What anyone interested in tattooing as a career should do first is try to find an apprenticeship with a qualified tattoo artist in a licensed studio. It is not as simple as buying a starter kit, picking up a machine and starting to tattoo. There is a lot to know from sterilization to placement, needle depths, anatomy, client handling, business practices, needle making, and more. Not to mention the legal aspects of licensing, insurance, etc. Working with skin is a whole lot different than drawing on paper or whatever you can imagine. A lot of people are artistic and can draw, but tattoo very poorly.



There are courses offered online or through DVD or CD programs. Some are good and some are not but for the most part these should be viewed only as reference material or for continuing education materials. These are not good resources for learning the art of tattooing, since there is no substitute for a formal apprenticeship.



If a person is serious about learning, they should actively search out an apprenticeship in a legally licensed tattoo parlor.

Tattoos are sometimes used by forensic pathologists to help them identify burned, putrefied, or mutilated bodies. Tattoo pigment is deep enough in the skin that even severe burns will often not destroy a tattoo.

Temporary tattoos are not true tattoos, rather, they are a type of body sticker, similar to a decal. They are generally applied to the skin using water to temporarily transfer the design to the surface of the skin. Temporary tattoos are waterproof, but can be removed with oil-based creams, and are intended to last only a few days.



Magician Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller fame) writes in his book "Penn & Teller's How to Play in Traffic" that he had a special tattoo made on his arm that used no pigment (The tattoo machine was run without ink). Penn states that the tattoo left a red scar that had a discernable pattern, but would heal to near invisibility after five or six years. When filming the remake of Cape Fear, actor Robert De Niro was tattooed with vegetable dyes, which faded after a few months.



Other forms of temporary "tattoos" are henna tattoos, also known as Mehndi, and the marks made by the stains of silver nitrate on the skin when exposed to ultraviolet light. Both methods, silver nitrate and henna, can take up to two weeks to fade from the skin.



Airbrush tattoos are another popular form of temporary tattoos. This process involves using a stencil design and spraying paint through the stencil onto the skin. This form of tattoo lasts approximately a week and is said to be the more realistic type available today.



The original form of temporary tattoos, usually found in bubble gum, were an ink transfer that often made the image look blurry and would come off with water contact. Today's temporary tattoos use vegetable dyes and a layer of glue similar to what is found in a Band-Aid. These tattoos can look extremely realistic and last up to 3 weeks.

Because it requires breaking the skin barrier, tattooing may carry health risks, including infection and allergic reactions. In the United States, for example, a person who receives a tattoo will generally be prohibited from donating blood for 12 months (FDA 2000), unless the procedure was done in a state-regulated and licensed studio, using sterile technique (Red Cross,2006). Most studios that are eligible can provide vouchers. In the UK, where there is no such certification for tattooists, the period is six months without exception.



Modern western tattooers reduce such risks by following universal precautions, working with single-use items, and sterilizing their equipment after each use. Many jurisdictions require that tattooists have bloodborne pathogen training, such as is provided through the Red Cross and OSHA.



Infection



Since tattoo instruments come in contact with blood and bodily fluids, diseases may be transmitted if the instruments are used on more than one person without being sterilized. However, infection from tattooing in clean and modern tattoo studios employing single-use needles is rare. In amateur tattoos, such as those applied in prisons, however, there is an elevated risk of infection. To address this problem, a program was introduced in Canada as of the summer of 2005 that provides legal tattooing in prisons, both to reduce health risks and to provide inmates with a marketable skill. Inmates were to be trained to staff and operate the tattoo parlors once six of them open successfully.



