Koel, which is very similar to your ID name, means a bird of the cuckoo family in Hindi, so I would have never imagined you to look like...well...a serial killer As I said I don't dislike tattoos as long as they don't flaunt them as fashion statements. Also I hear that getting tattoos is addictive (don't know if it is scientifically proven). Better stay away from anything addictive.
LOL my ID Koal4e actually means little koala bear in Bulgarian - its what my wife calls me as she says I have a little nose. Tattoos can be addictive, Im not sure why though. I know many people with loads of tattoos...Ive settled on three so far (over 10 years). This is why the tackyness versus meaning comes in as one of my tattoos says the word "Mugshot" (look at my photo above for part of the reason and see the tattoo below). Now many will see this as tacky, yet it is something close to me and the people around me and has connotations dating back to when I was a young teenager...so there is a story behind it.
I love the art and expression of tattoos. The boring dime a dozen skulls and designs bore me half to death, but a good thought out and artful piece has the potential of being so much more than a picture drawn on skin. I plan on getting plenty of tattoos that I will be designing and working on to make it into something that expresses something about myself. Even if whatever I'm expressing is sort of unintentionally made in a design that I really like and add to look good. It is all a personal experience to me, and every piece I design and get carved into me will be 100% designed and created by me. There won't be a piece that if someone asks, I won't be able to tell them what I was thinking when I drew it before hand. I do plan on keeping them in places easily hide able though. Probably mostly on my back or chest.
Not 'opposed' to folks getting them, if that's what they want. Not my business. I'm not interested in getting one however. Oh, the many ex-class mates walking around with tacky Chinese tattoos now... emulating Scary Spice, back in 1998...
I would never get a tattoo myself. I'm bodybuilding for 'aesthetics,' and a tattoo would make that a little bit pointless. However I don't actually mind when other people are covered in them as long as they are artistic.
I have this thing that all my tattoos are black, yes they fade over time, but coloured tattoos look horrible as they age. One thing my wife says though is that when Im old and wrinkly, who will be wanting to see me topless anyway lol.
I wasn't even talking about color fades. A few wrinkles, maybe a weigh gain or loss, a couple bulges or sags... And that's on her BACK! In other locations, the changes in the canvas can lead to results that are nothing short of bizarre.
Sadly we live in an avatar age, where we're not judged on our character as much as we once were, but buy what makes us fit in, or not fit in. I have no issue with tats at all, but what does worry me of late is seeing someone 18-25 having all their arms and chest and back filled in. At 20 you don't even have a fully developed brain, let alone a real idea what you want for yourself, so it actually bothers me that someone so young and naive can fill out half their bodies without question. It almost feels criminal for me. Plus, a tattoo (a real one) is NOT cheap, how does one so young spend thousands of dollars in the first place! Someone once told me that we live in a time where people pay for experiences, rather than live them anymore, and I feel that in some cases, this is an example. On the flip side, one of my friends has been testing a product for tattoo removal. In just under a year a six inch by six inch tattoo is almost completely gone. Don't be as naive and think that an era of removal won't be near, because it will be. The fact people mark their skin means there will be more a market for it, and for that market to exist, that means being able to remove it so you can add news and so called better marks.
To answer this question speedy - Plus, a tattoo (a real one) is NOT cheap, how does one so young spend thousands of dollars in the first place! They either still live at home and pay hardly any rent and spend all their money on clothes, tattoos and getting drunk or they use credit cards to fund a lifestyle they cannot afford...well this is how they do it in the UK
Hipsters living at home i'd say. I know i'm generalising, but lets face it, the world is full of parents that want to be friends with their children these days and that means giving money to support - err to..... screw up. I did get my first and only tat when i was 18, but i loved it the moment i saw it and got it with my first weekly way. 99% i forget i have one, and the only people that can see it is me and my parter, otherwise it's just over my sleeve line.
I dislike tattoos.. my favourite singer got a tattoo on his left arm, I think it's called a sleeve tattoo, and it was quite a large one which they now have travelled all down the arm and now onto his left arm. It was such a shame. Not being a fan of him anymore, not because he got the tattoos, that's another long story, I still think they are ugly. He had such beautiful skin too.
Tom Hardy as real life English criminal Charlie Bronson (not the actor!) in the film "Bronson" Great movie, recommended! I also have a tattoo and I love it. It's a little swan on my back. I guess it depends on the type of person, style and design of the tattoo itself.
Hmm. koal4e looks scarier than Tom Hardy as Bronson. It's the lowered brow look. And that scar(?) across the scalp. Now if he had a teardrop ink on his cheekbone...
It's a free world, but when I see so many terrible tattoos around, mis-quotations, mis-spellings, really bad art, it does make me wonder why people would want to have such eyesores permanently inked on. The good tattoos I've seen I can probably count on the fingers of one hand. I especially can't understand girls who have large tattoos on their back/shoulder/upper arms. They look terrible when a shoulder strap comes over part of it, or when they are wearing elegant evening wear. Or tattoos on their lower leg/ankle which look exactly like varicose veins from a distance. IMO Ange Jolie's tattoos are the prime example of disfiguring and unnecessary body ink. And a guy with yin/yang on his neck like one of my colleagues--can you really take someone who goes in for something that naff seriously?
I agree with the majority here - if someone likes tattoos, fine, but not for me. Despite all the reasons that were already counted for, I have suffered through enough surgeries in my life since I was 9 years old, that I'm not deliberately abusing my body by getting a tattoo. And another little anecdote: About 15 years or so ago, I dyed my hair black. I liked it a lot! My beautician suggested to tattoo my eyebrows black too to save me from the hassle to get them dyed every two weeks. And I answered, "No way, what if I change my mind?" 15 years later I have changed my mind and decided to go back to my natural hair color and gray in dignity. I would find two black beams in my face quite disturbing, to be honest.
I’m not morally opposed to them in any way. I just think it is a risk not worth taking. The chances are just too great that the tattoo you get will go out of style or your tastes will change as you grow older. The only safe bet, I think, is a tattoo of your kid’s name. In any case, I have certainly seen some cool ones and more power to those who get them, but it isn’t for me. Yeah, piercings are another story. I have never had one and will never have one, but if my son, when he is a teenager, wants to dye his hair purple and pierce his nose, lips, and ears, I’ll let him do it. But I wouldn’t let him get so much as a dot of ink while I am legally responsible for him.
I know people call it body art, but sometimes it resembles graffiti - unconnected words/sayings and bad language. On a bus a couple of days ago, I was sat behind a young man that had 'f... off' tattooed on the back or his neck.
I'll admit to some surprise that so many of the members are against ink. I wonder how representative the responses posted here are of the membership as a whole.
dictionary definition; graffiti - unauthorized writings or drawings on a surface in a public place. origin - Italian, fromgraffio 'a scratch' It does not mention art.
These are some examples of the works of a Spanish Graffiti artist known all around the world. He's been working more than 20 years and now he mostly use authorized surfaces. In fact, it's not uncommon that the city council pays this guy to decorate some random wall. If you don't think this is art... *shrugs* Well, I don't care what that dictionary says.
HI Beep, I was referring to the above quote by Afion, were he seems to see a difference between every day graffiti and artistic graffiti. What I was trying to point out was that, graffiti is called graffiti, artistic or not. And yes, I do agree that this is art, I wish I were that good. But that was not the issue here, Afion stated that 'graffiti is art' and 'random swear words were vandalism' artistic graffiti is the exception, but random scribbled slogans are most common either one, it is still called graffiti.