Steampunk tattoo

[quantumcat]

This may be why we have fake tattoos (henna,etc.) so we can test drive an image before we make it pretty much permanent.

There is new technology coming up that will make it easier/cheaper to remove or modify a tat.

These might not be readily available before 2010 but they'll replace surgery and cover-up tattoos-especially for a new class of body art made to be easier to get rid of.

I don't quite feel right about getting ink on my epidermis but I've wondered what it would be like to wear art on my insides.

(Something by Cari Buziak on my gall bladder,etc.)

Then,the tattoo wouldn't intrude on my life so much if I "outgrew" it but it would be less apt to pall because it was less of a whim
and was more of a personal matter than just turning my body into a canvas or billboard.

[Nex]

A UV tattoo?  Any chance of a a phot of it in daylight and UV darkness?  I've only heard of such things before.

http://www.crazychameleonbodyartsupply.com/uv-blacklight-reactive-tattoos-tattoo-ink.htm
There is a lot of general information on UV-Tattoos there from the company that made the first FDA approved UV ink (most normal tattoo ink hasn't even been put in for approval by them).

And a comparative colour chart between UV and Normal light for their inks.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Capt. Barley Wilkerson]

a lot of tattoo artists are staying away from the uv reactive inks... look into that more before using them... also, i should've titled my thread "steampunk tattoo" huh?

http://brassgoggles.co.uk/bg-forum/index.php?topic=11852.0

[Prof. Brockworth]

I'm going to be the voice of gumption - but I went to my artist wanting a shoulder-piece and came away with a totally different full back that just grabbed me as soon as he suggested it (literally: after years of dithering, he looked at my source file and said, "that sucks: but this would rock" and I was blown away and got it immediately).  And I just got a bit of physics on my leg.  I've got a UV test dot too - but it scarred too visibly for what I intended, so I only have the test dot (ink from ebay, formula from wikipedia, I should be dead by now ).

If it's well done and not dumb, you'll get used to it.  At worst, it'll remind you of when you were into all that silly steampunk stuff.  Will steampunk ever be embarassing?  You bet it will.  Think back on those awesome Portal tattoos from last year. 

At best, it'll just totally rock and you'll love it for life and the girls will swoon over it like extras from a Robert E Howard pulp novel cover.  Or boys.  Or tentacle-things - whatever floats your dirigible.

A good artist is important.  Flick through their gallery of custom stuff (not flash: anyone can trace out flash) and see that they're good.  Awards from tattoo conventions are a handy sign.  Personal recommendations are better. 

[Nex]

a lot of tattoo artists are staying away from the uv reactive inks...

That was because the old UV inks were dodgy, hence why that company got theirs FDA approved as safe, while that UV Ink is certified as safe NO other Tattoo ink is.

[Capt. Barley Wilkerson]

that's good to know... might have to order some and see if it really is worth the effort...

[Nex]

I must admit I'm tempted to order some myself just to fill random containers and bottles with to have round the house, nice Re-Animator green me thinks...mind you I would need to buy a few blacklights too.


Bit disappointed that, at least according to their site, there aren't any Scottish Tattooists that use the stuff, theres a couple down in England but travel costs would probably be double or triple the actual cost of the tattoo.

[Esmee Weatherwax]

Nice to discover this thread. Some 15 years ago I met a man who had a wicked tattoo on his left forearm. It was partly skin peeled away to reveal machinery underneath.
I fell in love with this tattoo at the spot. He told me he had mostly negative reactions.
At the time I was working pretty much in the public eye and have put it on the back burner.

Now it might be time for such a work of art n my forearm as well.
Any examples are welcome.

[Nex]

There are a fair few examples of such things dotted about the net, usually they are more cyberpunk or biomechanical, but some to me have a slightly lower tech feel to them, like this one:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Certainly searching google for biomechanical or just biomech tattoos will give you a lot of interesting ideas to work from.

Negative reactions probably come mostly from the often added details of ripped or damaged skin over the mechanical workings, if it just looked like an exoskeleton grafted onto the skin, or that the whole piece was metal with no skin having been there at all people probably wouldn't be so put off.