Tattoo Discourse Community

Michelle machado

12/06/2022

WRS105

Tattoo Artists

dISCOURSE COMMUNITY PRESENTATION

start

Click here for more info.

Introduction

When receiving a tattoo, one is making a very permanent decision. The art piece or words chosen will settle into the skin through ink, which the immune system cells known as macrophages pass on to their successors when they expire. Many put these everlasting art pieces onto themsleves as a form of expression through their appearance, as tattoos are a popular way to do that. Those who put these pieces onto the customer are a tattoo artist. These people aim to strengthen their creative skills throughout this particular career. The tattoo industry is 12,000 years old and is very prominent in todays era. Tattoos are becoming more popular and mainstream than ever in recent years, with over 50% of Americans under the age of 40 sporting atleast one. There are numerous well-known tattoo artists, but only a select few are highly respected. The tattoo industry has an unwritten code. The principles of this code are loyalty, respect, and confidentiality.

Becoming a member

tHRESHOLD LEVEL OF MEMBERS

A discourse community has a minimum number of individuals who have the necessary level of pertinent material and discursive skill. I've heard from the tattoo artists that getting your start or "shot" is challenging. Most are licensed and have received training, although the majority of shops prefer artists with prior experience. A portfolio is typically expected to demonstrate an artist's abilities or previous works to demonstrate their suitability for the position, which also falls into another method of artist interaction. Most artists must first acquire drawing skills and an education in the arts. They start to build a portfolio after they establish and develop the necessary knowledge and abilities. Ordinarily, novice tattoo artists learn from and work with more seasoned tattoo artists to hone their craft. Sometimes people obtain the trade by completing an apprenticeship. Only after that can the student complete additional pre-licensing training and certification to become fully licensed.

Click here for more info.

Genres

There are a few different types of genres recognized among tattoo artists that seemed like a universal agreement amongst the community.

Portraiture

Street Fighter

Irezumi

Optical illusion tattoos in which the limbs of tattooed characters are incorporated into the wearer’s limbs.

Portraiture, a sub-set of the realism genre which is like getting a tattoo of someone’s face.

Japanese style Irezumi is a genre particularly known for large images that cover the back, arms, and legs.

+ EXMAPLE

+ EXAMPLE

+ EXAMPLE

Tattoo Artist Lexis

In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis. There are a few different terms within the community I learned.

"Kitchen Magician"

"Gun"

"Janky"

"Canvas"

"Sling"

"Tenderfoot"

Intercommunication

Communication between tattoo artists is done through platforms that are heavily reliant on pictures. It can be through a picture message through text or in person. The artists within their own shops typically communicate in person to receive advice on techniques or suggestions for each other. There is value in sharing ideas within the industry because it brings them together, increasing the goodness in the community. A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback.

Click here for more info.

For example, many Facebook pages exist of tattoo artists who share the shops that they work at. They do this to entice other artists to vistit when they are in their area.

02

01

Conventions/expos

TV SHOWS

There are numerous tattoo expos and conventions that artists attend to get together from neighboring communities. There is one in Philadelphia that artists come from all over the country meet up and display their works and learn about other techniques from other artists. It is a convention that gets people together from all over kind of like the Facebook group chat does even though they are not in the same area.

There are shows on TV about tattoos that artists come on to share their style and creativity with their art. Shows like Ink Master, Tattoos after Dark, and tattoo rescue which display some of the artists and how the community works air every week. For example, Ink Master features tattoo artists who compete in dif1ferent challenges on the program to have their tattooing and related artistic abilities judged.

+ EXAMPLE

+EXAMPLE

Rob Harriman: Tattooist Extraordinaire

Who or what influences you? "My influences are wide from other tattoo artists, painters, creative people in general, also by nature and its never ending details. Everything I look at that a creative person has done can influence me in some way.

INTERVIEWS

Jordan Mitchell:resident artist at Black and Blue Tattoo in California.

How did you get started with tattooing? "I started tattooing with an apprenticeship at a shop in Modesto California. My neighbor and childhood friend who I grew up with happened to have a father who owned a tattoo shop there. I was always into art and drawing because of the comic books I read as a kid, and I knew I wanted a career in art (somehow). I just enjoyed doing it so much. I bugged my neighbor’s dad enough and he eventually he apprenticed me"

Conclusion

Identity is defined as the way a person displays themselves in a certain social setting or environment, maybe having a distinct national or cultural identity. When you have your own identity, you feel compelled to contribute or pick up knowledge from others. You must participate in new communities in order to accomplish this. A discourse community acts as a group in which one can belong to, sometimes being more than one at a time. The tattoo artist industry is no different in being a group that does exactly that. Tattooing is something that people are passionate about and love to share with each other, all having a common love for art. I I chose tattoo artists as my subject because I've always enjoyed tattoos and how imaginative and devoted tattoo artists can be to their craft. Through much research I was able to understand that tattoo artists have the intention of producing a work that the tattoo recipient could appreciate, as well as something priceless that people might admire. What shapes this discourse community to be so distinct from other communities is that they are literally altering one's identity, transferring permanent ink onto the receiver's skin. We see members indulging themselves in permanence to express themselves in the community, alongside normal discourse community attributes like specific lexis and genres.

Thank you!

Works cited

01

Patterson, A. (2022, December 2). History and basic information - tattooing basics. Tattoo Magic. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.tattoomagic.info/basics/history-and-basic-information.html

02

Hallowell, Carl. “Necessary Constructive Criticism Drives Tattoo Artists | Carl Hallowell.” Carl Hallowell (Horisho), 8 Mar. 2018, www.carlhallowell.com/constructive-criticism-tattoo-artists.

03

Staff, Inked Mag. “Tattoo Lingo.” Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models, Tattoo Ideas, Artists and Models, 9 Jan. 2015, https://www.inkedmag.com/culture/tattoo-lingo.