As soon as you leave the tattoo artist’s salon his or her work is completed and you have to take over responsibility for the care of your tattoo.  If this is a first tattoo you will naturally feel a little nervous but by following his/her advice you should not have any problems.  The aim is for the tattoo to heal completely with a result that pleases you and will give you pleasure for a long time to come.

Simple Rules to Follow

Your new tattoo will be bandaged when you first leave and you may be advised to leave it on for a few hours.  When the big moment comes to remove it, it’s best to be prepared with warm, (not hot water), a soft cloth and maybe a trusted friend!  And importantly you should be in a hygienic room.

Gently wet the bandage with the warm water as this will help the bandage to be removed without any friction.  Once it is removed, carefully wash the tattooed area with soapy water, rinse and pat dry with the soft cloth.  Some tattoo artists recommend allowing the tattoo to be exposed for a few minutes before applying any ointment.

Healing the Tattoo

Your tattoo artist will have supplied or advised you on the necessary products to care for your tattoo.  Usually you will need an anti bacterial lotion which should be applied immediately, for example, Tattoo Goo, or Helix Gold.  You will apply this morning and night to keep the skin moistened to assist healing.

It could be that you have been advised not to have a tattoo during the hottest part of the year, especially if you live in a hot climate.  The reason for this is simple as heat and intense light will cause you discomfort.  Salt water and sand getting onto your tattoo is bad news too as it will sting so keep away from the sea!  In fact, keeping water away from the tattoo for at least three or four days is essential.

Resuming a Normal Hygiene Routine

Taking a shower or having a bath for the first few days may be a little tricky as it’s best not to wet the tattoo too much.  You should inspect your tattoo as you continue to clean it with warm, soapy water and if there is discomfort or excessive irritation, consult your tattoo artist or seek medical advice.  Scabbing will begin within three or four days and when it does it’s essential not to pick or scratch the scabs!  If you do it can result in ink removal and cause more irritation.  At this stage the tattoo will look cloudy.  This is called ‘onion skin’ and is a perfectly normal part of the healing process.  As the skin returns to normal, the tattoo will become clear and bright.

Shaving a New Tattoo

The golden rule is not to shave until the skin is completely healed and you are confident that a razor will do no harm.  The cleaning and creaming procedure will be the same as for a hairless area.

Following the above, simple routine will ensure a satisfying end result and you will be able to display your latest work of art within a short time.  Enjoy!

View original here: 
Tattoo Aftercare

We are all aware that tattooing is an ancient method of body decoration which carries with it ties to a wealth of heritage and tradition.  However, these days’ tattoos are more about self expression and the quest for individuality.  When you think about how tattoos came to our shores from the South Pacific islands, Australia and New Zealand it was the sailors on these exploratory vessels that brought the passion for tattooing back with them.  Sailors would often get a tattoo as a souvenir from the places they visited rather like a stamp on a passport.  They became symbols of experience and fortitude.  The tattoos that they would get would be rich in symbolism and meaning, generally relating to safe journeys and protection whilst they travelled the world’s oceans.

Superstition

Though not always obvious or visible, even today’s modern sailors will have tattoos that celebrate superstitions that have followed mariners down through the centuries.  For example one of the oldest sets of tattoos that offer sea farers protection is the pig and rooster.  The pig is tattooed on one foot and that rooster on the other.  Both of the animals depicted fear the water, therefore by having them on your feet; you should never be in the position of getting them wet and sinking, combined with the desire of the animals to be far from open water they would also influence the safe and swift return of a vessel to port.

Polaris, the North Star is another traditional tattoo, generally representing the theory that a sailor will always find his way into port and never be lost at sea.  The traditional image of an anchor with its cable or chain entwined around it is known as a ‘fouled anchor’ and was traditionally used to illustrate that a sailor had successfully crossed the challenging Atlantic Ocean.  Other anchor tattoos are symbols of strength and power, which when considering how much weight an anchor holds in place is a very good illustration.

A sailor with a set of blue stars on his hand has probably sailed around Cape Horn several times, adding a new star for each safe trip completed.  In recognition of long distance travels and the immensity of the oceans, sailors who have crossed the equator during their journeys will be tattooed with a sea turtle.  Images of swallows on the shoulder symbolise crossing the tropics of Capricorn and cancer.  There are probably others whose meaning has been lost over the centuries too.

Tradition

Non sailors may claim traditional sea faring tattoos for their own without realising the significance of them at all, adopting them because they look cool or want to present a certain image to their peers, which is a shame.  Like many ancient cultures the tattoos of centuries of sailors have marked milestones and events in their lives, signifying transitions and achievements, overcoming immense danger and peril.  Just like the ancient cultures of the South Pacific from where the original sailing expeditions took their initial inspiration.

See original here:
Sailor Tattoos

Many tattoo artists have a reputation for being slightly more creative than most people, and being able to visualise things that others would have difficulty with.  It could be called thinking out of the box, though in some cases the box doesn’t even picture, the thought process is that creative!  But it is this kind of inspired genius that can lead to some incredible artwork being produced on let’s face it, what is not the easiest canvas to work with.

Many of the world’s iconic art masterpieces were created by inspired genius’ that also suffered from a touch of madness, whether that was in the form of depression or other mental illness, but however they managed to produce their works they left behind an artistic legacy that is inspiring a new genre of artists, tattoo artists.  Their life’s work will now live on in new and interesting ways through body art.

Artistic Praise

They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery.  No matter what the original artistic masters were thinking when they created their master pieces, they could never have believed that it would be replicated as body art on generations of colourful individuals, hundreds of years down the line.  Artist works by Alfred Gockel (View Through A Window), Salvador Dali’s ‘Melting Clocks’ and ‘Elephants’ and Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ have all been successfully replicated on skin.

Van Gogh’s style of painting lends itself well to tattooing as it is not about fluid lines and picture perfection.  Dali’s work is popular more because of its quirkiness and obscure subject matter than the style of painting.  Other artists whose work has made the transition include Wassily Kandinsky, Pablo Picasso, Rene Magritte and the old masters, Rafael and Michelangelo.  Pablo Picassos ‘Peace Dove’ is incredibly popular by people looking for a small yet poignant statement piece to wear.

Statement Piece

Though an ancient and long standing masterpiece represented in a tattoo may be seen by some as pretentious, in reality is there anything more suitable as a choice than such fabulous artwork as a statement piece?  Everyone looks for originality in the search for their own individuality, but the replication of an old master on your body shows a deeper appreciation of art in all its forms.  By choosing a piece that moves the heart, stimulates the mind or raises a smile you are giving yourself something more meaningful than a design selected from a chart on the wall in a tattoo parlour.

Some tattoo artists may consider it an honour to replicate a classic piece of art work for you; others may ask if they can give it their own distinctive and artistic twist.  You may find that your new masterpiece tattoo attracts a lot of public attention; after all it shows people just how truly talented tattoo artists are in being able to recreate something so beautiful, distinctive and easily recognisable, regarded by many as one of the finest masterpieces in the world.

View original post here: 
Famous Works of Art as Tattoos