The Hosts of Tattoo Nightmares
Well Spike TV must love tattoos. After all, their two highest rated shows are both about the world of tattoo art. True, with their viewers overwhelmingly male, they probably have a bit of a built-in audience for shows like these.
Third season veteran Ink Master is scoring higher than ever in the ratings for the male-centric network. The show pits highly rated tattoo artists against each other. It is a kind of Iron Chef of the tattoo set. Meanwhile, Tattoo Nightmares is back again for another round of saving humanity from itself.
Turning Tattoo Nightmares into Dreams
For those who have never zoned in on the reality show, the premise is pretty simple really. People are always getting tattoos that they come to regret. It is simply a part of being human, especially if you happen to love getting tattoos. But not all is lost if you got a tattoo when you were drunk out of your mind with your buddies on that summer fling in Mexico.
Because there are folks out there that are amazing at turning the worst kind of tattoo nightmare into something you can not only live with, but be proud of as well. Hence, the name of the show: Tattoo Nightmares.
The Tattoo Cover-Up Elite
These guys are awesome. Tommy Helm, Big Gus and Jasmine Rodriguez are masters at the art of the tattoo cover-up. This is when you take an ugly tattoo and create a new design on top of it that not only hides the ugly tattoo, but replaces it with something that looks great. As far as reality shows go, the stakes are big in this one and the end results are permanent. If you want to know more about Tommy, Gus and Jasmine, check out their bios on Spike TV.
Reality Shows and Reality
So, you may be wondering about how real the show is and how true the segments on it are. Big Gus is a pretty well-known tattoo artist and he recently talked about his experience of doing the show and why on the blog for Tattoo Artist Magazine. He explained how tattoo art is growing. As an artist he feels responsible for showing the side of the art that uses clean equipment, takes pride in its work and is part of a community. That and the cash is good. Its only fair to include that too, since Gus was pretty upfront about it himself.
Art vs Cash
But I dont think it is just the cash that gets these guys to do a show like Tattoo Nightmare. After all, both Tommy and Gus are multi-award winning artists with their own shops and waiting lists that run at two years or more.
Nope I think that it starts with showing the world that tattoo artists run in all stripes, colors and sexes. In the end, it is always the artist who will always win out. Tattoo is about the art. And who the heck wants some guy or gal walking around with an ugly tattoo on their body. Not these three!
Well, I really wanted to like Black Ink Crew truly I did. You know, I may not be black but I am well aware of the lack of coverage of the whole black ink scene in most of the media. So while I didnt hold out much hope that this would be anything resembling reality (when are these kinds of shows ever that?) I was hoping for something more than I got. I am not usually one to dis anyone or anything much on the blogs I write, but I feel that I have to say something here.
Parade of Cartoon Characters
We all know that the actors in these reality shows are supposed to be larger than life, but I can walk down to the local ink parlor and find more interesting people than the crew in Black Ink Crew. Caesar may be the main man, but it is hard to believe this guy has kept this shop going for seven years. He just turns everyone off the moment he opens his mouth.
I agree with The Dutchess when she says this shop doesnt represent tattooing or the black tattoo community. You got that right, sister. Too bad that she is having to deal with these clowns, but then it might be a good gig for awhile.
And dont get me started on OS**t. Either say it or dont but dont give me this crap. The write up for Black Ink Crew tries to pass him off as lovable, but I just dont see it.
I guess you can see that I was beyond disappointed over this new arrival on the Ink Show train. What started off as a fun concept has simply degenerated into a parody of itself. Enough already- we might as well watch sitcoms. At least we knew where to put the laugh track.
But- in the interest of fairness, here is some video on the show that might give you a better taste of what to expect.
Along with the Polynesian tattoos, Indian tattoo designs based on Native American or First Nation symbols are a great look for a new tattoo. For some people, the whole concept behind getting a tattoo based on a native tribal tattoo is to pay homage to an ancestor.
Even if your Native American heritage is just an eighth or sixteenth, many Americans are finding new pride in pointing out their ancestry by getting an Indian tattoo design.
Cree Indian Tattoo Designs
But sometimes it is hard to find what you need. Here are some pictures of images connected to specific tribes. These are mostly not actually tattoo designs, but are images you can base your tattoo patterns on to make them your own. Since beading was a big part of Cree and Iroquois design, I have included some of those as well for inspiration:
The Cherokee Nation was a very large tribe and many people either have ancestry through it or feel an affinity for the tribe. It may be the reason many Indian tattoos are tribal symbols from the Cherokee Nation. Here are some basic symbols that represent them to base your tattoo on:
Finally- the southwest has many different tribes including the Hopi, Navajo and Apache that have all contributed to what has become known as The Southwest Tribal look. The god of mischief, Kokopeli has become very well known throughout the country as a symbol for the southwest tribes. Although each tribe does have its own symbols, the ones below are a good representation of the kind of images you might want if considering this type of Indian tattoo design:
So, as you can see there is a lot of diversity in look and design when it comes to inspirations for a Native American or commonly called Indian tattoo design. You can take an image from a specific tribe and adapt it to a tattoo design. You could take the traditional eagle feathers tattoo like you see at the top of this page. You could even take some basketry or bead elements and make your own tattoo design. So, whatever kind of inspiration you may have gotten from this page, I hope you will find a great new Indian tattoo design ideas to help you to start your search for the perfect Indian tattoo design.
