Hi! My name is Shotsie Gorman, I am here as a tattoo artist, a professional tattoo artist
for Expert Village. A tattoo should be something which has more to do with your personal philosophy
or aspirations as a person. Tattooing has always been a rites of passage ritual, every
culture that it has been in and it has been in virtually every culture in the world. A
rite of passage ritual is a way of saying to the world you are now different than you
were before. So you want to express something to the world about who you are, those choices
are demonstrated in the tattoos that you choose. Not only the quality and your ability to choose
quality but also the kind of imagery that you choose. So it is a serious decision, it
is a long life decision. Very often people say oh, I will just get removed if I don't
like it. Removal costs a hundred times usually the expense of the tattoo. Very often there
are really broke and horrifying techniques that plastic surgeons will use to remove tattoos.
Many of them don't know how to actually do it. But it has become a very lucrative part
of the plastic surgeons tool box. If they are not working with lasers and they suggest
an infrared coagulator for instance or dermabrasion leave quickly. Dermabrasion is literally the
most barbaric form of tattoo removal. They grid the skin off of your body with salt.
So, be aware that the plastic surgeons are there primarily to make money as well and
you want to make a decision if you are going to get a tattoo, don't look for the back door,
don't look for the easy way out, the tattoo will always be there as a reminder of where
moved from that point in your life. Where you were to where you would move to and it
is kind of like throughout your life, there are memories which will change and distort,
but that tattoo will always bring you back exactly where you were the moment that you
got the tattoo. So, primarily what you should look for is something that has great meaning
for you personally.
