Tattoo Art Tips : How to Take Care of a New Tattoo

Writen by Ispas Marin

If you finally decide to get a tattoo you will go to a recommended tattoo artist. He will probably show you some designs to pick from. If you don’t like any of them you can ask him to do a custom one. Be careful when choosing the design of your new tattoo because you will live with it all your life. anyway, after getting a tattoo done you should know some aftercare tips that cannot be ignored.

If you go to a good tattoo shop than the tattooist will clean and apply antiseptic ointment to the tattoo while creating it. This is the healthiest way to make a tattoo.

After the job is finished the artist will clean it and use another coat of ointment. Then will apply a piece of cellophane or soft tissue.

After all that is done the tattooist will explain you how to take care of your new tattoo or he will give you a sheet with detailed instructions. in case none of this happens i will explain you in the rest of this article what you should do.

1. First of all, when you get home, don’t jump immediately in the shower. My advice is to keep it dry(but also clean). Be sure to wash your hands very well before touching the new tattoo. This way you won’t have any complications or infections.

2. Next, go to the first drug store you find and buy a tube of A&D Ointment. Apply it on the tattoo the first four too six days. After it gets dry remove the old application with a piece of soft cloth and then apply another one. Be very careful not to rub too hard the new tattoo. Do not use soap in the first few day, it’s not recommended.

3. After few days you can stop using the A&D Ointment. Try to use some kind unscented, unmedicated body lotion, as some scents may irritate the still-tender skin of your tattoo.

4. After you have applied the body lotion for around week you can stop doing that. A problem is that when the tattoo heals it will scab in some portions. When you will try to pick this cabs be very careful not to damage your tattoo design. So the best for you and your tattoo is to let it heal alone.

So after you get a new tattoo and fallow this after car instructions you can be sure that you won’t have any problems. I use this methods my self and i can sincerly recommend it.

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Itchiness, Flakiness, and Peeling: The Healing Process

Writen by Jones Scott

So I’m half way through the second week of healing after getting my second tattoo and all I want to do it scratch it. I don’t remember my first one itching so much. I wonder if the location has something to do with it, or if the fact that this one is color and the first one was black.

I do know that location can affect the rate of healing for any wound. The closer to the heart the better the circulation and the faster the healing. That’s probably one contributing factor to my first tattoo, on my abdomen, healing quickly. My new one is on my foot, so more than likely it’s going to take a while to heal.

I noticed most tattoo artists give the same advice for taking care of tattoos. I’ve been following my artist’s instructions as closely as I can and so far things look good. I just keep thinking about how much it hurt and how I really don’t want to have to get it touched up.

Pain is subjective and different parts of the body experience pain differently. I now know that the tops of my feet experience a lot of pain. I’m still glad I put it there. My thought is that you shouldn’t choose a location without thinking about it first. I chose my design and the top of my foot near my ankle seemed like the best place for it. And an hour of pain really wasn’t that bad—now that it’s over.

It’s just the damn itchy, flaky, peeling healing process that’s driving me crazy. After reading about the healing process and how to properly care for a new tattoo I still just want to scratch it. It’s like having an itchy nose and not being able to do anything about it. It’s torturous. Since it was self inflicted does that make me a masochist?

Tattoo Design Choice - Part 3

Writen by Jim Whanarere

Where will you place your next tattoo?

Hi there!

Deciding on a location for your tattoo can be as difficult as choosing a design for your tattoo…

One important decision to make is whether you want your tattoo to be visible to the world or in a more intimate location where only you and your beloved will see the tattoo?

The largest organ of the body is the skin so there are certainly a lot of options when deciding where to place your tattoo.

Although tattoos can go just about anywhere, some popular tattoo locations include the bicep, the calf, the ankle, the back, the hip and even the neck and the chest.

For girls some of the most popular tattoo locations include the calf, the hip and the lower back. Most girls opt for smaller tattoos in these locations and in the case of the lower back and the hip the tattoo is not always fully visible.

Guys are more visible by nature so it comes as no surprise that they typically have tattoos in locations that are more visible to other people, like the bicep, shoulder or neck.

