about them.

With that said though, I'll keep my opinion(s) about whether or not having tatoos is a good or bad thing to myself. 

[alice_m_uk]

She doesn't care now, hence why she did it, but she's not a young woman, growing up for her wasn't so free as it is now.