Tattoos

Some people love them, some people hate them, a lot of people have opinions about them, like if your tattoo isn't '" meaningful" enough for their criteria (which is something I think I've heard from people who don't even like tattoos in the first place) personally I don't find the Idea of getting a loved ones name or (god forbid) portrait tattooed onto your skin all that meaningful. I could get anything tattooed onto my skin and it could be as meaningful or as inane I want it to be...it's like a piece of modern art, nobody knows what it means so make it up! That's the thing about tattoos, they are for YOU and you only, a form of self expression . Not for some random who tells you your going to regret (why thank you random! I shall take your opinion and file it "I" for "I don't care")

but that doesn't mean there's no wrong way to go about getting a Tattoo..there is. Take a look on the internet..at tumblr and you'll see a whole gallery of terrible tattoos (loved ones portraits..particularly gruesome babies seem to be a running theme). I was google searching various Tattoos and I came across such an example that interested me.

now on first glance (particularly a smaller image size) it doesn't look too bad..pretty good you might even say, but when we look closer we can see this is quite an amateurish piece of work. Look at the left hand, that's just wrong. The "swirly" bits at the bottom look uneven, overall it has that "off-nes" that's seen in a lot of beginner work, like it's been painstakingly traced or copied by someone who'd skills haven't developed yet, the general Idea is there it's just....uncanny.

Its faults are even more obvious when we look at (what I'm assuming is) the original Tattoo

this is much better, the shading is more pronounced, and the line work is anatomically correct...overall it looks professional and makes for a great tattoo.

I'm (obviously) not an expert on Tattoos...but I do suspect there are many self proclaimed "tattoo artists" out there who think they can just pick up a needle and start poking people, actual artistic skill be damned, and that's my point. If you're going to have someone etch an image permanently on your skin SURLEY you'd want them to have actual competence when it comes to...you know..."art" I'm talking the foundations like anatomy, perspective, design and all that good stuff. If somebody isn't capable of drawing something at a professional level then WHY in god's name would it be acceptable for them to put that shit on peoples body's? I don't know....just pay for a good artist...please.