Recently at the ol’ Tattoo Blog we’ve had a couple of posts about the use of tattoos for more than just their art. Needless to say, the use of tattoos in these instances have been less than favourable, from stupid phones that light up on your skin, to the dark world of radio frequency identification ink. Tattooing and tattoo ink it seems, can be manipulated to create downright sinister results.

Which is why it makes it that much more refreshing to know that something at least somewhat related to tattooing is being used for good. I’m talking about a new nanosensor that scientists at Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, MA are busy developing. I’m not going to lie to you, there’s a lot of science-speak involved in understanding exactly what is going on with this and I’m certainly no scientist. If however, science is right up your alley, then feel free to skip my caveman ramblings and instead read the article in its entirety right here. For the rest of you who feel just fine about my caveman ramblings, here it goes…

This new technology involves the aforementioned nanosensor and is injected beneath the skin in very much the same manner as tattoo dye. The difference is that rather than being permanently visible like tattoo dye, the nanosensor is capable of monitoring the blood sugar level, staying invisible to the naked eye until glucose levels rise, causing it to fluoresce under a neon light. This “lighting up” of cells would thereby enable a diabetic to know whether or not they required an insulin shot.

At present time, the most reliable way for diabetics to keep tabs on their blood sugar levels is by pricking the finger and using enzyme-laden strips to detect the glucose levels. While the method is accurate and useful, it is also costly and time consuming. The general hope for this new procedure however, is that it could eventually be readily available and injected into the skin slightly shallower than tattoo dye. The sensor would not be permanent, making it necessary for diabetics to be periodically injected with it.

Boom!  Chalk one up for all you diabetics out there!

We all know that celebrities are becoming increasingly fond of getting tattoos, but when was the last time you heard a celebrity openly diss getting a tattoo? What about when a celebrity who already has tattoos turns around and knocks them?

That’s the route that R&B singer Brandy decided to take when her six-year-old daughter revealed that she too wanted a tattoo. In an interview with Sister 2 Sister magazine, Brandy spoke about her response to her young daughter’s interest in tattoos:

“I told her, ‘Guess what? When mama gets 80 or 90 years old, these tattoos are going to look terrible. They’re going to be wrinkled, they’re going to look ugly. Mama wishes I never got a tattoo because I didn”t think about when I turn 80, how they’re going to be.’”

Now before I really get my feathers ruffled over this idiotic statement, I want to clarify something: Brandy’s justification for not getting a tattoo is hardly a new one. Everyone has heard someone use this tired line of reasoning about how when you’re old and grey, your tattoos will look like crap on saggy skin and blah, blah, blah, blah. And you know what? If someone who doesn’t have a tattoo feels that’s a good enough reason for them not to get a tattoo, then fine. That’s their choice. But when someone already has gone through the tattoo procedure and they turn around and whine about how their tattoo will look when they get old, well that to me just shows great stupidity in their lack of foresight. If Brandy wanted to set a good example for her child, she could have simply told her to wait until she turns 18, seeing as how no tattoo artist in their right mind would ever tattoo a six-year-old anyway.

But I digress. My point in all this isn’t necessarily that Brandy was foolish to get a tattoo without thinking about how it would look in the future (though she was). My point is actually to debunk this ridiculous notion of how we’ll look with tattoos when we’re 80 or 90.

First, there is no guarantee that any of us will even live to see 80 or 90, so it’s pretty much irrelevant to live your life based on something that quite possibly might never happen.

Second, who the hell is that vain when they’re 80 or 90 years old? Seriously – is that really going to be your major concern at that age? That your tattoo is faded and your skin has sagged, causing it to blur? Is your blurry, saggy tattoo preventing you from hooking up and getting your freak on with all the honeys when you hit the clubs? Will your tattoo just be too much to look at when you go topless at the beach in fucking 2069? Give me a break. If I make it to 80, I’ll be thinking about how lucky I am that my heart hasn’t exploded or that my innards haven’t been devoured by cancer, not about the tattoos on my skin and how they make me look to everyone else. Screw everyone else! I’ll be 80!

Oh man…the stupid crap that goes on in this world. And incidentally, if I were Brandy I’d be more worried about how my shitty movies and TV shows like that god-awful “Moesha” will make me look than any amount of ink on my skin, blurry or not, ever will.

I know it’s a little early, but once we get into the New Year I automatically begin to think about the Summer. Once the Holidays are over, I’m ready for the snow to take a hike, and the green life to begin. However, there is a rub in those balmy, fun loving, sunny days. Tattoo fading.

One of the most common practices of the Spring and Summer is tanning. Yes, a nice tan looks good, but it also puts your ink at risk. Face it, the big fiery Day Star can bleach the color out of anything, and your art is no exception. Expose your tattoos to ‘ol Sol long enough and they will fade. If you use a tanning bed they will fade even faster.

Regardless of it’s social acceptance, the fact remains that tanning is not a healthy practice. A tan is your skin’s reaction to being nuked by the Sun. I realize that little bit of info isn’t going to keep anyone from getting a tan. Hell, it sure isn’t going to stop me, but I do try and limit my tan to a nice gold instead of a burnt sienna crayon. Even then I take a lot of precaution to preserve my ink as much as possible.

