Wednesday 4 August 2010

Tattoos.

I love tattoos. Black and white ones, coloured ones, bit ones, small ones. Almost all of them. Almost.

I hate Chinese characters. How do you know for sure that it says Hope and not Chicken Satay? Also, could you BE any more of a cliché?

I hate tribal. I think it's boring and same-y and everyone seems to get it. I saw something once that said "Tribal, for people who can't think of any decent tattoo ideas." which I think just about covers it. It doesn't even mean anything anymore, and it used to. It's so watered down. Any 'hard guy' seems to have tribal on them somewhere. Blurgh! Cliché!

I also hate nautical themed stuff. Anchors, sailor girls, swallows... Anything that back in the day sailors got, but has now become fashionable. Much like Ed Hardey. It's all retro chic and it bugs me. I especially hate swallows. I don't know why. Yummy Mummy has two and I really don't like them. Another cliché I think.

Your typical "100% Made In Britain!!" tattoos with bulldogs in English flag neck scarves or big Flags or knights with, surprise, a big flag. I get that you love your country, but PLEASE! It's like having a toy with Made in Japan printed on it. Do you really, honestly want that? Do you think most people give a shit? No! We don't. It's horrible and in my opinion a... CLICHÉ! God I love that word.

Tramp stamps. Sometimes they manage to combine this AND tribal into a double whammy of shit I hate. Throw in the words MADE IN ENGLAND and a random Chinese character and congrats! In one tat you've REALLY annoyed me! Don't know what a tramp stamp is? I don't mean a slag tag, or hickey, I mean those lame lower back tats that are normally a heart or butterfly or flower entwined in random tribal or curls. They all look the same. Seriously. Ugh! Cliché!

For that matter, I also hate dolphins, roses, butterflys and kisses, especially tattooed on the hip. Everyone has them! Tinkerbelle pisses me off. As do bands of stars and band names. Also the name of a wife/ lover. Cos a tattoo is permanent. Relationships aren't. I know there's more but I cant remember.

Think about this. Tattoos should be personal to you, they should mean something. Don't get ink for the sake of it. When you're 60 you'll probably regret the carebear smoking pot you have tattooed on your hip, because it's ridiculous and doesn't MEAN anything other than in your youth you liked getting high and making REALLY bad decisions! (Linked? Maybe. Depends if you were high when you got it done...) Don't blindly go into a tattooist and pick something out of the books. Every tattooist has those! So you will be one in thousands, if not MILLIONS of people with exactly the same tattoo! One that probably means nothing to you except it's "pretty" or makes you look "hard"! Take your time. Design something meaningful that you wont regret, pick a good tattooist, not just the first one you come across because a bad tattoo is for life, just as much as a good one, and worse than being one in millions with the same ink is being one who has a REALLY BAD version of what millions of people have.

My ink and planned ink may not be to everyones taste, but mine means something to me, it sums me up I think, and most of what I have planned are original designs, so unless someone outright copies my ink, I'll be the only one that has it. Or someone has the EXACT same ideas as me. They do say nothing is ever original, someone somewhere has had the same thoughts as you. But dammit at least I try!

Make wise ink choices people. Don't be a cliché!

No comments:

Post a Comment