Tattoos... Everyone has a different reaction to that word. It always got my attention. I think the first one I saw on a live person, was my cousins. I must have been 7 or 8 years old. He had a funny caricature of a devil on his arm with "born to raise hell" written over it. I was amazed by it and although it wasn't until my mid 20's when I christened my skin, I wanted one the second I saw that little devil.
Today, tattooing is far more accepted in society than it was back in the 60's, still; there are people that frown upon the idea of marking your body with ink....forever. Whether it's a religious issue, or their own personal preference, they can't deny that the tattoo is almost as old as civilization itself.
The word tattoo is derived from the Tahitian word "tatu", meaning to mark or to touch something. The earliest known tattooed person is the infamous "Iceman" found in 1991, in the Otzal Alps, located in Italy. Carbon dating proved that he had lived about 5,300 years ago. Fifty-eight tattoos were noted on his body!! Archaeologists think he was an important figure in his society. The tattoos were charcoal and water based.
Ancient cultures used tattoos to ward off sickness or bad luck. The Egyptians were the first to use needles to tattoo the body. Archaeologists exhuming tombs, have even found children's dolls decorated with tattoos. Tattooing spread through Greece, and Arabia, and By 2000 BC., the tattoo had arrived in Asia.
The Japanese first used tattoos to identify criminals. Later it was transformed into an art form, producing some of the world's most beautiful tattoos. The Yakuza (Japanese mafia) use their tattoos to intimidate their rivals. Japanese style of tattooing has influenced hundreds of artists today.
Any design free idea tattoo that you choose to have applied by tattooing professionals will be a very personal choice that you make. While some people can make that choice in a very quick manner others may have some trouble deciding which type of art to have applied as a tattoo. That's why it's important to have a lot of designs to choose from in any tattoo shop. While some tattoo shops have only a small catalog of designs that customers can choose from they also may have a staff of artists that can make up any design that the customer comes in with.
This is a very good way to bring in extra business as the customer is fairly assured that the tattoo shop and its artists can create the design that they want created. For many tattoo shops this ability to create designs according to a customer's wishes and imagination are what keeps their tattoo shop in business. Many tattoo shops seek out artists based on this ability to draw whatever a client wants. Some people even go so far as to have a certain artist at a certain shop that they return to over and over for their tattoo work. This kind of loyalty is based on how comfortable the artist makes the customer feel and also how competent the artist is at creating just what the customer wants.
The design free idea tattoo that the customer ends up choosing can be made into a temporary tattoo that can be applied to the skin anywhere to see if that's the spot the customer ultimately wants the tattoo to be. If the design needs to be moved or altered, this is the perfect way and time to do it. Many changes can be made to the design while it's still in the temporary tattoo stage. Colors can be altered, lines can be adjusted and the size can be made larger or smaller depending on the customer's tastes.
This can be done several times with the same design until the customer chooses the ultimate design and has it applied as a permanent tattoo. There are many tattoo shops that will create any sort of design you want so long as you commit to having some work done. They're not going to spend all day drawing out tattoo designs for you and then have you change your mind and walk out of the shop.
