Mid Year Assessments

[MadeIndelible]

I know that people on LST will be the people who are getting good tattoos, whether it be now, ten years down the road, or twenty years from now.

[HaydenRose]

I think there are tattoo styles that stand the test of time. So many of us on here get traditional flash that someone also got decades ago. I think in the future traditional tattoos will still be around, just better executed. Nowadays traditional still exists, but as an enhanced version of the old stuff. I only see tattooing getting better... Fads, like chrome tattoos, come and go. I think watercolor tattoos are today's fad, but traditional will always hold true.

[scubaron]

It will be interesting to see what happens with watercolor tattoos. If they do go out of style will it be due to style or not holding up over time ? Same thing with photo realism ?

I think it's kinda cool new styles and options are coming out. Seems like tattoos are evolving as artists push the envelop and people who previously would never get a tattoo are getting them now because because they like the new styles.

[keepcalm]

Here's a new watercolor piece from Tattoo Paradise in DC, posted on Facebook today, done by David Cavalcante. It's interesting because it looks like it's actually a black and gray tattoo, with color around it. So I guess when the watercolor fades, you'll just have a b&g tattoo. Not a bad idea?

[Graeme]

I think people are really overstating the timelessness of traditional tattoos. I first started seeing them in the mid to late 90s when hardcore kids started getting them. I would guess this was to a large extent the influence of Higgs trickling down, though I did know a dude who got a bunch of bad old metal tattoos covered up with some really beautiful classic traditional done by The Dutchman in probably around 98 or so, and that was coming from a different place. Regardless, traditional tattoos have a time and a place, there isn't this continuity with them that a lot of people imagine there is, and my suspicion is that it's probably not going to be too long before traditional is going to be looked at with the same kind of sneering derision that a lot of people usually save for tribal or chromed out dragon sleeves. I'm not saying that a well-done traditional tattoo isn't going to age super well and that a big fuck off eagle on the chest or roses or a panther or whatever isn't always going to look badass, because it will, and I'm going to continue getting tattoos like that because they're powerful and they get me stoked, but don't fool yourself into thinking that they'll always be the "cool" tattoos. There are a lot of twenty year olds out there who are keepin' it super old school by getting face tattoos who are putting on shitty "traditional" tattoos that look like total ass. There's stupid things circulating of old timey celebrities with traditional tattoos photoshopped on them, I mean, there was a recent thread here about a gallery show of fucking porcelain dolls with traditional tattoos painted on them. Shit is becoming an unfunny joke.

[scubaron]

...... but don't fool yourself into thinking that they'll always be the "cool" tattoos. ....

Nice post Graeme. Applies to many things. I'm too old to care what is currently considered "cool". I just go with what I like.

[misterJ]

With all the talk of fad tattoos. Is there a carryover between the people that get these tattoos (chrome, tribal, watercolor, etc.) then become interested in more than the fad aspect? This is out of my league, but I always think of what people say when you get your first tattoo, that you soon become hooked.

Is there any truth to this or does it just stay the fad?

[cookietruck]

There are a lot of twenty year olds out there who are keepin' it super old school by getting face tattoos who are putting on shitty "traditional" tattoos that look like total ass. There's stupid things circulating of old timey celebrities with traditional tattoos photoshopped on them

i was gonna saw something like this but i never really made it there

i was looking at someones flickr and i kinda noticed that about 5 or 6 yrs ago some of the super hotshit tattoo artists around here weren't even really doing traditional tattoos or if they were they were really shitty. you can still see them if you get off instagram and check out their shop website portfolios.

and maybe i'm super critical or an asshole but so many of the "traditional" tattoos i see are pretty bad...shit so many of the tattoos i see are pretty bad.

i just have to consider myself very very lucky that i stumbled upon the artists i did

and it was word of mouth...

[polliwog]

Nothing is completely timeless, but hopefully the quality of the drawing and execution goes some way towards creating a tattoo that looks good even if its moment has passed. I also try to choose images that I connect with in some way, like @scubaron, even if the connection is just "I went to visit my friends in Ohio and got this tattoo."

[CultExciter]

Shit is becoming an unfunny joke.

This is why I like you.

I love traditional tattoos, immensely. They are great. But I also love getting tattooed by people who are illustrative, who are technical, who are bold, and who are delicate. I like getting tattooed by people who can draw. An open 21 liner (jokes folks, I hope no one ever does that) and a bunch of skip-shading isn't everything.

[JAllen]

Chrome bodysuit=robocop reboot.

