sickradsean:

I WILL BE WORKING THE PORTLAND TATTY CON! I will also have FREE “prints” of this sheet all weekend. So stop by and get a tattoo or shoot the shit, whichever. #portlandtattooconvention #sadpuma #boxingbabyhipster #tattoos #traditional #butitsforme (Taken with Instagram at oct 12-14)

“But it’s for me!”

 Also, remember [this atrocity]? 

Just… thank you.

PLACEMENT FOR FLOW

Let’s talk quickly about the flow of your body. A lot of people wonder (especially in wrist tattoos) if the flow and direction of a tattoo matter if you don’t plan on getting more tattoos.

The answer is yes.

Let’s look at an advertisement, because marketing is such an insanely scientific field it’s easy to see the way art works.

Almost everyone will look at the model’s face first, because as humans we’re programmed to look at the face. Then what did you see? The ad. After that, you probably went back to the face.

Our eyes follow natural lines and rhythm in art. The model was put facing the product because we will naturally follow her gaze. This technique is super common in advertising because it works.

Now let’s talk about tattoos.

As a general rule, tattoos should read in the direction of the arrows above. Just like eyes naturally flow from the model to the product, they should be able to flow from one tattoo to another—or, just as importantly, from one tattoo to your face. You shouldn’t have to hold your arm/body part a certain way for it to be readable. Just like a chest piece should be correctly when you’re standing (and not doing a hand stand) so should pieces on your arms and legs.

If you look at the side image, you’ll also see the arrows pointing to the front of your body. You don’t want to have portraits on your arms turned away from your face, because of the natural flow of your body (just like the ad shows).

You can see a backwards tattoo here. If it looks a little odd to you, it should.

Taking Lesson from Rhianna: What Your Tattoos Probably Shouldn’t Look Like

I’ve heard at least two blog credit Rhianna with starting this insane trend of tiny tattoos with bad placement. I cannot find anything about her tattoos that is worth liking—every piece is Bad Tattoos 101. Let’s go through the list.

• NECK: Bad Translations. Outside of what a bad idea neck tattoos are for 99% of the population, Rhianna’s french neck tattoo is also a bad translation. In a leaked text to her tattoo artist, she tried to head off the media’s questions: “rebelle fleur translates to rebel flower, NOT rebelious flower, its 2 nouns so in that case fleur does not HAVE to be first! Fyi, cuz they will ask.”
• FOOT: Too Small. Between the placement and the size, that’s going to turn into a tiny, birthmark-lookin’ smudge in a few years. Also, you can’t tell anything about it from more than a foot away—which is usually too close for comfort for someone’s face to get to your foot! Foot tattoos should be big and bold to hold over time and to see from a distance.
• HAND: Not a Great Idea. For her and her career it’s fine. But for the rest of us? I keep running into all of these young kids (under 20) with no major tattoos except for their hands and neck. WORST. IDEA. EVER. So many employers, banks, cops, and general people with power will discriminate against you because of this. Don’t do it unless you’re already heavily tattooed and know you can handle it.
• INNER FINGER: Falls Out Quickly. And then you’re left with smudges—especially if yours is as bold as hers.
• TOP SHOULDER: For The Birds. No one can see that unless they’re above you. So they’re birds, or their a waiter coming to take your order. And even then, this would be backwards looking to the waiter. Such a weird placement and bad trend.
• SIDE: Tiny tattoo, big canvas. That little gun looks like it’s just floating in space…
• COLLAR BONE: It’s fucking backwards. And you guys get mad at me for calling wrist tattoos “backwards.” This one is really, super messed up. I CAN’T EVEN

(Source: critink)

Weight Changes And Tattoos

After roughly a million anon asks about this, I figured I would address this fully. Over the passed year and a half I’ve lost about 60 pounds myself, and have been tattooed before and during the weight loss. I’m going to write about my own experiences more than I usually do because I don’t know how many people openly do that. For reference, here is a before/current picture so you get an idea of the weight I’ve lost verses the weight you might lose/gain. And for everyone who says I’ve never posted pictures of myself haha

Does weight gain affect tattoos? Does weight loss?

