Hello fellow readers.
Now and then a topic is engraved in my mind and the only way for me to release it is to write about it. There are various platforms in which I could go about doing this, but I feel like this would be the best place. I could turn to Facebook, but most people aren't really interested in reading something longer than 2 or 3 lines unless it's really touching or funny. Likewise, the YouTube comment section or other forum/comment sections are full of keyboard warriors and overall douchebags. I think the blog is the best place to truly express an opinion or thought without feeling obligated to limit how much content there is and worrying about offending people or deal with trolls. To be honest, I'm not even sure if anyone reads these blogs. I don't really need that satisfaction of knowing people read my blogs. It's mostly just an outlet for me to get my thoughts out of my head and onto something and archive it. Sure, I could write in a journal, but my hands cramp up and I type much faster than I can write so digital media it is!

Now that I'm done with that tangent, I'd like to get into detail about my blog title.
So there's a tv show called Tattoo Titans. It's just like any other competition show. You have a panel of judges and a handful of contestants and the whole show is scripted to seem really suspenseful, stressful, competitive and dramatic, etc... this particular show, if you couldn't guess from the title, is about tattoos. Tattoo artists compete against each other for a prize and are judged by a panel of 3 people that are actively well known in the tattoo community. They advertise these artists to be some of the "best artists" across the country, but I'll put that term in parenthesis because my opinion of these artists vary from that description.

To give you an idea of the episode layout, the host introduces the show and then then the 3 judges are introduced followed by 4 tattoo artists. They talk about who they are and what skill sets they have and then their challenge begins. They stand behind a suitcase and in each suitcase is an item that pertains to the tattoo they're going to have to create. These items are selected by the skins, which are people receiving the tattoos. The artists are given 3 hours to talk to the skins and form a concept and it has to be completed within that 3 hour time period. Once the time period is up, the artists show case their tattoo designs and the judges put out their opinions and they allow the artist to kind of explain or defend their decision making and techniques etc...

Here is where my opinion and rant sort of meshes in. Okay so they call these tattoo artists, masters of their work and maybe within their individual shops or locations they are "really amazing artists" but compared to the tattoo artists I enjoy and look up to, these guys are on the bottom of the totem pole. But considering the grand prize is only $10,000... I guess it makes sense. If you truly are one of the "amazing" artists...$10,000 is probably loose change for you and you're too busy running your business to be a part of some petty scripted tv show. But I digress, these artists aren't really impressive with any of their works. This may be due to the fact that I'm not in person and can't see the piece up close. I feel like a lot of the tattoos are butchered because the artist is under a lot of pressure between the competition, the skin, the judges, and whatever shop or community they're representing. As a creator, I handle pressure as well as any other person, but I have trouble creating a powerful piece of art if I have no attachment or strong input on the piece.

The skins that come in and talk to these artists have such high demands of content and detail that is impossible to communicate in just a 3 hour window time slot right on the spot. Most amazing tattoos take time to prepare. You and your artist are in contact with each other to think of a concept and body placement and what are the concerns in terms of color or detail loss and what the artists strengths and techniques are and how they can utilize that to make the piece more effective and good looking. When these artists are thrown massive concepts with little to no time to really dive into it and get consumed by it, their mind is all over the place and the pieces look rushed and underdeveloped.

I think the skins are to blame for some of this because if you are not a creative person and you have an idea in your head that you can't quite communicate properly or if you have too many things that you want to incorporate into a piece with such a low amount of time to really prepare for it, it's not going to turn out well. Your artist won't create something beautiful and you aren't going to enjoy what you get. I feel like the skins that come onto this show fail to consider the time restraint and how concepts and details matter. If you have too many things going on in a tattoo and in a small space and time frame, that clutter and randomness is going to bleed together and it's just going to look shitty.

I understand that the skin should be able to get whatever they want because it's going to be on their body forever but if you realistically want a super nice well drawn and executed piece, go to a respectable shop and pay the $$$ to get that perfect piece. Going onto a show like this and getting something so meaningful and detailed isn't going to look like those famous pinterest and tumblr tattoos you see online or in magazines. Famous people and really passionate and skilled people create those tattoos and they sure as hell don't do it on the spot in just 3 hours.

I'm not trying to put them down. Maybe they ARE good artists and these concepts are curve balls and they don't really express  their strong sides, but if you're going to enter a competition where anything could be thrown your way, you should be able to handle the different possibilities of styles and criteria in an "impromptu" kind of fashion. Draw something random out of a hat and make something amazing on a whim.

I like watching the show sometimes because I am curious to see how people take inanimate objects or personal feelings/memories and incorporate them in a design in such a low time deadline. However, never have I ever been impressed with any of the pieces to physically look up the artist and see what other stuff they have done. None if it was appealing. I mean $10,000 isn't a huge prize so maybe the show isn't that popular or anything. But you see these other shows and the prizes are $100,000 - $1,000,000 and the people are AMAAAAAAZING. So I think maybe this show just grabs the bottomfeeders and some middlegrazers of the tattoo industry and they get guinea pigs to accept the tattoos for free or a reduced price or something to be a part of the show.

I'm so picky about tattoos, tattoo artists, and shop cleanliness, and professionalism, etc... that I would never just walk into a shop and pick something and get it. I want to develop a business relationship with that artist and see their personality and if my idea will sync with their style. I don't want to support a shop that doesn't practice safe methods. Likewise, I don't want something shitty and unprepared on my body. You get what you pay for in this industry so I guess if they get the tattoos for free on the show (I'm not sure if they do or not) then I guess what they get is what they pay for.

For anyone that is curious my favorite tattoo artists are Kat Von D, Victor Portugal, Jamie C (a local girl in my area). Kat Von D is out in LA and is probably expensive as hell. Victor Portugal is in Spain, which is in another country. I have gone to England for my 2nd tattoo after months of preparation but Spain is a bit of a stretch and he's also really expensive. Their work is amazing though. Jamie is $100/hr but her work is so beautiful, that I would be willing to pay a lot of money for her stuff.

So maybe I'm being super critical over a tv show. But I could never let myself get a tattoo on a tv show like that. Great the whole world knows that I had some shitty tattoo artist put a piece of shit on my arm/back that I have to live with for the rest of my life? I'd rather just pay big bucks and get something NICE.

My rant is done. Good night. ^_^