Is it important anymore how the tattoo is gonna look after few years?

[Kahlan]

I suddenly feel like a leper after reading this thread.

Traditional tattoos are wonderful and I appreciate the history. But what's wrong with evolving? These changes will happen as the industry gets bigger.

Maybe it's because I'm an artist myself, but I love realism. It's definitely the kind of tattoo artist I want to be one day. Someone mentioned traditional would actually be *harder* than realism... no offense that's a little ridiculous to me.

Sure I haven't had mine for 20+ years but it still looks amazing. You just have to take care of your skin...just like anything else on your body..

Even if I need touch-ups one day I would feel like it's worth it, considering the amount of skill that goes into it.

Not saying the same talent doesn't go into traditional!

Just kinda feels like people are hating on such an amazing style..

[Graeme]

I suddenly feel like a leper after reading this thread.

Traditional tattoos are wonderful and I appreciate the history. But what's wrong with evolving? These changes will happen as the industry gets bigger.

Maybe it's because I'm an artist myself, but I love realism. It's definitely the kind of tattoo artist I want to be one day. Someone mentioned traditional would actually be *harder* than realism... no offense that's a little ridiculous to me.

Sure I haven't had mine for 20+ years but it still looks amazing. You just have to take care of your skin...just like anything else on your body..

Even if I need touch-ups one day I would feel like it's worth it, considering the amount of skill that goes into it.

Not saying the same talent doesn't go into traditional!

Just kinda feels like people are hating on such an amazing style..

Here's a thread about how realistic tattoos age:

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/2654-aging-realism-what-lasts.html

From my perspective as a non-tattooer, the point of the Dan Henk article linked to in the thread isn't that realistic tattoos are shit and won't hold up, it's that there are certain fundamental rules to tattoo design and application that need to be followed if the tattoo is to hold up over time. Dan Henk saw that his tattoos were falling apart and he didn't give up everything he was doing and start doing traditional tattoos, he instead figured out how he could incorporate what the "old timers" were trying to teach him about lining, contrast, detail, placement, etc into realistic tattoos.

[Kahlan]

Here's a thread about how realistic tattoos age:

http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/2654-aging-realism-what-lasts.html

From my perspective as a non-tattooer, the point of the Dan Henk article linked to in the thread isn't that realistic tattoos are shit and won't hold up, it's that there are certain fundamental rules to tattoo design and application that need to be followed if the tattoo is to hold up over time. Dan Henk saw that his tattoos were falling apart and he didn't give up everything he was doing and start doing traditional tattoos, he instead figured out how he could incorporate what the "old timers" were trying to teach him about lining, contrast, detail, placement, etc into realistic tattoos.

Thanks Graeme! I loved how he posted his earlier works to show the difference. Very awesome article.

[Infernum]

You are totally right about the importance of aging of the tattoo, and that it should be one of the first and most important thing in an artist's mind when they design a tattoo.

however, that does not mean you HAVE to still follow those "red lines" as you call them.

The real challenge we go through is to push the envelope, and the artistic level of tattooing while still making sure it will look great for years to come. ( such as, for example, using black as background, so you don't really have to have a solid outline to hold the piece...)

Unfortunately, I do agree that too many tattoo artists seem to put their art in a priority over long lasting tattoo, which is really due to the fact that most people nowadays don't really apprentice professionally or bother to learn those ground rules and red lines of this medium.