Visual tattoo opinions....

[Lochlan]

What are your opinions on neck, face, finger, and/or hand tattoos? Are they ever okay? Are there certain ones that are and/or are not okay? At what point is it okay to get one of the historical "career ruiner" tattoos? Are they still "career ruiners"?

Edited September 8, 2010 by Lochlan

[Julio Avila]

i never really cared what people get or where people get tattooed.

i can tell you that it is weird talking to a person with their mugg tatted up. difficult to look in their eyes when all you can look at is the 8 tear drops they got.

honestly, i have yet to see a cool face tattoo.

just my opinion

[dari]

I'm not a fan of face tats, either, and sometimes front and center on the neck is extremely distracting, hard to concentrate on the person's face. But Freddy Corbin rocks his face tattoos well, they just seem like a natural part of him, he pulls it off in a way no one else can.

[Jake]

Agreed. Freddy pulls off the eye tattoo much better than say, The Game:

That big red star just ruins it and makes it look like when a kid sticks a temporary tattoo on their face.

[dari]

Is that a cover-up or did someone's hand twitch?

[Jake]

I'm not sure. But I realized that as long as we're discussing Freddy Corbin's facial tattoos, I should probably post links to his pictures/portfolio for those who aren't lucky enough to live in the Bay Area.

Click here for his portfolio

and here's some photos of Freddy's own tattoos:

and

[Lochlan]

Great conversation, thanks Julio, Dari, and Jake!

Jake, thanks for posting pictures of Freddy Corbin with the link for some of his tattoos so everyone can get familiar with his work. Because some of LST Community may have only seen him on that Sons of Anarchy episode where he's tattooing Henry Rollins before Henry dies thinking he was just some actor when the fact of the matter is he's one of the more talented tattooers out there and also designed the SOA back patch.

P.S. Scott will be interviewing Freddy Corbin shortly for LastSparrowTattoo.com so keep your eyes peeled!

[Julio Avila]

I love what Freddie has done in this biz!! Haven't seen him in person with his face tats but that jack Rudy Jesus on his throat area is insane!!!!

And I'm glad he's good at tattin' cuz his actin' wasn't all that haha. Love you mr. Nice Guy

[calbee]

I have no problem with other peoples tattoos, especially if that's what you do for a living. But seeing young people with stuff on their face who don't tattoo for a living and aren't retired kinda bums me out. Not because they might never have a job, but because getting your face done is a huge deal and they're gonna have to live with that forever, like forever forever. I remember seeing a young kid skating once with a full on full face full of tribal shit and I just couldn't even talk to the kid... hands on the other hand, no pun intended, I've always loved since I was a kid and actually my knuckles were my third tattoo.

[Jake]

full on face tribal... kinda like this ;)

hahaha oh mike tyson...

[Steve]

I always joke that people should only get their hands and neck done and wear long sleeves all the time. faster and cheaper. I have half sleeves that are too long for short sleeve shirts and I have a 9-5 in the education publishing industry. needless to say i wore long sleeves during my interview but once i had proven myself there nobody cared. i saw a cop in hollywood w/ full sleeves and thought that was sorta interesting at the time. pretty much everyone on the coastlines is cool w/ tats, depends on where you live i guess.

[dari]

Steve, I had a friend get arrested by a cop in LA with full sleeves, she didn't think it was so cool! Wonder if it was the same guy?

[Jake]

depends on the field and how stuck up the individual company is too. I recently was working two simultaneous jobs both in the catering business- one I had to where a suit to (no one there even knew I had any tattoos) and then another one that I show up in shorts and a t-shirt and meet clients with visible arm/leg work no problem. The suit job was a national company whereas the visible tattoo one is a local, value-based company so the differences are beyond just the dress code but it's interesting nonetheless that the same job has such a drastically different dress code based upon the employer.

[calbee]

No, this kid was maybe 22 or so and I mean full face, forehead, cheeks, chin, the whole 9.

[Bunny Switchblade]

I had a pachuco cross needle and thread tattooed on my left index finger 28 years ago!

26 years ago I had a butterfly professionally tattooed on my left breast!

The pachuco cross cost me a promotion into management at Lenscrafters 17 years ago! but didn't

find this out until i had left the company about 10 years ago! It was pretty fucked up as I think about

it but really i don't care looking back. I moved on to bigger and better things with a company

that was willing to accept who i was!

Anyway.....I hate seeing young people who do not tattoo or who are not moderately covered

have hand and neck tattoos! When I started getting tattooed and with the people I was around in the craft, you had to "earn" the right to wear those tattoos by either being part of the craft or by being moderate

to heavily covered!

Things have changed so much and there is much more acceptance BUT I still hate to see

younger people make those decisions so early in life!

When it comes down to it....we are all given a body to do with as we please so I

guess we are free to do whatever we want!

I am 44 years old now and about three weeks ago I finally had my

knuckles done partially covering up my pachuco cross!

I am established in my career, my children are grown, and I have been a tattooed person for 28 years! I was given the name/idea by the woman who did my first professional tattoo 26 years ago and I even asked her is she minded me using the name she gave me on my knuckles. I slept long and hard on this decision....much longer and harder than most of the young kids out there with their hands and necks tattooed nowadays!

