Monday, September 17, 2007

Hawaiian Arm Tattoo and Arm Band Tattoos - The New Tribal Tattoo

One of the biggest and hottest growing trends in the art of tattoo design is Hawaiian arm or leg band tattoos. As this trend goes a lot of people think to themselves, well of course. At least that is what I said to myself at first. You can hardly drive more then 10 minutes on the freeway in southern California where I am from and not see a big SUV like a Lincoln Navigator or a Cadillac Escalade and not see a Hawaiian sticker. Things with flowers designs, or turtles, dolphins. Ya see it started off with the sticker and then the car seat covers with hibiscus flowers everywhere and it just grew from there.

This trend of Hawaiian design has then met it's match with the whole tribal tattoo movement. Tribal tattoos have been the hottest thing in the tattoo world since sliced bread or the old school WWII era Hula dancer. You see these influences have been all around us for a long time my grandpa even has one of those Hula Girls tattoos still. Granted it is a little saggy and faded now but he still has one on his forearm nonetheless. So the whole tribal tattoo and the growth in interest for Hawaiian designs have combined to make a hot and growing market for Hawaiian tattoos. This is really an up and coming thing and it not huge yet. However many tattoo artists are spotting the trend and jumping on it already.

Of course there is a lot of controversy on this subject also like anything. If you look on the internet there is a controversy about getting Kanji and Japanese Tattoos also. Anytime you try and take the designs of a culture and do not depict them accurately it creates a sense of bastardization or what I call the "Disney Effect" towards the culture. I mean how would you feel if you were in China and someone said, oh you should try this hot new restaurant out it serves this great food that is really American. They have fried chicken and apple pie that is the best." Well, at first you would be excited right? Sure it would be nice for a good home cooked meal if you have been out of the US for a long time. However once you get there you see the place has really tacky and awful reproductions of 50's art and the all the food tastes kind of strange. It would probably bee kind of close or resemble what you were thinking of but it would be missing something or a few key ingredients. I bet this would leave you feeling a little sad and like your culture was not totally understood.

Well, I can not speak for you and maybe you will feel different but I was pretty sad when after staying in Japan for 3 months I was invited to a 1950's classic hamburger joint. When we got there it was Elvis with a funny accent playing on the jukebox and when my hamburger came it had a fried egg on top of it with teriyaki sauce. WOW what a surprise that was for me. I kind of felt weird about being in the place that had tried to recreate something from my own culture.

So, the same controversy rolls on in the world of tattoos. Anytime you get a tattoo design from another culture just make sure you go with a professional. Do not have your friend trace out some Kanji in a book for a tattoo and don't go and rip some design of the internet because it states that it is Hawaiian. Go to a real custom tattoo designer and have them do the research and come up with some designs. After all this is going to be on your body for the rest of your life and since Hawaiian arm band tattoos and leg tattoos are typically big it will be a significant investment in pain, time and money to get the thing done. So you should consult with a professional and get top notch work done.

Chris is an avid tattoo enthusiast, as well as an observer and writer of the tattoo scene. He has run numerous tattoo related website business in the past. However, now he provides great tattoo information in the form of articles and web pages for everyone to enjoy free. Check out this page for more on tattoo sleeve designs, or here for awesome Free Star Tattoo Designs.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Ryerson

Cute Tattoo Designs for Women and Where to Get the Best Ones

The whole field of tattoos for women is growing at a tremendous rate. If you think back even 20 years ago tattoos for women were not all that popular and most of the women getting them were keeping them covered up. However times have definitely changed and tattoo designs have really advanced at a tremendous rate. Today's tattoo have more brilliant colors and are a far cry from your grandfathers Hawaiian girl tattoo on his forearm.

It used to be that women would get an occasional rose or name tattoos on their breast or some well hidden spot. However with current fashion trends there are tons of cute tattoo designs for women out there are women are now getting tattoos at an amazing rate.

Women's tattoo designs and placement have also changed with this new growth. No longer are women getting simple tattoos that they keep well hidden. Women are now getting cute tattoo designs done and placing them in more visible places.

Some of the most popular items to get tattoos of are:

1. Shooting Star Tattoos
2. Butterfly Tattoos
3. Unicorn Tattoos
4. Angel Tattoos
5. Fairy Tattoos
6. Dragonfly tattoos
7. Flower design tattoos

The most popular places for women to get tattoos done are:

1. lower back tattoo (especially popular recently with the whole hip hugger jeans)

2. ankle tattoos

3. front side of the hips (again hip hugger jeans have made this more popular)

4. butt cheek left or right

5. Belly button area

Another thing that this trend of women getting tattoos is that women often seek out custom tattoo designs. They don't go to the local parlor and just by a tattoo flash design that is on display there. Women seem to spend a great deal more time contemplating the tattoos that they want done and tend to have more requirements about what they want. Therefore women tend to get custom tattoo designs. This allows them to get the exact look and feel they want and a custom designed tattoo is also fit to the location on the persons body so that it fits well.

