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Leelaloo
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Sun Feb 26, 2012 8:22 pm

IMO text belongs on paper and art belongs on canvases
Are you sure about that? Edit: just showing some examples of some of my favourite canvases that incorporate text. I think it's OK on skin, too. But that's just me.

Image

Image

And my favourite...

Image
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TATFINK
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Sun Feb 26, 2012 9:49 pm

Am I sure that's my opinion? Uh, yeah. I see it everyday, all day. Had plenty of time to formulate an opinion on what I think about it.
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Gloom
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Sun Feb 26, 2012 10:02 pm

ironically all those examples she posted are from paper based ads
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TATFINK
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Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:09 pm

To be fair, I'm all for literacy...everywhere. Unfortunately there are a pitiful amount of tattooers that cannot spell worth a shit and it only adds to my distaste of text tattoos, all aesthetics aside. If you like them then great. I'll tattoo them on paying customers all day, but I truly believe that it's a waste of good skin. Plus if it's misspelled (some illiterate clients will argue without having a fucking clue) or just doesn't make any grammatical sense it's just an eyesore.
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Leelaloo
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Mon Feb 27, 2012 1:53 am

I was just trying to illustrate the point that text has a place on canvas, paper, skin, buildings, sidewalks, anywhere an artist sees fit. I see your point, that not all text works for tattoos, but I've seen wonderful paintings that incorporated text. Braque (cubist, contemporary of Picasso) comes to mind but I couldn't find the image of the painting I was looking for. I do consider a lot of posters to be fine art - Mucha and Toulouse Lautrec are some great examples of that.

Bad tattoos are bad tattoos - whether misspelled text (horribly unfortunate), missing apostrophes, shaky lines or bad shading. Literary tattoos aren't necessarily my thing, but I appreciate the aesthetic. Maybe it's because I'm a writer myself (fiction, poetry, grant proposals, etc).

Anyway, my two cents there. :)

L.

P.S. About the OP's tattoo: looks awful, and I think whoever suggested lasering had the right idea, unless she's willing to go for a cover-up...and find a watch with a wider band, or a "job interview bracelet." ;)
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Ckneasel
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Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:29 pm

that's a terrible tattoo, and in this day and age do you really think you'll be turned down for a job cause of a tattoo on the undeside of your wrist...?

wear long sleeves to interviews if you are that worried about it, but damn, i'd cover that whole thing up if I were you...
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coregrafx
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Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:50 pm

"that's a terrible tattoo, and in this day and age do you really think you'll be turned down for a job cause of a tattoo on the undeside of your wrist...?"

I interview for a large company and the answer, unfortunately, is YES.
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Ckneasel
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Mon Feb 27, 2012 10:24 pm

wow, that's a shame, but i guess if you want that type of job and there are still those biases out there, then one should not get a tattoo period...
Ach3r0n
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Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:36 am

TATFINK wrote:Suggestion: Cover it with anything and live with the consequences of having a larger more visible tattoo. Either you're proud of your tattoos or you're being a poser.
Having a love of tattoos and the ambition to pursue a white collar career doesn't make someone a poser - which is btw, a word I haven't heard anyone use since high school. The simple fact is that many offices do not permit visible ink and adults need to sometimes make compromises in the pursuit of their goals. I'm proud to show off my ink in my own time, but when I'm on company time and the company dime, I'll keep it covered up because that is what company policy requires.
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Leelaloo
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Tue Feb 28, 2012 9:29 am

My thoughts exactly.

If maintaining a "professional" image (whatever that means, anyway) is important to you then definitely get tattooed in a more discreet spot. That being said, a good friend of mine who works as an OB/GYN has a wicked half-sleeve and stretched ears. His patients don't get to see it because he's obviously wearing a lab coat much of the time, but he's not shy at all about showing it.

So at a certain point you've got to remember the Dr. Seuss quote:

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”
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fe
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Tue Feb 28, 2012 12:34 pm

i definately gotten turned down for jobs because of my tattoos. they said, you're well spoken, put together and professional, but you cannot have visible tattoos.
just so you know. its not a very well done tattoo. i'm not sure what the artist was going for but they missed the mark. if you want to get it covered up... go to someone else. good luck covering it up with anything that can be covered by a watch. i have no suggestions there.
charli89
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Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:01 pm

It's a mirror tattoo. It does say love is evil backwards. I thought of it, I wanted it, I got it. I have talked to artists around here but they could careless because this is a college town and they're more concerned about talking to kids who already know what they want. I refuse to waste my time. I realize now, that I am doing so here too. I didn't ask for negativity, but that is what I got. I DO understand it looks like shit. NO, I'm not a poser. It's something I wanted and it didn't turn out the way I had hoped. My tetanus shot is current, and I also have been immunized with all of the three part series of the hepatitisB Vaccine; just for anyone who had the "funny" comments. I don't mind it being a little bigger than what it is now. I REALIZE you can not fix a tattoo without the size having to change. I just wanted positive opinions and ideas on what I could do. I plan to be an RN one day, but WHO KNOWS what will happen. I got it on my left wrist for the purpose of being able to wear a watch there while working as a registered nurse. Tattoos do not offend me, but if I were to work for a Doctor, and help patients that are offended by such things, a simple watch could easily fix that problem.
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fe
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Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:19 pm

wow. no need to get offended. we're just saying, check portfolios before you let someone permanently mark you. the idea was yours, but the tattoo artist you chose seems like they don't have much experience. cover ups are not as easy as you are making them out to be. what we are telling you is, whatever you cover it up with won't be able to be covered by a watch. so you can try to get it fixed, which still won't look that great, or cover it up with anything like a rose, or something with dark colors and reds and purples cover black the best. but any suggestion for a cover up we give you, won't be able to be covered by a watch. we can't tell you what to get tattooed... no tattoo artist is going to do that either.
charli89
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Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:08 pm

I totally agree with you and I'm not offended. I do apologize if I came off as being rude. I was just trying to answer to all of the replies in a "short story" I understand that I'm going to have to make the tattoo bigger. Now, I know my watch will not be able to cover up the entire thing, but the majority of it would be nice. Tattoos are very common these days and anyone who may be offended by them are probably just old fashioned and I have to respect that even though they may not respect me. That's just the kind of person that I am. All I am asking for is ideas, if anybody had any that they cared to share. This is what it looked like when I first had it done. Image I have NOOO idea why that guy added the "shading" onto it. Unprofessional, I know. That is my fault for choosing someone like that, but I don't know much, OBVIOUSLY! :) This is what it looks like in the mirror Image and just for extra show of the tattoo here is another one that was taken recently after it was done. Image I'm not offended by anyone's opinion. It is what it is, and it is freedom of speech. Sorry if I was rude in my last post. I respect the thoughts of ANYBODY, simply because they took the time to reply back to this post. Once I figure out what I want to do with it, I would like to "Photoshop" a picture of it and add what it is I'm trying to add (which I have no clue at this point) so that I can show a more professional more experienced artist, what it is I'm trying to achieve here. I do apologize for the clarity of the photos. They are cell phone quality that I found in old pictures files on my computer.
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Stubarber
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Wed Feb 29, 2012 7:32 pm

A good artist might be able to turn those various dots into some nice, detailed, scrollwork or vines.

Cleaning up that lettering is another story . . .
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