The idea for the tattoo came about in an interesting way. When I was 15, I got a tattoo that said “love” on my shoulder. I’ve always been fascinated by tattoos and body modification in general. It’s a wonderful medium to express yourself, and most tattoos are done so well that they’re admired by everyone who sees them.
I have always wanted to have a tattoo that would grow over time, so this is the first step towards that goal: getting a tattoo of a tree that will grow as I do. The tree will be done in Japanese style, which I love but am not very good at – it’s certainly a challenge!
This is just the beginning of a long project, but it’s one that I look forward to doing for the rest of my life!
An ongoing series of blog posts about my journey getting a tattoo that will grow along with me. I’m documenting the process and sharing my thoughts on the meaning of tattoos and the reasons I’m getting mine.
If you are thinking of getting a tattoo, it may be worth considering one that grows.
The way that tattoos are conventionally designed and tattooed is not likely to give you the best results. At the very least, they don’t work in the most obvious way.
The human skin is an organ with a complex system for maintaining its integrity. If you have ever seen a photo or drawing of a tattoo inside your skin, you will know that it appears to be made of ink sitting on top of your skin: ink that is not part of your skin but simply sitting there on top. That’s because that’s what it is: ink sitting on top of your skin.
Tattoos are made by injecting dye into the dermis (the layer underneath the epidermis or “skin”). The dermis has no direct connection to either blood vessels or nerves. There are two ways for this dye to get from inside the dermis to the surface: you can wait for it to diffuse out slowly, or you can force it out quickly with chemical reactions. The first method is how permanent tattoos work; the second is how temporary tattoos work.
The problem with waiting for a permanent tattoo to heal this way is that a lot of people do not do what they
I have been wanting a tattoo on my arm for years. Over the past few months, I found myself thinking more and more about certain tattoos that grow with you and that are essentially a part of your body.
I had already decided to get a tattoo in honor of my grandmother who passed away recently. However, I wasn’t sure what exactly to get.
There are many different types of body art out there and no one can tell me that I am wrong or right for wanting this on my body or even what it should be, but I feel I need to explain myself anyway.
If you’ve read this far, you’re probably wondering what this “body art” is about. It’s about getting a tattoo that will grow with me. I’m not talking about an ugly sun or moon that grows with you, like the ones people get when they think their tattoos are going to shrink. I don’t want to repeat a design forever. I want something that changes as I do.
Tattoos have been used for body art for thousands of years by many cultures throughout the world and continue to be used as such today. In modern times, however, the practice has become associated primarily with the artistry of professional artists, although amateurs also continue to create tattoos in a DIY manner. The association of tattooing with criminality led in many places to restrictions on tattooing that continued into the late twentieth century. Since then, tattoos have become a subject of controversy in some cultural and political circles, particularly in medical ethics.[1]
The word tattoo, or tattow in the 18th century, is a loanword from the Samoan word tatau, meaning “to strike”. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology of tattoo as “In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. From Polynesian (Samoan, Tah
The tattoo I got is the one that’s growing. But I have a few more tattoos that I got before this one. They are in the same style, but they’re all done by different artists. And they’re all pretty small. This is because I’ve been a vegetarian for about five years now.
Tattoo artists and vegetarians don’t mix well.
The problem with getting a new tattoo is how long it takes to heal. My current tattoo has taken about a year to heal, so it was just starting to get really noticeable when I went back to school this fall. And as you can probably imagine, it hasn’t always been fun sitting through class with a giant sunflower growing out of my arm.
So, my next tattoo will be on my back, where nobody will see it unless I put on a swimsuit or wear a tank top in public. It’s going to say “Vegetarian” in Japanese (素食主義者) because whenever people ask me why I’m a vegetarian, I have to give them an explanation that takes like five minutes (it’s kind of complicated). But then when they look at me confusedly and say “But…but…what do you eat?” I
In the beginning, I knew exactly what it was going to look like. I knew where I wanted it. It was going to be a story about a girl and her cat.
I went to my tattoo artist and showed him the drawing, even sent him a picture of the tattoo that inspired me. He looked at me and said, “Why don’t you just get the cat?”
I looked at him, puzzled. “What do you mean?”
He shook his head, still looking at me, waiting for something to click. When I finally got what he meant, I laughed and said, “Oh! No, no, no…This is just a little story.”
He nodded and smiled at me, which confused me more.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I said with assurance. “I’m sure.” And then I left the shop, walking home happy with my drawing and excited for my appointment in ten days.
Ten days later, I walked into the same tattoo shop for my appointment with that same guy who had looked at my drawing a week prior and told me to get a cat instead of this little story of mine.
“So…” he started as he began to clean my arm