Does size really matter? Watch out for Part 4

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Tribal Tattoo Designs - Why Are They So Popular?

Writen by Declan O Reilly

Tribal tattoos have been practiced for thousands of years. Modern people still get them done for many reasons such as to belong to a modern ‘tribe’ even if they do it on a subconcious level.

Getting tattooed was also seen as a rite of passage into adulthood. A belief goes that if a girl can’t take the pain of tattooing, she is un-marriageable, because she will never be able to deal with the pain of child birth. If a boy can’t deal with the pain he is considered to be a bad risk as a warrior, and could become isolated from the tribe.

Some primitive tribes use tattooing as a rite of social status. The Maori, of New Zealand use tattooing primarily for this purpose. To the Maori, a person’s Moko designs enhanced their prestige and show transition from one social status to another. At its highest level, Moko designs proclaimed the sacredness of chieftanship.

The Hawaiians are prominent among people who have specific tattoo gods. In Hawaii, the images of the tattoo gods are kept in the temples of tattoo priests. Each tattoo session begins with a prayer to the tattoo gods that the operation might not cause death, that the wounds might heal soon, and that the designs might be handsome. Many modern American tattooist will tell you, “When you should get a tattoo, the tattoo god will tell you that it is time.”

In the 1970’s, American tattooing discovered primitive, tribal tattoos. People wanted simple designs with meaning and they began copying designs, primarily from the islands of the South Pacific. In the past few decades, people of European stock began looking for tribal tattoos of their own origins and created a new form of tattoo commonly known as neo tribal tattoos.

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All about Irezumi Tattoos

Writen by Cheryl Goh

Irezumi is the Japanese word that refers to insertion of ink under the skin that leaves a permanenent mark. Irezumi means ‘tattooing’ in other words.Although there are many ways to write the word irezumi it is most commonly written as Chinese characters which literally means ‘insert ink’. The Japanese people were thought to use tattoos for both spiritual and decorative purposes and extends back to the Jomon period (~10000 BCE).

At the beginning of the Meiji period the Japanese government, wanting to protect its image and make a good impression on the West, outlawed tattoos, and irezumi took on connotations of criminality. Nevertheless, fascinated foreigners went to Japan seeking the skills of tattoo artists, and traditional tattooing continued underground.

Althought tattoing in Japan was legalized by the occupation forces in 1945, unfortunately it has retained an image of criminality. Traditional Japanese tattoos are often associated with the Japanese notorious mafia known as ‘Yakuza’. Many places in Japan such as public baths, spas and fitness centers still ban customers with tattoos.

In Japan traditional irezumi is still done by specialist tattooists, but is a painful, time-consuming and expensive process. A typical traditional body suit (tattoos that cover the arms, back, upper legs and chest, but leaving an untattooed space down the center of the body) can take 1-5 years of once-per-week visits to complete and cost more than US$30,000.

The History of Tattoos

Writen by Becky McClure

The word, Tattoo, comes from the Polynesian word, “tatao” which means “to tap” or “to mark something.”

Captain James Cook introduced this word to the English during his voyage around the world in 1769. Captain Cook and his crew of the ship, The Endeavour, were welcomed with open arms by the friendly and uninhibited Tahitians (yeah, that means many of them were naked.) Since the weather was very warm on the island, clothing was optional.

The Tahitians tried to look their best by decorating their bodies. But the fact of the matter was the application of tattoos, which was painful. It was done by dipping a sharp-pointed comb into lampblack and then hammering it into the skin. Nonetheless, everybody did it.

As word of tattooing in Tahiti and other Polynesian islands spread, the European sailors began to get tattooed themselves. This probably illustrated why tattoos were looked upon with such a lack of credibility in the early days and were considered as a kind of thing suitable for drunkards, sailors and criminals.

Modern archeology has uncovered the practice of tattoos in many ancient cultures all over the world.

In 1992, in the Alps between the border of Austria and Italy, a perfectly preserved body of a man was found. He was estimated to have lived 5,000 years ago! And he had 58 tattoos all over his body.

