Why I Adore Tattoos But Would Never Get One On My Body
14 reasons why, despite of being in love with the art and culture of tattoos for years, I refuse to get a tattoo on my own body and advise others against getting one too.
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| Kat Von D |
Here in India, barely few people have got a tattoo done on themselves. I can say that in my entire life, I haven't seen more than 15 people with ink on their skin here. This lady in the picture embedded above is known by the name Kat Von D and is of the most famous tattoo artist in the world. Her TV show 'LA Ink' and an another similar TV show called 'Miami Ink' by an artist called Ami and his tattoo artist friends are the main reasons why I got hooked on to the art and culture of tattoos to such an extent. I have been watching these shows for at least 7-8 years now and I still watch both the shows occasionally when I get a chance. Both the shows display the whole process of getting a tattoo done, the personal lives of these tattoo artists and the tattoo culture of America along with showcasing some unbelievably awesome and creative tattoos that the customers get inked on their body.
I love Tattoos!
Out of all the different types of art forms, the art and culture of tattoos interests me the most. The beauty, the way the colours blend with each other, the designs and the way of usage of colours, almost inspire me to recreate the tattoos I see on a piece of paper myself. I feel art is about creating a certain mood or about expressing it and no other form of art expresses the mood, emotions and ideas better than a tattoo manages to. But despite all my adoration and admiration for the tattoos, here are the reasons why I refuse to get a tattoo on my own body and advise others against getting one too.
Reasons Why I'M Against The Idea Of Getting A Tattoo
1. A part of you is getting the tattoo just to show it off to the world. Shallow or not, it means only the skin on your face, neck and arms can be used for the purpose because the rest of the body is covered with clothes. Face and neck tattoos simply look terribly ugly whereas the arm is a tricky place to get a tattoo because either you or the rest of the world, will see the tattoo upside down. And secondly, the tattoo will twist as you turn your wrist and the skin on the forearm stretches and turns accordingly. This makes sketching the tattoo very difficult for the artist himself and even if the artist somehow manages to ink it down, you yourself may not be happy with the way it looks.
2. A tattoo on any other place on the body except biceps and forearms means neither you yourself nor can anyone else see it, unless you are roaming around shirtless in shorts.
3. If showing the tattoo to the world doesn't hold much importance to you and the sole reason of you getting a tattoo is to ink an artwork or a memory of someone who is or was close to you or your ideas and milestones you choose to remember and cherish, then I have a simple question for you. What is the need to get a tattoo for the above reasons? You don't need a tattoo to remember your close ones or their memories, because if those memories are so important to you and mean so much to you, you would remember them anyways. Those ideas, artworks and milestones too won't seem so grand after a while. You do not need to ink something on your body to allocate space for it in your mind forever. The process of growth consists of giving up old ideas and memories. And holding those of importance even closer to you, not on your body, but in your mind.
3. If showing the tattoo to the world doesn't hold much importance to you and the sole reason of you getting a tattoo is to ink an artwork or a memory of someone who is or was close to you or your ideas and milestones you choose to remember and cherish, then I have a simple question for you. What is the need to get a tattoo for the above reasons? You don't need a tattoo to remember your close ones or their memories, because if those memories are so important to you and mean so much to you, you would remember them anyways. Those ideas, artworks and milestones too won't seem so grand after a while. You do not need to ink something on your body to allocate space for it in your mind forever. The process of growth consists of giving up old ideas and memories. And holding those of importance even closer to you, not on your body, but in your mind.
4. No matter how cool you think tattoos are, not all tattoo ideas are smart and not all tattoo artists are good.
5. Relationships turn sour and breakups happen. So do ideas, lifestyles and ways of living change, turn sour or backfire. Getting a permanent tattoo to represent something so uncertain doesn't seem like a good idea.
5. In case you dislike the tattoo, tattoo removal by surgery is a long, costly and a painful process.
6. Tattooing quotes, phrases or sayings are plain boring and cliche.
7. The skin stretches over time and starts transforming as you age which can ruin your tattoos.
8. You have to get rid of a patch of body hair or the entire body hair where the tattoo is to be made.
9. Too many tattoos look messy.
10. You may not like how the end product of your own tattoo idea that you pictured in your mind has turned out to look like on your body. You might also happen to dislike the way the tattoo artist shaded or altered the tattoo.
11. In case you are getting the tattoo to look cool or different, let me tell you that every single person will judge your tattoo differently and not everyone will find it cool. It will make you stand out, but wrong or bad tattoos will make you stand out from the crowd in a negative way.
12. If you are getting a tattoo to represent something creative or are an artist yourself, you are the most likely the first one out of every other tattooed human to get bored by your tattoo or dislike it because you are the most unstable and constantly transitioning of the lot. Permanency is not for you. There are other outlets for your creativity too.
13. Your body and skin is more beautiful the way it originally is.
14. Embrace change and not permanency for change is constant.