Tattoos

I don't have a tattoo, but a friend does, my sister does, and I've been in tattoo parlors. Plus, there are two or three nearby. Here's the website for the closest. I'm sure you could call them and ask your questions. Their website's incomplete, but the phone number's there.

a. Please clarify, "what are they like?" They're like body art that lasts forever.

b. Tattoo parlors are kind of big rooms, maybe with a waiting room, there are probably two or three stations, depending on the location, market, city, etc. Some are larger, some hole in the wall. They have huge books you look through to pick out your tattoo. Thousands of samples. The artist uses the sample as a stencil to draw it on your skin, then colors it in. Plus, tattoo parlors must use sterile equipment and have licenses. There are laws governing them.

c. Something a quarter-sized would take an hour or two.

d. Tattoo costs vary by size and complexity. I think the small tattoo my sister got cost arount $75 or so. Bigger ones would cost more.

After you get a tattoo, you have to cover it with saran wrap and tape for about a week.

a) can you be more specific here? They are like body art or..?
b) Probably depends. Small usually, covered in various artwork. The one I go to is full of Goths and bikers and is a great, fun place for a chat. Clean is good.
c) Not long. 20 mins? I have single colour about the size of a dollar bill - took 40 mins
d) Usually charged on time. Hereabouts it's £60 ph, so 20 mins, £20

After you get a tattoo, you have to cover it with saran wrap and tape for about a week.

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Don't cover it, but put on plenty of Vaseline ( er, petroleum jelly?)

It depends where you have it. If there's muscles and / or fat over the bone ( say bicep), it feels like someone drawing on you with a pen.

If you're a skinny arse like me and get one on your shoulder blade, where the bone is right under the skin, it hurts like a bastard. Moral? Don't get a tatt on your ankle unless you're a) not worried about pain, or b) you have a good covering

Do you mean what's the pain level involved or how the tat feels if you were to run your hand over it immediately after inking?

With most people, there's some scabbing (except for the few like my cousin whose never scabbed over), and there can be some visible blood in the tissues for a few days.

It feels like a needle being stabbed into your flesh over and over again at high speeds. The tattoo gun makes this soothing burring noise that sort of helps compensate for the pain, but then it also makes this awful intermittent clacking noise that rattles your nerves. It's not just about where there's fat, but also about what nerves are located near the site. For example, I have one on my solar plexus that was utterly horrific, because the nerves to your digestive tract and a lot of other ones run right through there. It took close to four hours and I spent them all feeling like I was going to throw up.

I've heard some people who get large or numerous tattoos do it in part because after a while the body kicks in with an endorphin rush to dull the pain. No idea if that's true or not.

I have both ankles done - it hurts, but it's not unbearable. It goes kind of numb after a while. Both (a 4 leaf clover on my left ankle, black tribal band on my right) took about an hour (IIRC, I've had them for nearly 15 years). It was never much more than a sharp sting over and over. I smoked back then, and chain smoked my way through both.

The tattoo parlor was nothing out of the ordinary - with a lot of pictures on the walls to choose from, chairs for those who want to sit, tables if you want to lay down (like I did. ) There was a tv mounted on the wall and the tattoo artists looked like Hell's Angels.

The guy who did both of mine is named Gizmo, and he looked like a stereotypical tattoo artist, but he is very quiet and soft-spoken. Scary looking, but a totally nice guy. He had a lot of ink, as you can imagine. He would/could do either something you pick off the wall (or out of the book - they had a ton of 3-ring binders filled with pictures) or if you brought in a picture, he copy it, or he would draw a free hand design on you. (the guy was good. He's still good, AFAIK).

First, he drew on the picture, made sure it was where I wanted it and what I wanted - then, he made sure to open the needles in front of me. He wiped down the area with alcohol and went to work.

Mine were a set price and neither one was more than $75, but I have heard that custom designs go by the inch, possibly by how many different colored inks are used as well, but I can't swear to that.

When it was done, he covered it in Vaseline, Put a gauze pad over it, and taped it up. I remember showering and all, but had to make sure it was dried well, covered in Neosporin, and bandaged for a few days. Over the course of different tats, my husband developed an allergy to something in Neosporin, so he uses Silvadyne cream, which forms a shell over the tattoo and remains there for at least 2-3 days.