Don’t Pay for a Tattoo that Millions of People Have - Get a Unique Custom Tattoo Design

Writen by Chris Ryerson

Recently it was reported that tattoo related terms received more searches per month then most adult related keywords. This has spawned a huge growth of websites selling flash tattoo designs. You can go and visit these sites and for $10 or so find a tattoo design. You can then download this design and take it to your local tattoo parlor and get a new tattoo.

Well, for many this has become the Achilles heel so to speak of the tattoo art industry. Buying tattoos this way is definitely contrary to the main reasons people get tattoos. Tattoos and the tattoo industry has always held that tattoo art was the last bastion of personal expression and freedom in America. You see most tattoo enthusiast feel that the tattoo they get are very uniquely theirs and a tattoo, being something you have to live with for a long time, should say something about yourself. So these huge flash tattoo sites come along and sell thousands of the same tattoo to people. These same people go to their local tattoo parlor and get a new tattoo and soon they are sporting it around town feeling proud to assert their individuality. However in reality they have just copied a bunch of other people and probably ended up with a tattoo that says nothing interesting or unique about them. They just bought the design because it was popular.

The other sad part of this phenomena is that most tattoo artists are on the loosing end of the proposition. The big websites that sell tons of designs often have had some graphic designer just create a bunch of low quality tattoo designs to sell. The designer was not even a tattoo artist in the first place. However, the tattoo artists out there are now losing tons of business to these larger companies. That is not to say all tattoo sites selling tattoo designs online are doing this. Of course there are some that have taken this into consideration have have worked hard to value the artists for their original ideas and work.

However it still leaves the tattoo enthusiast who just got the same tattoo as thousands of other people out in the dark. Think about what is going to happen when that person is at a concert of some large public event and a guy comes up to him and says, :hey cool man nice tat.” The guy turns and the notices that the speaker is sporting the same exact tattoo. Here he thought he was unique and individual and doing something really cool. What is one to say in that kind of situation? Other then start looking at all the tattoo removal adds online there is not really much.

It is for these exact reasons that a few websites have started popping up on the internet that have solved these basic problems. At the time of this writing there are in fact only two sites on the internet that have effectively dealt with both of these problems. They are custom designed freelance tattoo art websites. That is kind of a mouthful so I will explain what each of those terms means. It means that a person wanting a unique tattoo design can go to the site and post a job. Then tattoo artists from around the globe can come and bid on the job to design a great custom tattoo to the individuals specifications.

This is really the best of all worlds as it encourages tattoo artists and pays them fairly for their abilities and skills. It also create a unique tattoo to the exact specifications and desires of the person getting the tattoo done. It is a really great way to solve the problem and these sites have had a high rate of customer satisfaction and repeat business from both the tattoo artists and the tattoo enthusiast.

Chris has been running Design My Tattoos website for the last three months. He has thoroughly enjoyed helping people to get custom tattoo designs done by professional tattoo artists. Go ahead and check out the site and post a job to get your own custom tattoo design. If you are a tattoo artist and would like to earn some extra income go ahead and sign up as an artists and make some money in your spare time. We also have an extensive Celebrity tattoo galleries and design galleries on our site.

The History of The Dragons and why Dragon Tattoos Are So Popular

Writen by Becky McClure

According to the Webster-Merriam Dictionary, the word dragon is Middle English, from Anglo-French dragun, from Latin dracon.

The definition of dragon is:

Popular Tattoos For Men & Women

Writen by Aurel Radulescu

When you walk into a tattoo parlor, you are instantly greeted with eye-catching designs filled with color and complexity. Unless you have already decided on a design, it can be very difficult to select one on the spot. Even if you have a selected design already in mind, the artist may present you with varying possibilities that will present you with a difficult decision.

Before arriving for your tattoo, it is a good idea to have a selection of designs that you are interested in. Men and women will naturally select different images whereas the gentleman may prefer a masculine and powerful tattoo and the woman may prefer something dainty and pretty. For example, a gentleman may prefer a large tattoo with a lot of color or something that symbolizes the love that he shares for his wife or girlfriend. It is advisable that tattoo recipients give careful consideration to personalized tattoos. Why? If the relationship ends later, the tattoo will still remain unless it is surgically removed. Therefore, many gentlemen are electing to have symbols that remind them of something that they enjoy, such as a career, a hobby or a symbol that means something special to their life.

