3 Things You Didn’t Know About Tattooing

Badges of Honor

Today some tattoos are worn by groups or gangs to show affiliation with the group.  That didn’t start with the Hell’s Angels.  Early sailors were adorned with tattoos that represented such things as rank, battles of engagement, or where they had journeyed or served.

Butterfly Art Barbie

If you were among the most of us who had Barbies as a kid, you might be able to gauge how liberal or conservative your parents were on this one.  Was Butterfly Art Barbie among your collection?  It was only on the shelf for a short time before being pulled by the manufacturer, and of course there was a Butterfly Art Ken, too.

Early Tattooing Collectibles

When you go in to get a tattoo today, you’ll (hopefully!) see the the latest technology in tattooing equipment.  Like everything else, it’s a far cry from the early days of the tattoo artists tools  But those early tools are very sought after collectibles.  Some of the classic tattoo guns can have values of several thousand dollars or even more.

Tattooing Present Day

Coming back to the present day, there are some things going on in the world of tattoos you may not be aware of.  Of course, you’ve heard about “cosmetic” tattoo work.  That’s been around for a while, and let’s you get semi-permanent makeup, including eye liner, brows, and even lip liner and color.  But there’s also another even more technical area of tattooing.

If you’ve had surgery and have scars from it, there are tattoo specialists who work in “restorative” tattoo art that is nothing short of masterful.  With the ability to make scars disappear and even simulate nipples for post-mastectomy patients, they offer a new hope to clients who in the past had few or no options.

Insights From A Master

I recently had the opportunity to toss a few questions to Jay Blondel, or Gentle Jay as he’s popularly known.  Here’s a few of his responses:

There are more tattoo artists now, not tattooers. Huge difference. Tattooers just follow outlines and shade and color what has already been drawn by someone else. Much like a copy machine. Whereas a tattoo artist creates his own images and has the ability to do it without even a stencil sometimes. This makes for more artistic and personal tattoos for customers. This is great for clients since they’re less likely to inadvertently get the same tattoo as someone else. 

3. Where do you see the future of tattoos going?  With seemingly everything evolving with technology, what’s out there in the coming years?

4.  The millennial generation is probably the most tattooed of any.  How much do you think that will affect the tattoo removal business in years to come?  Or will we just see a lot of interesting, fading tats in the old folks homes?

 I don’t think either is the case.  Many people who get tattoos work closely with the artist to choose an image that means something to them.  More likely, they will live happily ever after with their decision to permanently put something beautiful on their bodies.

5. The niche tattoo area – – I’m thinking coverups, paramedical tattooing, and cosmetic tattooing.  How much have you ventured into those areas and how much growth do you see in them in the years ahead?

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