Customizing the Body (PDF file) - Print My Tattoo

129 The Tattoo Relationship
experience I would tell someone who was thinking about
getting a tattoo, "Don't go by price, go by what you want. Look
around. Look at the books of designs. Try to be explicit about
what you want with the artist." I would tell them to try to look
at the artist's work on other people. I'd tell them to go in and
take a look at the shop first-see if it is clean and all. Most
important, I'd tell them to talk to the artist. It's like getting
your hair cut-you have to have rapport with the person. 4
It is uncommon for tattooees to express dissatisfaction with being
tattooed per se. Those that do tend to focus on the inferior
craftsmanship of the service they receive. Concern with inferior
quality is most commonly exhibited by more heavily tattooed people
who have sufficient experience to evaluate the technical merits
of their collection.
I want to get this (tattoo) altered more to my liking. I prefer
that to getting it taken off. At first I was totally against it, but
now it doesn't really bother me. To tell the truth, if I am going
to have one, I want one that I really like and stick with that. I
want this one redone because (the tattooist) that did it was
absolutely hammered when he did it. I don't think it is
centered right. The lines aren't right. You can see that some of
it is more pointed where it should be rounded. It's not good
enough. It isn't done by someone I would call an artist. His
hands probably weren't that steady. I don't like the care and
the workmanship that went into it. If I am going to be stuck
with something, I want it to be something that I can be
relatively proud of. I'm not proud of it now but I'm not
resentful anymore.
I don't wish I didn't have any [tattoosl. Well. I do regret this [he
indicates a crudely rendered flying money design). Itjust
seems out of place with everything else.... I don't know why I
got it. P-- did it when he first got here. You can see how bad
his work was then. He scarred me up. I figured I would see
what kind of work he did, so I picked something simple with
only a few lines. I've been trying to find something for a year to
cover it up, something that will go with the rest of my work.