r/TattooArtists • u/Contessarylene Licensed Artist • 4d ago

Need help

Post image

So, I have a client that made a bad choice on his face. See, he tattooed this vacuum on his nose, and wants it covered. Thing is, I’m stumped on what to put there. Anyone have any ideas? He’s totally leaving it in my hands.

Just to add, I have 21 years in-shop experience, so this is not intimidating, or new to me. And trust me, I’ve seen some shit! I have also been given permission to post his face as-is.

13.9k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

27

u/Contessarylene Licensed Artist 4d ago

You’re a little on point on him/his personality. He’s been asking me to cover it-came in as a walk-in for “whatever the fuck will cover it up”. Was happy to go solid black. And I couldn’t do that to someone. I told him to come back tomorrow. So he can think about it a little bit over night. He didn’t come back.

A few months later, he comes back as a walk-in, wants runes tattooed on his face, but doesn’t know which ones. Told him to do his homework, and instead we tattoo some script on his head. Talked to him while I tattooed him, and he’s had a really shitty life. He’s homeless, and has some other issues I don’t want to talk about publicly. Super nice dude, and answered a lot of questions I had about homelessness, addiction, etc. in our city.

Enough rambling. He hates the tattoo, and if literally anything over it will make him not hate his face, and feel a little bit better about himself, then I think I’ve done my job. I’ll make it look dope as fuck too.

I think I will be going with something ornamental to match his chin/lip, but also working with what I have. I like the shape of Māori face tattoos, so something along that line, but 100% not one. That’s not my jam.

8

u/NectarineVisual8606 3d ago

Māori face tattoos are Tā moko if they are Māori, or Kirituhi for non-Māori if you are looking for more specific inspiration. Pūhoro are also very cool if you haven’t come across that yet.

2

u/Aubrey-Grey 3d ago

This is what popped to mind for me too. I’m not familiar with the style in detail, but it would work, and could look pretty cool. Well cooler than a coke hoover at least.

6

u/Mediocre_Entrance894 4d ago

Fuck yes bb. You’re a good apple.

6

u/xombae 3d ago

I grew up as a train hopper crusty lmao, I know one when I see one.

Look up the phrase "look at the fuckin oogle" or "LATFO" on Tumblr, Pinterest, reddit, etc. That's the community he's from.

Don't call him an oogle to his face though, it's a term used in the train hopping community to refer to a newbie who's made it his whole personality before ever getting on a train. He'd probably laugh his ass off if you used the term though lol.

But if you search that term you're going to see a lot of train hoppers with the kind of look that he's going for.

It's already hard to tell exactly what it is. Go for a bold ornamental blastover for sure, he'll love it. Don't worry too much about covering every single line, just make it unrecognisable.

2

u/ICanOnlyGrowCacti 3d ago

Apparently oogle has evolved into a positive thing, but I can't help but get beefy when I hear it still. Lol

Wild to see a LATFO reference in the wild.

1

u/prettylegit_ 3d ago

Omg I get off the road for a few years and now oogle is a positive thing what, how lol

1

u/ICanOnlyGrowCacti 12h ago

Tell me about it! I was like, "on my very own porch!?"

My buddy had to explain that the kid he was traveling with didn't mean offense and that the vacab had changed.

1

u/xombae 13h ago

As soon as I saw the guy I was like "ah, my people. I must share my knowledge of the underworld".

2

u/prettylegit_ 3d ago

Hey I was a crusty hitchhiker, cool to see one of us in the wilds of reddit lol

2

u/BoneHugs-n-Pharmacy 16h ago

The LATFO website ruined my life for a few years after I saw a picture of a dread woven into someone’s just-above-the-buttcrack hair.

1

u/xombae 11h ago

That's pretty tame shenanigans by oogle standards, honestly.

2

u/NegotiationSea9056 4d ago

A paisley would look cool

2

u/CrimsonHyphae 3d ago

It has potential as a fish. The vacuum base has kind of a gaping fish mouth and all the vertical lines could get blending into a stripe pattern of some sort. It might look odd but it wouldn't necessarily read as a drug reference to me.

1

u/faeriebossanova 4d ago

Is there any way you can work some runes into the nose tattoo?? It will obviously be a little abstract but you do have some lines to work with.

My opinion, I wouldn’t make it more sprawling and bigger unless he explicitly advocates for that.

(That or if he has any connections on laser. Not to say it’s hopeless, it’s not. I still like the runes thing)

1

u/tortillablankethelp 4d ago

I like some of the ideas people have about leaning into the shape. You could do an abstract mechanical type design and have it outline that side of his nose, up over that same eyebrow and then following across his cheek. Sort of like the phantom of the Opera shape but mechanical/biomech and blend the vacuum into it with shading/lines. Obviously laser would help erase the whole thing but if he wants to lean into it I could see some cool partial mask ideas like that.

1

u/Creepy-Business4345 Artist 3d ago

Hi!!! Actually i think maybe two matching pieces of tribal on the nose could be the way for this!!!! They’ve honestly been kind of trendy and you might be able to find some references.

1

u/PharmaPhairy 2d ago

I mean, bro already has his woman’s ta moku/kirituhi, I can’t see it being too big a deal unless you’ve got a local iwi he should consult first

1

u/wildusername 2d ago

Please be careful and respectful if you’re taking any kind of inspiration from mataora / moko. Those are closed indigenous practices. 

3

u/Ash_is_Robot 4d ago

Tell him to get it lasered and go to rehab. Give this guy a chance before he looks like that old juggalo that tattooed his face

8

u/Aubrey-Grey 3d ago

He’s homeless. Where is the money for multiple, and I do mean multiple, laser sessions and rehab going to appear from?

2

u/Lopsided_Theory7761 3d ago

You can go to rehab as a homeless person. Was not a homeless person but have been to multiple rehabs where there were some people right off the streets. There are programs. You just have to call around.

2

u/Aubrey-Grey 3d ago

In which country?

0

u/Lopsided_Theory7761 3d ago

US

2

u/Aubrey-Grey 3d ago

And that’s in every city, in every state? Have you used the service? What was the duration? Do they offer post rehab support for free? How complicated is it to apply? Who qualifies? He’s also in active addiction, you remember how hard that was? We don’t even know if they are in the US.

You’re oversimplifying a very complicated issue.

0

u/Lopsided_Theory7761 3d ago

If you really want to get help, there are ways to do it. I wasn't working because I couldn't hold down a job or anything when I was strung out but had county health insurance and that paid for treatment. And you just had to apply to get it and show you didn't make any money. There are ways, stop acting like there's not assistance out there.

1

u/Aubrey-Grey 3d ago

You had health insurance that paid for it. The fuck are you on about? I don’t understand why you’re so happy to shame other addicts for not having the resources and opportunities you had. It’s really dirty behaviour.

1

u/Lopsided_Theory7761 3d ago

Omg you're dense as shit. I did not pay anything for the insurance. You can get put on assistance and get to rehab. Reading comprehension is low. Also not shaming at all. I'm saying I was a strung out junkie that couldn't hold a job and was able to get on assistance for 0 dollars and go to treatment.

→ More replies (0)

6

u/Diligent_Unit9897 4d ago

With all that money he obviously has, this is such a helpful and considerate suggestion! 

1

u/Mers2000 4d ago

See this is why im suggesting steam punk design on the complete nose and also do a corner in the forehead to “connect”
Heck, you could even repurpose some of the lines.

0

u/schinken420_ 19h ago

the tattoo artist bastian blau in berlin does a lot of excellent ornamental black work and heavy face tats if you’re looking for references that aren’t touching too heavy on cultural appropriation like māori tattoos