Wednesday June 11th, 2008 @ 3:19 PM
Hello…i had my last session on my chest piece about a month and a half or two months ago and i was asking myself what i should do to protect my tattoo from the sun. Do i have to wait a certain amount of time to completely expose my chest to the sun and after this time what is the best way to protect the tattoo if i can’t keep a shirt on. And finally, is there some things that i should completely avoid?
Thank you!
At 1.5 months, you’re good to go with using most sunblocks.
I’d go for the highest SPF I could find, personally… and remember to reapply.
+7 / 7 votes 
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Posted by Shawn Porter | Permalink | Comments
Monday June 9th, 2008 @ 12:40 PM
What makes a color tattoo really stick out in it’s colorfulness, is it the quality of ink a tattoo artist uses, or is it their skill with color, or some combination of both?
All that and more!
The pigment quality is very important, as is the artists ability to get it solidly into the skin. Add to that the client’s skintone and how they heal it, and you have your answer!
+6 / 6 votes
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Posted by Shawn Porter | Permalink | 1 Comment
Wednesday June 4th, 2008 @ 2:02 AM
I’ve been thinking about getting an inner lip tattoo. I was wondering does the aftercare for that differ from normal tattoo aftercare and if so how? Thanks.
There are a vast amount of tattoo aftercare ideas ranging from: leave it alone all the way to applying some sort of ointment and cream.
The issue with inner lip tattoos is the aftercare protocols are a bit different. The area is already very moist and wet so there’s no need to apply any ointments or anything like that. The main concern is to lay off any “sucking” movements in your lips…No sucking on ice…No sucking on water bottles…No sucking your bottom lip,etc.
Even then if you follow the aftercare right down to the last sentence there is also a high chance you will need quite a few touch ups,etc.
If I were you I’d simply ask the tattoo artist if they’ve done inner lip tattoos before, how many they’ve done, and how many successfully didn’t need any touch-ups…But if touch-ups were needed around how many times were touch-ups required. Also ask how they advise their clients on caring for their inner lip tattoos and simply give it a shot.
But essentially for the most part I know artists who flat out tell the customers: “its going to look like shit and you’re going to need a touch up no matter what. But ideally leave it alone, do not do any sucking motions and brush your teeth daily“
+2 / 2 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 7 Comments
Wednesday May 28th, 2008 @ 1:33 AM
Hey. I’ve been browsing the BME galleries for submitted flash to practice my drawing. I’ve made three large pieces for various purposes and want to continue, but I want to be able to say that they’re totally my own creations.
Is it ethical to borrow from someone else’s flash to create a new piece? How do professional tattoo artists learn and develop their own styles?
No matter what you think, these are NOT your drawings. They are your copies of drawings and ethically if I were you I would never steal someone’s drawings and claim them as your own.
Copying other designs by tracing and later attempting to re-draw is great for practice, but you should never try to re-sell the prints to anyone else. Because how would you feel if you spent your own personal time drawing up something and then next thing you know someone is re-copying it and selling it as their own work?
A true artist will practice on various styles of flash and after enough time will be able to draw these things up easily (flowers,etc). For more detailed serious work sometimes artists will investigate and take bits and pieces of various imagery and piece them together as one before drawing it completely out.
Professional tattoo artists, the ones I know anyways, who have developed their own styles. Have done so through countless hours of sketching, drawing, copying and just fully surrounding themselves within their art. To be honest there is no “personal style” anymore as there’s so many artists out there so pretty much every “style” has been thought up already…But a real artist will not need to copy anyone elses work, they should be ready, willing and capable of drawing up a broad range of imagery no matter what.
Personally I never got the whole: “I only do black and grey” or: “I only do color” way of thinking some artists take. A true artist in my eyes should be as I said ready, willing and capable of drawing any and all potential ideas that a client thinks up, be it: realistic, cartoony, black, color,etc imagery. Yet they’ll still be able to put their own personal spin into the design based on their emotions/feelings, what the client is looking for,etc.
Just let your thoughts and emotions flow from your mind and soul onto the paper.
+9 / 13 votes 
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | Comments
Tuesday May 27th, 2008 @ 7:05 PM
I’ve been toying with the idea of getting small tattoos of wings on my ankles, but I’ve heard that jointed areas are prone to rejecting the ink. Would a tattoo in that area be advisable?
I don’t think jointed/bendy areas are necessarily more prone to rejecting ink, but they do experience much more movement and friction during the healing period, making them a tougher area to heal…which can result in loss of ink. In addition, jointed area often tend to have thinner skin, making it a bit harder to put the ink in without also doing too much damage to the skin. This may result in some artists going a little “light” when working in these areas, thereby not getting good coverage to begin with.
