Color vs. Black and Gray Tattoos
Did you know color tattoos usually take longer to complete than black and gray? Are you familiar with the various tattoo art styles? Some artists specialize in black and gray fine line tattoos. Some specialize in word-based tattoos. Other artists offer colorful and imaginative tattoos in all different forms. So try to find the artist who works best with your favorite art style, whether that be traditional, portrait, blackwork, or something else. Its important to do your research.
Remember that details vary greatly within tattoos. The more intricate your piece, the longer the design will take to complete. For example, if you have a jewelry style tattoo with lots of small filigree details, or even a Celtic knotwork design, your artist will require more time to complete your work. The same would hold true for a portrait tattoo—where special attention to small structures such as eyelashes, lips, and the details of hair will require more concentration. “If you are doing a color tattoo that is more the traditional tattoo style where flat solid colors are required, it will be much quicker. If you are doing a more complex realistic style of color tattoo that requires layers of colors and different color gradations, it will take much longer,” says Dagger. “Also, with black and gray tattoos, it depends on what technique the artist uses to tattoo black and gray. Some artists use solid gradients of gray and some people stipple their black and gray tattoos. The solid gray gradients take much longer to achieve and are much more difficult. So it depends on your artists style and how they tattoo.”
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Have you noticed an increase in these requests lately? If so, why do you think that is?
In a recent survey by Figo, over 75% of Gen Z participants said theyd be willing to get a tattoo of their pet. That might sound a little intense to some, but tattoos have always been a meaningful way to remember those important to us. When polled, Figos own Instagram audience overwhelmingly said theyd be willing to get body art in honor of their dog or cat. To get an insider look at this increasingly popular request, we spoke with Kevin Leary of Great Lakes Tattoos in Chicago. You might recognize his work on tattoo lovers all around the city or maybe even on the walls of the One Tail at a Time vet clinic.
Unfortunately in the last 2 years, I lost both of my pets. I had a 16-year-old cat that passed at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. And most recently my wife and I had to say goodbye to our 16-year-old pit bull in late 2021. Yes, my wife and I both have tattoos for Sofia, our dog. They are not portraits but her name in a heart.
Are you a pet owner? If so, do you have any of your own pet-related tattoos on you?
If someone wants to book with you, how would they go about doing so?
“Thank you Ms Tawny for the exceptional tattooing that you did on Hazine (Anatolian Shepard) and Sir II (Boxer mix). It surprised me that the small dog was more of a hand full but you handled it all well and your professionalism really showed thru. I am glad to know a professional offering this service to our beloved animals. Thank you again.”LK
What is the procedure? In general, an area on the inside of the rear leg (thigh) or belly is best as its a common place to look and is more subtle than an ear tattoo. The owner helps hold the animal still, your tattooist will show you how. The procedure for a tattoo is pretty simple: the area for the tattoo is clipped and disinfected with alcohol; a light layer of petroleum jelly is applied to the area so the tattoo marker will move smoothly over the surface of the skin, and the number is applied. The area is then cleansed with disinfecting soap which removes excess ink from the skin. Any numbers that are not clear are retouched at this time. A final layer of petroleum jelly is applied over the finished tattoo to aid scabbing over. A very fine scab (barely visible) will form over the tattoo and will fall off after a day or two. Its best to keep the area around a tattoo scissored or clipped so it can be easily seen if the dog is lost.
WHY TATTOO YOUR DOG? Tattoos have been around for a long time, and prior to the 1980s was the preferred way to permanently identify your pets. Many kennels clubs like the Canadian Kennel Club, American Kennel Club, Schutzhund Club, racing dogs and all service dogs (guide dogs, military and police dogs) were required to be tattooed. This insured that each animal had a visible and permanent mark to legally and unmistakably identify each animal. Veterinarians and breeders typically tattooed pets for the owners. With the invention of the microchip and scanners in the late 1970s zoos and field biologists began using microchips to identify exotic animals and soon the microchip companies opened up a whole new and lucrative market to the pet owner. In the beginning there were only 2 makers (AVID & Trovan) with no universal scanner. That meant if your pet was lost, whoever found it had to have the correct scanner or your pets microchip could not be read. Now there are 15 different makers and no universal scanner will read all chips. Not all chips are compatible with international travel.
Do not tattoo a dog without registering the number with either the National Dog Registry or the AKC. An unregistered number is useless as it cannot get your dog back to you. Any number can be registered with the National Dog Registry and all tattooed animals are eligible for enrollment in the AKCs Companion Animal Recovery system regardless of species, age, size or number used.
Also some types of cancers have been linked to microchips. If you would like to examine the evidence yourself, you can go to www.antichips.com/cancer/index.html to find the links to each original study and a comprehensive 52 page report titled “Microchip-Induced Tumors in Laboratory Rodents and Dogs: A Review of the Literature 1990-2006” by Katherine Albrecht, Ed. D.
REAL TIME TATTOO – Dog Portrait
Dogs who have been spayed or neutered may have a simple tattoo on their tummy. Called a sterilization indicator tattoo, this short straight line of blue or green ink indicates that the dog has had surgery to remove their reproductive organs.