Tattoo Design Guide For You

Branded for Life: Tattooing and Social Status

Tattoo Tracker — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:09:48 +0000

Twelve thousand years has not altered the cross-cultural implications of tattoos. From the jungles of Borneo to dorm rooms at Harvard, their implications remain the same. Tattoos have always signified status.
In Indochina, a woman’s forearm tattoos made them desirable for marriage. Various designs demarked the wearer’s station in life. Rich women wore delicate arm tattoos that looked like expensive gloves women buy today at Bloomingdale’s. Warriors’ tattoos on showed how many lives they had taken in battle. Tattoos commanded respect and assured their wearers status for life.
Today, tattoos signify some personal trait or membership in either clan or society. The Hells Angels jealously guard their tattoo. Secret societies do the same. The aura of mystery and secrecy pervades the tattoo wearer whether they repel or attract us. Whatever our reasons for asking, the question remains: “What ARE they wearing? And WHY?”
Some believe a tattoo wearer possesses the spirit of his “dragon, eagle or flower.” William Blake might have said the ferocity of the Tyger belongs to others. Today, tigers, snakes, and bird of prey stalk unchecked in out midst. We might want to be careful whom we antagonize.
Mediterranean civilizations used tattoos for espionage, slavery and the demarcation of crime, a filthy practice that continues to this day. Japanese girls were tattooed as rite of passage to womanhood and the Japanese tattoo assumed a religious significance.
Western cultures have tattooed family crests for centuries. Pope Hadrian banned tattooing in 787 AD but thrived in the British Isles until the Battle of Hastings, 1066 AD. William the Conqueror forced its disappearance from Western culture till the 16th century.
Yet tattoos thrived in Japan, notably for marking criminals. First offenses carried a line across the forehead. The second, an arch and the third, another line – the Japanese character for “dog” – The start of the: “Three strikes and you’re out law.” The Japanese tattoo became an aesthetic art form with the “body suit”, a social reaction to strict laws. While royalty alone were allowed to wear ornate clothing, nothing stopped the middle class from wearing elaborate full body tattoos that left the naked considered “well dressed”.
American tattoos were born in Chatham Square, New York City; a seaport and entertainment center attracting the affluent and the working class. Tattoo artists grew in respectability and so too did the tattoo, flourishing as artist husbands tattooed their wives with their work and became their billboards. Cosmetic tattooing meshed with cheek blush, lipstick and eyeliner. Cardinals’ fans might want to investigate Jim Edmonds.
After World War I, tattoos began to symbolize bravery and wartime solidarity. With the Prohibition and Depression, tattoos became travelers’ markers telling the story of where the wearer had been.
Post World War II America became disenchanted with the tattoo by its association with delinquency. Tattooing had little respect in American culture. The 1961 hepatitis outbreak all but destroyed any positive status the tattoo had earned.
Lyle Tuttle changed the American attitude toward tattoos in the late ‘60s with media savvy and tattooing celebrity women. Scores of magazines rushed to him for information about this ancient art form.
Toady, tattoos are more popular than they ever were. All classes of people seek them and the tattooist is considered a “fine artist”. Political consultants, actors and baseball players wear them – proudly or sheepishly – but wear them nonetheless. While the status tattoo wearers enjoy is certainly less clear than it was a thousand years ago, the status the tattoo itself enjoys is a popular, if confused one.

Aging Tattoos

Tattoo Tracker — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:31:45 +0000

Although there have been many technological advances in tattooing, tattoos will always age as the skin ages. Genetics, environment and lifestyle combine to determine both the skin’s long term health and the appearance of a tattoo. Even with fastidious care, aging skin tissue loses moisture and elasticity. A tattoo on dry skin with diminished elasticity will fade and its contours will soften.

The more fine detail work in the tattoo’s design, the more it will change when the skin ages. Faded and softened tattoos do not show detail or shading as well, and the smaller the tattoo the more pronounced the effect. For that reason, large tattoos tend to age more gracefully than smaller, intricate designs. Bolder and larger pieces hold up to changes over the years. Trendy, bold tribal tattoos will change very little over time, whereas small, elaborate designs with fine line shading are likely to change dramatically.

Just as prolonged exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays can cause dramatic, irreversible and sometimes deadly skin damage, they also accelerate damage to body art. Sun exposure speeds up line or color decay. Black ink is particularly sensitive to sun exposure. Some black inks fade to gray with extended sun exposure, while others take on a bluish tinge. Occasionally, whites and light yellows disappear if the skin is badly sunburned.

