RSSBrowsing Category: "White Ink Tattoos"
“I got this tattoo on March 22nd from Sage, at Sage-Ink. We met through a spiritual community to which we both belong, though I do not entirely commit myself to being one of the ?Radical Faeries? (a part of the group).
This tattoo is of the god Ganesha, who is one of the Hindi deities. In the broadest of terms, Ganesha represents overcoming obstacles. This deity has been very meaningful for me in the last period of time. One reason I am interested in Ganesha, is that he is often portrayed as partially feminine and partially masculine. In my life, I am seeking a balance with respect to gender.
For a long time, I lived exclusively with men, and then I lived exclusively with women. I feel as if I am finally finding a balance in my living situation with a mix of people who concentrated less on the specificities of gender and have more interest in their personhood.
Another issue that this tattoo addresses is that I have had a very hard time in my life with commitment. Commitment to friends, work, relationships? I see getting a tattoo as a very concrete way of making a commitment. This is an image that I will have forever. I chose white because I like that organic feel of black and white and brown images on the skin. I also feel as if it gives the image subtly, however permanent the image may be. I am overcoming my obstacles.”
When you go for a tattoo, the experience is usually much the same for everyone. You speak with the artist at the shop, pick out a design (such as flash or your own creation, and the process begins. After a stencil is applied where you want your tattoo to be, the first part of the actual tattoo begins - with black ink. Black ink is used to outline tattoos, in order to give the tattoo its shape, as well as to create an image which then can be colored or shaded. Without this black outline, many tattoos would not look “normal”, or be as sharp. For years, tattoo artists were unwilling to do a tattoo without a black outline to follow as a guide; however, things have started to change.
White ink tattoos do not follow the usual tattoo process of stenciling and outlining in black. Instead, the tattoo itself is completely done with white ink - leaving a ghostly image that looks quite different from a traditional tattoo. These tattoos can look like brands (or scarification), or they can appear to be very subtle - a good idea for someone who wants a tattoo but can’t have something obvious in their work environment. The white ink used for white ink tattoos is not the same ink you might have seen used for mixing shades in a color tat - instead, it is a thicker, high quality white ink that is specially made to stand out on its own.
