"DON'T LET THIS BE YOU!!"

So you’re probably asking yourself, "What’s wrong with these tattoos pictured above?" If that's the case, then definitely stick around for a quick lesson in "Good Taste", not to mentioned, "Wasted Skin"!

First of all, let me start by giving you guys a quick background behind these hideous excuse for a tattoo.

   The left tattoo, with the exception on the cross in the middle, is actually in the process of a long and grueling laser treatment that is both painful and costly. The client was getting tattooed frequently by an experienced artist at a semi reputable shop, when that artist suddenly moved. Now this happens quite often in the tattoo industry, as most tattoo artists are moody, emotional, and have the attention span of toe nail (yours truly INCLUDED). What was I saying again? Oh yeah! So trying to be loyal, the client asks the owner for a recommendation of the next artists in line at said shop. The owner, being quick to retain a client, suggested a new artist with a portfolio that was a bit deceiving (falsified pictures). When the artist was finally done with the tattoo session, his client could not believe what he had been put through! But alas, it was too late; he had already signed the consent form (a legal document releasing artist and shop from all liabilities).

The tattoo on the right was done on a friend of mine’s daughter by some “RA-TARD”, who claims to also have experience, but didn’t want to work at a real shop because “there’s too much politics involved”. If by “politics” he means “Quality Control”, then Hells Yeah! This freaking numbnut, even goes so far as to do the tattoo for free! C’mon, we all know the game, she’s an attractive young lady dying for tattoo, but dad made her wait and save up money for the right artist (good ol’ Bizzo), the numbnut is a desperate for experience and lacking in any type of game loser with a tattoo kit he bought from craigslist. You do the math. Just goes to show the old saying “good tattoos aren’t cheap, and cheap tattoos aren’t good” still applies.

The lessons here are simple, research, research, research!!! Word of mouth is still the best form of advertising. Don’t trust anyone, including myself to your skin, unless you have seen firsthand their work on someone you know or by their reputation. Most tattoo artists in this day and age have undergone some type of rigorous apprenticeship and health/sanitation training. Most popular is Bloodborne Pathogens Training. Look it up.

I know art is subjective and I was once there myself as a novice, but crap smells like crap even in a flowerbed. With experience come responsibilities. I feel like I should educate people on the importance of hygiene as well as quality, it’s for LIFE, literally.

The next time you see a “crappy tattoo”, chances are some of the same reasons may be similar to the unfortunate ones above. “DON’T LET IT BE YOU!!” oooorrrrr “DON’T LET IT BE YOU, AGAIN!!!” GOOD LUCK GUYS AND GALS.

BOB

Ps. Guess who's left with the daunting tasks of fixing these two work of "crap"!?