Hope this helped a little....

a) A step-by-step: You'll either pick something off the wall or out of a book (this is called Flash art), or if it's a custom design, you'll discuss with the artist what you are after. They will draw something up, you might discuss changes, give your okay and they will then make a stencil of it. You will move to the sterile area (depending on the placement, might be a stool, a table sort of like a massage table, or a recliner like at the dentist) where the tools will be laid out ready to go (gun, packaged needles, water spray, lubricant gel, opened pots of ink) and the artist will glove up. They will shave the spot and clean it, usually with alcohol. Then they will apply the stencil by pressing the paper on and peeling it away. A faint blue outline of the design will be left on the skin. You will check the placement, and if it's all good, you'll sit down and the tattoo begins. The artist will put a needle in the gun, dip it in the ink, rub a bit of lubricant gel in and begin the outline. The feeling is hard to describe, but best I can say is a burning, cutting feeling. It's not unbearable and it varies according to where it is (over bones I find the vibrating worse than the feeling of the tattoo itself). It will be done in short bursts - or longs bursts if there is a continuous or straight line to do - and in between the artist will wipe away ink and blood regularly, and sometimes spray water on and wipe as well. Once the outline is done, the needle is changed and shading/colour will begin - the feeling is a little different, more scratchy and irritating like scratching a sunburn, and the heat feeling increases. The action the artist uses will be more a circular motion than the line motions of the outline.

When it's complete, the artist will spray water and clean it off, you'll have a looksee in the mirror, then they will rub something like vaseline or a lanolin cream all over it, and sometimes cover it with a wrap, sometimes not. The feeling after that is an ongoing heat, just like sunburn, and sometimes some tenderness and often swelling/welting.

You usually only leave the wrapping on for an hour, so after that comes off most artists will advise you to have a shower as hot as you can stand, and clean the tattoo gently, pat it dry carefully with a very clean towel and, once completely dry, apply more of the cream/gel. You have to put this gel on three or four times a day in the healing period. The healing process goes from tender, to a little scabby/flaky, the flakes fall off over time and it's completely healed within about 10 days to two weeks. You are generally advised not to go swimming or sit in spas or saunas during this time, and to avoid sun exposure.

b) This varies a lot! The basics you'll see in most tattoo shops is a front desk, lots of flash art and portfolio photos on the walls and/or in books, a waiting area and then an actual tattooing area with the chairs and equipment, plus sterilising equipment that might or might not be in view. Often it will be a body piercing shop too but not always. If it is, there will usually be a display of body piercing jewellery.

c) Not long at all. Probably half an hour.

d) Hugely varies but most places will charge an hourly rate, and maybe have a minimum base rate. My best friend who is a tattooist (here in Australia) charges around $110 an hour.

Sorry for the long reply but I thought the detail might help!

Cyia said:

I've heard some people who get large or numerous tattoos do it in part because after a while the body kicks in with an endorphin rush to dull the pain. No idea if that's true or not.

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It is true. Endorphins tend to kick in about 20 minutes in, IME. But there gets to a point as well when they don't really work anymore, especially as your skin gets more tender towards the end and you're getting tired.

So, here's my two cents: Go visit a local tattoo parlor. They won't pressure you to get anything done. They are the most laid-back, nonjudgmental people for the most part.

You can look at the books, talk to some people waiting, and even watch people's tattoos being inked at most places. People with tattoos love to talk about their tattoos. Ask someone what their tattoo means and you'll get a thesis.

I have two ankle tattoos, and I don't really remember them hurting much at all. I didn't even think about the buzz of the needle being soothing. The one I got on my shoulder blade hurt worst. It might be because it was larger than my others.

Mine are about quarter sized as well, and I don't think they took anywhere near an hour. Then again, I wasn't thinking about time during the inking.

It hurts. I'm a baby when it comes to needles and I was still able to get through it, but it does hurt.

A lot of tattoo shops (shops, not parlours; I know a few tattoo artists who get rather irked when you call it a parlour) have a shop minimum, as well. No matter how big or small, you're going to pay at least $X.

Aside from that, I agree with what Kenzie said, although they don't always shave you. I got a tat on my right bicep a couple of months ago and they didn't shave me (although they did, at other shops, for my other two tattoos).

misslissy said:

I mostly need to focus on the scene of the tattoo itself in particular because the character in question dies not even ten minutes after she gets the tattoo. And yes, I am talking about the pain level involved.

So I was right to guess that if she was skinny and she got the tattoo on her ankle it would hurt a lot.

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I think it depends on the person getting the tattoo on how much it will hurt. I know several ladies with ankle ink and they didn't think it was that bad. The tattoo artist can also change the depth of the needle, the less it penetrates the less it hurts. I'm 16 hours into a full back piece and I generally fall asleep during my sessions, typically I do three hours sessions.

Kenzie gave you a accurate description of the process with the exception of the person would have to fill out release form and proof of age. Most shops will not tattoo or pierce a minor without written consent from the parent.

I've seen good artists free hand small pieces and they would have the piece done in ten minutes. If the piece was a colored piece it would take a few minutes longer.

Shops can very greatly depending on the owner. Some will have lots of people loitering others just customers are there. Some are clean and spotless will others can seem dark and dirty. Typically the area where the actual tattoo is done is sterile at least it should be. Most have flash on the wall, but I know a couple shops that prefer to do mostly custom so they don't post the flash on their walls.