Infections that could be transmitted via the use of unsterilized tattoo equipment include surface infections of the skin, herpes simplex virus, tetanus, staph (Infected Tattoo), fungal infections, some forms of hepatitis, and HIV. No person in the United States is reported to have contracted HIV via a commercially-applied tattooing process.[citation needed] Washington state's OSHA studies have suggested that since the needles used in tattooing are not hollow, in the case of a needle stick injury the amount of fluids transmitted may be small enough that HIV would be difficult to transmit. Tetanus risk is prevented by having an up-to-date tetanus booster prior to being tattooed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that no data exist in the United States indicating that persons with exposures to tattooing alone are at increased risk for HCV infection. In 2006, the CDC reported 3 clusters with 44 cases of methicillin-resistant staph infection traced to unlicensed tattooists (MMWR 55(24)). One should not consume alcohol directly before or after getting a tattoo. Not only does it weaken the body’s ability to deal with physical stress, alcohol thins the blood, causing more bleeding during the procedure.



Allergic reactions



Perhaps due to the mechanism whereby the skin's immune system encapsulates pigment particles in fibrous tissue, tattoo inks have been described as "remarkably nonreactive histologically".



Allergic reactions to tattoo pigments are uncommon except for certain brands of red and green. People who are sensitive or allergic to certain metals may react to pigments in the skin with swelling and/or itching, and/or oozing of clear fluid called sebum. Such reactions are quite rare, however, and some artists will recommend performing a test patch.



For those who are allergic to latex, many artists are using non-latex or will use non-latex gloves if asked.



There is also a small risk of anaphylactic shock (hypersensitive reaction) in those who are susceptible, but the chance of a health risk is small.



Tattoo Inks



"Tattoo Ink" is a deceptive term. Modern tattooing inks are actually carbon based pigments. Although the FDA technically requires premarket approval of pigments; because of limited resources, it has not actually approved the use of any ink or pigments for tattooing.[citation needed] As of 2004 they do perform studies to determine if the contents are possibly dangerous, and follow up with legal action if they find them to have disallowed contents including traces of heavy metals (such as iron oxide) or other carcinogenic materials (see CA lawsuit). The first known study to characterize the composition of these pigments was started in 2005 at Northern Arizona University (Finley-Jones and Wagner). The FDA expects local authorities to legislate and test tattoo pigments and inks made for the use of permanent cosmetics. In California, the state prohibits certain ingredients and pursues companies who fail to notify the consumer of the contents of tattoo pigments. Recently, the state of California sued nine pigment and ink manufacturers, requiring them to more adequately label their products.



Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS plastic) ground down to an average diameter of slightly less than 1 micrometre is used as the colorant in some tattoo pigments of lower quality. The tattoo pigments that use ABS result in very vivid tattoos which is the most obvious indicator that the ink contains ABS, as tattoo inks that contain ABS rarely, if ever, list their ingredients.



There has been concern expressed about the interaction between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures and tattoo pigments, some of which contain trace metals. Allegedly, the magnetic fields produced by MRI machines could interact with these metal particles, potentially causing burns or distortions in the image. The television show MythBusters tested the theory, and found no interaction between tattoo inks and MRI.



However, research by Shellock and Crues reports adverse reactions to MRI and tattoos in a very small number of cases. Wagle and Smith also documented an isolated case of Tattoo-Induced Skin Burn During MR Imaging. The person in the case had a dark, concentrated, loop-shaped tattoo, which the authors speculate could have acted as an RF (radio frequency) pick-up; they also note that this is the first such case they encountered in "thousands of MRI studies". Ratnapalan et al. report another case where an MRI could not be completed due to the patient's extensive tattoos. According to the American Chemical society, home-made tattoos, in which metallic inks have been used in larger quantities, cause these reactions.



For the most part the same pigment base which is used in cosmetics is the same base for modern tattooing pigments. People attempting to tattoo themselves or others with "Home-made equipment will often use an office supply drawing ink such as Higgins, Pelikan or India ink brands. These are not tattoo pigments and these inks often contain impurities and toxins which may lead to illness or infection. A trade mark of a tattoo done with drawing ink is a "Green Haze" that often marks this type of tattoo.