One of the key threats to an aging tattoo design does not alter the tattoo itself but is a very real consequence of a simple fact of life – weight fluctuations. The speed of weight gain or weight loss, skin moisture and tattoo placement all influence how well a tattoo withstands weight gain. The more slowly the weight fluctuates, the more skin retains its elasticity. Moisture also helps skin to retain its elasticity.

The way a tattoo reacts to weight gain varies widely from person to person, because it depends on where the person carries his or her weight. Areas where the skin remains more taut or areas that have more muscle will hold the design better than sagging or fatty areas. Although most tattoos will change shape when the skin is stretched or contracted, torso tattoos are arguably the most susceptible to irreparable damage after weight gain.

A tattoo artist’s skill and equipment can change a tattoo’s long term durability. A well trained tattoo artist can bring considerable craftsmanship to the boldest and simplest tattoos. There is a wide variety in the resilience of tattoo inks as well. Tattoo inks consist of simple carbon particles. The carbon base usually comes from burnt wood, cotton, vegetables, India or pen ink and plastic. Professional artists have access to more than 100 different colors.

Ink manufacturers are not required to list the composition of their products, so tattoo artists may not know the base of their chosen ink. Nevertheless, plastic based inks are heavily marketed for their relative colorfastness and permanence. Unfortunately, plastic based inks are also more likely to cause allergic reactions.

Though there was no documented study available at the writing of this article, it makes since that the technological advances in skin care could be beneficial to prolonging the life of your tattoo. The age-fighting trend is enormously popular in the cosmetic industry these days. Virtually every major brand is getting in on it. There are all kinds of products claiming to lift, firm and unwrinkled the skin. Some of them even claim to slow down, stop or even reverse the aging process. Most of them really do work to some degree. If it makes the skin on your face look better, why wouldn’t it make your tattoo look better as well?

Tattoo Fever Review

Tattoo Tracker — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:45:23 +0000

Tattoofever is a website that offers a huge range of tattoo designs that you can download onto your computer and browse at your leisure. Tattoofever has thousands of nice tattoo designs. Tattoo fever has one of the best sales pages in the market.

Aaron Danker of Tattoo Fever claims that it has Over 14,735 Of the hottest tattoo designs, which covers everything from kanji symbols, dragon designs, tribal tattoos and chinese names and you will find plenty of butterfly and other attractive images too.

Tattoo Fever Conents…

Tattoo Fever flash pack – 1000s Of flashes(over 200mb).

Just Tribal – Over 1100 classic black and white tribal designs.

Tattoo Unlimited – oriential designs and tribal tattoos.

Got Ink? – package of real tattoo photos and all your tattoo questions and concerns answered.

Chinese Names – Over 3450 Chinese names. Includes Japanese Katakana chart and Kanji symbol bonuses.

The Art Of Tattoo – the basics of tattooing in one easy interactive eBook.
DragonFever – special edition Of dragon tattoos.

They also have some good feedback from happy customers…

Hi I just got my tat done. I went for to a butterfly tattoo on my ankle…
-Portion of actual user review from the site

Thanks for the great designs …I feel really good with my tat…
-Portion of actual user review from the site

…I went for a chinese dragon design on my shoulder. I’m well please with how it looks…
-Portion of actual user review from the site

Membership…

Tattoo Fever is priced shockingly $19.99 and is backed by a 60 day money back guarantee. They will also keep you updated with new designs for life.

Overall Tattoo Fever offers a huge collection of tattoo designs in a very affordable price. You must check their collection.
So get over to Tattoo Fever and find your perfect tattoo you have been waiting for.

Tattoo Fever Official Site

Chopper Tattoo Review

Tattoo Tracker — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:46:11 +0000

Chopper-Tattoo is also a tattoo membership site with a large array of designs. It has some award winning designs in 42 categories covering all the most popular categories. It is one of the most popular tattoo membership site but not the best. Site claims that it has the largest selection of Award Winning Tattoo Designs.

Chopper-Tattoo

Chopper-Tattoo.com claims that it has thousands of award winning tattoo designs that you can browse from the comfort of your home. Here you will find designs that will be happy with for the rest of your life.

Members of Chopper Tattoo are able to browse through its huge database of designs from one central location. They guarantee to have more designs to choose from than any tattoo parlor.

Chopper Tattoo categorizes designs to make it easy to find what you are looking for. When you are ready for a tattoo, they will also provide a tattoo parlor locator. Just print out the design of your liking, and take it to a artist.

Chopper Tattoo Contents…

Membership to the Chopper Tattoo web site
Music downloads (via mp3suite.com)
Inked magazine subscription (online edition)
Tattoo Parlor directory

Chopper tattoo is basically a huge database with thousands of tattoos. Chopper Tattoo is the oldest and most popular tattoo site on the web. There are nearly 4,000 tattoo designs available for download with hundreds of high-quality pictures. They are improving their database everyday.