I don’t have my ankles tattooed, but I do have both of my kneecaps done. I definitely found the healing of these tattoos to be more difficult, but I didn’t find that they lost any more ink during healing than less bendy spots I’ve had tattooed.
+2 / 2 votes
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 2 Comments
Tuesday May 27th, 2008 @ 7:01 PM
Hey there folks!
I have a question regarding tattoo aftercare. Since I’ve been getting tattooed, I’ve been using A&D ointment, then switching to lotion after 4 or 5 days or so, and using that until it feels like regular skin again. Thus far, it’s been working, but taking sometimes more than 3 weeks to fully heal.
I’ve heard great things about using bag balm for aftercare, but am curious as to what you fine folks have to say about it. And, would I use it for the entire healing period, or just in place of the A&D?
Thanks for all your help!
Tattoo healing can be a bit of tricky business. If you’ve been tattooed by more than one artist, you very likely know that various artists have various things they suggest. The differences in aftercare can even sometimes seem (or be) contradictory.
For my tattoos, I use an aftercare routine very similar to yours…although I switch to a mild lotion about 3 days after doing A&D. I use this method regardless of what artists is tattooing me, as over the years I’ve found it to work the best for my body.
I know some people who use bag balm and love it. I know others who have used it and not been happy with the result at all. In the end, it’s one of those things you are going to have to try for yourself to find out whether it works for you. Worst-case scenario…your tattoo won’t heal as well as with the A&D, and you’ll have to endure some touch-up work.
Best of luck.
+4 / 6 votes
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | Comments
Tuesday May 20th, 2008 @ 3:44 PM
Hey BME!
I was wondering if there’s a meaning behind the tattoo of a checkered flag? especially around the neck area?
It means the person is a winner.
+16 / 20 votes
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 3 Comments
Monday May 19th, 2008 @ 8:40 PM
I got two white star tattoos on my inner wrists on Feb. 1st of this year… they were very painful and hurt to touch for 3 weeks. Once they healed, they had a yellow tint and looked kind of like cottage cheese. I went to my new artist and he said that white ink should never be used in larger areas and he won’t do white ink other than to highlight. We tried to go over the white stars w/red ink but it only held the red color along the outline. He said that the middles are scar tissue (from the first guy going too deep) and aren’t going to hold color.
I would like to get a word done in white ink but I’m unsure about it… I know that Shannon had some white ink facial work done and I’ve seen other white ink tattoos on this site. Can anyone please help shed some light on this for me? I would really like to pursue this…
Thank you!
Mary
White tattoo pigment is generally titanium oxide, and the carrier tends to be thinner than other pigments. With time and exposure to the sun, most white pigment will take on a yellowish tint. Not always, but… a fair amount of the time. The reason a lot of artists tend to not use it for larger areas is that it’s a little harder to get in the skin consistently- overworking is a major concern when trying to get a solid white area solid. That’s what causes the scarring.
That’s not to say it’s not possible, but it’s something that’s certainly better done by artists who’ve worked with white extensively.
+5 / 5 votes
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Posted by Shawn Porter | Permalink | Comments
Wednesday May 14th, 2008 @ 12:42 PM
Does Wrecking Balm actually work? I am not interested in using it, just curious on your opinions.
It seems pretty bloody unlikely to me. Allen Falkner’s been doing some research into it, and since he’s in the tattoo removal business these days, I’m inclined to defer to his opinion. Thus far? It seems like he’s still using lasers. 
+4 / 6 votes
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Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | 2 Comments
Saturday May 10th, 2008 @ 10:52 PM
Hi there!
I have a question that I’m struggling with for quite some time now and I thought maybe you guys will know something about it…. (Sorry if my English is a bit weak…)
I have a skin disorder called “Keratosis Pilaris”, well actually about 50% of the population have it but don’t know it.
Here’s a short Wikipedia explanation to it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratosis_pilaris
And another site dedicated to it, and there’s an image on the homepage that clarifies what this means better than words: http://www.helpforkp.com/
Anyways, I never got a good answer about tattooing my KP infested upper arms. The thing is, tattoo artists don’t know too much about dermatology and are afraid to make medical statements, obviously, and skin doctors (dermatologists) don’t know anything about tattoos, or just tell me “don’t tattoo yourself”.
So here’s my questions:
Can I tatto over it?
Will the tattoo quality be good as on healthy skin?
Is there anything special I need to do before tattooing my arms?
Thanks!!!
If you have answers for me I would be sooo grateful (-:
Have a nice day
The short answer is “yes”. An ex of mine has keratosis so I was able to see firsthand that it’s entirely possible. Depending on the severity of your KP, it could be easier/harder. Will it look like a tattoo on healthy skin? No. But it can still look quite good.
+12 / 14 votes
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Posted by Shawn Porter | Permalink | 10 Comments