Some tribal cultures traditionally created tattoos by cutting designs into the skin and rubbing the resulting wound with ink, ashes or other agents; some cultures continue this practice, which may be an adjunct to scarification. Some cultures create tattooed marks by hand-tapping the ink into the skin using sharpened sticks or animal bones or, in modern times, needles. Traditional Japanese tattoos (irezumi) are still "hand-poked," that is, the ink is inserted beneath the skin using non-electrical, hand-made and hand held tools with needles of sharpened bamboo or steel.



The most common method of tattooing in modern times is the electric tattoo machine, which inserts ink into the skin via a group of needles that are soldered onto a bar, which is attached to an oscillating unit. The unit rapidly and repeatedly drives the needles in and out of the skin, usually 80 to 150 times a second. This modern procedure is ordinarily sanitary. The needles are single-use needles that come packaged individually. The tattoo artist must wash not only his or her hands, but they must also wash the area that will be tattooed. Gloves must be worn at all times and the wound must be wiped frequently with a wet disposable towel of some kind.



The modern electric tattoo machine is far removed from the machine invented by Samuel O'Reilly in 1891. O'Reilly's machine was based on the rotary technology of the electric engraving device invented by Thomas Edison. Modern tattoo machines use electromagnetic coils. The first coil machine was patented by Thomas Riley in London, 1891 using a single coil. The first twin coil machine, the predecessor of the modern configuration, was invented by another Englishman, Alfred Charles South of London, in 1899.



"Natural" tattoos



According to George Orwell, coal miners could develop characteristic tattoos owing to coal dust getting into wounds. This can also occur with substances like gunpowder. Similarly, a traumatic tattoo occurs when a substance such as asphalt is rubbed into a wound as the result of some kind of accident or trauma. These are particularly difficult to remove as they tend to be spread across several different layers of skin, and scarring or permanent discoloration is almost unavoidable depending on the location. In addition, tattooing of the gingiva from implantation of amalgam particles during dental filling placement and removal is possible and not uncommon. A common example of such accidental tattoos is the result of a deliberate or accidental stabbing with a pencil or pen, leaving graphite or ink beneath the skin.



Dyes and pigments



The variety of pigments that were used throughout history and those that are now available is completely different. When tattoos first came into existence, there were only pigments that could be found in nature and now any color can be created by mixing pigments together.



A wide range of dyes and pigments can be used in tattoos, from inorganic materials like titanium dioxide and iron oxides to carbon black, azo dyes, and acridine, quinoline, phthalocyanine and naphthol derivates, dyes made from ash, and other mixtures.



Iron oxide pigments are used in greater extent in cosmetic tattooing. Many pigments were found to be used in a survey[1] of professional tattooists. Recently, a blacklight-reactive tattoo ink using PMMA microcapsules has surfaced. The technical name is BIOMETRIX System-1000, and is marketed under the name "Chameleon Tattoo Ink".



Studio hygiene



The properly equipped tattoo studio will use biohazard containers for objects that have come into contact with blood or bodily fluids, sharps containers for old needles, and an autoclave for sterilizing tools. Certain jurisdictions also require studios by law to have a sink in the work area supplied with both hot and cold water.



Proper hygiene requires a body modification artist to wash his or her hands before starting to prepare a client for the stencil, between clients, and at any other time where cross contamination can occur. The use of single use disposable gloves is also mandatory. In some states and countries it is illegal to tattoo a minor even with parental consent, and it is usually not allowed to tattoo impaired persons, people with contraindicated skin conditions, those who are pregnant or nursing, or those incapable of consent due to mental incapacity. Before the tattooing begins the client is asked to approve the position of the applied stencil. After approval is given the artist will open new, sterile needle packages in front of the client, and always use new, sterile or sterile disposable instruments and supplies, and fresh ink for each session (loaded into disposable ink caps which are discarded after each client). Also, all areas which may be touched with contaminated gloves will be wrapped in clear plastic to prevent cross-contamination. Equipment that cannot be autoclaved (such as countertops, machines, and furniture) will be wiped with an approved disinfectant.



