Illuminati-R-Us

I cannot decide what to do....I have an offer for a tattoo job and the artist who will teach me is amazinggggg.
BUT...it will cost 200 extra a month for gas. Husband and I will have to share a car. It doesn't pay. And I will see him 50% less than I see him now...and I like seeing him.

What the hell do I do? :(

Do not take the tattoo job.

At least not if you don't see some propect of actually making money with your acquired skill later.

Arneb wrote:At least not if you don't see some propect of actually making money with your acquired skill later.

Is this a "skill" you approve of, Doc?

permanent sub-cutaneous disfigurement? Sure, why not?

KLA2 wrote:Is this a "skill" you approve of, Doc?

I am not to judge. As any invasive procedure, tattooing carries risks that must be weighed against a prospective benefit - which in this case is purely psychological, but not therefore less real. Of course, we docs like to snicker about patients with tattoos that get badly "sunburnt" in a magnetic resonance tomograph; people who have to be operated upon to remove "intimate" piercings because it interferes, with, umm, activity; about young people keeling over as soon as the ear perforator hits, etc.

But that is a matter of personal choice. I won't pontificate about people having a "medically suboptimal" lifestyle. Health is most important, but no everything, in life. Also, I do respect the skill in a well-crafted tattoo and wouldn't put the word in inverted commas.

I predict that if my son wants a tattoo, I'll allow it if he is something like 16 and able to understand the risk; and if he pays for it with self-earned money.

I come from an era where a tattoo was something only "toughs" and sailors got. Today, it signifies a different thing.

When we heard about a tattoo, someone usually wanted something specific and for a reason. Nowdays, I actually hear young kids say something like, "Say, why don't we all go to a movie and then go get a tattoo?" The getting and having of the tattoo seems more the intent than just what the picture might be.

There are a number of women strolling around with some sort of round tattoo on their calf. Maybe it is a flower or something, I can't tell. First few times I saw one, I thought it was a bruise.

I admit to being an old fogey, but I don't understand them. In the case of a decorative tattoo, I wonder: they won't wear the same clothing every day, don't wear the same jewelry every day, often don't even wear the same hair color every day, different hats, scarves, handbags, and other accessories each day. And yet they sport the same image on their skin forever.

I wish instead of tattoo parties, I could interest them in henna parties. The tattoo artists can still do all the intricate and creative art they please, but it is not permanent, it wears off. In the 60's we had body painting, but perhaps that is not the same thing.

Oh well, I don't have a Facebook page either...

In that vein, you might want to google "Arschgeweih", ("ass antler").

Not cool, or attractive. In my opinion.

Ah yes, we call those "tramp stamps" over here.

SInce they have them in spots they will never see, it is fun to ask, "So was this double line next to the gap on the upper left part intentional?"

Simply looking at the economics of it:

1. This will cost you money, not just the petrol money but the money you could be making while you are training.

2. Will the current fad for tattoos continue? I have no idea, but if it doesn't you will have spent time and money learning a skill which has a limited a future.

I have nothing against tattoos but setting up a business removing them might be a better business model.

Ah, yes, from a business perspective.

Creativity aside, making tattoos is piecework. Make one, sell one. Like a hairdresser or a housepainter. It is an honest living, but limited in how far it can go. A photographer can make a photo and sell it to a magazine or news service. A graphic designer can sell the new logo design to IBM, AT&T, Pepsi, sports teams. Hard to sell a tattoo to anyone but the wearer. A writer can sell books or movie scripts. Art directors determine how movies look, how magazines look, how web sites look even. Artists can draw commercially.

There is no joy in being a starving artist. :D

[lawyer mode]
If you go ahead with this:

Are you covered by his/her insurance if you make a mistake?

What training will you receive?

What are your job prospects at the end of it?

Why is someone teaching you for nothing? How are they benefitting now?

[/lawyer mode]

Heid the Ba' wrote:Are you covered by his/her insurance if you make a mistake?

I could imagine just one Hep C incident could wipe out a lifetime of earnings :(

Any decision made Moosedoom?

Heid the Ba' wrote:I have nothing against tattoos but setting up a business removing them might be a better business model.

http://www.livfilms.com/1537

No pain threshold that woman. :D

Band round arm? Tick
Chinese character? Tick
Tattooed navel? Tick
Ankle tattoo? Tick
Mishmash of Celtic/Asian/vague flowery things? Tick

I suppose there was some individuality since she didn't have arse antlers.

The Nazi SS and Hell's Angels found/find a cheese grater quick and effective.

Lt. Moosedoom wrote:I cannot decide what to do....... Husband and I will have to share a car. It doesn't pay. And I will see him 50% less than I see him now...and I like seeing him.

What the hell do I do? :(

I'm confused. You like the hubby or the tattoo guy?

Heid the Ba' wrote:I have nothing against tattoos but setting up a business removing them might be a better business model.

Hmm, it occurs to me, why not do both? Then you can have synergystic marketing campaigns. This week only: buy a tattoo, and receive a 15% off coupon for its eventual removal!

Tattoo copyright case being heard locally. Perhaps worth checking out who would own the copyright in your jurisdiction.

If if was NZ, the person who has the tattoo owns it (because tattoos are a personal thing). That you may get someone else to put the tattoo on, is more a factor of convenience.

That is my understanding of the UK position, tattoos are commissioned so the owner of the tattoo owns the copyright of any original work.

Exactly the same as a writer, if I write a novel it is mine; if I am commisioned to write a magazine article the magazine holds the copyright.

Darn' tootin'