Tattoo imitation

I was wondering. Do you get bugged if you see someone with the same tattoo as you? Would you if it happened? Would you think it was neat? Would you think they had stole your idea? I'm not sure myself. I think it would depend on the tattoo. I mean there are so many people with stars or cherries or dragons or tribal bands. I kind of thought that tattoos were meant to be different than others. Just wondering what you think.

Naw brotherman I get flack all the time for my nautical stars. I got huge ones on my shoulderblades. I didn't get them because I wanted to out-punk people, like a lot of people think, I got them to be recognized as a member of a particular lifestyle.

Love it or hate it, whether you're punk or not, nautical stars are one of the punk symbols now. You gotta admit it. It's taken over.

I want to be familiarized with people of similar interests: Punk-Rock-Lifestyle. It's the way I was born and raised.

As for the rest of my soon-to-be ink, it's all gonna be custom. Not even flash remotely. I want it made FOR me BY me, or someone I trust made it FOR me. Tailored to MY needs, inked for MY flesh. And if I saw someone with my tattoos around, it'd piss me off that they stole my personality, but at the same time...

"Imitation is the greatest form of flattery..."

If tattoos were meant to be different...sailors wouldn't have gotten so many anchors. Tattoos are for whatever the person getting them wants them to be. It can have a deep meaning, it can be purely aesthetic...hell, I know people who have gotten tattoos just because they were funny.

I know many of us snicker a little when we see someone with whom we may not identify...and their tribal arm band...many of us look down our noses at the sorority girl with the butt-antlers...but you know what.....fuck all of us who think that way. It's none of our goddam business why they got those particular tattoos and certainly not our place to decide which tattoos are ok and which are not.

Maybe among his peers...the frat-boy with the tribal armband IS cool & different. Maybe they don't care what everyone else thinks.

I tell you what...I have a tattoo that is probably on as many people as the Tazmanian Devil.



I have the Clay Smith woodpecker on my arm. Now...in the rockabilly/hot-rod scene it's a well-known design. It goes back as far as the 1930's. People in that scene think it's a pretty cool tattoo. It's old school, you know? Like Sailor Jerry stuff.

Show MY tattoo to a bunch of Frat-boys and you'll hear "Dude...why the fuck is Woody Woodpecker on your arm?"

this made me laugh my ass off. i thought it was called a "tramp stamp?"



if i saw someone with the same tatoo as me, i suppose it would bother me that anyone out there is almost as cool as i am!

seriously, though, i doubt that i'm the only one who's as big a fan of the Mercury Cougar as i am. i could hardly find fault in anybody for that!

Cool, I'm glad to see people sharing their thoughts. I don't look down on the frat boys and their tribal bands. If I came across like I did, I didn't mean it. For me? Nah. For them? Sure, cool.

Tramp stamp, hehe. I've heard 'whore sticker' too.

I designed the one I currently have and I'm designing all my others. So it'd be rare to see someone with the same one.

Yeah, too true.

one of the suicide girls has a tiger face on their back just where mine is...but they're are different faces.
if they were the same i'd be pissed cuz i drew that one myself.

This might shed some light on the topic:
Stolen tattoo

I picked the cat on my wrist off a wall which I said I'd never do but it called out to me. Even though I didn't design it I still get pissed off when people tell me they want the same thing or ask me if it's the hellcat logo. Even seeing a bad shitty look alike pisses me off.
So if I saw someone with something personal I designed I'd wanna kill them or cut the ink out.

That's what I think.

All my work is custom. Which means it was drawn FOR ME!!! that is why I have never posted pics of my tats on SG, would break my heart if someone got my work done on them...and swanny no offense but when you pick flash off a wall , thousands have the same thing!

Nah, just sayin' no-one should ask for a copy of your tats no matter who designed it. You don't go up to someone and say "You have lovely eyes. Can I have them"? You just don't ask for someone else's ink. It's the rules.

don't be a butt-antler hater!

Search this board for the thread Amina started about this.

Since joining this site I have found three or four different versions of my flames, it doesnt bother me, but I am glad no-one has the exact same style with negitive space.

I have seen other people with almost the same tattoo as myself. I have the logo (a spider) for the band Cold on my back. I took the idea to the artist and she customized it a it for me. I have a Rune symbol in the body of the spider and some shading. I know that there are others out there with the spider tattoo - I found a guy here on the boards the other night with the same spider, but his was filled in. We have the same tat only different. I don't get upset, I just know that he has good taste in music

As far as having a completely custom piece and having someone ask to copy it and then do it...that I would have a problem with. However I can't truely say how I would handle the situation until faced with it.

In short, I guess if someone yoinked my ink, I'd be pissed, but I'd laugh. My shit, other than what I got to identify with similar individuals (Nautical Stars), is custom 100%. If they want my ink, good, glad I was of some inspiration, but don't let me know! My ink is sacred to me and is crafted especially for me. Just because it looks good doesn't mean it isn't extremely sentimental. I try really hard to find that balance: meaning and beauty. Unfortunately, there are people out there with tattoos that show neither (i.e. - Tazmanian Devil, "Chevy" or a large cat in an angry pose, etc.).

But either way, imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Unfortunately it's also the most pathetic.

I think it all depends on the tattoo and what it means to you personally.

Will I get pissed if I meet someone with the SG logo (which I now have?) Heck no! It'll be a common link and we'll, right then, have something in common to chat about.

Would I be upset if someone had the same skull I have on my left arm? %$#! YEAH!!! That was MY idea. I told the artist what I wanted and he drew it for me, not once, not twice, but three times. He made it exactly like I wanted and I love it! Same with my back, although I didn't get the idea and the very design was from something other than my imagination I'd a bit upset if I saw it (I have yet to.) But my wirst, meh, again like the SG logo. I wouldn't mind. If it was in the same spot I might think, or say, 'wow, what a coincidence!' But I'd hardly feel the same... anger and even sadness like the face on my arm. I even asked my artist to never do it on another person and he promised me he would never do such a thing, he said he felt that would be like... I forget his exact words, but it'd be betraying my trust in him.



SonOfAPunk; "But either way, imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Unfortunately it's also the most pathetic." Yeah, I have to agree.

Nixon; "Beyond annoyed. Fucking furious. My tattoos have a great deal of personal signifigance, so yeah, I would be livid if some asshat with no imagination lifted one. "

(Thanks guys, this really made me think about some things.)

I guess it really does depend on the tattoo and who has it, why they have it, etc. It's hard to say you know?

I had an idea, that wasn't mine, that I wanted. To be honest, I still do. But I'm not going to do it now.

Amina had her chest piece stolen .... by a doood!!

If anyone was geeky enough to have the same tattoos as me... I'd have to buy them a beer and get to know them.