Membership in professional organizations, or certificates of appreciation/achievement, generally helps artists to be aware of the latest trends. However, many of the most notable tattooists do not belong to any association. While specific requirements to become a tattooist vary between jurisdictions, many mandate only formal training in bloodborne pathogens, and cross contamination. The local department of health regulates tattoo studios in many jurisdictions.



For example, according to the health department in Oregon and Hawaii, tattoo artists in these states are required to take and pass a test ascertaining their knowledge of health and safety precautions, as well as the current state regulations. Performing a tattoo in Oregon state without a proper and current license or in an unlicensed facility is considered a felony offense. [6] Tattooing was legalized in New York City, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma between 2002 and 2006.



The time it takes to get a tattoo varies with size and complexity. A smaller tattoo done by machine may take fifteen minutes; another might take hundreds of hours or multiple sessions. Prices vary widely for this service globally and locally, depending on demand, experience of the artist, regulatory fees, and local economy.



Aftercare



Tattoo artists, and people with tattoos, vary widely in preferred methods of caring for new tattoos. Some artists recommend keeping a new tattoo wrapped for the first twenty-four hours, others suggest removing temporary bandaging after a few hours. Many tattooists advise against allowing too much contact with water for the first few days; others, in contrast, suggest that a new tattoo be bathed in very hot water early and often.



General consensus for care advises against removing the scab that forms on a new tattoo and avoiding exposing tattoos to the sun for extended periods, which can contribute to fading. Further, it is agreed that a new tattoo needs to be kept clean. Various products may be recommended for application to the skin, ranging from those intended for the treatment of cuts, burns and scrapes, to petroleum jelly or lanolin. In recent years, specific commercial products have been developed for tattoo aftercare. In other cases, the client will be advised to use no products on a new tattoo.



Ultimately, the amount of ink that remains in the skin throughout the healing process determines, in large part, how robust the final tattoo will look. If a scab falls off too soon, (e.g., if it absorbs too much water and sloughs off early or is picked or scraped off) then the ink will not be properly fixed in the skin.



Tattoo removal



While tattoos are considered permanent, it is possible to remove them. Complete removal, however, may not be possible (although many doctors and laser practitioners make the claim that upwards of 95% removal is possible with the newest lasers, especially with black and darker colored inks), and the expense and pain of removing them typically will be greater than the expense and pain of applying them. Some jurisdictions will pay for the voluntary removal of gang tattoos.



Tattoo removal is most commonly performed using lasers that react with the ink in the tattoo, and break it down. The broken-down ink is then absorbed by the body, mimicking the natural fading that time or sun exposure would create. This technique often requires many repeated visits to remove even a small tattoo, and may result in permanent scarring. The newer Q-switched lasers are said by the National Institute of Health to result in scarring only rarely, however, and are usually used only after a topical anaesthetic has been applied. The NIH recognizes five types of tattoo; amateur, professional, cosmetic, medical, and traumatic (or natural). Amateur tattoos are easier and quicker to remove, usually, than professional tattoos. Areas with thin skin will be more likely to scar than thicker-skinned areas. There are several types of Q-switched lasers, and each is effective at removing a different range of the color spectrum. This laser effectively removes black, blue, purple and red tattoo pigment. New lasers like the Versapulse & Medlite laser treat these colors & yellow and green ink pigment, typically the hardest colors to remove. Black is the easiest color to remove.



Some wearers opt to cover an unwanted tattoo with a new tattoo. This is commonly known as a cover-up. An artfully done cover-up may render the old tattoo completely invisible, though this will depend largely on the size, style, colors and techniques used on the old tattoo. Some shops and artists use laser removal machines to break down and lighten undesired tattoos to make coverage with a new tattoo easier. Since tattoo ink is translucent, covering up a previous tattoo necessitates darker tones in the new tattoo to effectively hide the older, unwanted piece.

