Tattoo Artist Quotes

“Tattooing, when understood in its entirety, must be seen as a religious act. The human being brings forth images from the center of the self and communicates them to the world. Fantasy is embodied in reality and the person is made whole.”
― Spider Webb

“Find 'em hot, leave 'em wet," he murmured.
"Well known firefighter maxim.”
― Kate Meader, Rekindle the Flame

“This wasn't the work of a cheap carnival tattoo man with three colors and whiskey on his breath. This was the accomplishment of a living genius, vibrant, clear, and beautiful.”
― Ray Bradbury

“See . . . um . . . the thing is, I met with Lisa a few days ago. She wanted to apologize for . . . Halloween, and not calling . . .

Thing is, her previous story . . . um . . . She wanted me to read it. She . . . wanted to explain her issues. She was jealous . . . of you and me becoming friends and . . . kinda lost it, I guess.

My point is, um . . . she used the story to put it into words . . .

I think she is writing messages. . . to you.”
― Stjepan Šejić, Sunstone, Vol. 5

“His anger seemed out of proportion to the crime. Men. Give them an orgasm and they want...well, probably more orgasms.”
― Kate Meader, Rekindle the Flame

“You always have my attention. When you're in the room, you're my sun.”
― Kate Meader, Rekindle the Flame

“Even though being a good speller has lost its ranking in school, we can hope there is one group of artisans that still finds spelling important…the tattoo artist”
― Nanette L. Avery

“Some of the pain that clients experience is likely from not knowing what to expect. They approach their appointment with tension and nervousness, and they tend to hold their breath when they first get started. As soon as a client relaxes and breathes normally, the tattoo pain becomes minimal.”
― Shelly Dax, The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career

“In tattooing, linework is arguably the most important element. Lines form the basis of our sketches and the stencils used to apply the artwork to the skin.”
― Shelly Dax, The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career

“Even in two-dimensional works you can convey the sense of touching a variety of surfaces by using implied texture. You can use line, value, color, pattern and contrast to create simulated textures on flat surfaces.”
― Shelly Dax, The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career

“Sometimes the hardest battles only exists within ourselves, our mind fighting amongst the demons of thought within our own head.”
― Brandon Garic Notch

“He was perfectly formed, all steel flesh, so beautiful naked that it simply hurt to look at him. But she suspected it would hurt more when she no longer could.”
― Kate Meader, Rekindle the Flame

“When you are looking at a tattoo you are actually seeing it through the top layer of skin. Think of a color printer, printing on white paper versus color paper. The images printed will be affected by the color of the paper. The same is true for skin tone in tattoos.”
― Shelly Dax, The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career

“Grapefruits are inexpensive, readily available and have enough surface area to accomplish some nice designs. The skin of a grapefruit is easily punctured but tough enough to hold up to multiple needle passes. Tattooing grapefruits gives you valuable experience in the feel of the machine, strengthens your hand, aids in understanding needle depth and speed before you approach a real client. Bonus; you have a snack when you are done!”
― Shelly Dax, The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career

“Emphasis is when we use art elements to accentuate a focal point or center of interest. This important principle helps us avoid things looking dull and muddled by giving the viewer a place to anchor their eyes temporarily.”
― Shelly Dax, The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career

“Emphasis is of particular importance in tattoo art because tattoos can tend to be jumbled along body parts, such as an arm sleeve, and thus difficult to “read”.”
― Shelly Dax, The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career

“Tattoos “read” better with one main idea while too many elements can tend to muddle up a piece.”
― Shelly Dax, The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career

“Minimize, or tone down, other compositional elements in order to bring attention to the focal point. Backgrounds can be made lighter or darker in value, crisper or softer in focus, or textured or not textured, to lend support to where you want the eye to go.”
― Shelly Dax, The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career

“You can always go back after a tattoo has healed and add additional dark, but you can’t take it away once in the skin (short of tattoo removal). Thus, it is helpful to err on the side of too light when you are new to tattooing and let your client know to come back for a follow-up visit to adjust levels and possibly build up color.”
― Shelly Dax, The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career

“With deeper awareness, our art reveals what energies we are bringing into our lives, as well as what we need to heal.”
― Cary G. Weldy, The Power of Tattoos: Twelve Hidden Energy Secrets of Body Art Every Tattoo Enthusiast Should Know

“I hardly remember not hating my body. I got most of my seven arm tattoos when I was nineteen. I wanted to be able to look at my body and see something I didn't loathe, that was part of my body by my choosing entirely. Really, that's all I ever wanted.”
― Roxane Gay

“But then I remembered what it was like to have him destroy me, and no matter how easy it was to remember that high, it was impossible to forget that low.”
― Holly Renee, Where Good Girls Go To Die

“Tenin bir tuvaldir; her çizgi, senin öykünü anlatır. Dövme, geçici bir heves değil; sonsuz bir aidiyetin sembolüdür.”
― Andrea Bahar (Alien X Tattoo)