Yes and yes. Think about a big inflated ballon and draw a flower on it. Now deflate that imaginary balloon. Just like it changes shape, so does the flower on it. Same with your body. But unlike a balloon, if your body goes “back” to the way it was, it’s never the same as before! Here’s a photo of what was once a circle around a belly button. Post-pregnancy, it’s an oval:

But, just like some parts of your body are more prone to fat than others, some parts of your body are safer tattoo than others. That list is below.

I’m planning on losing weight or am in the process of losing it. Should I get tattooed now or later?

If this is true for you (as some of your questions have indicated), I really, really wish you the best. Did you know Tumlr has an entire section obsessed with weight loss? Check out the #fitblr or #fitspo tags. You can learn a ton from who you follow on here.

Now, you are left with two big choices:

• Get tattooed now. Don’t forget weight loss isn’t about the end result—most of it is about the process. Maybe after the first 10 or 20 pounds you want to get a tattoo somewhere a part of your big transformation, you beautiful butterfly you. I would recommend putting it somewhere that’s less prone to stretching (see below) so you don’t totally warp it. My shoulder tattoo (a pomegranate) was a perfect circle before weight loss and is now slightly ovular—nothing you can really tell by looking at it today. BUT had I got something on my leg? Forget about it. The good thing here is that if you gain weight at some point in your life again, it won’t like totally kill your tattoo.
• Get tattooed later. Celebrate! Reaching your ultimate goal weight is amazing, and this might be motivation. Good news is you can weight for your skin to firm up a bit (yes, it will get slightly loser, but really nothing to worry about) and then get a tattoo that will last. But weight-gain is often a problem people have to worry about long term, as we are more prone to it than those who have always been skinny. The other problem is that putting your life on hold for weight loss can be discouraging, and if you never hit your UGW because it’s unrealistic, you change your mind, or whatever the reason—saving EVERYTHING for that day can be pretty hard to cope with.

Where can I get tattoos if I’m worried about gaining weight when I get older?

Thinks about where most weight gain (or loss) happens during your life. Those would be the worst places to get tattoos. Here are some of the better spots:

• forearms
• outer biceps
• chest / shoulder
• upper back
• calves / shins
• feet

I weight a lot. Can I still get tattoos?

I got like 3 different asks like this when my anon was on. It kind of breaks my heart.

Fat or muscle doesn’t change your skin function. Your skin is no different than anyone else’s, although more fat might make it a bit loser, and more muscle might make it a bit firmer.

I’m assuming the underlying question here is “will it look okay”. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t or shouldn’t do because of how much or little you weigh. It’s your body. Your rules.

I would suggest finding somewhere where your skin is firmer just because it would be less likely to warm over time (see the above list) but really that’s just a suggestion.

I’m really skinny. How will this affect tattoo planning?

Two things: the bonier areas of your body may hurt a bit more to be tattooed, and you have a different canvas in certain areas. So unlike me, who can fit half a damn wolf around my bicep, it may have to be composed differently on your skinny arm. Or, if you have a very pronounced shoulder blade in back, you can arrange your tattoo around it like someone else might arrange it around large hip curves.

Really though, this isn’t good or bad. Every body is different. I’m really tall so what would be a 3/4 sleeve on some people is a 1/2 sleeve on me. All of these things will be taken into account by a good tattoo artist. Raise these concerns with one!

Can you tattoo over stretch marks?

This isn’t a yes or no question. I mean yes, you can totally tattoo over them, but the final product will vary depending on how large yours are. Most women have stretch marks from growing when they were a teenager, weight loss, weight gain, pregnancy, or just aging. There’s nothing to be ashamed about.

The picture at the top of this post has really light stretch marks—they’re white and flat. After pregnancy, you may have dark, thick, purple or red ones. The picture on top you can barely see them in the tattoo (probably less so once they’re covered up) but the texture of your skin won’t be covered by tattoos.

To avoid stretch marks with weight loss or gain, the best thing you can do is gain or lose slowly. I actually like mine just because they’re proof of how far I’ve come. If yours don’t make you happy, talk to your dermatologist about ways to fade them.

IMAGES NOT SAFE FOR WORK.

Basically they’re all nipples. And technically what I’m talking about is the areola (colored area around the nipple) but I’m going to use “nipple” because that’s the key word that people will be searching for online.

There are two parts to this answer.

