It has often been said that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. That may be true, but it also can be found on shoulders, ankles, chests and practically anywhere there is skin.From Venice, Italy, to Venice, Calif., tattoo artists turn ordinary epidermises into works of art.
The first step in getting a tattoo in finding the inspiration to do so.
“As a general rule, people get tattoos special to themselves,” Tony “Hippie” Caldwell of Bulldawg Tattoo’s and Body Piercing said.
For Mississippi State University student Steve Young, tattooing simply rubbed off on him.
“I’d seen how they looked on other people, so I just wanted one,” Young said.
Young has a Superman logo on one arm, his girlfriend’s initials tattooed on the other and a small Celtic cross on his chest.
“Superman is an idol of mine even though he isn’t real,” Young said. “I’m not a very religious person, but I got the Celtic cross because I like the gothic look that it has.”
Atomic Tattoo in Los Angeles offers many designs to choose from, but artist Conner Garritty insisted that real tattoo artists are not limited by their portfolios.
“I consider myself more of an artist rather than a tattooist,” Garritty said. “Artists actually know how to draw; tattooists get by just by tracing stencils.”
Despite their uniqueness, tattoos have often become trends, but unlike pet rocks and snap bracelets, they don’t go away so easily. They may be out of style, but they are not out of skin. Who could ever forget those barbed wire tattoos?
“The barbed wire tattoos are good for guys who lift a lot weights, but they don’t look good on jockeys,” Garritty said.
In the Windy City, the flavor of the week comes from Oriental culture.
“Our biggest seller right now is Japanese kanji,” Hank Bangcock of Chicago Tattoo said. The Japanese language uses kanji, a system of symbolic units to express entire words without letters.
While cultures often determine the evolution of tattooing, communism often controls the art altogether. In Miami, the Hispanic population is over 50 percent, many of them Cuban immigrants. Brian (who requested to be mentioned without his surname) is an artist at South Beach Tattoo.”Most Cuban people don’t get tattooed because, in Cuba, only people in jails have them,” Brian said. “It’s socially unacceptable for people to have them.”
Of course, before anyone can be christened with a tattoo, any fear of needles must be overcome. Some tattoo virgins have been known to jump out of their seats when they feel the needle, but Dan Hopsing of Seattle’s Revolution Tattoo insists that such instances are seldom.
“That rarely happens; it might occur one time out of one hundred,” Hopsing said. “If it is a clean, sterile place with professional artists, the customers will feel at ease and won’t be so jumpy.”
Hopsing said that potential customers should always look at a tattooist’s portfolio before going under the needle.
Caldwell’s portfolio includes numerous tattoos, many of them cover-ups of unwanted tattoos as well as repairs to faulty tattoos performed elsewhere.
“Tattoos are about $100 an hour,” Caldwell said. “We have to charge that much because we spend six hours a day talking to people and six hours doing tattoos.”
One of Caldwell’s clients had an elaborate series of tattoos etched upon his torso. Caldwell said that job took 40 hours (not in one sitting!) and cost $1,800.
“The more you’re willing to pay, the more I’m willing to suit your request,” Caldwell said.
Whether symbols of passion and patriotism or just trendy permanent decals, tattoos can be considered the ultimate commitment to art. If you can pick it, they can stick it.