They are offering some good quality and creative designs, which are most unlikely to find at your local tattoo parlour. The site actively encourage and reward tattoo artists for submitting quality designs, which helps their database to grow constantly. So you can opt for a lifetime membership to have a growing list of tattoo designs.

They have over 45 categories of tattoos, and most categories contains fifty to hundred designs on average. Some categories are Tribal Tattoos, Dragon Tattoos, Cross Tattoos, Star Tattoos, Lower Back Tattoos, Butterfly Tattoos, Celtic Tattoos, Fish Tattoos, Egyptian Tattoos, Gothic Tattoos, Armband Tattoos etc.

Membership…

There are three membership levels. The lifetime membership costs $35, 30 days access will cost $19.95 & 60 days access for $24.95. They have 8 week money-back guarantee.

Pros & Cons…

Chopper Tattoo is the most popular tattoo finder. There are a lot of good tattoo designs for printing and download, you can save and modify unlimited number of tattoos.

Most of the designs on these sites are not unique. The chance of duplicate designs being on multiple free tattoo websites is very high. The search function is not up to the mark. The tattoo parlour directory is very week.

Here’s what some members have to say about Tattoo Me Now…

Chopper tattoo is the best place if you want a high quality tattoo design.
-Portion of actual user review from review blog

With the right price tag, Choper Tattoo is the right place to find my dream tattoo.
-Portion of actual user review from tattoo forum

They have a wide collection of mind blowing tattoos. Membership area is easy to navigate.
-Portion of actual user review from review site

Overall Chopper tattoo is one of the best tattoo design website on the internet. Though some designs are not unique, still it is very popular among the tattoo lovers since 2006.

Chopper Tattoo Official Site

TattooMeNow Review

Tattoo Tracker — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:18:16 +0000

TattooMeNow is a tattoo membership site. It is newer than Chopper Tattoo but are growing aggressively.

The site claims that it has five membership components…

In the ‘Design Gallery’ they have over 3500 designs in 40 categories.
In ‘Members Gallery’ it has tattoo photos in 38 categories.
In the ‘Studio Directory’ they have a list of over 10,000 tattoo studios in 38 countries.
In the ‘Discussion Forum’ members can ask other members & artists for feedback before they get their tattoo.
In the ‘Video Vault’ they have tattoo related videos on 12 categories.

About TattooMeNow Membership…

TattooMeNow is the perfect place to find your dream tattoo. Collection of their tattoo designs are excellent. Members have access to the member’s gallery which is filled with photos of tattoos uploaded by members. Members here can also upload their tattoo designs. Apart from five membership components, TattooMeNow provides lots of tattoo related bonuses, which includes ebooks, audios and videos on getting tattoo, tattoo aftercare, infection prevention, chinese signs, weightlosss, fitness and muscle building.

Some Of The Tattoo Categories Available With TattooMeNow…

Abstract Tattoos, Angel Tattoos, Bellybutton Tattoos, Biker Tattoos
Bird Tattoos, Butterfly Tattoos, Cartoon Tattoos , Celtic Tattoos
Chinese Tattoos, Cross Tattoos, Devil Tattoos, Dolphin Tattoos
Dragon Tattoos, Eagle Tattoos, Fairy Tattoos, Fantasy Tattoos
Heart Tattoos, Horse Tattoos, Insect Tattoos, Japanese Tattoos
Lizard Tattoos, Lower back Tattoos, Mermaid Tattoos, Monster Tattoos
Misc. Tattoos, Patriotic Tattoos, Religious Tattoos, Rose Tattoos
Scorpion Tattoos, Skull Tattoos, Snake Tattoos, Sport Tattoos
Star Tattoos, Sun Tattoos, Symbol Tattoos, Tiger Tattoos
Tribal Tattoos, Various Animals, Women Tattoos, Zodiac Tattoos

Here’s What Some Members Have To Say About Tattoo Me Now…

I just wanted to let you know that i joined this site about a week ago and it’s worth every penny.
-Portion of actual user review from Yahoo Answers

I am glad that I found Tattoomenow. This site is impressive. Forum of this site is a great place to get answers all tattoo related queries.
-Portion of actual user review from review blog

High quality site and affordable with excellent design gallery.
-Portion of actual user review from tattoo forum

The real downside of this site is to find your dream design from huge collection.

Membership…

TattooMeNow is priced $37 for life time access and is backed by a 8 weeks money back guarantee.

With the involvement of active tattoo artists and design upload by members, this site is growing rapidly. Overall TattooMeNow is an excellent tattoo design membership site.

Visit TattooMeNow Official Site