Let’s start at the first assumption that you want a chest piece or body piece or something, and you want to tattoo over the nipple.

Generally artists never do this, for two reason: (1) Nipples are made of erectile tissue that is a pain in the ass to tattoo, and is super uncomfortable. (2) Nipples and belly buttons are what “maps” out your torso to the eye. Without nipples, you look kind of out-of-proportion to the view. It basically creates a weird optical illusion.

by Jesse Smith. You can see how the piece is designed around the nipples instead of just leaving them blank or tattooing over them. It was a conscious decision.

Artist Unknown, but tattooing with out taking into account the nipples or shape of the body leaves it looking a bit awkward.

Or, you just want to tattoo the nipple to make it look cool.

Tattooing nipples seems to be a nice advance for breast cancer survivors who cannot (or choose not) to have nipple reconstruction after having one or both breasts removed. It’s fucking awesome that an industry with such a bad rap can help women in this way.

Here’s an example of how boss this shit is:

Yay for making women feel good about their bodies after beating cancer!!

Now if you have a normal nipple and you just want to tattoo something over it, it will hold well enough but make sure you go to an artist who has experience in doing something like this or experience doing tattooed makeup, which relies on matching skin tones naturally.

And here are some examples of how to make your areola look awesome:

For something more decorative like the last two, remember that they will always turn out darker than the current color of your areola. 

But, because all of these have no black lines, the ink around the nipple will eventually blur a bit, which might actually help it look more natural. Talk to an artist before hand.

(tattoo artist @jeffriescustomart just informed me these are on Taylor Harmon, done by Risa Stevens. Both ladies work at Aardvark Tattoo Company in Portland, OR)

Now what I wold not suggest is doing something like this:

It will basically make your body look lopsided and your boobs look different sizes. Also that’s gonna get distorted like crazy over time as gravity sets in.

I am obviously not submitting this for the qaulity of the photo. But for the fact that i got this tattoo done on my 18th birthday and I’m about to have my 22nd birthday and this picture was taken today. Just to show that some lip tattoos do last longer than a couple weeks or a couple of months, but I may also be a freak of nature.

Hmmm… I won’t talk about it really because it’s a wonky inner lip tattoo (they all are) but the aging of it is worth the post. I’m perplexed, but I’m glad it worked out for you!

I got this tattoo back in december. It’s a talking heads song, and a reminder of a very significant part of my life. 

I’m not asking for criticism on the tattoo itself. The lettering could have been FAR more consistent throughout and I twitched a few times. It is plain text, and it is what I asked for. However, I’m hoping to add more traditional pieces (roses, etc) to my shoulders and back, and I’m wondering how well the text will blend. Do you think I should add a banner of some kind around the text? What are your suggestions?

I wouldn’t normally answer a personal question like this, but there are lessons to be learned.

These straight-line tattoos that don’t flow with the body won’t flow with other tattoos. You won’t be able to do a banner because the letters have no flow, unless you want some awkward, straight banner. If you get flowers/vines or something else flowy around it, the flow will clash with the straight line. And, over all, the more straight lines you add the more it will clash with your body.

I would personally suggest moving far away from this piece with other stuff because it’s going to look pretty weird no matter what you do. Moving to your lower back, ribs, or arms will help. Anywhere where you won’t see this tattoo and that one at the same exact moment.

This is my script tattoo. I know, I know. Script, script, script. I’ve had it for about two years now, and I don’t love it any less. I’ve never really wanted many tattoos on my back, which is why I chose the placement I did, and I worked with the artist to find a font that would both hold well, and look beautiful, although I’ve heard from many, many tattoo artists on tumblr and other sites that this was a terrible idea, it’s been two years and I’m still not sure that I would change it if I could do it again.

Critique is always great though, especially from someone who knows their stuff like you do! It read “I believe God is a bigger man than me, but sometimes I think that I can fight him”.

I can’t read what its’ saying. I can’t even make out a single word. Looks like Elvish in general because of the weird script, the fact that the space between lines is wayyyyy too big, and there literally could not be a single weirder way to place it on your shoulder. Unless maybe it was upside down, because it might be.

You had to tell me what it said, even though the view would be, in real life, maybe 6 feet away. If someone that close can’t read it, it’s a bad bad thing…