Tattoos

[Faust]

This is a line from the 90s song by Marylin Manson and Sneaker Pimps that's been playing in my brain for the past X number of years. I've wanted to get this for a while but was beating my head against the wall about finding a suitable font, until it dawned on me, as I was browsing SZ magazine that Sruli Recht's proprietary font would be perfect. Sruli was kind enough to lend the font.

Originally, I wanted to make a video of the tatt work in process, with Thomas Hooper doing the work and Black Asteroid providing an ambient soundtrack, but the idea fell apart because Hooper has moved to Austin and is rarely back in NYC.

At the end I decided not to complicate things by chasing other famous tattoo artists. Jason Monroe at Three Kings in Greenpoint did a stellar job.

[lowrey]

awesome

[bukka]

Not me.

[HWith]

^
The thing about those big blocks of ink is that they look pretty good when the tattoo is fresh and pitch black. After a couple of years when it starts to fade it looks dull.

[brettwagg]

^
The thing about those big blocks of ink is that they look pretty good when the tattoo is fresh and pitch black. After a couple of years when it starts to fade it looks dull.

That depends on the type of ink that is used, and the talent of the artist doing the work. Normally it requires multiple complete passes over time to look really consistent and deep after ageing.

[bukka]

^
The thing about those big blocks of ink is that they look pretty good when the tattoo is fresh and pitch black. After a couple of years when it starts to fade it looks dull.

No. Quality ink and good after care will make your blackwork last way longer than what you would expect. And after a decade or two, you can just shower it with ink again.

[Bleu1950]

looks stupid....he'll regret it

[bukka]

Quality comment.

[HWith]

Well, either I'm blind or all my acquaintances scurrying around the world to get their tattoos done end up getting bad work. I'm not a tattoo connoisseur, but I have eyes, and I've never seen a blackwork tattoo stay truly dark black after years. For most tattos it doesn't matter much. As long as your skin is somewhat pale the contrast will make the lines seem deep black. But as soon as you fill large uniform areas of black that optical illusion no longer come into play and youll see hints of gray/deep blue/whatever. Even on my own aren't as dark as they were a couple of years ago and they're never exposed to the sun. I'm having them redone soon to take care of that. :-)

EDIT: Come to think of it, maybe we misunderstand each other here. You know the first few weeks after you get your piece done and it's really, really deep black and the lines almost have a luster to them? That's what I mean with fresh and pitch black. Of course the skin and ink normalises pretty quickly and then a very slow fading begins. For those big patches of black to look good (like on that picture, if no filter or whatever is used) it needs to be really fresh and shiny. Look at the way the black patches reflects light on the picture. They just wont do that after a month. Skin is matte unless wet. But not the first two weeks after getting a tattoo. So that's why it looks kinda neat on the picture but won't stay that way. Personal taste and all, of course.

[brettwagg]

Well, either I'm blind or all my acquaintances scurrying around the world to get their tattoos done end up getting bad work. I'm not a tattoo connoisseur, but I have eyes, and I've never seen a blackwork tattoo stay truly dark black after years. For most tattos it doesn't matter much. As long as your skin is somewhat pale the contrast will make the lines seem deep black. But as soon as you fill large uniform areas of black that optical illusion no longer come into play and youll see hints of gray/deep blue/whatever. Even on my own aren't as dark as they were a couple of years ago and they're never exposed to the sun. I'm having them redone soon to take care of that. :-)

EDIT: Come to think of it, maybe we misunderstand each other here. You know the first few weeks after you get your piece done and it's really, really deep black and the lines almost have a luster to them? That's what I mean with fresh and pitch black. Of course the skin and ink normalises pretty quickly and then a very slow fading begins. For those big patches of black to look good (like on that picture, if no filter or whatever is used) it needs to be really fresh and shiny. Look at the way the black patches reflects light on the picture. They just wont do that after a month. Skin is matte unless wet. But not the first two weeks after getting a tattoo. So that's why it looks kinda neat on the picture but won't stay that way. Personal taste and all, of course.

No I understand what you are saying, but it's impossible for anything black to stay brutally black like that. Black Ink always fades or gets the colour distorted over time just from sun or whatever. All colours do but it's more apparent with black. I guess that mostly what I'm mostly saying with an artist like Roxx who specializes in that work that the colour will hold basically as good as it can. I got some a large portion of my arm blacked out by someone who claimed to have been good at it but was a total hack- it looked like shit and super patchy after a month or two. I got it redone and had the rest of my arm and whole shoulder done by a really good artist last year and he has already done two full coats of black over it, and three in some areas, and it looks much better. My partner had hers done 5 years ago and has had it redone multiple times and it looks great.

[SeptSeptSept]

black aplat really depends on tattooer skill
if it done good it can stand for years without fade or break but it never remains deep black, once healed the blueish hint are a natural thing whatever ink is used

[Shucks]

Quality comment.

from the same guy who brought us this gem:

Thanks - that's what i think too but wonder how would a straight male look in those boots with skinnies or shorts? I have seen Rick himself in those and they look great.

[Verdandi]

No I understand what you are saying, but it's impossible for anything black to stay brutally black like that. Black Ink always fades or gets the colour distorted over time just from sun or whatever. All colours do but it's more apparent with black.

I had my thighs done a decade ago by someone who only does blackwork and it holds up pretty good so far. The black is duller overall, but there are no patchy areas. I sometimes think about getting it redone, but inner thighs are no joke and I cannot tolerate pain as well as I did once.

[PoubelleMaBelle]

the OG tribal tattress



btw – any particular rec's for text/font in NYC?

[handmade]

Personally I think Norm (@normwillrise) is the best text/script I have seen. I have a piece from him across my stomach, waiting till im in the same area again to get some more work. He's based in LA but travels a lot (as most do)