Tattoos

Miama Ink and LA ink are two great shows being aired in cable channel Discovery Travel & Living. Both these shows show the "reality" life of guys who do a living by creating tattoos.

A lot of us have probably negative connotations when it comes to tattoos. I for one, do not want a tattoo for the reasons that's it's permanent, and I don't see any good reason why I'd want something drawn in any part of my body and call it art. But watching these shows, I gained so much respect for not just the tattoo artists, but also those that get the tattoos.

The nice thing about these shows is that it gives you a peak on how tattoo artists work. And man, are they really great artists. They're not just guys who have tattoos all over their bodies, they are guys who actually pursue what they want, and they're really good at it! I see Chris draw these huge drawings of dragons, portraits and they even do the shading and coloring themselves. You see talent in each and every one of the tattoo artists there.

But let's not forget another aspect of this show as well - the people who come in their shops and actually pay huge amount of money to get the tattoos. Turns out, much of these people who get body art have stories behind them. I remember one guy getting a tattoo of a portrait of his mother. He doesn't see her that much, and so he decided to get it permanently inked on his arms to show how much he loves her and admires her for raising him, even as a single mother. There's also this one gets an Arabic symbol of the word "warrior" on his arm to symbolize his Iraq war experience, and commemorate his friends who never made it back home. And of course, there are those people who get tattoos for the sake of getting one, or for the sake of artistic journey.

Nonetheless, these shows have given me a different perspective when it comes to the art of tattoo. It told me of talent, it gave me stories, and most important, it gave me a whole new respect for the people who make the tattoos, and for the people who get them as well.