Tattoos have been around since almost forever. The word itself is derived from the Tahitian/Samoan word tatau or tatu. The actual process itself was present since ancient tribal cultures such as the Indonesians and Polynesians right through to the Egyptians, English artistocracy and French jailbirds.
Enter the 2000s and the rush for getting piercings has now been replaced by getting ink done yo. Rappers have em, celebrities have em, even my mum has got tatts (seriously).
So in this article we run through the ins and outs of getting ink done cause it ain't all glamorous cable TV, a la Miami Ink.
If you plan on getting ink done DO NOT get it done whilst DRUNK or ON DRUGS - seriously EVER. This could quite possibly be one of the worst choices you could ever make and it will take a long time and a bunch of cash to get rid of the "FUCK MY BEST FRIEND 4 LIFE" tattoo that you got because, like, it's really funny and you were having the best time and he got the same one.
Find a good tattooist, find a design that you won't get bored of, and finally, find a place on your body that suits the tattoo and also one that wont affect your life/work.
Got a friend of a friend who just got into tattooing and is flipping 'em cheap ? DON'T DO IT, let some other chumps be his trial skin and go to someone who:
1. Can draw
2. Knows what they're doing
3. Has a clean studio
4. Can spellcheck
Know what you want and avoid tattoo trends. It's fine looking through the tattooists books, but a tattoo should really represent something about yourself.
Remember when everyone got Chinese characters? Some kid the UK thought he had "love honour obey" in characters but what it really read was "at the end of the day this is an ugly boy". TATTOO FAIL!
Remember celtic and "tribal" designs? Dudes started looking like Wigga Polynesian Warriors. TATTOO FAIL!
Getting your sleeves done jap/yakuza style is one of the trendy things right now. As are vintage sailor tats (even though you're not in the navy and have never been on a ship).
The worst current trend is the Southern Cross tattoo. TATTOO FAIL!
I could swear that with every Big Music Festival ticket comes a southern cross (SC) tattoo. It seems every scalper is equipped with a temporary tattoo airbrush. The SC tatts are prominently displayed on such places as the arms, calves and upper torso, which can be peeped at through singlets and shorts. The more exposed the better, apparently. The full back SC gets extra points with SC fans.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm all about patriotism and such but like stop being a drone, SC fans! There are other iconic Australiana tattoos that you can get eg. the ANZAC rising sun, the Eureka flag or Bob Hawke's face.