Although there have been advances in tattoo ink, making the colors a bit more durable and UV resistant than they were a while back, it would seem a good idea to protect your art. Either that, or start saving some cash for a few early touch ups.

Here are a few of the best products to help preserve the life of your tattoos:

Deep Cover Super Sunblock.
The Body Shop’s Watermelon Stick
Banana Boat’s SPF 50, for Extra Sensitive Skin
Banana Boat for Kids – SPF 50

A good rule of thumb, the higher the SPF (Sun Protection Factor), the better. An SPF of 2 will protect you for about 20 minutes,  a 6 for about an hour, and a 30 for about five hours. Also remember to avoid any sunblocks that contain PABA as they have been found to be carcinogenic.

All that being said, here’s wishing everyone an early Spring, and little to no tattoo fading.

Well, we finally have a new Prez in office and what better way to celebrate then forever imprinting the iconic Barack Obama HOPE image by artist Shepard Fairey into your skin. Since the first African-American presidential nominee was disclosed, there has been such an electrifying craze that has swept the globe. The backing from artists around the world propelled President Obama’s campaign to victory and created a phenomenon that has many reaching for their wallets as they attempt to collect a genuine Obama-inspired art print or tattoo bearing the pro-hope sentiment.

After reading “Please Don’t Let This Ever Happen” I began to wonder. Yes, the thought creeped me out as well, so I began to check a few things out. The result of my research creeped me out even more. In fact it gave me nasty visions of George Orwell’s 1985.

As a rule tattoo enthusiasts are big on freedom. Especially personal freedom. One of the darkest uses of tattooing had to be the Holocaust of Nazi Germany. Using the art as a means of “tagging” and “tracking” human beings as if they were no better than herd animals really makes my blood boil. Now some greedy money grubbing jackass scientists are at it again!

I am speaking of RFID (radio frequency identification) ink. A product that it’s scum sucking manufacturer, Somark, tries to play off as a product intended for radio tracking of agriculture animals, yet also goes out of it’s way to add that it can be used for tracking humans as well. Shades of Seig Heil! Just how far up their collective asses do these jerks have their heads?

According to an article in Computer Weekly: “Somark said it had successfully tested its Biocompatible Chipless RFID Ink product on cattle and laboratory rats and proved the “efficacy of injecting and reading a ‘tattoo’ within the skin of animals”.

“The technology will be used initially in the livestock industry to help identify and track cattle, and help mitigate export trade loss from BSE scares.”

Secondary target markets include laboratory animals, dogs and cats, prime cuts of meat and military personnel, according to the company.”

It wouldn’t be the first time a scare tactic has been used to cut down, if not outright eliminate certain human rights. I can see this shit being used as a method of keeping America safe from “terrorists” and “illegals” already. I can also see “Big Brother” tracking your every move. What you buy, where you go, who your sleeping with.

At the moment the tattoos can only be read from about a meter away, and through the hair of the cattle that it has been used on, and the only humans it has been suggested for are the military. Still, if anything history has proved that technology does not stand still. We have satellites that can pinpoint a lit match anywhere on the surface of the Earth. It wouldn’t be hard to foresee pin pointing RFID ink.

Now, I am sick to my stomach. Personally, I’d rather keep my ID in my wallet, my ink decorative, and “Big Brother’s nose” out of my ass!

We are starting a new spider tattoo pictures section on the site feel free to link to your favorite spider tattoo pictures in the comment section this page is dedicated to spider tattoos.

Petri Syrjälä
Helsinki,Finland

Tim Kern
Tribulation Tattoo
New York , NY US

One of the biggest bummers about tattoos is that if you like to spend a lot of time in the sun, ultimately your artwork will fade.  Even if you don’t spend a lot of time in the sun, it’s inevitable that your tattoos will lose the vibrancy that they had on the day they were first inked.

Interestingly enough, the problem of tattoo fading has not only been studied but supposedly solved by Matthew Nicolo, president of Florida based Tattoo Inkguard.  Nicolo’s product calls itself “…the first ever topical skin care treatment designed to protect the ink pigments deposited in the skin,” and promises to protect your tattoos from further harm as well as maintaining whatever vibrancy that they may already possess.  

The treatment’s ingredients rely on common antioxidants such as green tea, pomegranate, cocoa, carrot, coffee, as well as vitamins E,D and A.  I’ve never personally tried the product, but even if it doesn’t work, at the very least it sounds like it wouldn’t taste too bad on a cracker. 

Several tattoo shops across the US are already carrying Tattoo Inkguard, and an 8oz tube of the stuff will run you $25.  Editors are also welcome to contact Nicolo for samples to review, so if any editors out there (cough..ahem…Matt) are interested, I’m sure there are more than a few writers willing to give the stuff a try (cough…ahem, me.)  As for the rest of you tattooed guys and dolls out there who are concerned about the adverse effects of sun and time on your artwork, you can start by checking out Tattoo Inkguard’s website right here.

