Some Text on Text Tats (Say that 10 times fast)

EeKoon:  Different people, different cultures and different markets like different things.  This is no stunning revelation, and when Randy and I began doing a  little research as to what kind of tattoos would sell, I was hoping to see a love for written word tats here.



Twin roses to remember his late father by



It did take me by surprise that there is a comparatively smaller amount of interest to stick some 'abc's for good into skin in Kuala Lumpur. In comparison, back in the US of A, script tattoos seem to be more the norm than the exception and we pretty much do a text tat, if not insert text into a pictorial tat at least once a day.

Now in KL, we have fielded several requests to tattoo scripts, sayings, names etc onto skin, and it seems each time people ask for them, or want to get a tattoo of words, we pretty much jump at the chance to ink it. It's like crawling in a desert and finally finding an oasis, then diving straight into it.

To me, a text tattoo is more than just inking a bunch of letters onto skin. It's a celebration of the written word. It is loaded with definition, heavy with personal meaning. Special and unique to its wearer. Special and unique, too, during the time it is being created, to the artist who cares(to tell you the absolute truth).

Some other tattoo artists might not give a shit. Not me. The day I don't give a crap about a script tat whether it's big or small is probably the day I stop tattooing. It sounds kinda dramatic, but here's my rationale: Script tattoos can always bring back memories every time the client looks at them, good or bad ones...just never weak ones. At the very least, it stimulates a minor reaction and one that is anything but indifferent.

I've seen clients give wry grins after getting them. And hundreds of big smiles. And sometimes, they just burst into cathartic tears in a few instances(then they tend to hug me real tight and I have to offer Kleenex or a paper towel). But I'm digressing.

I love script tats.  Short ones, long ones, edited ones (like a Psalm we had to slice and dice to fit a soldier's back last year and yet retain its meaning). And ones that make up a stanza from a poem I did last week.

Nikki searched long and hard for her next tat, and decided on an excerpt from a Michael Ondaatje poem.  Now, since Ondaatje is one of my favourite writers, I jumped on that like white on rice. Why, you might well ask?  Because Ondaatje doesn't really just write. His prose sentences sound and feel like poetry. Word juxtaposed against word in new and wonderful manner every time you read it. A fullstop isn't a mere fullstop but a drawn out, oh-so-elegant verbal sigh. It's a treat to read his work, so why not tattoo his work, right?

Anyway, we got it written up, stenciled and  inked on her. I loved what she picked, and enjoyed every moment of inking it.  I was tempted (hehe) to put a "(c) Michael Ondaatje" at the bottom behind her back but she would beat me like a red-headed stepchild, I think. And oh yeah... a 3 round needle travelling just under her neck and she barely moved, except shifting when we're laughing over I can't remember what. Bonus!

I got into the 'art space' that Randy talks about. You know, that dream-like, blissful feeling when you're deep in the midst of a tat and there is nothing else in this world, just your eyes, your hands and the canvas before you. One that you leave with great reluctance when it's all over.

And with typical post-tattoo presence of mind, I, um, forgot to take a picture yet again. Which explains the lack of the image which should've been inserted right about.... here. (Yeah, Nikki, I'm a spazz, I know!)

Just as there are good ideas and bad ideas, there are good idea scripts and bad idea scripts. There's no one rule that applies to this, save the one that  you (especially if you are considering a tattoo of a name) should Never, Ever Forget.  And that is: Never Ever Get A Script Tattoo That You Might Regret Someday.



Bible verse tattoo. Timeless, apt and never a regret.



Because, god knows, I've had to cover up enough of them. And that's never a walk in the park. We connect with every person we tattoo at a certain level, and truly, I don't think we ever let that connection go. A tattoo lasts longer than a first, second or third boyfriend. Longer than a marriage or marriages. (thus for example, try to avoid tats of the names of your BF/GF/BFF/etc/spouse, unless deceased). It's too long to get into here, so come ask us personally our take on it :)

Yeah, tattoos really are forever, and in a cover up, we not only deal with having to conceal someone's name, we also get an idea of the client's emotions and reactions - frustration, regret, anger, unhappiness. Imagine getting a feel of some of these things third hand.  And how much worse it gets for the one who gets to feel it first hand.  Nothing very positive, huh?

"I don't really care what you put over it, as long as the word/s is/are gone" are words we have heard all too often. Yes, even in Malaysia.
 
For a little giggle, I asked Randy to tell you this story of a couple back in the US who got each other's names on them. This is a story about a smart girl. And a not-as-smart boy.



This 6'6" mechanic specified old style newsprint text for his nickname. Insisted on a pic before I finished cleaning his fingers up!



Randy: A young couple, Chris and Ce`Aira (Pronounced "Sierra" but with a very unusual and unique spelling), came to us to get one another's names tattooed. My immediate reaction was to give them The Name Speech: "If you're going to get a name, get your own, or that of a blood relation. Your blood will always be your blood, and your name will always be your own. Love comes and goes; tattoos truly are *forever*". I hoped they would reconsider, and suggested as an alternative getting a "symbol" for one another, as symbols have a time frame, while names always carry the current feelings you have toward that person.





Our client-turned-friend Sherry always has her kids with her.



I even went so far as to show them the pitt bull on my left shoulder, which represents me, the panther on my right shoulder which represents my wife, and explained to them that my heart sits right between the two. I also pointed out that if all hell broke loose and we divorced one another tomorrow, when I looked at the tattoos in the mirror I'd remember the day I got them, how good things were, and never have to suffer the indignities of the next love in my life staring coldly at me and my ink asking "Who's Ee Koon, and when is that coming off?!" They had made up their minds and insisted on the names against my best advice and efforts to dissuade them.



I did their tattoos, his first, then hers. As I was halfway through hers, she looked him in the eye and informed him, "If we ever break up, I'll just add a "t" to the end of mine, and make it say "Christ"; what're you going to do with yours?" His eyes got wide as he realized she had an easy escape while her name would be much more difficult to change, and almost certainly require some big, dark, ugly imagery capable of covering up the large, thick letters on his forearm.

"Oh!" he shouted, "You had that planned!"

Her reply was short and sweet: "Damn right, didn't you listen to the man?!"

And what do we learn from this? Choose your ink carefully, and unless you like the taste of crow, never try, as a man, to match wits with a woman who knows you well; if you do, you'll be eating it aplenty for years to come.