Tattoo Guidelines

Part of my project was to make some "Tattoo Guidelines" for people who don't have a tattoo but want to get one, and I wanted to show my responses to a lot of commonly asked questions by people who are looking to get a tattoo.  I've been working on them for about a month now, but I didn't want to call them finished until I got my tattoo, because then I could look at the guidelines with a different perspective.

By the way, these guidelines are from me and are my opinions, if you don't like them that's okay with me.

I've decided that there are five things to consider when getting a tattoo. (Or only four, depending on what you believe.)  They are: The Placement,  The Cost & Artist, The Design, God, and Yourself.

The Placement:
The placement is very important. You need to think very carefully about where you put a tattoo, because it will be there for life.  Think about the job you have, or a job you want to get. Will you need to cover it for work? Do you want people to be able to see it 24/7?  What will it look like when you're old? There are certain parts of the body that stretch and sag with age more than other parts of the body. 

Cost & Artist:
The cost of a tattoo isn't something you should cheap out on.  You are paying for a piece of artwork that will be on your body for the rest of your life. You want a quality piece of work done in a sterile environment, so you should be willing to pay for it.  I do not recommend walk ins for getting a tattoo.  You will want to visit the shop a few times and get a feel for it.  If it seems sketchy or unclean, go to another shop.  Don't risk it.  You'll want to meet with your artist a few times as well.  This person is going to be taking a needle to your skin, and be super close to you for a few hours (depending on the size of your tattoo) so you'll want to at least have met them before hand. 

Design:
This is a very personal one, everyone wants to get something that will be represent them, or a part of them.  Be original.  Do not find a picture on Google images and then get that permanently on your body.  The person who is going to be doing your tattoo is an artist! Use them! Artists normally do not like tattooing designs like that anyways.  They want you to wear an original piece of art as well.  Give them pictures of things that you like, and then tell them about what you want.  They will be able to come up with something that you like.   If you don't 100% like the design, do not get it.  It will be on your body forever, so wait until the design is just right.  Make sure it's symbolic of something in your life.  Don't get a tattoo just because it looks cool.  Know that what's cool now may not be cool later.

Yourself:
Getting a tattoo is a very personal experience, especially if the tattoo has a lot of meaning to you.  Before you get your tattoo, you'll need to decided if this is what you really want.  Will you regret it at all?  Is it something that you can handle having on your body for the rest of your life?  Even if you love it when you're young and your skin is nice, will you love it when you get married, when you have children, when you have grandchildren?  These are all things to consider.

God:
This is something that the Bible is not 100% clear about, so I will be sharing what I believe about this matter.  Is it okay to be a Christian and have a tattoo? I believe it is.  I think the question should be "Does your tattoo glorify God?" and if the answer isn't "Yes" than the answer to getting that specific tattoo should be "No".   In Leviticus 19:28 it says "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves.  I am the Lord."   This verse seems pretty clear, but we also have to look at the context of this verse.  The whole book of Leviticus is filled with rules and regulations, such as that verse and many others saying things like "Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it" or "Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard." (Leviticus 19: 26 & 27) Now, I don't know about you but I eat my steaks rare and I cut my hair. These rules in Leviticus were from God to the Israelite people.  The Israelites were to follow these rules so that they could be set apart from the sinful world.  These rules all changed at the cross.  When Jesus died for us, he paid for it all and we do not have to do anything to gain forgiveness except ask.  We don't have to follow the rules in Leviticus anymore.  Jesus paid it all. 
So; if you're a Christian and you're looking to get a tattoo, pray about it.  Look at the rest of the guidelines and then ask yourself "Does this tattoo glorify God?"

Gun

This is a gun and some roses that I did for my mentor.  I  gave it to her after she finished my tattoo and she loved it.  She has a fascination with guns, haha.  First I penciled this drawing, and then I painted it.  I wanted it to look old, so I took a tea bag and seeped it in a little bit of hot water and painted the background with it.  I painted the leaves of the roses with green tea, and the roses with this weird berry tea in my kitchen.  I painted the gun with some black tea.  I also used grey water color paint with some of the tea to make shadows.  I don't usually paint with tea, (well actually, I've never done that before) but I was feeling experimental.  I really liked how this one turned out. 

Finally

It's been about two full days since I got my tattoo, and it hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be. 

Since I've watched a number of tattoos being done, I sort of knew what to expect, but I didn't know what it was going to feel like.  When I arrived at the shop we did all the things I had seen before, like washing my skin and putting the stencil on.  We got the stencil in the right place on the first try, which apparently barely ever happens.  Since I couldn't wear a shirt while I was being tattooed I had to wear this scarf wrapped around me and it was sort of annoying.  As soon as she put the stencil on and everything was about to begin, all the nervousness I had in my stomach the whole week went away, which was a really nice feeling.  I had no idea what the actual tattooing part was going to feel like, so I was a little scared for that, but she did the first line and I realized at once that I was going to be fine.  I wouldn't describe the feeling as pleasant, but it was certainly bearable.  The whole tattoo took about two and a half hours to do. During the last twenty minutes my skin was becoming pretty tender and the lines she did hurt more than they did at the beginning, and I was ready to be done. I barely got swollen or bled, so that was really nice.  After she finished tattooing she wiped it down and put a piece of saran wrap over it and taped it to me, and told me to take it off after 6-8 hours and then gently wash it and let it air dry.  She also gave me some lotion to put on it.  So far it's been healing fine, and it isn't hurting at all.  I'm super glad I decided to do it, I don't feel any regrets.  I love it. 

