down at a rate between 50 to 3,000 times per minute. Then the needle places tiny droplets of pigment about one-eighth of an inch deep into the skin. Because the cells in dermis skin are so strong, the ink will last forever, with minor touchups.
Otzi was tattooed for medicinal purposes. Many Egyptian women were tattooed on their breasts and lower abdomen to aid fertility, and sailors saw tattoos as amulets, while certain tribes used the art to remember some kind of journey. In Western cultures such as the United States, tattooing may answer a deeper need that people have to mark their person, Hemingson says. It's bloody and painful, but people continue to put themselves through it.
Kristen Ferrell, buyer at Third Planet, 2 E. Ninth St. got her first tattoo when she was 16. "It was this funny biker chic moon and stars thing," she says. Ferrell says she always knew she would have tattoos. Growing up with National Geographic, she loved the idea of being able to put a drawing on skin permanently. "You only have your skin once, why not do as much as you can with it," she says. She has now been getting tattooed for about 15 years and doesn't plan on stopping. Ferrell says that tattoos change the way you see empty spaces on your body. And that once you get the first, you start thinking about where you're going to put the next. "Instead of seeing your body as a whole, you see it as open space," she says.
Andrew Holtmann, Kansas City, Kan., senior, says he also sees his skin as a blank canvas. "I knew when I got the first one I was going to get more," he says. "It was just a matter of taking that first step." Holtmann now has eight tattoos, one yet to be finished and says he will continue to get more. He sees his tattoos as a source of strength. He says they are a way to remember events and people, like his band-mates who have moved on.
Views on ink
Tattoos not only change the way you see your own body, they can change the way others see you too. Ferrell is the mother of a 6 year old and says now that he's older, her tattoos aren't such a problem. When he was younger, she says, they'd go to the park and other mothers would take their children and leave because of the culture that tattoos represented. But that stigma is changing. Joe McGill, owner of Joe's Body Art, 714 Vermont St. Ste. 100, says there is no longer a negative stereotype. "It's not just servicemen and bikers and ex-cons that have them, everyone gets them now," he says. Ferrell too says she sees a difference in the way people see skin art. They are becoming more mainstream and acceptable she says. "Now, you are judged by the kind of tattoo you have, not just that you have them."
Big Daddy Cadillacs, a favorite of Kristen Ferrell's, is located Eightth and New Hampshire Streets next door to Sakaroff's. Kristen is a loyal customer of "Carlos"
Stacy Daugherty, owner of Big Daddy Cadillac's, 16 E. Eighth St., says tattoos are becoming more acceptable in the workplace too. Daugherty, for example, just finished two full sleeves and a full back piece for a high school principal. Daugherty says people who get tattoos vary radically. Although tattooing is probably more common among educated 18 to 26 year olds, Daugherty did give a 93-year-old woman her first tattoo. She told Daugherty that her husband never liked tattoos and he died, so she decided to go for it.
Men and women see tattooing differently, says hensimson from The Vanishing Tattoo. Men tend to get more masculine tattoos such as dragons and usually have tattoos on their upper body to make themselves look bigger. Women on the other hand, are more likely to get art with more emotion and meaning. Women get tattoos that reflect a certain time or help them remember a loved one. They also have a tendency to be tattooed on more erogenous and feminine body parts such as the hips and buttocks. Women represent 56 percent of the clientele at Big Daddy's. Daugherty, the owner, contributes this number to women presenting themselves more strongly. While tattooed women were once stereotyped as prostitutes, they're now accepted.
So you want to get a tat?
When I got my first tattoo I was overwhelmed. I had no idea what I was doing. I went to every tattoo shop in Kansas City, looked through portfolios and asked about each artist. After weeks of debating, I took my crayon drawing into a shop and handed it to a tattooed girl with bubblegum pink hair. After a few re-sketches I handed her the deposit and waited, for what seemed like forever. Finally, a week later, I went in to see the final drawings and scheduled the appointment. After a few more weeks of waiting (and plenty of time to talk myself out of it) I went in. My first tattoo took three-and-a-half hours to finish, and the most painful part was sitting still for so long. Now I have two tattoos, more than $600 worth of work, and I love them both
because I draw them myself. And I have no hesitations about getting more. There is more to getting a tattoo than picking some flash off a wall. You have to get something you can look at everyday for the rest of your life.
To make sure it's the tattoo for you, Ferrell says to place a drawing of the tattoo you want on the bathroom mirror. That way you'll have to look at it at least a few times a day. If you still like it after about three months, get it. Ferrell says you can also try henna. The ink will stay on your skin for a few weeks and give you an idea of what the finished product will look like.
Pick an artist you trust and feel comfortable with. He adds that it's probably not a good sign if the artist can right you when you walk in. Holtmann says to pick something you like and don't become a cliché. He says to choose something with a deeper meaning that you can will stay with you. Some tattoos, such as tribal armbands, stars and Chinese characters may be overdone. And butterflies and roses have always been popular among women. But don't let that scare you away, if the design means something to you, get it.
It's also important to like the artist's style says McGill from Joe's Body Art. He prefers doing free-flowing tribal designs; those that move with the body and look like they're supposed to be there. He says to choose an artist who will work with you on what you want. "It's not about me," he says, "I'm just the pencil, so they say." McGill says getting something you can be happy with is most important. The tattoo needs to have meaning for you because it will always be there. "Tattoos last longer than you do," he says.
Get the biggest tattoo you're comfortable with, says Hemingson; The bigger the tattoo is, the better an artist can show off his or her talent. Hemingson says artists need about 10 years of experience to do their best work because skin is hard to draw on and it takes a long time to master. "You want a tattoo that can blow their minds a little," he says. "You want people to say, 'Wow, who did that?' Not, 'Oh, what is it?'"
With more people getting tattoos, the industry is improving its technology. McGill, owner of Joe's Body Art, says equipment and service are getting better all the time. Even since he opened his first shop in 1994, the quality of ink and equipment has improved. He says colors are brighter, they last longer and the machines run smoother, which allow for making finer lines. There are more talented young artists entering the scene than ever before. Many new artists have backgrounds in graphic design and fine arts and bring a different kind of ability to the industry. He says that as these artists grow in number we can expect to see more fine art reproductions on skin.
The future of skin art
More talented young artists are entering the scene ever before, says Daugherty from Big Daddy's. Many artists have backgrounds in graphic design and fine and bring a different kind of ability to the industry. He says that as these artists grow in number, we can expect to more fine art reproductions on skin.
As I got up from the chair to leave the tattoo shop, new piece covered in clear goo and encased in pla wrap, I took a deep sigh of relief. I've marked my b making it my own. I'll always have a tattoo to remind of that point in time; that exact moment. It is a permanent keepsake of who I am.
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