I really love looking at tattoos. I wouldn’t get any for myself, simply because I can’t commit to anything like that, and the thought alone makes me shiver. I don’t have a very high pain tolerance. I would probably cry while sitting in the tattoo chair. Not fun for anybody.
However, I am more than happy visiting the tattoo shop while my friends get tattoos, and flipping through the portfolios of the artist to see what they’ve done in the past and what they hope to do in the future, in terms of design work. One of my friends was actually lucky enough to get inked by the best tattooist Brisbane has to offer, which meant that I got to come along for “support” and just sit there, throwing out a few mildly encouraging phrases and turning the pages of the portfolio.
I think if I could improve my drawing skills a little bit, I would become a tattoo artist myself. But then it would be a little bit weird because I would be one of the only tattoo artists in the world without any tattoos myself. Would people trust a tattooist with no tattoos of their own? I’m not sure if I would, and I’m the one who’s thinking about it.
Next up on my friends’ appointment list is a consultation with a traditional tattooist. My friend actually wants me there to offer my expertise, which is sort of a crazy idea, but I also understand where she’s coming from. I’ve seen a lot of different styles on a lot of different people, and I’ll know just from a quick glance whether the ideas they are talking about in their session are going to suit my friend. Not from a design perspective, but from a personality perspective. I know my friend better than almost anyone, so I alone can tell whether it is going to suit her both now and in the future when there might be a change in her personality.