Here in Michigan you can find shops that charge as little as $50 per hour up to $150 an hour. They might just give a flat price for a piece, I think for ankle piece you would pay somewhere between $40 to $80 here depending on the artist.

If I can glom on here for a moment. I don't have any tattoos.

When I read Stranger In A Strange Land, Jubal was talking to Ben (?) about Pattie's overall body art. He said something like (and I am paraphrasing) "There's a certain psychological reason people get so tattooed". I have never been able to winkle out what he meant by that. There certainly seems to be a continuum from just getting a globe and anchor when you get out of Parris Island and stopping, to people that can't wait until they've saved enough to get another tatttoo.

What am I missing?

BillPatt said:

If I can glom on here for a moment. I don't have any tattoos.

When I read Stranger In A Strange Land, Jubal was talking to Ben (?) about Pattie's overall body art. He said something like (and I am paraphrasing) "There's a certain psychological reason people get so tattooed". I have never been able to winkle out what he meant by that. There certainly seems to be a continuum from just getting a globe and anchor when you get out of Parris Island and stopping, to people that can't wait until they've saved enough to get another tatttoo.

What am I missing?

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I don't think you would find a 'one size fits all' reason why people get tattooed. Though I can think of two things that probably applies to most - maybe a feeling that you 'own' something, it is all yours and you will own it forever. Which, if you put enough thought into it in the first place (or not, but it increases the chances) you will be happy to own forever. Second, it's a way to almost literally wear your heart on your sleeve - again if you've put the thought into it, a tattoo can tell a story about who you are, what you like, what you feel etc. It's a way of expressing yourself, the same as the clothing you choose to wear, but again the permanence adds that extra dimension to it. This is the exact thing that turns some people off of course - both the fact that they are exposing something about themselves and the fact that they are making a permanent decision in a possibly temporary time in their life, and I get that too.

I got my first one for probably the worst reason ever - I thought, why not?

I was with my boyfriend (now my husband) and he was getting one and seriously, I thought "what the hell? I will, too."

Not a good reason, not a lot of thought went into it - it took me only a few minutes to decide what I wanted (the 4 leaf clover.)

But I don't regret it. I've been thinking about a third one - somewhere up higher - and something Celtic, I just don't know what.

My husband got two cool ones recently - on his left arm, he has our daughter's name, on his right, he has our son's name, in Old English lettering that can be read upside down and right side up.

The more nerves in the area of the body being tattooed, the greater the pain.

BillPatt said:

If I can glom on here for a moment. I don't have any tattoos.

When I read Stranger In A Strange Land, Jubal was talking to Ben (?) about Pattie's overall body art. He said something like (and I am paraphrasing) "There's a certain psychological reason people get so tattooed". I have never been able to winkle out what he meant by that. There certainly seems to be a continuum from just getting a globe and anchor when you get out of Parris Island and stopping, to people that can't wait until they've saved enough to get another tatttoo.

What am I missing?

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Different people have different reasons for getting tattoos.

Some are spur of the moment (Dude, I got wasted and when I woke up it was just... there!!!)

Some are to celebrate (births or weddings - even bands sometimes in place of a ring)

Some are for memory (I have a cousin with some serious art. I think it's hideous, but to her it's fitting for the memory of her loved ones lost.)

I didn't feel any pain when mine was being done. In fact, it felt like I had a horrible itch. It took everything in me not to just reach down and give the area a good scratch. I'm sure the artist would have loved that.

I really appreciate your comments. I will look up the actual passage from Heinlein when I get out of this cube farm.

Kenzie said:

I don't think you would find a 'one size fits all' reason why people get tattooed. Though I can think of two things that probably applies to most - maybe a feeling that you 'own' something, it is all yours and you will own it forever. Which, if you put enough thought into it in the first place (or not, but it increases the chances) you will be happy to own forever. Second, it's a way to almost literally wear your heart on your sleeve - again if you've put the thought into it, a tattoo can tell a story about who you are, what you like, what you feel etc. It's a way of expressing yourself, the same as the clothing you choose to wear, but again the permanence adds that extra dimension to it. This is the exact thing that turns some people off of course - both the fact that they are exposing something about themselves and the fact that they are making a permanent decision in a possibly temporary time in their life, and I get that too.

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Yep. My recent tattoo is a seshat hieroglyph; Seshat was the Egyptian goddess of writing, and the glyph itself means "writing." I'd promised myself for a long time that if I sold a series to NY I'd get a writing-related tattoo. It took a while to decide what to get, and to get around to it, but I did it.

To me it marks my achievement, and it's something I can always look at and say, "Yeah, I'm a writer. I wrote some books and they got published."

I have a little lizard on my left shoulder blade that I got because I just wanted a tattoo and it reminded me of my mom's apartment in Miami, which was always surrounded by little lizards. Plus I just like little lizards, they're cute.

So...yeah, all kinds of different reasons!