I guess I really wish people who are gonna have this done would think a little

more about it before they do it! And if they are gonna do it.....at least find an

artist that is worth have the work done by not some crap artist!

Not sure if I went off topic or not but sorry if I did!

[Nick Colella]

its a strange thing to me. I sit in either Chicago Tattoo or some other tattoo shop for 8+ hours a day at least 5 days a week and when people who i dont know or arent covered in tattoos come in with face tattoos it freaks the hell outta me. Im with Julio in that its hard to look someone in the eye with tear drops or crosses or in one case a 3 inch fully black and gray shaded Virgin of Guadalupe on the cheek come in and just wanna rap about tattoos or bend your ear or just whatever get directions or some shit. Im always fascinated by it, its like the ultimate physically altering tattoo. its super punk rock to me even if its on some gang banger.

Its like when i started getting tattooed it seemed like there was a method to it an earning if you will, you had both upper arms done then you moved to the forearms and then full sleeves and then it was chest then back and stomach then it was all out you got your neck and hands neck and hands.

its no longer like that, its what was coined by my friend Nikki Balls, its the "warped tour tattoos", its neck, throat, full forearms, hands and knuckles. when they take their shirts off you are blinded by the glare of their blank skin everywhere else.

kinda strange, i remember what a big deal it was to get my first forearm tattoo, the visible one, it was as cool as getting my first tattoo on my upper arm. i didnt get my knuckles or hands done until i was tattooing for almost a dozen years, i thought yeah ive earned this shit now.

[ben stone]

we call them the GCQ kids ( get cool quick )

[Kevin Campbell]

We had a guy come in a while back, and sadly at the time had a guy working here who was a bit unscrupulous when it came to moral issues regarding tattoo placement, and ended up tattooing a dudes dick beaters, both of 'em, as the guys first tattoos on his body. And mind you, they weren't tiny little kanjis or anything like that, I mean he did like full hand sleeves (gloves??), almost down to his fingers. I was pretty fucking pissed that I wasn't there to stop him, but what can you do. After that the dude kept coming back and getting more, but it was so weird to me that he was working from the bottom up. With a sweatshirt on, he looked like a badass, I guess.

I just remember 10 years ago talking girls out of getting tattoos that were visible below the elbow and refusing to tattoo above the collar unless it was the only option left. I trip out that peoples first tattoos are behind their ear or on the back of their neck or whatever.

[Jake]

just saw this gem over on Tim Hendricks' blog. Note as he very clearly states that HE DID NOT DO THIS TATTOO. Just reposting a repost over here that's relevant to this thread...

According to his blog, Tim's thoughts on visual tattoos can be summarized in this quote "One of those many rules and code of tattoo ethics was this, 'we’re in the business of beautifying bodies not ruining lives' "

[Julio Avila]

this guy rolled through the shop in san jose once. kinda rockabilly type with is rockabilly girl.

he did have a mustache and goatee going on. but under the mustache you could see he had a mustache TATTOOED on him!!!!!!! it was kinda in the shape of the pringles guy.

he wanted a day of the dead sugar skull of him and his girl with a dagger. i drew one with the silly mustache. he never came back to get it tattooed. i think i offended him with the funny mustache on the skull that represented him.

[hogg]

its a strange thing to me. I sit in either Chicago Tattoo or some other tattoo shop for 8+ hours a day at least 5 days a week and when people who i dont know or arent covered in tattoos come in with face tattoos it freaks the hell outta me.

I feel the same way. I've got full sleeves, a full backpiece and plenty of other stuff, but man, every time I see someone with facial tattoos, it really freaks me out. Like, "Damn, dude!"

But Freddy Corbin rocks his face tattoos well, they just seem like a natural part of him, he pulls it off in a way no one else can.

True--same goes for his diamond tooth! Freddy's the best.

I was talking to him a few months ago and he was telling me how excited he was because he was about to get tattooed by Tim Lehi. He said, "I'm getting Jesus on the cross--can you believe that after all these years, I still don't have a crucifix?" I said, "Um...you have one on your forehead!" He said, "Oh, right--I guess I do."

[Mr. Frog]

I remember when seeing a person with neck, and hand tattoos was like "Fuck! Don't Fuck with that Motherfucker!" You either tattooed or were a Hard Man, possibly an Ex-con. Now all these hipsters have some broke ass outline tattooed on their throats. They are trying to get instant street cred or something. Or my favorite, the unfinished, or badly done script chestpiece. When you wear the V-neck that goes down to your solar plexus, it's all in your face. In 5 years they will all be asking for apprenticeships, if they're not already. I waited until I was tattooing professionally for 5 years to go above my collar.

[gougetheeyes]

he wanted a day of the dead sugar skull of him and his girl with a dagger. i drew one with the silly mustache. he never came back to get it tattooed. i think i offended him with the funny mustache on the skull that represented him.

HA!!! I can't believe you took the time to draw the whole thing up I'd have loved to fucking see that!

[Julio Avila]

i have about six or seven artists portfolios full of tattoo drawings. i should start labeling them by years. so who knows where that thing is. he used to be on myspace maybe i should just look for a photo of the actual guy!

[gougetheeyes]

i have about six or seven artists portfolios full of tattoo drawings.

New thread: Hilarious drawings that never got made into tattoos