Design Own Tattoo

I, like you, am a massive fan of tattoo designs. Some designs I like, some designs I don't like, we all have our own reasons and expectations. If you would like to design your own tattoo, there may be a few things that you already have in mind. Some of these would apply to you:

- You probably want the tattoo to be quite unique

- You want to be able to express yourself through the tattoo

- You may have a story behind the tattoo, or the reason you are getting it

- You have seen tattoo designs in the past, but you would like to take the best of them and create your own design

Whatever it is, if you're like me, you look at a tattoo as a piece of art. If expresses some emotion or belief. I have always seen different tattoo designs and wondered, why is it that the person has chosen to get that!?

I have always found large tattoo databases on the internet a great help. You can easily shift through many detailed designs in a couple of hours each day, it's not something I get tired of. Best of all, when I liked different aspects of different tattoo, it is so easy to use something like 'Adobe Photoshop' or even the standard 'Paint' program that comes with your computer, to cut and paste aspects of different designs so that you can easily see what your ideal design will actually look like on paper. Excellent! That's the perfect way I see of starting to design your own tattoo from working on your home computer. Its always better to put what you're imagining down in hard copy using these applications, because it more than often looks different to what you expected. I bet you like that idea hey!

Whatever you do, make sure you take your time looking at aspects of many different designs, and also themes that you could get a tattoo in. I've always found that the more time I spent looking around at different web sites and tattoo parlours before getting my tattoos, the more my tastes changed. Keeping in mind, once you get your tattoo you cannot change it like you change clothes!

Tattoo Studio 2

Tattoo Studio

Look for the following items. If you don’t see them, ask the artist about them. If the artist tells you they are unnecessary or “overkill,” leave immediately and go look for another studio. Your health is more important than the risk of using a tattoo artist that is less than totally dedicated to the safest practices in his or her studio.

1. Autoclave - an autoclave is used in hospitals to sterilize equipment. It uses heat, steam, and pressure to kill every organism on the equipment. It usually takes about an hour for an autoclave to run a cycle from a cold start to effectively kill all organisms. You can even ask to see the autoclave and sterilization certificate. The tattoo artist should first clean the equipment and then place it in a special pouch before placing it in the autoclave. There is a strip on the outside of the pouch that indicates when the equipment is sterile. The needle bar and tube are reusable pieces of equipment that must be sterilized before each use.

2. Single Use Items

Single use items should be used only once so that the chances of cross contamination are eliminated. The single use items include:

Ink

Ink cups

Gloves

Needles

Most of these items are purchased in sterile packaging that should be opened in front of you just before the artist begins work.

Tattoo Studio

3. Sharps/Biohazard Container

Used needles and objects that have come into contact with blood or bodily fluids should be disposed of in a sharps/biohazard container.

4. A universal container for any ointment, ink, water, etc. should not be used especially if any of these items have been removed from the container to be used on a client.

5. Some studios are required by law to have a sink in the work area supplied with both hot and cold water. Even if it isn’t required by law in your area, it only makes sense to have one for the cleanliness of the studio.

Tattoo Galleries

Tattoo Galleries

Tattoo Galleries

Tattoo Galleries

Tattoo Galleries