With Barack Obama’s inauguration about to happen, what better way to mark such an historical event than a tattoo?  No, I’m not talking about the idolatry of people like Samantha R. Cook and her recent Obama shoulder piece, I’m talking about the man himself getting a nice big commemorative tattoo.

Yes that’s right, Obama needs some body art.  It would have to be something powerful that also symbolizes change – like a Transformer.  A huge back piece of Obama as Optimus Prime, choking the life out of Osama Bin Laden is just the thing that he needs to show the world he’s a new kind of politician.

What’s more is that if Obama did go through with it and get a tattoo, he potentially wouldn’t be the only politician stepping into the world of the inked.  In a recent letter to Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt, Swedish artist Sebastian Norde suggested a tattoo to help increase Reinfeldt’s voter support.  Norde’s idea of a tattoo fit for a Swedish Prime Minister?

“The suggested tattoo for Reinfeldt features a Viking-style ship, a shield of fire and a horseshoe. The body art proposal also includes the word Filippa, which refers to the minister’s wife.”

Hey now, that is BAD-ASS.  If Reinfeldt gets this done, Obama will have no choice but to step it up a notch and get something bigger and badder.  He can’t have the Swedes showing him up with their fancy schmancy tattoos, smorgasbords and their stylish yet surprisingly affordable Ikea products.  Hells no.   Winning the election was the easy part, now it’s time to bring the ruckus and really change things up.  Topsy turvy on all those dinosaur politicians out there who would never even consider getting a tattoo. 

Come on Obama, yes you can. 

Anyone who’s been paying attention for then last fifteen years or so knows who Paul Booth and Guy Aitchison are.  People who follow the industry at all should know names like Filip Leu, Tom Renshaw, and Deano Cook.  But there are a lot of names you might not be familiar with and if you’re a serious collector these are names you need to know.  Disclaimer:  This is by no means a complete list, but more of a study guide for anyone fascinated by this artform.

Bob Tyrrell has to be one of my all-time personal favorite black and gray realism guys.  He’s been on a number of television shows but when I talk to people about him they tend to not know the name, google him.

Shane O’Neill does amazing b&g as well as color realism, the guy’s all-around phenomenal.

Mike Demasi, Mike Devries, and Nikko do some of the best color portraits in the world.

Okay, so trying to describe everyone’s style is going to take years, I’m just going to list some tattooers I think you should take the time to get to know…

Phil Holt; Joshua Carlton; John Montgomery; Josh Wood(s?); Jay Chastain; Josh Ford; Sean Herman; Brandon Bond; Joe Capobianco; Jime Litwalk; Aaron Cain; Brian Brenner; St. Marq; Stefane Chaudisagues; Gunnar; Grime; Nate Banuelos; Liocifer; Craig Driscoll; Trevor Mcstay; Leo Zulueta; Sabado; Juan Puente.  That should be enough to keep you kids occupied for awhile.  I’ve tried to list every possible style specialist from traditional American and Japanese to biomech to realism.  When you silly kids get through checking these guys out let me know and I’ll continue to feed the beast.

Wildo.

Love is in the air, or more precisely it will be soon as Valentine’s Day will soon be upon us. Most tattoo enthusiasts will begin to think about immortalizing their devotion to each other with, (what else?), a tattoo.

Now as I and most any other Tattoo Artist will tell you, getting your beloved’s name tattooed on each other is not a good idea. No matter how good it sounds at the time, the fact remains that more often than not, love is fleeting, tattoos are permanent. Or more accurately, extremely expensive to get removed. At the very least it will cost you extra to have the thing covered up. During the time I was in business I made almost as much covering this common mistake up as I did from doing other tattoos.

If your still determined to get a tattoo with your loved one’s name emblazoned on your flesh for all to see, then I would suggest you set aside the cost of a cover up while your at it.

A newer trend is having your wedding bands tattooed on. While it is a nice idea, I don’t think it is all that much above the name. Didn’t keep Pamela Lee and Tommy together, did it? Even if you have the band lasered off later, the white streak it will leave is going to make the next person you date wonder if you really are single, or you just took your band off for a night’s fun and games.

So what’s a tattoo lover to safely do when the lines of love and a love of ink cross? Well, maybe the ol’ Doc has a suggestion, or two, that can make everyone happy.

Suggestion one: Matching designs put in the same place. By picking out a tattoo that both you and your partner like and agree on you show your love to anyone who happens to look when you are together. Then should the worse happen anyone new you may hook up with isn’t going to be asking, “Who is…..?” if they happen to see it later. The only one who will know is you and then it’d just another tat if you wish to view it that way.

Suggestion two: A couple of hearts, or a single heart, with “Eternal Love” in the banner instead of the lover’s name. Convenient excuse if you break up and someone else asks about the meaning. “It’s for my Mom, Dad, Kids, etc,etc.”

Suggestion three: A coded tattoo, or a tattoo that fits your lover’s personality, such as a rose for ‘Rose’, or a wolf for the “wolf” in your life.

I’m sure that with a little thought and imagination you can come up with some way to express your love for each other in ink without resorting to “The Curse” and running the risk of having something done that you will regret later, or at least not regret as much.

Think before you ink, and Happy Valentine’s Day to all you love struck folk.