For me i was on holiday and i saw a old man wearing a white vest and he’s arms where just covered in black faded tattoo’s with hardly any skin showing at all i think i was about 8 years of age. Since that day i have always said i wanted to be covered in tattoo’s and now I’m finally getting there. When i was 14 i couldn’t take the waiting around anymore and got my first tattoo my a old man in a garage who was covered in tattoo’s, he was as old school as they come not wearing any gloves and kept stopping every time he ran out of a cigarette to roll another one, the guy never even wore gloves and obviously now i think Christ i got lucky by not catching anything but i wouldn’t of changed one thing as i loved the experience and it will always mean something to me because it was my first tattoo.
As a personal preference though I’m not a massive fan of the modern day tattoo thing with all the really amazing artists pulling of unbelievable work, obviously you can’t deny it’s amazing the art work they are producing but i much rather the old school tattoo’s like flash, pin ups etc that look like they was done in the 40’s /50’s. Artists like Sailor Jerry, Eddie funk, etc Tats Coleman. I much rather that old school look of tattoo’s on me than the stuff that’s out today.
The tattoo scene here in Iceland was still pretty much in the background. The people I knew with tattoos were metal-heads and rockers. I hadn’t given tattoos much thought, until I saw Miami Ink… whenever the first season of that was aired. There for the first time I saw how ink was much more than barb-wire wristbands and tramp-stamps, and from there I started to read up and learned to love the art-form.
My wife got a thistle tattoo on her thigh. After one night of intimacy I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I got a lizard tattoo, then another, then she got another, and here I am. She’s got five and I lost count.
I don’t want traditional, black and gray, new school etc. (I do admire ANY style tattoo when they’re done well) All my tattoos (except iguana with it’s tail wrapped around my leg) are custom designed by me or my main artist Anthony Zamora, or artist Lindsay Wilson. The three of us have planning sessions occasionally. I’ve given Anthony exclusive rights to my whole right side. Lindsay is working on my back.
I do find some of the new French style tattoos fascinating. In the last issue of Savage Tattoo is an example of this style being done in the US. (I’ll post the artist’s name later, as I don’t have access to the magazine right now)
As a teenager I really really wanted to get a little rose tattoo on my ankle. I’m not sure where I had ever seen one, or where the idea came from, but oh how I remember wanting to get that dainty little rose. When I was about 15 or 16 I had a good friend in her early 20’s that had a horrible home made (probably hand poked) tattoo on her arm, a scribble really of the name “JoeJoe”. However I am highly needle phobic so I never got that little ankle rose that I wanted so badly.
Years later I was on a bus and saw a lady who was dressed all business-like who had a little rose on her ankle. She was wearing pantyhose and I remember thinking how awful it looked through the pantyhose she was wearing and I was so glad I had been too chicken to get one. Now I am glad for a different reason – I would be covering up that tiny little thing now if I had ever got it.
So I still was interested, but was very very afraid. Started seeing the tv shows about tattoos. I had a trip planned to Las Vegas and before I went I made the decision to get my first tattoo at H&H while I was there (they were the shop in the show “inked” that ran for a while about 7 years ago). Oh how my hands were shaking when I showed them what I wanted to get. Then I got another. And then I did some research on local tattoo artists and got my first really good one. By my third or fourth tattoo I didn’t even tremble. And another really good one. And … well you all know how that goes.
I am still HIGHLY needle phobic, in fact I have to be put under for dental work because I shake and sweat and my heart races too bad to get the freezing. Somehow in my brain to me a tattoo is a totally different thing. A scratch and not a puncture.
So I guess that I am one of those people who got tattooed because they saw it on tv. That’s a little embarassing to admit. But I had the want to do it all along, the tv shows just made it less scary. I also got older, and I guess I finally grew a pair. 😉
I have no idea how it happened, really. I got into piercings as a kid, because my babysitter had a ton and also did them. I guess tattoos just came from that 😛
Went and got my nose pierced at twelve, by 15 I had pink hair, quite a few piercings and went ahead and got my first tattoo. I remember I bugged my parents and the shop about it for about six months before they all caved! Haha. Scetchy hells angels shop, but I still love the tattoo.
A year later at 16 I got a job as an assistant in that same shop, and I got my third tattoo.. A bit after that, Miami Ink started showing and I went along and HATED it. I already knew I wanted to tattoo and I knew it was ooh so different, plus worked in a old school shop, so it didn’t hit home :p Around the same time I got to know another very talented tattoo artist who became a good friend, and a month after my 18th birthday we started on what today is a full sleeve!
I kept on getting tattooed, getting to know people in the industry, checking it all out, and here I am again; Working in a shop. A bit older, wiser and with a shitload of more experience! And going out to look for an apprenticeship next summer. Had an offer twice, but I want my art to be better first.
So yeah. I went the old school way, no tv-shows for me 🙂 (I still don’t watch any of them..) and I must say I’m not a huge fan of realistic myself. It looks amazing, but I’ve seen too much off it heal up looking like shit a few years down the road. I love color, I want some b&g as well, but I’ve got three Sailor Jerry tattoos planned.. :p And hopefully I’ll end up creating some of it myself sometime down the road 🙂
No romantic story here. Was 2003 fresh out of high school. It was all mainstream by then. Horror fan, got a really bad leather face silhouette. In a band at the time it was pretty prevalent, but none of my close friends were tattooed. I took the plunge and they all followed suit. And the rest is history.
I’m pretty sure I covered this in one of my blog posts but I’ll post it here as well.
I think I got interested in them back when I was about 11 or 12. I grew up with a sister who is 16 years older than I am. She was out on her own before I understood everything and it wasn’t until I got older did I notice the tattoos on her body. She also had plenty of piercings and was always talking about getting new ones. I remember her first tattoo being a Harley Davidson logo on her shoulder. She hung around people who had tattoos and had plenty of boyfriends with tattoos so I think that is what got me into them. She also had a job working at the store called “Hot Topic” in the local mall and a lot of those people she worked with had tattoos as well.
I’ve always been fascinated by them. I know when I was younger I really didn’t understand them at all or knew what they were but then again, how many of us did. It was definitely around middle school that I started getting tattoo ideas and things like that. I think my first idea was a tribal arm band with black roses entwined in it, glad I never got it! Of course I also got into shows like Miami Ink, LA Ink, etc. I still enjoy those shows when I can catch them even when they don’t show a lot of tattoos in general. So yea, I’m glad I did get into tattoos though. They are definitely something I am deeply passionate about and I love seeing all the artists out there and learning new things. My facebook page is actually littered with tattoo related images more so than anything else. Yea I’m a tattoo addict and it’s an addiction I don’t think I will ever, ever break!
I realised from the age of 12 that my career as a serial killer was never going to be taken seriously, unless I got some serious ink. So after both upper arms I decided to get the full back done.
Needless to say that now when I have my thrill-kill face on the ink adds a certain flair to the situation…
Actually my stepfather had his entire body covered (many of them prison ink) and many of his biker friends were covered. This started my fascination for them which along with my love of art kicked off my ink addiction.
Take care
Matthew
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