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Inking on the verge of cultural acceptance
By Jessica Goodwin -- September 13, 2010 --
There was a time in history, not too long ago, when the only members of society who got tattoos were sailors, criminals and prostitutes.
Tattooing is an ancient cultural tradition dating back thousands of years, but western tattoo culture is largely influenced by American sailors who traveled abroad to exotic countries and returned home with ink. Norman Keith Collins, better known as Sailor Jerry, developed the traditional American tattoo design style in the 1930s.
“The Sailor Jerry stuff — the tattoos with imagery of roses, swallows, skulls, daggers, hearts — the real simple, heavy, black shading with bold lines, is making a comeback,” Chris Primm, a tattoo artist at Sleeping Giant Tattoo in Hillcrest, said.
Fast-forward 80 years to present-day and tattoo culture is no longer seen as an indicator of socioeconomic factors, but more so of a generational trend. Tattooing has always been popular within specific societal subcultures, but throughout recent years, tattooing has exploded into mainstream America.
Primm said that this burst of tattoo popularity within recent years is significantly influenced by television shows such as “LA Ink” and tattoo magazines.
Now many people are getting “neo-traditional” tattoos, which are similar to traditional American style, but are done with different color palates and newer, fresher approaches to them, according to Primm.
He said other popular trends right now are color portraits, color realism pieces and black and gray pieces, depending on the area.
From underground to pop culture
Tattoo parlors and tattoo art, such as that of Mike Giant and the amount of people with visible tattoos, are more prevalent than ever.
Matt Ohlin, a San Diego native who grew up in Pacific Beach and owns a skateboard shop in North Park, said he remembers when there was only one tattoo shop on Garnet Avenue. Now, there are four shops on that same block.
In the early 1990s, Sky, a tattoo artist and owner of Broken Heart Tattoo who declined to state his full name, said he remembers tattoo culture being much more mysterious and underground.
“I would walk into a tattoo shop and there would be punk rock blasting and rugged shop owners, and all there was on the walls was tattoo flash (generic tattoo designs printed onto paper),” Sky said. “You didn’t see tattoo shops with oil paintings and art hanging on the walls. Now, it’s like a light’s been shined on it.”
Maybe the exposure that television, magazines and pop culture have given tattooing has made it more socially acceptable, but it will never be completely accepted, Sky said.
“Tattoos are teetering on the edge of being socially acceptable,” Sky said. “There’s always going to be a part of society that thinks it’s taboo.”
Ohlin said he thinks that tattoo style has generally improved since he first started getting inked in the ‘80s and ‘90s, when popular styles included generic tribal pieces and biomechanical themes, which are images of human anatomy mixed with machinery.
Ohlin said his 18-year-old nephew has recently had some traditional, Sailor Jerry-style pieces done. He said he wishes he hadn’t overlooked that traditional style during his younger years and created a more coherent set of tattoos consisting of one style and theme, as he sees on his nephew.
Generation Y may be fortunate to be getting tattooed during a time when a traditionally American, and customized, style has been revived.
People are expressing themselves by artistically wearing their hearts on their sleeves without too much trepidation for future sentiments. In the ‘80s, people expressed themselves with mullets, piercings, perms, leather jackets and acid wash jeans, and now, young people are expressing themselves with permanent ink that will stay with them forever.
There was a time in history, not too long ago, when the only members of society who got tattoos were sailors, criminals and prostitutes.
Tattooing is an ancient cultural tradition dating back thousands of years, but western tattoo culture is largely influenced by American sailors who traveled abroad to exotic countries and returned home with ink. Norman Keith Collins, better known as Sailor Jerry, developed the traditional American tattoo design style in the 1930s.
“The Sailor Jerry stuff — the tattoos with imagery of roses, swallows, skulls, daggers, hearts — the real simple, heavy, black shading with bold lines, is making a comeback,” Chris Primm, a tattoo artist at Sleeping Giant Tattoo in Hillcrest, said.
Fast-forward 80 years to present-day and tattoo culture is no longer seen as an indicator of socioeconomic factors, but more so of a generational trend. Tattooing has always been popular within specific societal subcultures, but throughout recent years, tattooing has exploded into mainstream America.
Primm said that this burst of tattoo popularity within recent years is significantly influenced by television shows such as “LA Ink” and tattoo magazines.
Now many people are getting “neo-traditional” tattoos, which are similar to traditional American style, but are done with different color palates and newer, fresher approaches to them, according to Primm.
He said other popular trends right now are color portraits, color realism pieces and black and gray pieces, depending on the area.
From underground to pop culture
Tattoo parlors and tattoo art, such as that of Mike Giant and the amount of people with visible tattoos, are more prevalent than ever.
Matt Ohlin, a San Diego native who grew up in Pacific Beach and owns a skateboard shop in North Park, said he remembers when there was only one tattoo shop on Garnet Avenue. Now, there are four shops on that same block.
In the early 1990s, Sky, a tattoo artist and owner of Broken Heart Tattoo who declined to state his full name, said he remembers tattoo culture being much more mysterious and underground.
“I would walk into a tattoo shop and there would be punk rock blasting and rugged shop owners, and all there was on the walls was tattoo flash (generic tattoo designs printed onto paper),” Sky said. “You didn’t see tattoo shops with oil paintings and art hanging on the walls. Now, it’s like a light’s been shined on it.”
Maybe the exposure that television, magazines and pop culture have given tattooing has made it more socially acceptable, but it will never be completely accepted, Sky said.
“Tattoos are teetering on the edge of being socially acceptable,” Sky said. “There’s always going to be a part of society that thinks it’s taboo.”
Ohlin said he thinks that tattoo style has generally improved since he first started getting inked in the ‘80s and ‘90s, when popular styles included generic tribal pieces and biomechanical themes, which are images of human anatomy mixed with machinery.
Ohlin said his 18-year-old nephew has recently had some traditional, Sailor Jerry-style pieces done. He said he wishes he hadn’t overlooked that traditional style during his younger years and created a more coherent set of tattoos consisting of one style and theme, as he sees on his nephew.
Generation Y may be fortunate to be getting tattooed during a time when a traditionally American, and customized, style has been revived.
People are expressing themselves by artistically wearing their hearts on their sleeves without too much trepidation for future sentiments. In the ‘80s, people expressed themselves with mullets, piercings, perms, leather jackets and acid wash jeans, and now, young people are expressing themselves with permanent ink that will stay with them forever.
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