Mechanism



Tattooing involves the placement of pigment into the skin's dermis, the layer of connective tissue underlying the epidermis. After initial injection, pigment is dispersed throughout a homogenized damaged layer down through the epidermis and upper dermis, in both of which the presence of foreign material activates the immune system's phagocytes to engulf the pigment particles. As healing proceeds, the damaged epidermis flakes away (eliminating surface pigment) while deeper in the skin granulation tissue forms, which is later converted to connective tissue by collagen growth. This mends the upper dermis, where pigment remains trapped within fibroblasts, ultimately concentrating in a layer just below the dermis/epidermis boundary. Its presence there is very stable, but in the long term (decades) the pigment tends to migrate deeper into the dermis, accounting for the degraded detail of old tattoos.

Secular attitudes



In the United States many prisoners and criminal gangs use distinctive tattoos to indicate facts about their criminal behavior, prison sentences, and organizational affiliation. This cultural use of tattoos predates the widespread popularity of tattoos in the general population, so older people may still associate tattoos with criminality. At the same time, members of the U.S. military have an equally established and longstanding history of tattooing to indicate military units, battles, etc., and this association is also widespread among older Americans. Tattooing is also widespread in the British Armed Forces.



Tattoos can have additional negative associations for women; "tramp stamp" and other similarly derogatory slang phrases are sometimes used to describe a tattoo on a woman's lower back. The prevalence of women in the tattoo industry itself, along with larger numbers of women wearing tattoos, has somewhat changed these perceptions.



Slang within the industry is not limited to women's tattoos.Tattoo artists traditionally refer to a small bikini line tattoo as a "tramp stamp", and the larger lower back pieces as "ass antlers". Tiny, interlocking tribal armbands are often referred to as "tribble", and unskilled artists are referred to as "scratchers", "scab merchants", or "scar vendors", originally according to Sailor Jerry. Slang and jargon within the tattoo industry evolves as quickly as customer's tastes change.

Tattoos have experienced a resurgence in popularity in recent decades in many parts of the world, particularly in North America, Japan, and Europe. The growth in tattoo culture has seen an influx of new artists into the industry, many of whom have technical and fine art training. Coupled with advancements in tattoo pigments and the ongoing refinement of the equipment used for tattooing, this has led to an improvement in the quality of tattoos being produced. Movie stars, models, popular musicians and sports figures are just some of the people in the public eye who are tattooed, which in turn has fueled the acceptance of tattoos. During the 2000s, the presence of tattoos became evident within pop culture, inspiring television shows such as A&E's Inked and TLC's Miami Ink. The decoration of blues singer Janis Joplin with a wristlet and a small heart on her left breast, by the San Francisco tattoo artist Lyle Tuttle, is taken as a seminal moment in the popular acceptance of tattoos as art.



In many traditional cultures tattooing has also enjoyed a resurgence, partially in deference to cultural heritage. Historically, a decline in traditional tribal tattooing in Europe occurred with the spread of Christianity. A decline often occurred in other cultures following European efforts to convert aboriginal and indigenous people to Western religious and cultural practices that held tattooing to be a "pagan" or "heathen" activity. Within some traditional indigenous cultures, tattooing takes place within the context of a rite of passage between adolescence and adulthood.



A poll conducted online in July 2003 estimated that 16% of all adults in the United States have at least one tattoo. The highest incidence of tattoos was found among the gay, lesbian and bisexual population (31%) and among Americans ages 25 to 29 years (36%) and 30 to 39 years (28%). Regionally, people living in the West (20%) were more likely to have tattoos. Democrats were more likely to have tattoos (18%) than Republicans (14%) and Independents (12%); approximately equal percentages of males (16%) and females (15%) have tattoos.



