AddictedToInk

Here below is a simple, self-explanatory list of don’ts for getting tattoos and piercings.

1. Don’t be cheap, pay full price for your stuff, don’t make bargains, deals, discounts, or haggle with the professional. How would you like it if someone came up to you and asked you to do your job for cheap. They make a living like this, artists and piercers have bills to pay, they usually don’t have a 9-5.

2. Don’t go to a Kitchen Magician. Most of these tattoos aren’t quality work and you not only risk a bad tattoo but infection. The money you “save” doing this you will probably end up spending on medication or covering up the tattoo at a later date.

3. Just because they work at the tattoo parlor doesn’t mean that they are experienced enough to do what you want done. Most artists have their books sitting out, if not, ask for them. If they won’t show you what they have done it usually means that they’ve got nothing to be proud of.

4. Don’t be a thief. Tattoo thievery is not flattery, it’s actually insulting. Come up with your own drawing, being inspired is one thing, copying is another.

5. If your artist is trying to push you into a tattoo or piercing you don’t like, or feel like it isn’t your style or what you wanted; tell them. It’s your body not theirs, and they don’t have to live with something that they don’t like.

6. Don’t destroy your chances. Example, if your a bright man or woman, who is well on their way to becoming a lawyer, politician, or CEO, don’t get any tattoos or piercings you can’t hide or take out. I.e. don’t get “THUG LIFE” tattooed on your knuckles.

7. Don’t rebandage, rub, scratch, your new tattoo until it is completely healed. It will itch, this is normal.

8. Don’t submerge, soak, or swim with your new tattoo or piercing for the first two weeks.

9. Don’t expose your tattoo to constant sunlight (tanning, tanning beds, etc.).

There can always be debates and arguements over the best way to let tattoos and piercings heal. Over the years, the methods have been tested, tried, and proven true. Not only the technology  and cleanliness of tattoos, but the ointments and treatments have improved over time.

1. Find out what the symbols mean before you ink them.

2. Make sure always have clean hands before you go and apply ointment to your tattoo.

3. Wash your tattoo/piercings gently with warm water and antibacterial soap.

4. Make sure that before you get the tattoo, the environment in which you are getting it is clean and well prepared.

In the minds of most people that have tattoos, or aspire to, tattooing is an art form, the skin is a canvas, the mind a sketchbook; the tattoo artist can be compared to the likes of Van Gogh and Warhol. In the here and now, many artists have such a long waiting list that they are booked up for years in advance; or a person will want a tattoo done by a certain artist so they go to enormous lengths, even traveling across the  country. some of these prized, and prize winning artists are, Olivia de Berardinis, Tommy Montoya, Kat Von D, Joe Capobianco, and Ami James. These artists are scattered all over the U.S. and each have a specialty category. Olivia de Berardinis specializes in pin up, or cheesecake art; her pin ups are so sought after that her waiting list stretches almost three years down the line. Tommy Montoya is tattooing in Southern California, or SoCal, and specializes in portrait tattoos. Portraits are a very hard line of work to accomplish because the artist must successfully draw and tattoo an image of a person on the the wearers’ skin that closely resembles the picture. There is no room for errors here. Kat Von D and Ami James are both television stars, as the hosts of L.A. Ink and N.Y. Ink respectively. Joe Capobianco has a more surreal, cartoonish, almost caricature style to his tattoos. Most of his tattoos are pin up girls with exaggerated features and bright, vibrant colors.