Would you be surprised to find out that one of the most popular tattoos to have is a cross and in fact it is often the very first tattoo a person gets? Yes, that was surprising to me too when I first read about it. But if you really consider it, many people get that first tattoo as a memorial to someone they loved who has died. What more fitting way to tattoo a memorial to one you miss, especially if you happen to be Christian, than with a tattoo of a cross?
Memorial Cross Tattoos
You will see these tattoos and be able to recognize them right away. They might say R.I.P or have a wreath of flowers sitting across the crossbars. The crosses can be simple wooden crosses or really detailed and elaborate ones. The ones below are a good example of what I mean.
The first one is for someones mother or grandmother, and I see plenty of these amongst the memorial cross tattoos. Its a wonderful testament to the connections of mothers and sons. The middle one makes me kinda sad because it is obvious it is for a baby that only lived a few days. I am always touched when I see a guy that does something like that. The last one, the blue cross, is a chest cross tattoo. I was kind of struck by that one because crosses are normally seen on the bicep or upper arm. This one must be huge!
Womens Cross Tattoos
Although I tend to see more men than women wearing a cross tattoo design, the ones I have seen on women are pretty spectacular. Women do tend to go more for the elaborate crosses. Celtic crosses with tons of knotting or dainty crosses with fine line art seem to be really popular.
For instance, the first tattoo in the group below is based on the types of crosses you often see on old rosaries. It has a red rose in the center, something often connected in the Catholic faith to Mary, Jesus mother. Speaking of rosaries, the next womens cross tattoo is in fact a rosary with a tattoo cross at the end. I only started seeing more of these in the last few years, outside of the hood, that is. The Celtic cross at the end is a wonderful example of simple and detailed together. What a great little design!
Well, there are plenty more cross tattoo designs beyond these two simple ideas. If you are thinking of getting a cross tattoo, there are tons of great sites to check out. But I would also suggest taking a walk in your neighborhood. I am always amazed how many great tattoo design ideas, even cross tattoos, came out of walking around. Have fun in your search and find the tattoo that is really a reflection of what you want to say!
For over 3000 years the Chinese have revered the dragon and you cannot help but be aware of its power if you have ever been in China. It stands for many things, amongst them happiness, immortality, procreation and fertility. These last three really go together and may be one of the reasons the dragon tattoo is so popular with many women. If you ever take a close look at many of the beautiful dragon tattoos you see on women, there is a sensual quality to them that to me really ties in to this symbolism for the dragon tattoo.
On the other hand, the dragon is also a symbol of great power. After all, it stands for immortality. When you couple this interpretation of the ancient symbol with the old idea that it is a guardian against evil spirits, then you begin to understand why there is always some symbol of a dragon in front of every ancient temple or even newer buildings! I have known men to get a dragon tattoo when they wanted a symbol to give them courage to accomplish something great. It can be very inspiring for many men to get a Chinese dragon tattoo, as you can see from the ones we have below:
Of course, with all the different kinds of tattoo designs we have these days, it is no surprise that we are beginning to see some dragons that have either tribal or Celtic influences to them. The truth is, even though most of us think of a Chinese dragon tattoo when you say dragon tattoo, the creature is in almost every kind of cultural myth. So we should not be surprised to find dragon tattoos that represent just about every kind of culture you can name. After all, the art of the tattoo itself has become so universal, it is only fitting that one of its most popular symbols, the dragon tattoo, should figure so prominently in everything from old fables to new movies.
Did you know that it has been estimated that nearly 20 percent of all people with tattoos have at least one tattoo they would like to remove? Well, if you go by what you see with the celebrity tattoo removals, I would say even more! But for the ordinary folks like you and me that might want to remove that tattoo we got in our wilder days, there is a new tool coming onto the market.
Cynosure is a company that makes medical equipment, specifically laser equipment and they have just announced a new one that removes tattoos. The tests done for the Food and Drug Administration show that for the group of people they tested it on it had:
greater than 80 percent overall tattoo clearance, and 94 percent removal for blue and green ink.
That sounds pretty amazing to me for a little instrument that shoots lasers out in short bursts to remove the tattoo. Right now the procedure for tattoo removal is lengthy, painful (sometimes more painful than the actual tattooing from what I have heard) and can take several treatments to get it removed. This should greatly reduce all of that.
The laser treatment workstations will be made available to plastic surgeons and aesthetic dermatologists in the early part of 2013. This is pretty quick to market for a complex piece of machinery like this when you stop to consider that it was only approved this last summer by Food and Drug.
So do you think this is a good thing to have available? Do you feel like it doesnt matter since it will take real buck$ to afford to go to a plastic surgeon to get it removed anyways? What is your feeling about this tattoo removal product?
Travelling is my life
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