What Do You Need To Know Before You Buy Tattoo Guns
April 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The tattoo guns represent the basics of the equipment required for making a tattoo. In case you are looking forward to open your own tattoo parlor, you need to know a few things about these tattoo guns before you buy them.
How To Choose A Tattoo Gun?
It is very important that you learn a few basic things about this equipment before you go and buy it. The first thing is to find out what is the ideal material it should be made of. Experts and veteran tattoo makers opine that the tattoo guns should be made of high quality metal such as copper, iron or brass because they need to be strong. You would definitely not want risking the gun breaking while you are tattooing your client.
Once you decide about what type of metal your tattoo gun should be, you could go to the next criteria for choosing a qualitative tattoo gun. Here you would need to learn about the variety and size of the tattooing. There are two types of tattoo guns, i.e. the lining gun which draws the outline and the shading gun with which you would fill in the colored ink. In most cases the shop owner would warn you if you ask for any one of the guns – saying that you could have one free with the other (because the price quoted for one would include the second one).
There are however tattoo guns that cover both the utilities and these are generally and expectably so, more expensive. If you are a beginner you need to know that these machines are not really for you, but for veterans who have thousands of hours of practice. This is because when you use this two-in-one machine you would need to have to tune it frequently which would not be possible for a beginner.
To complement the purchasing of the tattoo guns and assuming that you are a beginner, you need to have one more thing – a kit for drawing tattoos which would be helpful for you as a guide in the first few hundred hours of tattooing.
In case you are not really comfortable with buying these guns as explained above, you could go in for starter tattooing kits where you could get all the information you want about tattooing as well both the guns chosen already for you.
Once you have all the required tools you need to practice for a while with small designs on friends who would allow you to experiment with them before you would gain enough experience to do intricate designs on your own.
The Irish Tattoo: Beauty and History
March 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Irish history and the Celtic tradition is rich with images. These symbols, such as the Celtic cross and the Celtic knot, were used throughout the Irish world to represent tradition; for millennia, Celtic and Irish people have taken pride in their heritage by adorning their belongings with these designs. The Irish tattoo has been derived from these original works of art. Metal art, jewelry, Celtic paintings and even weaponry contained crests and seals, symbols and signs steeped in Celtic society. The Irish tattoo represents the simple yet aesthetic qualities of Celtic design work, and brings to the modern world the heart-felt beliefs and ideals of an ancient people.
While there is no real evidence that Irish people ever engaged in the art of tattooing, for modern individuals looking to bring Celtic tradition to life in the form of an Irish tattoo, there is enough history of Celtic artists and symbolism from which to gather ideas. The Book of Kells, for instance, is a historical book containing the beliefs of Celtic spiritualism and religion; in it are pages upon pages of designs and symbols used in everything from funeral and burial rituals to hand-fasting ceremonies. In fact, many Celtic designs were used to mark graves or mass burial sites, and to say something about the individual buried within; consequently, understanding the true history of these designs will help individuals decide which one is perfect for his or her Irish tattoo.
One of the most popular Celtic designs, the Celtic knot, is a popular Irish tattoo. The Celtic knot itself signifies spiritual eternity and immortality, the circle of life; every beginning from every end. The knot is infinite, as is life. Celtic knots can be used in any Irish tattoo; they can be used as lettering or as parts of larger images, or even as stand-alone art. They are also popular components of tribal tattoos. Celtic knots can also be used as the basis of many zoomorphic Irish tattoo artwork. Animals can also be used to form infinite patterns; heads joining tails, limbs circling around and tying together. The knot itself is only a concept; its presentation is what makes each Irish tattoo unique.
Irish tattoo art can also be found online. Free flash and images, tattoo ideas and tattoo photographs are available anywhere for close study. Wearers are always proud of their tattoos and want to display them for the world, and artists must constantly compile portfolios to win customers and employment. With a little research, individuals can find the perfect Irish tattoo idea; it is up to them, however, how much Celtic history they wish to learn before making their decision. In the end, however, background information can only help formulate a deeper meaning, and a deeper connection, to an Irish tattoo, and help bridge a connection between the personal and the universal.
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The Phoenix Tattoo
February 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Many aspects of cultural belief spawn from mythology. There is certain iconography, certain archaic symbols that have become so innately connected to humanity that their meanings are known subconsciously. This subconscious faith in certain beliefs is the ultimate thread, the underlying tie between cultures, countries, societies and, most importantly, minds. For many, the phoenix is one of these symbols. The source of Greek, Egyptian and Chinese mythology, the phoenix humbled ancient civilizations, and it still humbles contemporary students. The most famous of mythological birds, the phoenix has been resurrected in modern mythology as well, on the big screen, in novels and in the phoenix tattoo.
Rebirth and Revision
The phoenix earned its name from the Greek word for red, symbolizing fire. Born of fire and consumed by fire, the phoenix lived a life eternally inseparable from its own fate. According to historians, the phoenix originally traveled to Greece from Ethiopia. The Egyptians too pinpointed the bird’s origin in Africa, but they believed it to be a manifestation of the god of the sun, and appeared only once every 500 years. The Chinese phoenix became a symbol of marriage, the only bird able to unite the yin and the yang. The Romans, while disrespectful of the mythologies of the civilizations they conquered, did borrow the image of the phoenix on their coinage, expressing the endurance of the empire.
However, a phoenix tattoo rarely addresses this history. Instead, individuals choose the phoenix tattoo for the original mythology, the original story behind the phoenix itself, not its later symbolisms and religions connotations. The phoenix was, in a sense, a suicidal bird; when it knew it was time to return to ash, it burned itself alive. Some versions of the myth have the bird collecting herbs and physically setting them on fire, creating a kind of sacrificial alter. Other versions illustrate the bird simply combusting in a nest of twigs.
No matter the nature of the death, however, the phoenix would always rise again, three days later, from the very ashes it died in. In essence, the phoenix tattoo symbolizes life from death, rebirth and resurrection. Like Jesus, death meant nothing for the phoenix; it was imply the end of a chapter, the prologue before the next. A phoenix tattoo speaks of the soul, of the heart, of the undying, enduring, never-ending pull of immortal life: triumph from pain, new beginnings from old endings.
Of all the tattoo designs, the phoenix tattoo truly is a powerful image. Usually sketched in full color to illustrate the strength of red and fire, a phoenix tattoo is rarely trapped in a small design; if often spreads out across the whole back, encompasses entire arms, or reaches across the stomach from hip to hip. Like immortal life itself, the phoenix tattoo is unlimited, unhindered and, above all, unwavering. The wearer is aware of a sense of mystery and faith, subconscious belief and unity, and onlookers too are struck by a particular sense of serenity.