Women who decide to have a permanent tattoo will often select a dainty image, such as a heart, butterfly or floral depiction. These are small and can be placed anywhere, but most commonly are located on the hip, ankle or back of the shoulder area. Women typically select a smaller tattoo in an effort to make a statement of beauty and yet something that draws attention to a certain area, such as the leg or hip.

Even with these thoughts in mind, a tattoo is a very personal thing and must be a reflection of something that is important to the recipient. Therefore, there really isn’t a universal ‘man’ or ‘woman’ tattoo. Upon discussing various choices with the artist, a tattoo recipient will gain a better understanding of options and design choices. In addition, they will be able to browse through an image book or folder that will show a number of different tattoo choices, which will enable them to better decide which is right for them.

This article is to be used for informational purposes only. The information contained herein is not intended to be used in place of, or in conjunction with, professional medical advice or recommendations for tattoo placement. Before deciding on getting a tattoo or having one removed, the patient must consult a licensed medical doctor for medical advice and/or to determine the best course of action for his/her individual healthcare needs.

Find more about flower tattoos and many other tatoo designs on http://www.tattoos-gallery.com/

Cherry Blossom Tattoos - What Do They Mean

Writen by Chris Ryerson

Cherry blossom tattoos are some of the most popular tattoo designs for women currently. The beauty and delicate nature of a cherry blossom can’t be denied. In both Japanese and Chinese cultures the cherry blossom is full of symbolic meaning and significance. Before deciding to get a cherry blossom tattoo design it makes sense to understand the symbolism and deep cultural connections and meaning that this tattoo might hold. After all the best tattoo designs are ones that hold a great deal of symbolic significance. Typically the tattoo that is universally regretted is the one that was gotten while out with a bunch of friends just because they were getting one. So don’t fall into the trap and regret your tattoo later in life. Instead if you are planning on getting a tattoo at least take the time to research the symbolism and meaning behind it and see if it speaks to you and if the ideas are significant in your life.

While many people tend to blend and confuse the Japanese and Chinese culture together from lack of knowledge the two are very different in many ways. Therefore the meaning and symbolism that the cherry blossom holds is different in each culture.

Chinese Cherry Blossom

For the Chinese the cherry blossom is a very significant symbol of power. Typically it represent a feminine beauty and sexuality and often holds an idea of power or feminine dominance. Within the language of herbs and herbal lore of the Chinese the cherry blossom is often the symbol of love.

Japanese Cherry Blossom

For the Japanese the cherry blossom holds very different meaning. The cherry blossom is a very delicate flower that blooms for a very short time. For the Japanese this represents the transience of life. This concept ties in very deeply with the fundamental teachings of Buddhism that state all life is suffering and transitory. The Japanese have long held strong to the Buddhist belief of the transitory nature of life and it is very noble to not get too attached to a particular outcome or not become emotional because it will all pass in time.

The fallen cherry blossom is not taken lightly in Japanese symbolism either. It often represents the beauty of snow and there are many connections made in Japanese literature or poetry to a fallen cherry blossom and snow. This also has been extended to the life of a warrior whose life was ended early in battle.

As you can see in both cultures the symbolism and meaning behind the cherry blossom is very significant and powerful at the same time. It is important to think about these symbols and connect this with what your personally believe the cherry blossom represents. If you still want to get a cherry blossom tattoo and the above meaning from the Japanese culture or the Chinese culture do not speak to you or you’re somehow view the cherry blossom in a very different way then it is okay to still get a cherry blossom tattoo. However, it is always important to know the symbolism before getting a tattoo permanently done.

Chris has been running http://www.DesignMyTattoos.com website for over a year. He likes helping people find the custom tattoo designs and where to get them done by professional tattoo artists. Check out the site and post a job to get your own custom tattoo design. Also you can check out http://www.TattooDirectory.info for great Tattoo Design Galleries and ideas.