Chris is an avid tattoo enthusiast, as well as an observer and writer of the tattoo scene. He has run numerous tattoo related website business in the past. However, now he provides great tattoo information in the form of articles and web pages for everyone to enjoy free. Check out this page for more on tattoo sleeve designs, or here for awesome Free Star Tattoo Designs.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Ryerson

Think Before You Ink? You Won't Regret It! How To Get A Great Tattoo You Won't Regret!

This article is really a result of a growing trend that I have witnessed for cover up tattoos. It seems like ever day I see someone looking for a new custom tattoo design to cover up some old in k they had done. Getting rid of an old tattoo that you no longer like is not so easy. Your only two options are painful and expensive laser removal or a cover up design. Unfortunately most people can not afford the laser removal and honestly most cover up tattoos are big, black, and can even draw more attention to itself.

So honestly the best option is to think before you ink. This is going to become our new motto. Unfortunately there are tons of people out there that do not think before getting a tattoo and later end up regretting them.

Top 5 reasons people state for wanting to get rid of a tattoo:

1. Got the tattoo while out with friends drunk.
2. I was young when I got it.
3. It really was not the design I wanted.
4. It is too common and doesn't speak to me anymore.
5. The symbol is wrong or I did not know what it stood for.

These are so common that we have come across people that are getting cover up tattoos for all of the above reasons. Recently with the growing trend of Japanese Kanji tattoos many people are paying good money for these only to find later they don't mean what they were originally told. Also they often don't translate well. For example getting something like "Bling" or "Pimp" translated to Japanese just does not work. There is no kanji for these words.

It is vitally important that you spend some time coming up with an original tattoo idea. Do some research on the symbolism behind the tattoo design and think about what you want it to say. Then have a professional tattoo artist do the design for you. Take the time to look at the design maybe mull over it for a few days. You can even have a tattoo artists do the work with a sharpie first and spend some time thinking about it.

Tattoos are expensive and custom tattoo can cost even more. However the artwork will be original and unique and it will speak to you more then some flash design off the wall in your local tattoo shop. Actually if you think of it custom tattoos can be a big savings. It is more expensive to get a cover up done or go through laser removal. So spend some time thinking about your tattoo and do some research on the design. It is way better then regretting the design for the rest of your life.

For more information on tattoos check out the following resources. For Custom tattoo design Design My Tattoos. For a complete tattoo resource check out Tattoo Directory: tattoo resources and great celebrity tattoo galleries. To read this article and other great tattoo articles check out the Tattoo Directory


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Tongue Tattoos

The reason many people choose to get a tattoo is for uniqueness, standing out in a crowd, self-expression, or shock factor. But, with tattoos becoming so common, tattoos are no longer unique or shocking. To get the shock and unique factor back into tattoos, the biggest craze in tattoos is now tongue tattoos. Tongue tattoos are becoming more and more popular and with hundreds if not thousands of tattoo designs available, this trend will likely continue to increase.

There are many who haven't heard of tongue tattoos, but that is rapidly changing. The designs that are being chosen for tongue tattoos can be much like other tattoos, but those choosing them are often going for the complete shock factor by choosing shocking and graphic designs and sayings.

Of course, the standard tattoos such as stars, tribal designs and other shapes are popular too. The design can be put anywhere you want on the tongue. Stars are often placed on the tip of the tongue but the design can be placed farther back or even cover the entire tongue.

Tongue tattoos are also combined with existing tongue piercing, with the tattoo designed around the piercing. Or you might consider getting your tongue pierced so it shows off your tongue tattoo.

Your tongue is just a muscle so it will absorb the ink just like any other place on your body will. Because of this, you won't be limited in which tattoo design to choose. Every color that will show in a regular tattoo will look just as good on your tongue.

So, how does one go about getting a tongue tattoo? First, find a tattoo artist that is familiar and has experience with it. Just as you don't want a messed up tattoo anywhere else on your body, you don't want a mess on your tongue either.

After you've decided on the design and the placement on your tongue, the tattoo artist will use an instrument to hold your tongue out of your mouth and to hold it still. The instrument is the same one that is used to hold your tongue still when getting it pierced.

Since the tongue is just a muscle, it doesn't have as many nerve endings in it like your skin does so it shouldn't be any more painful than getting a tattoo anywhere else. Some people describe it as really painful, some people describe it as just a tickle. It just depends on each person's individual threshold of pain.

If a tongue tattoo sounds like something you would like to have, first, find a reputable and experienced tattoo artist and then choose a design that fits well and looks great on your tongue.

Tongue tattoos are the latest and coolest thing in tattoos these days. Whatever your reason for choosing to get one, you can be sure that there is plenty of room for self-expression and uniqueness and of course, plenty of shock factor.

Go to http://www.squidoo.com/tonguetattoo for articles, designs, and pictures of tongue tattoos.


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Tattooed: To Be or Not to Be?