Age restrictions regarding tattoos vary from country to country. In the United States the law predominantly states that one should be 18 years of age with the exception of a guardian signing for those that are 16 and 17 years of age. In the UK it is a common misconception that the age restriction for getting a tattoo is 18 years old, but the law actually states that a person must be at least 16 years of ages to get a tattoo without the permission of a parent or guardian.



Regrets



No studies have been performed to determine how many people eventually regret getting a tattoo. However, an online study performed in July 2003 showed that 17% of tattooed participants regretted getting their tattoos.



Some people claim that 50% of Americans regret their tattoos, citing a 2002 publication by the "American Society of Dermatological Surgery." However, an organization with that name does not exist; the sites are probably mistakenly referencing the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery. In any case, no formal citation is provided by these sites, and online search reveals that no such study has been published by the ASDS.

Tattoos have served as rites of passage, marks of status and rank, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, decorations for bravery, sexual lures and marks of fertility, pledges of love, punishment, amulets and talismans, protection, and as the marks of outcasts, slaves and convicts. The symbolism and impact of tattoos varies in different places and cultures, sometimes with unintended consequences. For example shamrock tattoos are believed to belong exclusively to the Aryan Brotherhood (within their range of the US prison system), but on the streets of America a shamrock tattoo can stand for whatever the wearer wants it to.



Today, people choose to be tattooed for cosmetic, sentimental/memorial, religious, and magical reasons, and to symbolize their belonging to or identification with particular groups (see Criminal tattoos). Tattoos of favorite bands and football teams' logos are fairly common in the west.[citation needed] Some Māori still choose to wear intricate moko on their faces. In Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, the yantra tattoo is used for protection.



Now tattoos are used more as expressions of character. People find that being able to put what they find important in their lives on themselves for others to see is part of their freedom of speech.



People have also been forcibly tattooed for a various reasons. The best known is the ka-tzetnik identification system for Jews in part of the concentration camps during the Holocaust. European sailors were known to tattoo the crucifixion on their backs to prevent flogging (since it was a crime to deface an image of Christ)[citation needed].



Tattoos are also placed on animals, though very rarely for decorative reasons. Pets, show animals, thoroughbred horses and livestock are sometimes tattooed with identification and other marks. Pet dogs and cats are often tattooed with a serial number (usually in the ear, or on the inner thigh) via which their owners can be identified. In Australia, the symbol Φ is tattooed in the ears of cats and dogs to indicate that they have been spayed or neutered.[citation needed] Also, animals are occasionally tattooed to prevent sunburn (on the nose, for example). Such tattoos are often performed by a veterinarian and in most cases the animals are anaesthetized during the process. Branding is used for similar reasons and is often performed without anaesthesia, but is different from tattooing as no ink or dye is inserted during the process.



When used as a form of cosmetics, tattooing includes permanent makeup, and hiding or neutralizing skin discolorations. Permanent makeup are tattoos that enhance eyebrows, lips (liner or lipstick), eyes (liner), and even moles, usually with natural colors as the designs are intended to resemble makeup.

Tattooing has been around for thousands of years and has a direct link to culture and symbolism of each culture. Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice at least since Neolithic times. Mummies bearing tattoos and dating from the end of the second millennium BC have been discovered at Pazyryk on the Ukok Plateau. Tattooing in Japan is thought to go back to the Paleolithic era, some ten thousand years ago. Various other cultures have had their own tattoo traditions, ranging from rubbing cuts and other wounds with ashes, to hand-pricking the skin to insert dyes.



Tattooing in prehistoric times



A tattoo on the right arm of a Scythian chieftain, whose mummy was discovered at Pazyryk, Russia. The tattoo was made more than 2,500 years ago.

A tattoo on the right arm of a Scythian chieftain, whose mummy was discovered at Pazyryk, Russia. The tattoo was made more than 2,500 years ago.



Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice since Neolithic times. "Ötzi the Iceman", dated circa 3300 BC, bearing 57 tattoos: a cross on the inside of the left knee, six straight lines 15 centime