Don't worry everything repeats itself as far as trends go. New means, you just got exposed to it. Be ready for the 90's reboot because it's coming. Not limited to just tattooing. I've been seeing weird and frightening fashion statements being made on a regular basis. Some hybrid high waisted Mc hammer pants, just one example. Lots of 90's movies being remade too.

I'm ready to start doing that chrome tribal robocop bodysuit on the first new trendsetter.

[CultExciter]

@JAllen I'd buy that for a dollar! :eek:

[JAllen]

@JAllen I'd buy that for a dollar! :eek:

maybe some pointy toed shoes too. Rayon polka dot shirt action.

Who'll be the first person to get a girl head with the big hair and teased up bangs?

[taaarro]

There's stupid things circulating of old timey celebrities with traditional tattoos photoshopped on them

I hate those things! They remind me that those people were cool because they didn't need tattoos to be cool and that I might be barking up the wrong tree with my obsession. Ha!

The thing about ideology/fashion is you can't see it for what it is when you're in it. Look at any photo of yrself from more than a decade ago. You look silly but at the time you thought you looked great. At the same time that's what's great about tattoos--you're committing yourself to something for life when it's obvious that nothing is "timeless"--it's inherently stupid and in bad taste.

[exume]

I've been seeing a lot of phases of the moon and also pineapples popping up on the instagrams lately

[jnin]

Lots of feathers and indian imagery seem to be popping up more and more.

[motsimus]

I don't know why everyone is saying traditional isn't timeless , I mean it may have got a little unpopular at times but it's always been here and I think (hope) it will be for the next couple of hundred years. Same goes for japanese.

[rozone]

Shit is becoming an unfunny joke.

New signature.

[jimmyirish]

This conversation about taste and whether 'traditional' American tattooing really can be described as timeless is so interesting. It also ties in a way to a conversation I was having with my grandfather a couple of weeks ago after I showed him my tattoos for the first time.

He's 89 years old in November and got all of his 4 tattoos during the 2nd World War whilst stationed in Germany. He has a crawling panther, an anchor, a swallow and his favorite, an eagle on his bicep. He got all of his tattoos in 1944 and he still loves all of them to this day, he says that getting the eagle was one of the best decisions he ever made 'its given me so much joy over the years'. Interestingly though I asked him if he ever wished that he had got more and he said no, he got just the number he wanted and stopped there.

Now this is a guy who has lived with his tattoos for 70 years now, tastes have changed, fashions have come and gone and through it all he's remained stoked with those four tattoos he got in the 1940's! This got me to thinking about my own approach to tattoos and how different it is to his, like most people on this forum I'm always planning who I'd like to get tattooed by and have pretty much mapped out my arms and torso in my mind. But its easy to forget that those images of heavily tattooed sailor from the 1940's actually made up a tiny minority, my grandad was considered pretty heavily tattooed at that time.

I wonder with the whole traditional thing whether we are chasing something that didn't really exist in the way we think it did, and whether he might be onto something when he said to me that if you want to continue to love the tattoos you have through your life then sometimes less is more...

That being said its not advice I'm going to take, I cannot imagine a time when I won't want to get tattooed.

Sorry if that was a bit of a rant and off topic, I just thought it tied in with the flavor of the thread.

Edited June 28, 2014 by jimmyirish
Spelling mistakes

[hogg]

At the same time that's what's great about tattoos--you're committing yourself to something for life when it's obvious that nothing is "timeless"--it's inherently stupid and in bad taste.

That reminds me of a quote from the late great Rollo Banks: "...the basic premise of tattooing is pretty goofy. It's like, here you have this human body, like a beautiful piece of sculpture...like somebody owns Michelangelo's David and goes 'I just bought this and I want to get some fire and devils and things on it.'"

[polliwog]

Thanks for that quote. I started getting tattooed partly as a reminder to take myself less seriously.

Not sure that the human body is intrinsically beautiful (or ugly, for that matter) though.

[Fala]

@hogg - I think that pretty much represents my parents' views of tattoos actually, except they don't think it is goofy...

@jimmyirish - I appreciate your grandfather's sentiments with his tattoos. I only want three more tattoos, then I'll be done.

[Cork]

I've been seeing a lot of tree wraps.

[bongsau]

@jimmyirish that's a wonderful story about your grandpops.

my eagle has brought me a lot of joy and it has only been 1 year. and now to fast forward 70 years.

respect

[cltattooing]

I've been seeing a lot of heads with the faces replaced with things like staircases or outer space. Been seeing a lot more hand poked work this year, and a lot of tattoos with backgrounds in various geometric shapes.