Our webmaster wants articles on tattoos. Here is his request to help fill a great void: Tattoos - Articles about tattoos, tattoo removal, and body art as it relates to tattoos and tattoo history. See, he does look after you.

When sailors came home from World War II many had tattoos. Usually they were acquired in San Diego. They liked to show them to us teenagers and hide then from adults.

I don’t have a tattoo. I was raised in Tattoo Tabooville, Utah. One mustn’t deface the Temple of God.

Well, let’s face the truth here. Getting a tattoo is not painless and I’m a coward when it comes to pain. I’m not self-conscious about this. My wife says that all men are cowards when it comes to pain. She says this whenever she cuts my hair. (She uses the clip and jerk method.)

I would not be accepted in parts of society because I don’t have a tattoo. This is called peer pressure. I wouldn’t be accepted anyway because they don’t accept bearded old geezers either. Anyway, I understand why teenagers get tattooed.

I like to look at tattoos as an art form. Not all tattoos; the ones done in Japan and by certain “true” artist in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and of course, San Diego..

Last night, my wife and I were watching Fear Factor. One rudely-treated contestant had a new tattoo that said “Fear Factor.” It was very decorative and covered his forearm.

He pooped out on the first daredevil task which was swinging on a rope from one elevated platform to another and then to another. He was left hanging dry between the first two platforms and didn’t have a clue as to how to get out of his predicament. He was booed away by the Los Vegas crowd.

That brings us to the first consideration on whether you should have or not have a tattoo: Tattoos may bring you bad luck and undesirable publicity.

He was just a clueless kid with an arrogant attitude, piercings, and tattoos. That is why he was booed. His failure was disheartening to him, more than I suspected it would be, but he promised to become arrogant again “tomorrow.”

So today, I guess he is back to normal.

I was giving some counseling to a youth in detention years back. His mother had asked me to look after him. (I’m not talking about school detention here. This was what we use to call “Reform School.”)

The boy was having his tattoos removed.

That brings the second consequence of having tattoos. It hurts like hell to have them removed by a medical professional.

Having the tattoos removed helped this boy get out of the “joint” and back to his single mother.

If you’ve got ‘em, you’d better keep ‘em. Is that a motto for you tattoo guys and gals? It could be if you want to avoid removal pain.

The reason that some people would like to have a tattoo removed is this. They sometimes change with time.

Joe Fleet got a tattoo of a dinghy on his chest when he was 19 years old serving in the United States Navy. He got his tattoo in San Diego, “Tattoo Heaven.”

On the side of the dinghy it read, “Mary,” in tiny letters.

Now Joe Fleet is 76 years old and weighs 240 pounds. What was a dinghy is now an aircraft carrier and the little word, “Mary,” now looks like a billboard spread.

Joe’s wife’s name is Joan.

Now Joe Fleet is not going to have this tattoo removed. The chest is a tender spot. That brings us to another facet of tattoos: Sometimes you just have to live with them.

Joe finally got around part of his problem by getting a puppy. He said to his wife, Joan, “I’m going to call her “Mary” after my childhood puppy dog that fell out of my little boat and died by drowning in the irrigation ditch.”

Joe's wife, Joan, forgetting that puppies can doggy paddle, felt awful that she had been badgering Joe about “Mary” for 55 years. She begged Joe for his forgiveness.

This technique used by Joe, and at times by other tattoo-bearing people, is called lying.

I was on business in San Francisco back in the 1970s. I went into a theater in Chinatown. The movies were Japanese. One was about a tattoo artist covering a young woman’s body with beautiful, masterful tattoos.

She moaned with every prick of his ink needle.

I don’t know how the movie ended because my mother taught me not to stick around in any movie that is “not of good report.” When the girl got excited, I had to leave.

Now days I see right here in Idaho a lot of what are called “Tattoo Freaks." That means the whole body is covered with tattoos like the Japanese lass.

Of course these folks are not freaks.

I’m going to look “freak” up in the dictionary.

I’ll be right back.

Okay, I guess I was wrong.

I talk to these heavily-tattooed young folks at times. They all seem very normal to me. They just like tattoos.

I don’t hear people here in Idaho complaining about tattoos unless they are combined with piercing. Folks here complain about triple-ear piercing, nose piercing, lip piercing, navel piercing (umbilicus piercing), and tongue piercing. There may be other piercing in undisclosed locations.

Our church leader say that a single piercing in each ear is just right. That does not apply to boys. The number there is zero.

We members of our church frown on new tattoos but accept old ones; especially if you were in the Navy and stationed in San Diego.

What would tattoo artist do if tattoos went out of style? Some of these artists do piercing too. What if both procedures were no longer wanted? What would happen to these artist? (Okay, they are not all artist. Some are copyist.)

Well, they might take up Slindogging when it’s invented.

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com, a retired VP of R&D for Lenox China, is author of detective & western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering, humor), poetry, etc. Former editor of Ceramic Industry Magazine. He calls himself "Taylor Jones, the hack writer."

More info: http://www.tjbooks.com

Business web site: http://www.dumbincome.com


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