I would post a picture of it, but it's on my sternum, and I can't find a way to crop it so you just see the tattoo (if you know what I mean). So here is a picture of the stencil that we put on.  There were some tiny little things we had to change on the stencil ( like the dots under the left leaf not being right underneath the leaf like on the right leaf) before we tattooed it, but this is pretty much exactly what it looks like. 

13 Hours to Go

The final drawing of my tattoo is done, everything has been finalized, and in about 13 hours I will have a design on my body that will stay on me for the rest of my life until I die.  And I'm sort of freaking out about it. 

I think it's a good freaking out.  An excited freaking out.  But it's still sort of scary.  I'm making a decision about something that will stay for life, and I'm not sure I've ever done that before.  I can't go back on it after, and I can't change it.  It will always be there and it won't ever leave.  It's sort of like marriage. 

But yeah, I'm nervous, but an excited nervous.  I'm no wimp to pain, I'm not that nervous about that part.  I think that it's just starting to hit me now that I will have this on me forever, but I am okay with that.  It's just a little bit frightening. 

5 Days

This morning my mentor emailed me her second draft of my tattoo, and I loved it, so I went to her shop after school today.  I got there early, so I watched as she finished a tattoo on another person.  She also took a photocopy of her draft of the tattoo and gave me some pens and white out and told me to change the stuff I didn't like and add onto it.  While she was tattooing the other person I did just that, and after she was finished her and I talked about how we could change it and we came up with what it's going to look like for Saturday.  Just for fun she put a stencil of the second draft onto me, just to give me an idea of what it's going to look or how big its going to be. 
I'm super excited to get it done, but I'm still really nervous.  I love the way the stencil looks, but making the decision to put something on your body forever is sort of scary. 

6 Days

There are six days to go until my tattoo!  I am feeling nervous and excited at the same time.  I've had a lot of feedback on my tattoo from other people, most of it has been positive and encouraging, but some of the people I have gotten feedback from have told me that I'll regret it one day.  I'm feeling a little bit conflicted about the whole thing.  I was super sure about it before I talked to those people.  I still am really excited about it and I really want to get originally what I wanted to get, but I feel that if I do I will be letting those people down (the people who told me I'll regret it).

Throughout the whole time there have been periods where I have been super, super excited about getting it, but then there have been times where I have sort of had thoughts of doubt, but the excitement outweighs the thoughts of doubt by far.  

I've decided that I do really want it, and it's going to be on my body.  That I shouldn't let other people's opinions affect my decision.  I appreciate all the advice I've been given, but when people tell me that I shouldn't get it just because they don't like the design or placement, that's something I don't like. This tattoo is going to be special and symbolic to me, and if other people don't like it, that's okay. This tattoo is for me, not them.  

Interviews Completed!

Hi everyone. I finally finished interviewing people about their tattoos.  I interviewed nine people (Five guys and four girls) and asked them those seven questions that I had posted earlier.  I won't be showing all of their answers word for word, but I'll sort of combine their answers all together.

Here are the questions I asked, just as a reminder:

1. What and where is your tattoo(s)?
2. How old were you when you got it (them)?
3. How long did you think about it/want it before you got it?
4. Why did you get it/what does it symbolize to you?
5. Do you regret it/do you think you'll ever end up regretting getting them or regret where you got
    them?
6. Did you research the shop or artist before you got the tattoo?
7. What advice would you give to people who want to get a tattoo?

Their Answers:

1. All of the answers to this question varied of course, these nine people had all different tattoos on all
    different parts of their bodies.  Every tattoo was unique and different. Five out of nine people had
    more than one tattoo.
2. The ages for this question were from ages sixteen to age forty-four.
3. The time frame for this questions ranged from barely any thought, to thinking about the tattoo for five
    or six years!
4. These answers varied as well.  A few people got their tattoos just because it was a cool thing to do,
     but the majority of the people I interviewed had a lot of personal meaning associated with their
     tattoos.  Some of their tattoos symbolized things to do with their family and children, while others
     tattoos symbolized something significant to them, something that happened to them or to symbolize
     a struggle they went through.
5. Not one person I interviewed said that they would regret their tattoos or think that they will regret
    them in the future.
6. Some people just decided to walk into a shop and just get it done.  Others researched their shops and
    artists for a long time before deciding where to go.  It all depends on the person, and their personal
    views on tattoos.
7. Every person I interviewed had different advice to give to people who are wanting to get a tattoo.
    Here is a general list of what they said:
    -Get it somewhere you can hide it, keep the placement in mind.
    -Think about it, and don't be impulsive
    - Don't rush into it.
    - Make sure you can live with it for the rest of your life.
    - Make sure it's something significant to you and has meaning.
    - Be original.

It was super fun to ask people these questions, and I really liked hearing the answers and hearing all of the different things people had to say.  Doing these interviews made me think more about my tattoo in general, and gave me some really good ideas for later on when I make my own personal list of "Tattoo Guidelines".