Intro

[ChuckJ]

Hi all, I'm new to forums. I'm a tattooer and I work for a company called NAPSA (National Association for the Preservation of Skin Art/savemyink.com). We are an association that provides our members with the ability to preserve their tattoos after they pass and leave it for the world to enjoy their legacy and the tattooers art. I'm interested in all things involving the art of tattooing.

[Graeme]

Welcome Chuck. I gotta say that looking at some of the supposed examples of preserved skin on the savemyink.com website that they don't look like any tattoos I've ever seen but they do look an awful lot like coloured pencil on paper. I'm thinking especially of that "new school" flower. What do you say to a skeptic?

[pidjones]

So we tanned his hide when he died, Clyde - and that's it hangin' on the shed.

[ChuckJ]

Thank you for the welcome Graeme!

I assure you that every one of them is 100% real with no printing or recoloring. We spent 2 long years developing a process specifically designed to preserve tattoos while taking in mind to preserve the art and have it look the least morbid as possible. I believe we accomplished that by your skepticism in it. Tattooing truly is an art form and we want people to recognize and save it as art. We truly believe people can have their stories and legacies passed on for generations to come while also allowing their tattooists art to live on. If you have any further questions please feel free to ask. Cheers!

[SStu]

You're certainly getting plenty of publicity. Seem to be all over the news and facebook.

[ChuckJ]

Thanks SStu! We launched the company mid September and people have been writing about us. Not only are we preserving tattoos but we also have a great website. If you go to savemyink.com and visit the community section we have 80,000+ photos of tattoos, worldwide convention listings, artist profiles with portfolios, and a great tattoo news section. This company is run by tattoo artists and tattooed enthusiasts that take pride in posting the best content to our site. Hopefully people will enjoy it because we put a lot of work into it!

[Rob I]

Very interesting concept. Part of me loves the idea, while the other part of me rejects the notion based on the fact that tattoos are the only possession that you can litterally take with you to the grave. Silly thought perhaps.

Still, an amazing concept as I could see an entire museum filled with tattoos from deceased collectors. Morbid, I guess, but still pretty cool concept. Nice work!

[ChuckJ]

Thanks @Rob I. I can see both sides of it also. Some people will definitely want to take them to the grave. I'm just super excited we are able to provide people with the option. I personally love the fact that people can actually plan tattoo ideas based on getting the preserved. There can be entire "family trees" of tattoos passed on through generations. There is endless options and ideas I have for this.

Cheers!

[pidjones]

I'd love to have some good photos of my grandfather's tattoos. But the actual skin? NO THANKS!!!!!

[ChuckJ]

@daveborjes,

I can totally appreciate that question! I have a sleeve, and a second one half finished. I also have tattoos on my leg that I let an apprentice do along with 4 tattoos I did I my thigh my self when I was an apprentice. As for the association NAPSA, it is a prerequisite to have tattoos. We are all tattooed and we are doing our best as tattoo artists and tattoo enthusiasts to stay true to the industry. If you check out the site savemyink.com you will see that our artist profiles all need to be verified before we even let them go up. We check for scratchers, art thieves, and apprentices before we will allow anything to show up on our site. Also we have over 80,000 images of tattoos on our site and they are all of quality. Along with all of this, all of our images and artist profiles have links that goes back to the original artists social media/website etc. so they are getting the proper credit they deserve. We also have built in personalized watermarks that can be applied to photos in the artist section so people can't easily steal your work. All of this is in the community section of the website.

I think by what I have written above you can agree that we put a lot of thought into this subject and since we are all tattooers and enthusiasts we are doing our best to make a site that is a true tattoo industry site that can help protect the trade while still supporting it.

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@pidjones, To each his own! haha Have you seen the finished product? The beauty of it is we spent the last two years developing a process where it is the real thing but it comes out looking like a piece of art. Not much different from art on canvas! We are here to preserve the art and that was the main cause. Of course we didn't want it looking like a hunk of skin in formeldahide. The end product has no morbidity to it at all.

Cheers!

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Thank you for the welcome @Graeme!

I assure you that every one of them is 100% real with no printing or recoloring. We spent 2 long years developing a process specifically designed to preserve tattoos while taking in mind to preserve the art and have it look the least morbid as possible. I believe we accomplished that by your skepticism in it. Tattooing truly is an art form and we want people to recognize and save it as art. We truly believe people can have their stories and legacies passed on for generations to come while also allowing their tattooists art to live on. If you have any further questions please feel free to ask. Cheers!

[Graeme]

@ChuckJ Thank you for being forthright about answering our questions. I think the "least morbid as possible" approach is what doesn't sit right with me about this. On the one hand I completely understand why if somebody wanted to preserve their tattoos to give to their children, spouse, or whoever, that hanging what is obviously a piece of preserved human skin on the wall wouldn't be to every taste and disposition, but when it comes down to it, that's still what it is. The attempt to take the morbidity out of something that is intrinsically morbid just seems kind of weird, even if the reasons why you would want to do that are apparent. A corollary to that is that a tattoo isn't the same thing as a painted canvas in that it only has meaning as a tattoo once it's in the skin and is subject to the bodily processes of aging and decay, and to take the tattoo out of that context makes it not a tattoo. I prefer those wet Japanese bodysuits, or the preserved skin that still looks like skin with pores and nipples and all that in the Wellcome Collection. Those exist for very different reasons though, and again, nobody is putting those on a wall. Anyway, thanks again for answering our questions and welcome.

