Tattoo Respect

One might ask if there is any respect in this world of ours at all, and my answer to that would be, “Yes.  Respect for what?”  Most tattoo artists respect fellow artists work and do not copy it or steal it.  Some people though do not know how to respect anything because they do not respect themselves.  The concept of respect is very skewed today.  Some feel that they should be able to do anything, say anything, tattoo anything they can get away with.

Posting on social pages, or websites of other artists is something that should be clear-cut.  Are you giving a complement?  Are you visiting and dropping by to say hello? Remember grandma always said, “If you don’t have anything good to say, then don’t say anything at all.”  These forms of posting should be considered to be acceptable.  Unacceptable forms would be: Undercutting someone’s prices on their page. Criticizing their work without invitation. Talking shit about the artist.  Copying (stealing) their work. Posting quotes or referring people to another artists page.  It is common manners, however, there are so many immature people today.  There are so many people who want to be a tattoo artist, yet they do not want to put in the time, respect, and effort to be an artist.  And some artists are very unprofessional.  Respect is something earned by showing respect for others and yourself.  The level of respect you receive will rise with the level of respect you show others.  I still think that most people that had a good quality apprenticeship learned these things from their master artist.  However, many people continue to avoid getting that very valuable apprenticeship.

If you post something negative on someone’s page, then you must expect that you will not be treated well.  And you really deserve whatever is handed out to you.  The tattoo community generally stands behind each other, even if they are competitors.  And the fans and clients of the people you offend may just be a bigger consequence then you ever imagined.  So, tread lightly and be respectful of others.

The next issue about respect is the copying of someone’s tattoo. In a street shop or flash shop you pick tattoo designs from the walls or flash racks.  This would be an acceptable form of copying.  These tattoos are meant to be replicated over and over.  These are not custom designs!  Custom tattoo designs are just that… Custom.  And the custom tattoo design should not be copied!  We are seeing it more often because it is harder and harder to do a tattoo design that has never been done.  Most custom artists give the design to the client after the tattoo, or they destroy it because the client now owns and wears the tattoo.  Many of us do not keep the drawings or anything else associated with the tattoo except the pictures of the finished tattoo.  The reason is because so many people will steal your design.  Many people do not even post the pictures of the custom designs they have tattooed because they do not want it copied.  Many of you will not agree with anything I just said because it is “tattooing” and it is part of the culture of tattooing.  Hey, even on the TV show Ink Master’s there has been issues of possible tattoo copies.  The thing to remember here is that there are only so many ways to illustrate a “heart”, a “Piston”, a “Skull” etc.

I guess my point is that if you do not have anything good to say don’t post on the person’s page.  Don’t try to steal clients from other artists and maybe people will begin to respect you, or maybe you will get your hands broken…  The industry has changed a lot over the years.  Artist rarely go hunt down another artist to kick their ass, but I am not saying that it never happens, it is just pretty rare now.  Although tattooers are a bit independent and most old school artists still believe in a good old fashioned ass-beating.  If you want respect from this bunch then you better not shit where you sleep.  I am not saying that you need to be a spineless human being, but you do not want to be an inconsiderate piece of shit either.