Tattoos: Think before you ink
Column
Tracy Chamberlin
Issue date: 5/4/05 Section: Opinion
Pain is the number one question but safety is the number one concern. I met my tattoo artist years before I got my first tattoo. State of the Art Tattooing in Northern Virginia was the place. The artist gave me a chance to check out the studio, the equipment and most of all him. I was given time to ask him questions and I returned a couple of times before I had my piece of first work done.
He never gave me a hard time and told me everything I wanted to know. He never reused needles and had hospital-quality cleaning equipment for the rest of his gear. One last safety tip is never get a tattoo drunk. Alcohol thins the blood and makes it hard for the artist and the person getting tattooed. Plus, it never heals quite right.
The last major issue for tattoos is location, location, location. You have to be sure about where you want to place it on your body. I didn't want to have my tattoo on skin I know will stretch out while I continue to grow as a woman. I also like the way a great dress looks on, so I didn't want to have something on my arms or legs. That left my back. But the back is such a large canvas, it turned out to be the perfect location.
It may take the rest of my life to finish, but each addition will be great and worth the wait. My mother doesn't like to talk about my tattoos or my love for them. She does however love me with them.
He never gave me a hard time and told me everything I wanted to know. He never reused needles and had hospital-quality cleaning equipment for the rest of his gear. One last safety tip is never get a tattoo drunk. Alcohol thins the blood and makes it hard for the artist and the person getting tattooed. Plus, it never heals quite right.
The last major issue for tattoos is location, location, location. You have to be sure about where you want to place it on your body. I didn't want to have my tattoo on skin I know will stretch out while I continue to grow as a woman. I also like the way a great dress looks on, so I didn't want to have something on my arms or legs. That left my back. But the back is such a large canvas, it turned out to be the perfect location.
It may take the rest of my life to finish, but each addition will be great and worth the wait. My mother doesn't like to talk about my tattoos or my love for them. She does however love me with them.