[ChuckJ]

@Graeme,

I can certainly understand your opinion. This is definitely a controversial subject. I agree with a lot of what you said. To clarify further on "the least morbid approach" I am focusing on tattooing as more of an art form than ever. I believe its changing so drastically and people are doing such amazing things with it. Things that we thought were impossible in the 90's even. Therefore when I say least morbid I want people to focus on their tattoos as art and I believe if we just had that piece of "wet skin look" people would tend to forget about the art and focus on the skin. When they are on you while living people look at the art not the skin. I want to keep it the same way. People focusing on the art and the meaning etc. Cheers and thanks for the great conversation!

[Tornado6]

I'm taking mine with me :D

[pidjones]

Sorry, but I don't see this as "preserving the art". I see it as another commercial venture that came about because of the recent popularity of tattoos. Preserving the art can be done photographically.

[KRod]

Seems a little creepy to me. I think I'd rather have an artist's rendition of the tattoos as opposed to the actual skin.

[jen7]

Do you do lampshades?

[bongsau]

Welcome and thank you @ChuckJ , interesting.

Yknow I've thought about preserving my skin in the future, but didn't know there were new ventures that actually did this.

I'm not sure how I feel though about having my tattoos on a wall and framed. Tattoos cease to become 3D living art when you take them off the body in my opinion. And I guess that's what I like about tattoos, they move, they are alive, they are part of you. "Lived In" art.

Maybe one day I'll be able to compile all the stencils, photos, stories and anecdotes about my tattoos in a book for the purpose of passing on to my future generations. I'm still planning on living to 101 years old, so I have lots of time to figure it out.

[KRod]

Do you do lampshades?

Just put the lotion on the skin!

[bongsau]

interesting, but bizarre discussion.

sounds a bit like signing up for life insurance...

[ChuckJ]

@bongsau,

we are backed by an insurance company but I prefer the term "tattoo art preservation". haha Cheers!

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@bongsau,

thanks for sharing that! I like to hear all these stories about what people think! I agree totally with the living end of the tattoos. The reason I'm involved with this company is because I hate to see them go. I think your ideas with the stencils, photos, and stories etc. is great. I'm planning something similar but it will include my actual tattoo.

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@pidjones

Of course the popularity isn't completely a bad thing because it keeps food on all of us tattoo artists plates. I can't argue with you over what you're saying because I'm part of the industry. I hate commercial ventures coming in and making money off us when we sat here drawing for hours and apprenticing. I know you are focused on the preservation. You wouldn't take a picture of the Mona Lisa and say it's preserved. You have the real thing.

On the other hand, we are much more than just a tattoo preservation company. We are a non profit organization that wants to provide our members benefits including lobbying for tattoo artists rights. We had just launched so we need the membership power to be able to do that. Also, like I've said on here before. The community section of the site (savemyink.com) is full of useful tools for tattoo artists to utilize. Portfolios, profiles, pics, worldwide conventions, forums, and recent news. There currently isn't a site truer or better for the tattoo community in my opinion. I'll leave that up to you though. Thanks again for your thoughts!

[SStu]

I would actually consider a venture for something like this, especially for some of my pieces - but I'm pretty sure that neither of my girls would be themselves interested in "hanging flesh" up in their homes. I, on the other hand, wouldn't mind that aspect of it at all . . .

[zetroc]

I'd like my skin to be used to bind a photo album for my family. That'd be cool. Especially if I get more Lovecraft-inspired tattoos.

[ChuckJ]

@SStu,

Thanks for your thoughts, I believe a lot of people feel the same as you. I guarantee if your girls saw the finished product in person and realized how much it looks like a wonderful piece of art it would be a different story. It's available if you want it. Other than that, check out the community section of savemyink.com. I think you will like it!

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@zetroc,

We don't do anything of that nature but we can definitely preserve them and send them back to your beneficiary. Check us out on savemyink.com and you can read up more on it. We are rolling out a cheaper pricing structure soon too! Also, check out the community section which has a lot of fun tattoo industry stuff in it! Cheers!

[beez]

@ChuckJ do you have a degree in marketing somewhere in your background? because that's all this seems to be...your answers are well thought out, contrived, and designed to get eyes into different sections of the site you represent. If you don't have a background in marketing, well...cheers, you're doing a great job at it.

I think your product misses the point by miles and miles and miles and miles - but that's just me as a collector and someone who also appreciates the art form.

I guess - congrats on doing what you love and trying to preserve it for future generations, but this is not part of the tattooing and tattoo preservation (i.e. IN A JAR) that I want to be a part of. It's straight marketing! For money!

I went shopping with my sister and she grabbed a pair of pants and said "What's vegan leather?" "MARKETING", I responded. This has the same feel to me.

Anyway - I'm sure I'll get a positive response pointing me to the community on the site and ending with "Cheers!", but my there's my .02, not that anyone asked!!

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Way cooler and infinitely more authentic.

http://lifeand6months.com/2012/11/01/the-tattoo-collectors-film-fiction/

The Medical Pathology Museum of Tokyo University

[ChuckJ]

@beez,

No marketing experience for me so I'll take it as a compliment although I'm just being myself. I actually went to a community college for two years to become a cop and decided it wasn't for me. I was too into skateboarding and tattoos. haha

I'm not sure what you mean by our product missing the point by miles and miles? I would love to hear your opinion though.

I point people to the community section because I am really proud of it and I worked extremely hard and a ton of hours to help create it. If you checked it out you may or may not agree. I'm also looking for peoples opinions such as yourself. I want to make it rad for the industry and its absolutely free to use like this forum so I'm hoping people will check it out and give me feedback. Negative feedback is just as helpful as positive feedback.

Lastly, NAPSA is a nonprofit association created by tattooers and tattoo enthusiasts. Key word being non profit. We all believe in the tattoo industry, tattoo artists rights, and tattooed peoples rights and we wanted to support the art and as many other things we could through advocacy for the industry. Thanks for your opinion.

Cheers! ( I have always ended my communications with this, the only difference is on a cell phone I use the two beer mugs emoji)